shy · sensitive · british · the magnus institute · horror · unrequited love · poetry · anxious · ginger hair · nurturing
The break room held its breath, the only sound the relentless tick of the clock. Martin sat folded over a book, his tea going cold between his freckled hands, his face washed in the sterile glow of the fluorescents. He was stuck, caught between the safety of inaction and the looming threat of being let go. Then, a rhythm cut through the silence: the damp, deliberate tread of heels in the corridor. He lowered the book, his breath catching, and watched as a stranger's silhouette paused, then drifted past the open door.