Is it possible to die from nervousness? I cleared my throat as I pulled on the collar of my sweater, trying to let some cool air in. Rows of cubicles loomed before me and uncertainty of where I was supposed to go stuck in my throat. The sound of phone chatter and the clacking of keystrokes on keyboards filled the air. My heart was pounding and my palms were coated in sweat, making it hard to hold onto my briefcase. “Hi there!” A woman ten years older than me stepped into my path. Everything about her was round from her face to the adorable polka dotted skirt she wore. She spoke with a soft tone, holding out her hand with a warm smile. “Welcome to Winthrow Financial.” I was surprised to find that I actually felt a bit of relief. The woman's beaming smile and pleasant tone of voice seemed genuine, putting me a little bit at ease. “Hi, I'm...” I began to respond. “Jane.” The woman finished the sentence for me. “You're Jane, right? The ne

Carter's secretary showed me to my new office when I arrived the morning. Her name was Cindy and she wasn't particularly friendly. I guess I couldn't blame her, though. I had this feeling that she had probably been trying to get a job like this for most of her career and I just showed up and stole it right in front of her eyes. On the one hand, I felt bad about it. At the same time, I couldn't help but beam with excitement. Still, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that it was all just some kind of fluke. Maybe the stars aligned or something. How was it, that just a few days into my career, I was already sitting in a corner office with a great view? I ran my fingers over the surface of my smooth mahogany desk, which wrapped around me in a half circle. The walls of the office were covered in book shelves. I planned on filling them up with books on stocks, bonds, mathematics and maybe even hide a romance novel or two in there for days when I wasn't busy. This is the

Monday morning came and I was exhausted. I'd tossed and turned for hours the night before. The clock had mocked me with each passing hour and eventually I just got out of bed. There was nothing I hated more than laying there and trying to sleep. I guessed that my sleeplessness had something to do with a restless mind. My thoughts had been turning ever since the week before when I had had lunch with Maddy. I kept thinking about what she had said, about how she would have done anything to sleep with Carter. It made me wonder if I should have been thinking the same way. I mean if there was ever a chance for me to hook up with a billionaire playboy then this was it. I'd never be this close again. When Carter stepped into my office that morning, I smiled wide but he could see the tiredness in my eyes. “You look exhausted, Jane,” he said, with his usual upbeat energy. “Long weekend?” “No, nothing like that,” I said, before taking a quick sip of my coffee. “

It was only a random Wednesday night, but for some reason, I felt like celebrating. I grabbed the bottle of Cabernet that my mom had sent me a few weeks before and poured myself a glass. I sat down in my overstuffed couch, kicking my feet up onto the coffee table. Things were really coming together for me. My job was going infinitely better than I could have ever hoped for. My apartment was finally decorated and unpacked. I had made a few friends at work. I had a lot to be grateful for. “Here's to things working out,” I said to myself, holding my glass in the air. Nobody was there to do the cheers with me, but I didn't care. I was far too happy to be brought down by that fact. I let out a long breath, letting myself sink deep into the cushions. My phone rang in my pocket and I pulled it out to see an incoming call from my mom. It was her ritual to call me just about every day and I wondered if she'd ever let me grow up. I answered of course, though.

When we got back to work, the TV was on in the lobby. I stopped, the familiar tickers scrolling by with numbers that usually got me excited. That wasn't what I was looking at, though. The CEO of New York Solar Company was on, and he was about to deliver a press conference. Nerves twisted in my core. Maddy paused, then touched my shoulder. “I'll catch up with you later,” she said. I nodded, but never turned from the television screen. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the man started. “I know there must be some questions about what happened this morning. We believe it to be a question of the big players in this market finally taking notice of us. Fortunately, we have a multi-year head start on this technology, and our patents make our methods proprietary.” I snorted, right there in the lobby. I had told Carter that they would say that other companies were trying to bully them out, but the notion that their tech was proprietary was ridiculous. I could think of two compan