My Psychotic Boss

Delaney's Scare

Delaney sat down at her desk, her hands trembling slightly as she positioned them over the keyboard. Her smile, which had been plastered on minutes ago, vanished like a smudge wiped clean from glass. She exhaled shakily, trying to steady her breath, but her fingers betrayed her as she pulled out her phone under the desk.

Delaney (texting): Seren. I need to talk. Now.

Just inches away, Seren felt her phone buzz against the desk and glanced down. She picked it up, brow furrowing slightly at the message. She turned her head just enough to look at Delaney, whose wide, terrified eyes met hers instantly. It wasn't a playful look, or one of Delaney's usual attention-seeking glances. It was real. Raw. Scared.

Seren's eyebrows lifted, and she slowly tapped a reply. Seren (texting): What happened? Are you okay? Delaney read the message and typed quickly. Delaney (texting): Malrick called me in. Locked the door. Closed the blinds. Said weird stuff. Like threats but not exactly. Creepy.

Seren's lips parted, but she didn't say anything aloud. Instead, she typed faster. Seren (texting): What?? Are you serious? Do I need to report this?

Delaney's thumbs hovered, then moved. Delaney (texting): No. No. Please don't. He's the CEO's son. He'll twist it. I'll get blamed. He didn't do anything illegal. Just... off. Creepy. Dark.

A pause. Seren looked at Delaney again. She could see the faintest glisten of moisture in Delaney's eyes. Delaney swallowed hard and forced herself to sit upright, returning her gaze to her screen like nothing was wrong.

Another message came through. Delaney (texting): I think he's just really isolated. Like mentally unstable. He said some things the other night that stuck with me. He probably just needs... like, a push in the right direction. Help.

Seren read it twice. Something about the words felt wrong, but sincere. Delaney was trying to rationalize what happened, trying to make sense of a situation that clearly rattled her to her core. Seren responded slowly. Seren (texting): I don't know if that's something you, or we, should have to fix.

Delaney didn't reply right away. Her fingers hovered over her phone, but her gaze had become distant, like she was somewhere else entirely. Then she tucked her phone away and forced a tiny smile, nodding once to Seren like to say, It's fine. Let's move on.

Seren didn't believe it. But she nodded back anyway.

The clatter of keyboards returned to fill the space. Phones rang. Emails pinged. From the outside, it was a normal day at Velvore Foods. But at that little row of desks near the center of the floor, something unspoken had shifted. Malrick's door remained open, but he was nowhere to be seen.

And for the rest of the morning, Seren kept one eye on Delaney... and the other on the shadows behind the blinds of that office.