Office

Mira Chen’s fingers hovered over her keyboard as she stared at the blinking cursor on her screen. The office around her hummed with the usual Monday morning activity, but something felt off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but an unsettling sensation prickled at the back of her neck. Shaking her head, Mira tried to focus on the task at hand. As the newest member of the IT team at Pinnacle Solutions, she was determined to prove herself. She’d only been here two weeks, and already she felt like she was drowning in a sea of unfamiliar faces and complex systems. ...

Lydia Reeves stood in the elevator, watching the numbers tick upward with metronomic precision. Her reflection in the polished doors stared back at her - immaculate blazer, not a hair out of place. She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders as the elevator chimed for the 37th floor. Show time. The doors slid open to reveal the bustling marketing department of Apex Innovations. Lydia strode purposefully through the maze of cubicles, nodding crisply to colleagues as she passed. Her heels clicked a staccato rhythm on the tile floor, announcing her presence like a drumroll. ...

Mira Chen stared at her computer screen, willing the numbers to change. The quarterly marketing report was due to the VP tomorrow, and the projections weren’t looking good. She massaged her temples, feeling a headache coming on. A light knock on her cubicle wall made her look up. Ethan from IT gave her a sympathetic smile. “Burning the midnight oil again?” “Hey Ethan. Yeah, just trying to make sense of these numbers before the big meeting tomorrow.” Mira sighed and leaned back in her chair. ...

Mira Chen’s fingers hovered over her keyboard, poised to enter the day’s first row of data. But something was off. The familiar beige walls that had cocooned her for the past five years were gone, replaced by an expanse of open space dotted with clusters of low-slung desks. Her stomach lurched. “What the…” she muttered, spinning in place. Other employees trickled in, equally bewildered. Some let out low whistles of appreciation, while others grumbled in confusion. ...