A week passed, then another, and soon the day of the board meeting arrived.
Lavayla felt nothing.
Ever since the rumors about a new European designer joining the company began circulating, subtle shifts had taken place within the office. Conversations would quiet when she entered a room, glances lingered a little too long, and certain smiles carried meanings that were no longer hidden. It was the kind of undercurrent she would have noticed instantly in the past, dissected, and responded to with precise calculation.
Now, she did not care.
Her attention was occupied elsewhere, consumed by something far more pressing than office politics or shifting alliances. Simply existing in this illusion already demanded her patience, and on top of that, she still had to find a way to break free from it.
That alone was exhausting.
Everything else felt insignificant in comparison.
