Jay caught up to him later that evening, just as most of the floor had emptied. Keifer was reviewing something on his tablet when she stopped beside his desk.
"You notice everything," she said.
He didn't look up. "I'm paid to."
She leaned against the edge of the desk. "That's not what I meant."
That made him glance at her.
"You didn't interrupt them immediately," she continued, voice calm, thoughtful. "You waited. You let them show their hand. You always do that."
He set the tablet down. "Is that a complaint?"
"No," she said quickly, then smiled. "It's… unsettling."
He studied her. "Because?"
"Because you act like you're detached," she said. "But you're not. You just choose when to step in." She paused. "And when you do, it's very deliberate."
A beat.
"I don't need you to shield me," she added softly. "But I notice when you correct people instead of comforting me afterward."
Keifer nodded once. "Good. That means I'm doing it right."
Jay huffed a small laugh. "You're impossible."
"And yet," he said evenly, "you followed me here."
She smiled, then grew serious. "Thank you. For today."
"You didn't need it," he replied.
"I know," she said. "But it still mattered."
The real test came a week later.
A new consultant—brilliant, polished, aggressively confident. The kind people whispered about in admiration. The kind Jay had described in her joking nightmare scenario.
During a strategy discussion, he challenged Jay openly. Not rude. Not obvious. Just enough to undermine.
"That's one way to approach it," he said lightly. "Though I've seen more… assertive leads handle this differently."
Jay didn't react. She listened. Took notes. Adjusted her explanation.
The consultant smiled, satisfied.
Keifer didn't move.
He let the conversation continue. Let the room settle. Let the pattern emerge.
Then he spoke.
"Assertiveness isn't the metric here," he said calmly. "Results are."
He turned to Jay. "What were the outcomes from your last implementation?"
She answered. Clear. Precise.
Keifer nodded. Then looked at the consultant. "If you're questioning leadership style, do it with data. Otherwise, you're just decorating an opinion."
The smile disappeared.
No raised voice.
No tension theatrics.
Just authority, exercised cleanly.
Afterward, Jay walked back to her desk, pulse steady this time. Keifer passed by, slowing just enough to speak.
"This," he said quietly, "is what we talked about."
She glanced at him. "Smart and terrible?"
"Exactly," he replied. "Still accountable."
Jay smiled to herself as he walked away.
The chaos she'd feared hadn't vanished.
But it had boundaries now.
And for the first time, she trusted that no matter how clever someone was—
crossing a line would always matter more than how useful they were.