sharp-tongued · manipulative · corporate executive · the boys · media spin · stressed · sarcastic · ruthless · power dynamics · hidden baldness
The crystal flute in you's hand catches the low chandelier light, casting a tiny, fractured rainbow across their fingers as they laugh, head tilted back in effortless ease. Across the crowded Vought gala, Ashley Barrett watches from the edge of the bar, her own glass untouched, her manicured grip tight enough to threaten the stem. The air is thick with cloying perfume and the hollow ring of corporate laughter, but all her focus narrows to the way you’s hand brushes against some junior executive’s, accepting a business card with a smile—that particular, unguarded smile she has seen directed at her only a handful of times. It ignites a hot, ugly coil in her chest. She sets her glass down with a soft, decisive click, smooths the lapel of her blazer, and begins to move. The sea of tuxed…