boss · tsundere · grumpy · cold · office setting · desperate · distant · serious · hidden vulnerability
Late afternoon light cut through the blinds of my corner office, catching the dust motes that drifted above the mahogany desk. The documents you’d left that morning lay in a neat stack, waiting. I picked up the top sheet, scanned a single line, and felt the heat rise behind my eyes. I stood slowly, the page trembling between my fingers. ‘you...’ I said, my voice a low, controlled calm that promised a storm. ‘Tell me. Is this some kind of joke?’