The First Task

Elma didn’t sleep much that night.

Every time she closed her eyes she saw Catherine’s face, Joseph’s lie, and that sticky note on her desk. _Welcome to hell._ The words were burned into the back of her eyelids, sharper than they had any right to be. She’d crumpled it and thrown it away, but it hadn’t gone away. It sat in her chest like a stone, heavy and cold, settling lower every time she breathed.

She lay awake staring at the ceiling, listening to the sound of the building outside, listening to her own breathing. The mattress was thin. The room was quiet. But her head wasn’t. It replayed the lobby, Catherine’s smile, the way Joseph’s name had moved through the floor before she even sat down.

She was here though. Inside Hayes Corp. Past the revolving doors, past the lobby, past the judgment. And she wasn’t leaving until she cleared her name. Not for Joseph. Not for Catherine. For herself. For the version of her that still believed she deserved more than being thrown out and forgotten.

At exactly 8:58 AM she was at desk 47. Two minutes early. She didn’t trust herself to be on time. On time meant late here. The flickering light was still flickering, the same erratic rhythm as yesterday, like it was mocking her for coming back. It hummed low, a sound that got under your skin if you stood still too long.

Linda gave her a nod as she passed with a cup of coffee, steam curling up from the lid. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she was here. She was always here.

Don’t let them see you sweat, Linda said quietly, not stopping. That’s rule number one. If they see you sweat, they know they’ve got you.

Elma nodded. She didn’t have time to answer. Her hands were already moving, opening the drawer, checking that the sticky note was still gone, setting her bag down like she had a right to be here. Like she belonged. Even if the desk said otherwise.

Rule number two came ten minutes later.

Elma, Catherine’s voice cut across the floor, sharp enough to make three people flinch. My office. Now.

The words landed like a command. No preamble. No warning. Just the name and the order.

Elma stood up and walked over. Her legs felt heavier than they should have. Linda didn’t even look up this time. She kept typing, but her shoulders were tense, her jaw set. Everyone was watching though. She could feel it—the weight of twenty pairs of eyes pretending to be on their screens. The quiet was worse than the noise.

Catherine’s office was cold. No small talk. No greeting. The glass walls made it feel like she was on display, even with the door closed. The city stretched out behind her, but Elma didn’t look at it. She kept her eyes on Catherine.

Catherine tossed a thick folder onto her desk. It hit with a heavy thud, pages shifting inside, the sound echoing in the quiet room. She pointed at it like it was a weapon.

These are client files from last quarter. They need to be sorted, scanned, and logged into the system by end of day. If one page is missing or misfiled, you’re gone. Understood? No second chances. No “I didn’t know.” No mistakes.

Elma picked up the folder. It was heavy. Hundreds of pages. The paper was worn at the edges, some sheets stuck together with old coffee stains, some curled from humidity. The smell of dust and old ink rose up as she shifted it. It smelled like work that had been put off for too long and handed to the person who couldn’t say no.

Understood.

Catherine leaned back in her chair, studying her. Her expression didn’t change, but her eyes were sharp, calculating. Oh, and Okonkwo? No help. No excuses. If you can’t handle it, say so now. I don’t have time for people who waste it. I don’t have time for people who can’t keep up.

Elma didn’t answer. She didn’t give Catherine the reaction she was waiting for. She didn’t let her see the way her hands tightened around the folder. She just turned and walked out, folder held tight against her chest. The door clicked shut behind her, and the floor seemed to exhale.

Back at desk 47 she opened the folder. Receipts, contracts, emails. All mixed up, no order, some pages upside down, some clipped together in the wrong groups. Names didn’t match dates. Dates didn’t match files. Client codes were missing. It was a mess. A deliberate mess.

This wasn’t a task. It was a setup. It was designed to break her before lunch. It was designed to make her fail where people were watching.

Linda leaned over, low enough that only Elma could hear. Her voice was barely a whisper. That’s Catherine’s way. She gives new people impossible work and waits for them to quit. She’s done it before. Three last month. Two the month before that.

Elma didn’t look up. She started sorting. Fast. Methodical. She separated receipts from contracts, contracts from emails. She made piles on the desk, on the floor, anywhere she could find space. Her hands moved without stopping, fingers numb from paper cuts she didn’t have time to feel. The paper was rough against her skin, the edges sharp.

She worked through the noise. Phones ringing. Keyboards clicking. People talking in low voices about things that didn’t concern her. She blocked it out. She had to.

At lunch, she didn’t go to the cafeteria. She could hear it down the hall—voices, laughter, the smell of hot food drifting up through the vents. Her stomach twisted, but she ignored it. She ate at her desk and kept working. A granola bar, half a bottle of water. She chewed mechanically, eyes on the papers, hands sorting. Quitting for food wasn’t an option. Not today.

By 3 PM her hands cramped. Her fingers ached around the edges of the paper, stiff and sore, the joints protesting every movement. By 4 PM her eyes burned from the screen and the flickering light overhead. She blinked hard, forced herself to focus. The letters blurred and sharpened, blurred and sharpened. Mistakes weren’t allowed. One missing page and she was out. One misfiled contract and Joseph would have what he wanted.

At 5:55 PM she dropped the last file into the scanner and hit submit. The machine whirred, slow and loud, like it was protesting too. The light passed over the page, slow, deliberate.

Done, she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else. The word felt foreign in her mouth. Foreign and earned.

She sat back in the chair. Her whole body ached. Her back, her neck, her hands. But the folder was empty. The system showed 100% uploaded. No errors. No missing files.

She walked back to Catherine’s office and set the folder on her desk. She didn’t drop it. She placed it carefully, aligned with the edge, like she was placing down proof. All files sorted, scanned, and logged. Check the system. It’s all there.

Catherine looked up, surprised. It flickered across her face for half a second before she smoothed it out, locking it back behind that practiced mask. That was fast.

Elma met her eyes. She didn’t look away. She wouldn’t give her that. I don’t quit.

Catherine’s jaw tightened. A muscle moved under her skin, but she didn’t speak for a long moment. Her fingers tapped once against the desk, once only. We’ll see about that. Get out.

Elma left without a word. Her legs felt shaky, but she kept them steady. She walked through the glass door and back into the open floor with her head high. She wouldn’t give Catherine the sight of her stumbling.

On her way back to desk 47, she passed Nathan in the hallway. He was out of his doctor’s coat now, in a dark suit that made him look more like the rest of them and less like the man who’d stopped her in the street two days ago. He stopped her with a hand held up, not touching, just enough to make her pause.

You okay? he asked. You look exhausted.

I’m fine, Elma said. Her voice was hoarse from not speaking all day. Just working.

Nathan studied her for a second. His eyes went to her hands, red and raw at the knuckles, then back to her face. He saw it. He always saw it. Catherine gave you the client files, didn’t she?

Elma nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. If she opened her mouth, something raw might come out.

That was a test, he said. And you passed.

Elma almost laughed. The sound caught in her throat and came out wrong, broken. Didn’t feel like passing.

It never does, Nathan said. His voice was quieter now, low enough that only she could hear. Be careful, Elma. Catherine doesn’t forget. And she doesn’t forgive. And she doesn’t let people get comfortable.

He walked away before she could answer, leaving her standing in the hallway with her heart pounding for a different reason. Not fear. Not this time. Something else. Something that felt like warning and something that felt like recognition.

Back at her desk, Linda was waiting. She leaned over the divider the second Elma sat down, eyes wide, voice low.

You actually did it, Linda whispered. Nobody finishes that in one day. Not alone. Not without help. Not without someone covering for you.

Elma just shrugged. Her shoulders ached. I had to.

Linda shook her head, disbelief and something like respect mixing in her expression. You’ve got guts, kid. I’ll give you that. But guts get you noticed. And around here, being noticed isn’t always safe. The higher you climb, the harder they push. The harder they push, the more they look for a reason to pull you down.

Elma didn’t answer. She was too tired to answer. She started packing up her things, slow and careful, like if she moved too fast something would break.

As if on cue, Elma’s computer pinged. A new email. The sound was sharp in the quiet of the dying office. Most people had left. The floor was emptying out, desks going dark one by one, the hum of computers winding down.

She clicked it open. Her hand hovered over the mouse for a second too long before she did it.

No subject. No sender.

Meet me at the parking garage. Level B2. 9 PM. Come alone.

Elma stared at the screen. The letters didn’t change. They didn’t disappear. The cursor blinked next to them like it was waiting for her to respond. Like it was waiting for her to make a mistake.

Her first day wasn’t over yet.