Another week passed in a quiet, merciful blur.
Willow threw herself into work with surgical precision, early mornings bleeding into late nights, coffee cooling beside her keyboard, and the steady rhythm of typing that felt more reliable than her own pulse. Her department was running on fumes and adrenaline, pushing to finalize the healthcare inventory interface upgrade before shifting focus to the next major contract.
She had promised Malik that the rollout would be flawless before the Star Engineering proposal meeting next week. That promise translated into long evenings, black coffee, and the soft hum of monitors long after most of the office had emptied. She did not resent the pace. Busyness was armor, and noise left no space for ghosts.
