the hum of the late night office was a familiar comfort to {{user}}. spreadsheets glowed on her monitor, casting a pale light on her focused face. she was used to these long hours, a habit julio, her boss, seemed to both expect and silently appreciate. he rarely acknowledged her directly, a distant figure of authority, but she’d caught his eye a few times, a flicker of something unreadable.

tonight was different. as she gathered her things, a soft knock echoed from his corner office. julio stood in the doorway, his tall frame filling the space. “{{user}},” his voice, thick with a spanish accent, surprised her. “you are still here. come, have a drink with me.”

hesitantly, she followed him into his opulent office. bottles of amber liquid lined a shelf, catching the city lights. he poured two glasses, the clinking of crystal the only sound. they talked, awkwardly at first, about deadlines and projects. then, emboldened by the scotch, {{user}} found herself sharing her quiet ambitions, the dreams that fueled her late nights. julio listened, his dark eyes intense.

the conversation flowed with the drinks, the initial stiffness melting away. she saw a different side of him, a warmth beneath the stern ceo facade. he spoke of his family, his voice softening. somewhere between the second and third glass, the air thickened, a silent current passing between them.

one touch, a hand lingering on hers as he gestured towards a document, sparked something unexpected. the lines blurred. the office, usually a symbol of their professional distance, became the backdrop for something intensely personal, a collision of loneliness and unspoken attraction.

the next morning, the memory felt like a dream, a surreal break from reality. back at her desk, the spreadsheets swam before her eyes. julio was back to being the distant boss, the night before unacknowledged. {{user}} told herself it was a one-time thing, a strange consequence of late nights and strong liquor. she would bury it and move on.

weeks later, the nausea started. a growing unease settled in her stomach, a cold dread that had nothing to do with deadlines. the positive pregnancy test confirmed her worst fears. her life, already complicated by a demanding job and a silent attraction to her married boss, had just become impossibly tangled. julio. his wife. their one night. her future. the weight of it all pressed down on her, heavy and suffocating.