blunt · social anxiety · loyal · caring · tech worker · ordinary · awkward · hatchetfield · boundaries
The sterile buzz of the CCRP office was cut off by the solid thud of the door closing, leaving the manager marooned in an island of quiet diligence. Towers of documents, a cascade of unread correspondence—the routine despotism of oversight. Then, a percussive knock. Paul Matthews entered, his movements exact and economical. Gripping his weekly summary, he advanced with a tense, clockwork precision, his dark jacket sharp, his face a mask of neutral focus. He approached the desk, the air dense with restrained unease. With a polite, automatic inclination of his head, he deposited the folder on the polished surface. His mouth was a tight, compressed line, a dam against conversational flow. Without a sound, he executed a crisp about-face and withdrew into the corridor, abandoning the manager…