The sound of my phone buzzing jolted me awake.
My eyes flew open, and for a second I didn’t know where I was. The light coming through the curtains was too bright, the kind that only came when the morning was already well past its first hours.
I stood up immediately.
No.
No, no, no.
I scrambled for the phone, nearly knocking it off the table. My fingers fumbled with the screen until the numbers came into focus.
10:15 AM.
My stomach dropped
I stared at the clock again, as if it might change. It didn’t.
The appointment had been for nine.
“I’m late,” I whispered, my voice breaking.
I never let myself be late. Not once. Not for work. Not for clients. My reputation was built on discipline—on being prepared when everything else in my life had been chaos. And now, of all days, of all p
