Another Day Punch Novels & Stories

The accusation cut off mid-word. I let out a long, slow breath. "My position is simple. I want a divorce."

I have almos⁠t t‍h‌e ent⁠ir‌e day to kill be⁠fore I have to rep​or‍t back to work to⁠night. Re‌ali‌stically, I should be hunting for anothe‍r part-t​i‍me job during the day, somet‍hing anything tha‍t could bring in‌ more money. So far, t‍ha​t hasn’t gone w‍e‌ll.

"Payroll runs at three." "I know." "The director's loan clears this morning. It'll be in the account before noon." "I know." She nodded. They stood for another moment in the cold, two people who had just spent ninety minutes in a room answering difficult questions and had done it as well as it could be done, and were now standing outside in December with the rest of the day still ahead of them. "One week down," Adam said. "Two to go." Melissa adjusted the folder. "I'll see you at the office."

The room was quiet except for the low hum of the air conditioner. Beside me, Michael was still asleep. His loud snoring filled the room. I slowly tried to sit up and winced. My whole body ached. Not the kind of pain that leaves bruises or visible injuries. It was a deep pain inside my muscles and joints that hurt everytime I moved. A subtle reminder of the rough night I had. Slowly, I sat up on the bed and reached for my clock on the small table beside me. 7:14 AM. Today was my first day at Anderson Industries.

His hands shot up to clutch his head as if trying to hold himself together. "Why?!" He dropped to the ground, fists slamming against the concrete again and again. By then, it was not just anger. Something inside him had completely broken. Derrick reacted immediately, pulling me away from the garage. We left without looking back. I never found out what happened to Matthias after that. However, my life moved forward. With Derrick's patented technology and my company's established foundation, we built a fully integrated production chain. Costs dropped, efficiency soared, and the business expanded at an incredible pace.

About everything else. Hours passed. The room grew quieter. The palace seemed to settle into night. I glanced at the clock. 12:03 AM. I stretched slightly, my shoulders aching, but I kept working. I was close to finishing. Then my phone rang. Nolan. I hesitated before answering. “Hello?” “I didn’t get you a workspace for you to sleep there,” his voice came through, calm but firm. I blinked. “I’m almost done.” “For every day you spend past 10 PM in that workstation,” he continued, “you’ll have an extra day added to your fifty days.”

>3 Have a nice day or prolly night. 💜🤍 See ya all in the next chapter ..

--- The Next Day I woke up the next morning feeling drained, hoping for a quiet day to recover from the chaos of the charity event. But, of course, Andre Garcia had other plans. He called early, informing me about the grand launch of a new sister company, coupled with the 45th anniversary celebration for the corporation, all happening on the same night. There was no way I could catch a break, and he made sure of that.

My coworker Sally was such an energetic soul, and it’s one of the reasons I don’t particularly hate this gig. “You saw me yesterday and the day before that.” I remind her, and Sally pulls back from the hug to give me a puppy-eyed look, her expressive brown eyes shining through the curtain of her dark fringe. “Well two hours a day is not enough time, and you’re never free to hang out after work,” she whines, her bottom lip jutting out in a small pout.

Her usual routine tossing and turning didn't happen as she dozed off somewhat comfortable and woke up late. She thought about going into work and knew that she wasn’t all there today. Taking one of her nine thousand days off that she had built up seemed to be the best idea she could come up with. She sent her boss a text, Taking a personal day.