Viona was in a spectacular mood that morning—right up until a small mountain of paperwork materialized on her desk.
"Agh, the joys of playing catch-up," she groaned to herself. Burying her frustration, she dove into the files. Because she had been absent the day before, she spent the rest of the afternoon pushing her mind to its absolute limits, determined to clear the backlog before the day ended.
Meanwhile, across town, Ethan stepped out of an interview room into the warm afternoon sun. The news was good—excellent, even. He had been accepted, and his employment was set to begin the very next morning.
His first instinct was to call Viona and share the triumph, but he hesitated, his thumb hovering over her contact name. She's probably swamped, he thought, not wanting to disrupt her workday. I'll tell her tonight when she gets home.
