Cut the Cable

The thunderstorm had been raging for three hours when Elena found herself in the breakroom with Marcus—the man whose promotion she'd been passed over for last month. She was peeling an orange, the citrus scent sharp and acidic against the sterile office air.

"You're still here?" Marcus asked, leaning against the counter. His tie was loosened, his sleeves rolled up.

"Couldn't concentrate," she said. "The building's old, the power keeps flickering. And my internet's down. The cable company says tomorrow."

"Mine too." He gestured toward the window, where lightning forked across the sky, illuminating the rain-streaked glass in sudden, violent flashes. "Nature's way of telling us to log off."

Elena laughed bitterly. "Right. Because I wasn't already questioning every life choice that led me to this cubicle at 10 PM on a Friday."

Marcus studied her. "I didn't take your spot, you know. I recommended you for the Senior Director role."

The orange peel fell from her fingers. "What?"

"Corporate went another direction. Said you needed more 'polish.'" His voice was dry. "Their word, not mine."

Another flash of lightning, closer this time. The overhead lights buzzed and died. They were plunged into darkness, illuminated only by the storm beyond the glass.

"Polish," Elena repeated, the word tasting like ash. "I've given them seven years."

"Maybe," Marcus said, his silhouette moving closer in the dim light, "it's not about polishing. Maybe it's about breaking something else entirely."

He reached out, his hand brushing hers where it rested on the counter. The contact was electric—not from the storm outside, but something else entirely. Something that had been humming beneath the surface of their forced proximity, their competitive lunches, their sharp exchanges in meetings.

"I'm leaving," she said suddenly. "Not the breakroom. The company."

"Good." His fingers interlaced with hers. "I'll write you a recommendation. A real one this time."

She finished peeling her orange in the dark, and when she finally bit into it, it was the sweetest thing she'd tasted in years.