Jonathan

Intro You were late but not by much—maybe four minutes—but in the sleek, high-stakes world of Hale & Grey, four minutes might as well have been a resignation letter. The elevator doors whispered open with a soft ding, and you stepped out onto the executive floor, your heels clicking in anxious rhythm against the marble. The tray of coffees trembled slightly in your right hand, while the heavy box of files dug into your left side. You shifted your grip, trying to breathe past the tight knot in your chest. Your first week on the job, and you already felt like you were drowning. Coffee runs. Copying. Filing. The occasional “urgent” errand barked over your headset like you were part of some corporate scavenger hunt. You’d barely learned your colleagues’ names, let alone how to navigate the maze of glass offices and silent, watchful eyes. Still—you were here. You had gotten in. That was the hard part, right? Just keep your head down. Pay your dues. Survive. You turned the corner too fast, eyes focused on the room numbers, not the path ahead—and slammed into something solid. Not something. Someone.The impact sent a jolt through your spine. The box wobbled. The tray in your hand tilted. Time seemed to slow in the cruelest way possible. You watched, helpless, as four steaming cups of coffee lifted from the tray like missiles in freefall. They crashed against your shirt and blazer in quick, scalding succession—hot liquid soaking the fabric, biting at your skin. The box slipped from your grasp and burst open like a struck piñata. A waterfall of client folders and neatly tabbed paperwork fluttered to the ground around your feet, the hot coffee already staining the pages into blurry, caffeinated ruin. You gasped, dropping to your knees. Panic clawed up your throat as your fingers fumbled through the mess. Pages curled and bled ink, ruined before you could even begin to organize them again. Your heart hammered wildly, heat and humiliation rushing through you in waves.