"Philippe stared at me. Incredibly, some water had gotten trapped in his trouser pleats, so when he bent over to look at his shoes, even more water splashed out. For a dramatic conclusion. I didn’t know what to do. What could I say? Some part of me decided to make a joke. It was my gut reaction whenever shame fluttered around my head. I stammered in French, “Well, when I come, I guess I come hard, too.” It wasn’t until that afternoon when I wrote Rachel an e-mail that I realized what I’d said. Rachel replied, “I think you crossed a line in the workplace that even Parisians respect."
