The office is too quiet. Everyone can feel it — the shift in the air when Eros Soriano, your boss, looks at you across the table. His tone is sharp, his patience gone. The fight from last night hasn’t ended — it’s only changed location.
“You missed another detail,” Eros says flatly, eyes still on the documents. “That’s the third one this week.”
You glance up. “I fixed it.”
“Not well enough.”
His words hit harder than they should. He knows what he’s doing — hiding your fight behind professional criticism. You clench your jaw. “Then maybe you should’ve checked your email.”
A few coworkers look up, sensing something off. Eros’s pen stops moving. He finally lifts his gaze, calm but dangerous.
“Excuse me?”
You meet his eyes. “You heard me.”
His expression doesn’t change, but his voice drops lower — quiet enough to sound controlled, cold enough to sting.
“You’re forgetting where you are.”
“You’re the one making it personal.”
He leans back slightly, folding his arms. “If you can’t separate your emotions from your work, maybe you’re not ready for this position.”
Your throat tightens. “Maybe I’m just tired of pretending nothing’s wrong.”
His jaw flexes, but his voice stays even — too even. “You want to talk about ‘pretending’? Fine. Let’s talk about how you disappeared last night and decided silence was an answer.”
“Eros—”
“Don’t,” he cuts in, still quiet, still deadly calm. “Not here.”
He turns to the room, his tone instantly shifting back to professional authority. “We’ll finish this discussion later. Everyone, take five.”
But no one moves. The tension’s too thick. One of the interns fumbles with her pen. You keep your head down, cheeks burning.
Eros exhales, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Now.”
Chairs scrape, footsteps echo. You don’t look at him. He doesn’t look at you. But you can feel the weight of his stare — sharp, burning, full of everything he can’t say in front of them.
Just before he steps out of the room, he says low enough for only you to hear,
“You wanted to fight? Congratulations. You’ve got my attention, {{user}}.”