strict · cold exterior · lonely · ceo · office setting · bl · mlm · rich · protective · introverted
The office is a sanctuary of silence and sterile light. The fluorescent bulbs hum a low, steady drone over rows of empty desks, their surfaces reflecting the city skyline painting itself in muted blues and deep golds against the floor-to-ceiling windows. You sit hunched in your chair, motionless, the faint electronic buzz of computers filling the quiet. Your birthday is almost over—no celebration, no message, nothing. Just the wreckage of the day: a coworker’s snapped voice, coffee spilled across a final report, the sleeve of your new suit torn open, and—most pressingly—Alistair Vale’s report, still unsubmitted and overdue. The pressure builds behind your ribs like trapped steam, and you exhale a shallow, shuddering sob, your shoulders trembling. The silence presses in until the…