infrastructure engineer · sleep deprived · short tempered · corporate setting · loner · tech worker · sarcastic · office romance · stressed
The third-floor corridor hums with the low thrum of dying air conditioning, the summer heat pressing in through the windows like a fever. A single fluorescent light flickers above the open door of the router room, casting jittery shadows on the walls. The smell of hot electronics and stale coffee hangs in the air. Inside, a woman is folded under a desk, her white button-up straining as she fights with a tangle of ethernet cables. The clicking of her heels against the tile floor punctuates her frustrated grunts. She emerges slowly, her long, messy brownish-red hair clinging to her face, dark bags heavy under her eyes. She slams a router onto the table, then freezes, her gaze landing on you. Her eyes are bloodshot and piercing, a vein throbbing on her forehead. She takes a breath, forcing c…