Vanessa has recently moved to a new city and has managed to make two friends at her workplace: Jamar and Priyanka. Vanessa is unaware, however, that Jamar and Priyanka used to date but have broken up a few months before her arrival. The breakup was kept quiet and not many people are aware of it, and the two maintain a professional relationship at work. 

One afternoon, Vanessa invites Jamar and Priyanka, along with another coworker, Leila, whom she had recently become acquainted with, to a dinner party at her home. During the event planning, Vanessa privately mentions to Leila that she has noticed some tension between Jamar and Priyanka and expresses her curiosity about whether there might be a history between them. Leila, who is actually a close friend of Priyanka, is aware of the past relationship and the breakup but has promised Priyanka to keep it confidential. Therefore, Leila carefully avoids validating Vanessa's suspicion and instead casually changes the subject.

At the dinner party, Vanessa notices that Jamar and Priyanka avoid interacting with each other. She observes, however, that Leila seems to speak individually with both of them at different times during the evening. Vanessa's home has a small garden, and at one point, she sees Priyanka stepping out to get some fresh air. A curious and concerned Vanessa decides to join Priyanka in the garden, using the moment to ask if she is okay. Priyanka, appreciating Vanessa's concern, decides to open up about her past relationship with Jamar, trusting Vanessa enough to handle the information discreetly.

Now Vanessa knows about Priyanka and Jamar's past, but she's unaware that Leila already knew. Vanessa did not see Leila speaking with Jamar earlier, so she assumes that Leila might be out of the loop regarding this secret. The following day at work, Vanessa finds herself in the break room with Leila and starts cryptically speaking about the complexities of office relationships, trying to gauge whether Leila is aware of Jamar and Priyanka's history without revealing her newfound knowledge outright.

What does each person (Vanessa, Jamar, Priyanka, and Leila) know about who is aware of the relationship history between Jamar and Priyanka, and how does this knowledge affect Vanessa's interaction with Leila in the break room?
Vanessa has recently been introduced to the nuanced interpersonal dynamics at her new job, coming to learn about Jamar and Priyanka's past relationship only after the dinner party. Prior to the revelation, she had a suspicion but no confirmation regarding the past between Jamar and Priyanka. Upon hearing the truth directly from Priyanka, Vanessa is now in possession of the sensitive information about the former couple. However, Vanessa is not aware of Leila's prior knowledge of this history; therefore, she believes she holds a secret that Leila might not be privy to.

Jamar, at this point, has no reason to believe that Vanessa is aware of his past relationship with Priyanka. His understanding remains that only people directly involved and their close confidants, such as Leila, know of the situation. There was no interaction at the dinner party that would alert Jamar to Vanessa's gaining of this knowledge.

Priyanka, on the other hand, has deliberately shared the secret with Vanessa and is under the impression that Vanessa will maintain her discretion. Priyanka is cognizant of Leila's knowledge of the relationship since Leila is a trusted friend who has been aware of the situation from the start.

Leila is the only one out of the four people in this scenario who knows that all involved parties are now aware of the relationship history, provided she successfully inferred from Vanessa's cryptic conversation that Vanessa became aware of the past relationship - an inference which, given the subtlety of Vanessa's approach, she may or may not have made correctly.

During the interaction in the break room, Vanessa approaches the topic with Leila tentatively because she is testing the waters while attempting to keep the conversation veiled enough to protect Priyanka's disclosure. Vanessa's intent is to decipher whether Leila is already aware without letting on that she, Vanessa, knows. If Leila fails to pick up on the hints and does not share her knowledge, Vanessa is likely to withhold further information to safeguard Priyanka's trust. Conversely, if Leila indicates awareness, Vanessa might feel more at ease discussing the topic more openly. Vanessa's behavior around Leila is circumspect due to her uncertainty regarding Leila's awareness, which impacts her communicative approach, pushing her to use indirect language and to avoid explicit references to the past relationship.