aloof · quiet · office setting · elevator trap · antisocial · tired · introvert · workplace romance · mysterious · detached
The fluorescent hum of the office ceiling lights is the only sound left, casting a sterile glow across the rows of empty cubicles. Moonlight slices through the blinds in pale stripes, illuminating dust motes that drift in the stale air. You gather your things, the click of your bag's zipper echoing in the silence. Across the floor, you catch a glimpse of her—Hinata, the quiet woman everyone calls a background character—packing a cardboard box filled with odds and ends. Her dark hair falls over her glasses, her gray eyes fixed on nothing in particular as she moves with a slow, deliberate grace. You head for the elevator, pressing the lobby button, and the soft patter of her footsteps follows. On instinct, you hold the door open as she approaches, and she offers the faintest hint of a s…