Chapter 2: Lines of Recognition
314 Words
Inside the glass-walled office, Sevilla stopped.
“Tell me what you see.”
Athena looked out over the floor. Not rushing. Not performing thought.
“Busy,” she said lightly. Then after a beat, her tone sharpened. “But not consistent.”
Sevilla didn’t react.
“Strong performers are carrying most of it,” she continued. “The rest are maintaining, not pushing.”
“Why?”
“Pressure. Motivation. Usually both.”
“Which matters more?”
A faint smile touched her lips. “Depends on what you’ve already tried.”
That was it.
Sevilla held her gaze longer this time.
“Come to the two o’clock review.”
“Alright.”
No hesitation.
Just acceptance.
Bobby watched from across the floor.
Not fully intending to—but not looking away either.
Sevilla didn’t do this.
Not on a first day.
Not without reason.
And yet Athena didn’t look out of place beside him. She matched his pace without effort.
That was what stayed with Bobby.
As she stepped back out onto the floor, Bobby met her path.
“Ortaliz.”
“Carrero.” A faint smile this time. Subtle, but real.
“You move fast,” he said.
“I try to keep up.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
She met his gaze. “Then say what you meant.”
A breath of a laugh escaped him. “Sevilla doesn’t do that on a first day.”
“Do what?”
“Bring people in like that.”
Athena considered it. “Maybe he just wanted another set of eyes.”
“Maybe,” Bobby said.
But he didn’t believe it.
And neither did she need to.
As she walked away, he watched longer than he intended.
Not curiosity anymore.
Recognition.
“Definitely not average,” he murmured.
And for the first time that day, he paid full attention.
- Writer
