By the time the office clock flicked over to 9:47 PM, MediaStream had settled into its after-hours hush. The kind of quiet that made every sound feel exposed. The soft whirr of computers. The occasional tick of the air conditioner. The distant elevator chiming somewhere down the hall like a reminder that the world outside was still moving without her.
Lily Price sat hunched at her desk, shoulders tight, eyes burning as she stared at a spreadsheet she already knew by heart. Columns of numbers blurred together, but she forced herself to go through them again. And then once more. Tomorrow’s presentation would decide everything. Six months of late nights, skipped lunches, weekends sacrificed to client calls. If she made even a single mistake, it would all have been for nothing.
Her reflection stared back at her from the dark window. Pale. Tired. Older than thirty should look.
