"This contract is the most demanding we've taken on this quarter," the operations manager announced to the room, tapping a thick folder against the conference table. "It'll require overtime. Late nights. Weekends. But the budget allocation is generous and the bonus will reflect the effort. Does anyone want it?"
"I'll do it."
Every head in the room turned. My colleagues stared as though I had pulled a gun at a christening. The operations manager, a sharp-eyed woman named Lorena who had always treated me with quiet respect, hesitated.
"Mia, what about your husband? And you're expecting, aren't you? We assumed you'd be taking leave soon."
"Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage." The words left my mouth flat and clean, like a blade drawn from its sheath. "I won't be needing any leave."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Lorena dismissed the others with a terse nod, and one by one they filed out, none of them meeting my eyes. When the conference room door clicked shut, it was just the two of us beneath the cold fluorescent light.
"Mia." Lorena folded her hands on the table, her expression careful. "I'm sorry if I'm overstepping, but is everything alright between you and your husband?"
She studied me for a moment, then continued.
"You're an exceptional worker. I've wanted to recommend you for a promotion for some time, but I assumed you wouldn't want to be separated from the family here. There's a position at the main office in the capital. The Valducci-adjacent operations." She said the name carefully, unaware of the bitter irony it carried. "I was wondering if you'd want to relocate."
A gentle, broken smile touched my lips. "Thank you for considering me. I would love to."
Surprise flickered across her face, but she pressed on, and something in her expression shifted to reluctance.
"Actually, my husband was at the Southwest lounge last night. He overheard Don Xavier talking with his crew."
I saw her hesitate, her fingers tightening around the pen she held. I nodded for her to continue.
"He was talking about the baby." She lowered her voice as though the walls themselves were listening. "Saying that since you're an orphan, you probably wouldn't know how to raise a child properly. He told his people he'd asked someone, a woman named Vanessa, to help him with the baby when it came."
She paused, and the regret in her eyes was genuine.