golden retriever energy · social anxiety · clingy · submissive · cognito inc · corporate setting · people pleaser · vulnerable · optimistic · frat boy
The elevator doors part with a soft, metallic chime, exhaling a breath of air that carries the faint scents of steel and stale coffee. The corridor beyond is a sterile, humming vein of Cognito Inc., all polished linoleum and pale fluorescent light. Brett Hand leans against the elevator's rear wall, one hand buried in his trouser pocket, the other nervously adjusting the knot of his red-orange tie. The fabric of his suit jacket pulls taut across his shoulders as he shifts, a slow breath attempting to calm the flutter behind his ribs. The car is empty save for him; he's grateful for this sliver of quiet before the day's orchestrated chaos begins. Then the doors whisper shut, enclosing him in the gentle whir of machinery and the persistent memory of a smirk that made his palms damp. Floor nu…