The office was quieter than usual, the hum of the air conditioning providing a steady background to my thoughts. I made my way down the corridor, glancing at the familiar plaques on each door. Sarah’s office was halfway down, and as I approached, I noticed the door was slightly open. It was unusual for her to leave it that way, given her penchant for privacy.
Inside, her desk was a chaotic blend of scattered papers and a laptop blinking with unread messages. The scene was typical of Sarah, who managed to make her chaos look like a method. I hesitated at the threshold, wondering if I should intrude. Just then, my phone buzzed with a reminder for our meeting, set to start in five minutes.
I stepped in, my footsteps muted by the carpet. Sarah was engrossed in an email, her brow furrowed in concentration. She didn’t immediately notice me, so I cleared my throat gently to announce my presence.
“Oh, hey,” she said, finally looking up. Her eyes were tired, framed by the kind of circles that spoke of late nights and early mornings. “Can you believe this?” she gestured at her screen.
I moved closer, curious. The subject line of the email read: “Urgent: Project Reallocation.” My heart skipped a beat as I skimmed through the content. It was an official notice from upper management, detailing a sudden shift in project responsibilities. Sarah’s name appeared only once, buried in a paragraph that effectively cut her out of the project she’d been spearheading.
“I’m not sure what this means for us,” Sarah said, her voice barely a whisper. Her fingers tapped an anxious rhythm on the desk, a subtle sign of her unease.
The email was a quiet declaration of a power play, the kind that happens behind closed doors and sealed emails. I felt the weight of it, the unspoken words hanging heavy in the room.
“Did you know about this?” I asked, aware that my voice held more accusation than intended.
Sarah shook her head, her eyes still on the screen. “It just came in. I was hoping you might have some insight.”
I didn’t. The truth was, I was as blindsided as she was. But now, we were in this together.
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