Chapter seven, Testing the Waters.

It started on a Monday, the kind of slow morning where conversations drifted lazily over the hum of computers and the clink of coffee mugs.

Ava was topping off her mug in the break room when Riley stepped in, leaning against the counter like he had all the time in the world.

Big weekend, he asked, pouring himself coffee quiet, Ava said, got some reading done.

Riley smirked, Always the studious one.

You know, you might scare people with how prepared you are makes the rest of us look bad.

He said it with a grin, but Ava caught the slight tilt of his head the way his eyes lingered, checking to see if she'd laugh it off or bristle.

She smiled lightly.

If they're scared of preparation, that's on them, he chuckled, but it was softer than usual.

Fair enough.

I guess I'm more of a figure it out as I go type.

He sipped his coffee.

Keeps things interesting.

Ava nodded.

Interesting isn't always efficient.

His eyebrow flicked up, a small tell he wasn't expecting her to volley back twice.

That was the first test.

The next came two hours later.

She was in a project meeting, flipping through her notes when Riley leaned in from across the table and said, Hey, remember that client you met last quarter, the one with the complicated portfolio.

I told them you were the go to expert on this stuff.

It sounded flattering on the surface, but ava knew that Riley often set people up with compliments that came with hidden pitfalls.

The client in question had a reputation for last minute demands and impossible deadlines.

If she accepted his framing, she'd be the one stuck cleaning up the mess later.

Thanks for the confidence, she said evenly, but I think they'd be better served with someone who's been working directly on their account.

For a moment, Riley's lips pressed into a thin smile.

Suit yourself.

He turned back to his notes, as if nothing had happened.

Two tests in one morning.

She didn't need more proof that he was feeling her out.

The next morning, Ava Wa walked into the open office space to find Riley already at a small round table near the windows.

Two colleagues, Marcy and Jonah, sat with him, their laptops opened, but angled more toward conversation.

Than work perfect timing, Riley called out as Ava passed.

We were just talking about the new client onboarding process.

Ava hesitated for a fraction of a second before pulling out a chair.

What's up, Riley leaned back in his seat.

I was telling Marcy and Jonah how you've been looking for ways to speed things up.

Figured you might want to share your ideas.

It wasn't true.

She'd made one casual comment to him last week about on boarding delays in the context of data accuracy, not speed.

He'd flipped it into something that made her sound like she wanted to cut corners.

I think what I actually said, Ava began carefully, is that the data handoff between sales and client services could be cleaner.

That would make the rest of the process smoother without skipping any steps.

Jonah nodded slowly.

Yeah, I can see that accuracy makes speed happen naturally.

Riley smiled faintly, but his eyes were on Ava, measuring her.

She hadn't taken the bait.

A half hour later, he tried again.

They were walking back from a quick stand up meeting when Riley fell into step beside her.

You handled that while back there, he said, tone neutral, handled what that thing with Marcy and Jonah.

Some people get defensive when they're put on the spot.

She gave him a steady look.

It's only a problem if someone misrepresents what I said.

Riley's grin was quick and tight.

Noted that afternoon, Ava updated her log public setting, test, reframing comments, response strategy, clarify facts, redirect framing, result neutralized with no escalation.

It was becoming clear that Riley's new tactic was a blend of charm and quiet provocation.

He wanted to find her weak spots without looking like he was digging.

Two days later, Riley changed tactics again.

He appeared at Ava's desk mid morning holding a neatly printed spreadsheet.

Thought you might want this before the meeting.

It's got the last six months of metrics you were asking about.

She glanced at it.

Useful data, neatly organized.

Thanks, no problem, he said, almost too casually.

Figured we could look like the dream team in front of Linda if we're both on the same page.

The phrasing was deliberate, dream team, a gentle nudge towards solidarity, as if they were allies, not opponents.

Ava simply nodded and set the sheet beside her notes.

Later during the meeting, he dropped in a subtle inside joke that only referenced something he'd said to her in private, a sarcastic remark about how the marketing team loved making things urgent.

At four fifty nine p m.

The others chuckled.

Ava forced a polite smile.

She didn't want to feed the idea that they had a shared perspective, especially not one framed as cynicism about another department.

Riley was weaving threads, shared favors, private jokes, public framing, all design to make resistance harder without looking like resistance.

By Thursday, she saw the full arc.

He'd ask for her opinion in small settings, echo her words later but with a twist, then offer her a helpful resource or a compliment that put them in the same corner.

It was boundary testing dressed as camaraderie.

Ava decided not to reject every olive branch outright that would make her look inflexible, but she would accept nothing that blurred lines too far.

She thanked him for the data sheet, but the next day, when he offered to cover for her in a meeting so she could sneak out early, she declined, without hesitation.

No need, she said evenly.

I like to be in the room for anything important.

Riley's smile didn't falter, but there was the faintest pause before he turned away.

Another test logged another line unbroken, Chapter eight, shifting the frame it started small.

Ava was standing at the coffee station when Marcy came up and said, hey, Riley told me you volunteered to take the lead on the Dixon account.

That's great.

Her stomach tightened.

She hadn't volunteered.

In fact, she'd specifically told Riley she didn't have the bandwidth for a new account until her current one was stabilized.

Did he say volunteered, she asked.

Yeah.

Marcy said, stirring sugar into her mug, said you were eager to take it on.

Ava kept her voice calm.

That's not accurate.

I said I'd consider it after the Johnson deliverables were complete.

That's still the plan.

Marcy frowned, as if recalibrating.

Oh, maybe I misheard him, but Ava knew Marcy hadn't misheard.

This was deliberate.

Riley was starting to plant alternative versions of conversations, testing whether they'd stick.

Later that morning, Ava confronted him, keeping her tone neutral.

I heard you told Marcy I volunteered for Dixon.

Riley gave a small laugh.

Oh, I didn't mean it literally.

I just said you were interested.

You and I both know that's not what I said.

He leaned back in his chair, hands up.

Hey, maybe I phrased it wrong.

No harm done, but there was harm.

This was the opening Wedge, rewriting her words into something that served his agenda.

By the end of the week, there were three more misphrasings.

In one, he told a vender that Ava had promised an earlier delivery date than she had agreed to.

In another, he told Jonah she had given the green light to a proposal she'd only asked to review.

Each time she caught it and corrected the record, it was exhausting, not the corrections themselves, but the vigilance, the constant scanning for distortions.

That Friday, she updated her log shift in tactic, reframing conversations into commitments, frequency increasing, maintain immediate corrections.

In the moment, she didn't know yet how far Riley was willing to push this, but she could feel the ground under her starting to move.

The following Tuesday, Riley made his move in front of Linda, the department head.

They were in the weekly status meeting.

The conference table lined with laptops and coffee.

Ava was half way through updating everyone on the Johnson project when Riley leaned forward.

Actually, he said smoothly.

Ava already confirmed she'd integrate the Dixon on boarding into her timeline.

Her head snapped toward him.

That's not accurate, she said, her tone calm, but crisp.

I said, I'd reviewed Dixon's on boarding process after Johnson is delivered next week.

Linda looked between them.

Which is it?

Ava kept her gaze on Linda.

Next week, I'll be happy to confirm in writing after Johnson is complete.

Riley raised his palms in mock surrender.

Must have been my misunderstanding.

Linda nodded and moved on, but the moment left an aftertaste, not just for Ava, but for anyone in the room paying attention.

Riley had tested whether she'd correct him in front of a superior She had.

Two days later, it happened again.

This time, Riley told a crossed department team that Ava had agreed to handle a late stage QA process that was supposed to be shared equally.

Ava didn't let a beat know.

What I agreed to was reviewing my portion of the QA process as outlined in the original schedule.

That hasn't changed.

A couple of heads turned toward Riley.

His smile was there, but tighter.

Rite of course my mistake.

By Friday, Ava recognize the pattern.

Make a false or exaggerated claim about her commitment, do it in front of someone with influence, step back and frame it as a harmless slip.

If challenged, it was gaslighting with plausible deniability, a slow erosion of how others perceived her role, her workload, and her control over her own boundaries.

That evening, Ava expanded her log entry public distortion attempts now active correction strategy immediate direct, fact based, avoid emotional tone, document every incident.

The strategy worked for now, but she knew the next escalation was coming.

Riley wouldn't stay in the testing phase forever.

Chapter nine.

The first fracture.

It happened in in the break room over the hum of the refrigerator.

Jonah, one of the project analysts, was refilling his water bottle when Ava walked in.

He glanced at her, then said, hey, did you change your mind about the Dixon timeline?

She stopped midstep.

No, why, well, Jonah shrugged.

Riley mentioned you'd agreed to start on boarding with them this week.

I thought you'd said it would be after Johnson was wrapped.

Her chest tightened.

That's exactly what I said, after Johnson, Riley's mistaken Jonah hesitated, right, okay, he gave her a polite smile and walked out.

But it wasn't the words that stuck with her.

It was the pause before he accepted her correction, that flicker of uncertainty.

Later that day, she caught Marcy in the hall and asked if Riley had said anything similar to her.

Marcy's eyes darted sideways.

I mean he mentioned you were already in motion on Dixon.

I assumed maybe you'd changed your mind.

Ava forced a smile.

No, same plan as all always.

Marcy nodded, but Ava could tell the seed had been planted.

Riley's version of events wasn't just landing.

It was starting to grow.

That night, Ava sat at her kitchen table, the light from her laptop spilling across her notes.

She added a new line to her log, phase shift, third party uncertainty emerging first signs of memory distrussed among peers.

She leaned back, exhaling slowly.

This was the first fracture in the shared reality of the team, and fractures, if left unchecked, turned into brakes.

The next move had to be careful, precise.

She couldn't just call it gas lighting in front of everyone, not yet, but she had to counter it before it calcified into truth.

The following morning, Ava opened her inbox to find a message from Riley with the subject line meeting recap Johnson slashed Dixon coordination.

She clicked it team great discussion yesterday.

As agreed, AVA will begin preliminary onboarding tasks for Dixon this way to ensure we're ahead of schedule once Johnson raps, Jonah will provide QA templates in parallel.

Thanks all, Riley.

Ava read the line twice as agreed.

The words sat there like they'd been carved in stone.

She hit reply all immediately correction to clarify, I will begin Dixon on boarding after Johnson's completion next week, as per our established timeline.

This will ensure full attention to Johnson's final deliverables.

Her tone was measured factual.

She made sure not to include anything that could be dismissed as emotional.

Within minutes, Jonah replied thanks for confirming, but Riley no response, not even a thumbs up emoji.

At lunch, she saw him by the elevators about that email.

He said, lightly, I must have misheard my bad.

Ava met his gaze.

That's the second time you've said that this week.

His smile didn't waver.

Guess I need to listen better.

She didn't answer, just stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for her foe.

That night, she printed the e mail and slid it into a folder labeled incidents Written.

Spoken distortions were dangerous, but written ones were lethal.

They lived in inboxes.

They could be forwarded, screenshotted, archived.

Riley had taken the gaslight from conversation into documentation, and once a false version of events existed in writing, disproving it meant fighting against the illusion of record.

Ava knew this wasn't just testing any more.

This was framing, and frames, once built, could be hard to break.