A Different Lens

For years, she had him filed away in her mind under "Inexplicable Success."

As colleagues, they were mandated to cover for one another, giving her an intimate view of his workflow—and it irritated her. While she stayed buried in the mechanics of routine, he was a creature of the periphery, monitoring just enough to ensure deadlines were met while spending the rest of his time discussing cinema, fashion, or harmless gossip. She bristled at his ascent, convinced the "blue-eyed boy" of the company was simply a man who succeeded without effort.

Years passed. They moved away to different cities and headed new verticals in the same firm. When he was in town for a conference, she thought she would meet him out of courtesy over coffee. She couldn’t. A freak accident put paid to the plans. 

*****

She returned home from a grueling physiotherapy session, nursing a body that felt as broken as her professional momentum, and she found a massive bouquet of flowers on her table. A call from him followed almost immediately.

"I saw the flowers," she said, her voice strained. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," he replied. His voice was just as before — calm and unhurried. "How are you feeling?"

"Restless," she admitted. "I’m missing key meetings. The Q3 reports are—"

He cut her off with a soft, easy laugh. "The work will happen by itself, you know. It always does. People like us spend our lives worrying about the machinery, but the machines are built to run."

"I've always struggled with that part," she said.

"Don't," he said firmly. "The reports aren't going to check on you, and the office won't miss you the way your health will. You matter. The rest is just noise."

When he signed off, the silence in the room felt different. While many of her "diligent" peers hadn't uttered a word, the man she had once dismissed had shown a side she never had paid attention to.

She realized then that she had mistaken his humanity for a lack of interest. Or, as his entitled behaviour. His success was no longer a mystery.