-POV Derby
The office was too quiet.
Not silent — people still typed, printers hummed, phones rang with the usual rhythm — but the noise had changed. It had become careful. Polished. Like everyone had agreed, without saying a word, to walk on glass around me. No one stared outright. No one whispered loud enough for me to catch the words. They just… watched. Smiled a little too politely. Stepped aside a little too quickly when I passed their desks.
I sat at my cubicle, laptop open, the integration report glowing on the screen, but the words refused to stay in focus. My fingers rested on the keyboard without moving. The uneasy feeling from yesterday had settled deeper overnight, wrapping around my ribs like invisible wire, pulling tighter every time the clock ticked forward.
Everything w
