The Pyramid of Empty Suits

Elena stood before the floor-to-ceiling window on the forty-second floor, the corporate **pyramid** spreading beneath her like a glittering graveyard of ambition. At forty-six, she'd finally clawed her way to the corner office, only to discover the view was exactly the same—just more expensive.

Her phone buzzed. Another **cable** news alert about market volatility. The bulls were running scared today. She'd married a bull once—Marcus, with his stubborn convictions and inability to admit when he was wrong. The divorce had cost her half her assets, but gained her back her soul.

"Ms. Chen?" Her assistant's voice crackled through the intercom. "The 3 PM is here."

Elena adjusted the fascinator she'd worn to the morning's memorial service—a black **hat** with a veil that still felt like armor against the world. Her mother's favorite. The woman who'd warned her: "Don't become one of them, Elena. The top of the pyramid is just the loneliest place to die alone."

She hadn't listened. Now she understood why her mother had kept seventeen cats, each named after a dead president. Company that couldn't leave you.

The door opened. A young man entered, maybe twenty-five, with eyes that hadn't yet learned the art of strategic blinking. He wore a suit that cost three months of rent, and she wanted to scream: Run. Before you start believing the climb means something.

"Ms. Chen," he said, "I wanted to discuss—"

"The restructuring." She completed his thought. "I know. I signed off on it this morning."

He blinked—once, genuinely surprised. "But... my team's project showed twenty percent growth."

"Growth is a pyramid scheme, David. Someone always pays."

The cat collar around her wrist—her daughter's gift, somehow meaningful though she couldn't say why—felt suddenly tight. She missed being young enough to believe that corporate ladders led somewhere worth going.

"Your team," she said, "has two weeks. Then I recommend you find something real."

He didn't understand. He would, in time. She watched him leave, another bull entering the ring, and wondered if her mother had been right about the cats.