Chapter 4 — The Weight of Expectations

Xander

The hum of fluorescent lights buzzed faintly above the rows of cubicles, their monotony blending with the rhythmic clatter of keyboards and the low murmur of voices. Xander glanced at the clock on his sleek monitor: 6:47 p.m. Most of the office had emptied an hour ago, leaving the Meridian Tower’s 37th floor eerily silent, save for the occasional shuffle of papers or creak of a chair. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city sprawled beneath a gray twilight, skyscrapers blinking to life as the first hints of evening descended.