The Lightning in Her Eyes

The office cat — a mangy tabby that someone had started feeding — sat on the windowsill, watching Elena with judgment in its yellow eyes. She'd been working on the same merger spreadsheet for six hours, her soul leaking out through her pores like sweat.

'You going to present this bullshit to the partners?' Marcus asked, leaning against her cubicle wall. He had that look — half-amused, half-exhausted. They'd been sleeping together for three months, mostly in conference rooms after midnight.

Elena rubbed her temples. 'It's not bullshit, Marcus. It's strategic.' Even she didn't believe it.

'Right.' He touched her shoulder, fingers lingering. 'Just like how you're definitely going to leave your husband next week.'

She flinched. The marriage had died years ago, but neither of them had buried it. They moved through the same house like zombies, ships passing in the hallway, nodding at each other over coffee. Eating dinner in silence while the TV murmured excuses for conversation.

Outside, lightning cracked the sky open. The cat vanished.

'My mother called yesterday,' Elena said suddenly. 'Asked if I was happy. I told her about the promotion, the new car, the vacation we're taking to Cancún.' She laughed, bitter and sharp. 'I sounded so convincing I almost believed myself.'

Marcus sat on her desk. 'So what's the truth?'

The truth was that she'd taken the bull by the horns once — fresh out of law school, hungry and fierce — and now she couldn't remember why she'd wanted any of this. The corner office, the salary that made her friends uncomfortable, the life that looked perfect from the outside and hollow from within.

'I don't know,' she said. 'But I think I'm going to start by deleting this spreadsheet.'

Marcus grinned. 'Revolutionary.'

'Join me?'

'Always.'

They walked out together. The storm had broken, rain washing the city clean, and somewhere in the distance, the cat was finding shelter. Elena breathed in the wet air and realized she hadn't felt this alive in years.