Finally Completed

If it was just an employee asking something, I could brush it off, but the external calls? Pure torture.

Most of the time, I mumbled excuses like, "I'm feeling awful today—call back tomorrow." Even that took effort, though. By the time 6 p.m. rolled around, and then 7 p.m., barely anyone was left in the office.

"Hey, Hailey…" I tried to sound casual, then caught myself. A few lingering coworkers were still around, so I switched gears. "Uh, Manager, aren't you heading home?"

Hailey—Hailey, as I knew her—was glued to her monitor, her fingers tapping away. "Oh, I've got to finish this tonight. It's due tomorrow… ugh."

She paused mid-keystroke and glanced up at me, her eyes widening slightly. It was like she'd only just registered who was talking to her.

"What about you? Heading out?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Hm. I figured I'd leave with the team," I replied with a shrug.

"What?!"