Chapter 3: Outside The Glass
The cool afternoon breeze hit my face the moment I stepped out of the Apex Tower, sweeping across the concrete plaza and cooling the hot flush in my cheeks. I pulled a small compact mirror from my leather handbag, flipping it open to inspect the damage. My lower lip was swollen, a jagged split right across the center oozing a tiny bead of dark red. I pressed a tissue against it, wincing slightly as the abrasive paper touched the raw skin. Across the revolving glass doors, I could see Elena through the tinted panes, still standing in the lobby, barking orders at the head of security. She looked untouchable in her black asymmetrical dress, but I knew the cracks were already spreading beneath her feet. I hailed a cab at the curb, sliding into the worn leather backseat and giving the driver the address of a quiet diner three neighborhoods away. My phone buzzed in my pocket continuously—three emails from corporate HR, two missed calls from mid-level managers testing the waters, and a text from Marcus, the former chief financial officer who had been ousted just a week before I was. Marcus’s message was simple: Are you bleeding yet? I typed back a single word: Yes. He replied instantly with an address to a diner on Fourth Street. The cab pulled away from the curb, merging into the dense downtown traffic. I looked down at my gray business suit jacket, noticing a faint smear of marble dust on the sleeve. I brushed it off deliberately, watching the city blur past the window. Elena thought she had won by throwing me out of her lobby, but she didn't realize that being locked out of the building meant I no longer had to play by her rules. The documents I had copied before my keycard was deactivated were safely encrypted on a flash drive resting against my collarbone.
