Chapter 1: Out of Office—Or Out of Luck?

Me: "Did you see the doc I sent in?"

Boss: "Yeah... I saw it."

Me: "So… you didn’t reply. Am I in trouble or what?"

He didn’t answer. I hated how my stomach did that freefall thing, like waiting for a grade I already knew was bad.

Me: "If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a yes. I’ll come by your office this afternoon."

Boss replied instantly: "That soon?"

Me: "How is that soon?"

Boss: "I need to think about it..."

A couple seconds later: "Is that okay?"

I said yes. Next thing I know, he’s out the door and the whole office gets three days off.

I sat at my desk, drumming my fingers on the Formica, thinking: Wow, they’re really pulling out all the stops to keep me.

My fingers tapped nervously on the edge of my desk as I stared at my phone. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, the AC humming its usual tune. Somewhere, the copy machine jammed for the third time that morning, and someone in sales was already microwaving fish again. For a second, it felt like the universe was spinning just for me.

1

That’s when all hell broke loose in the office.

One text from Marcus Reed—our boss—set off the chaos: "Go home, and take an extra three days off."

"Has the boss lost his mind?" Natalie, my desk neighbor, kept refreshing her phone like she was waiting for a celebrity tweet.

I clutched my phone, glancing around in disbelief.

So… does my resignation-earned time off count? Or is this just my unlucky day?

"The economy’s trash lately. Maybe the boss can’t pay us and is testing who sticks around?"

"Is this a sign of layoffs?"

"Right? When I went to drop off my proposal, I heard him whispering about layoffs. This is it, I’m telling you."

......

My heart turned cold halfway through the gossip.

If it’s layoffs, at least there’s severance, right?

Is it too late to unsend my resignation email?

Phones buzzed, break room coffee went cold, and no one even pretended to work. Natalie gave me those big, round eyes like I’d just set off a fire alarm. The IT guy peeked over his monitor and whispered, "I got bills, man. If this is severance, I hope it’s at least two weeks per year."