I hadn't even had time to catch my breath when a light tap sounded against the marble floor behind me.
"Selene Javis?" a woman called out.
I turned.
A brunette with soft curls and sharp brown eyes stood a few feet away, holding a slim tablet in her arms like it was part of her body.
Her smile was brighter than Caroline's — less polished, more... real.
"Hi! I'm Laura," she said, walking toward me.
"I'm in charge of onboarding you. You'll be stuck with me for a while."
There was a small lilt in her voice — not rehearsed or clipped like the receptionist's.
I instantly felt a little safer, even if some instinct in me whispered not to let my guard down completely.
I forced a smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Come on," she said, tilting her head. "Let's get you out of the line of fire."
I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I followed her anyway — grateful to be moving, grateful to let the chaos Jacob left behind cool down inside me.
Laura led me down a long hallway lined with glass offices and breathtaking views of the city.
Everything smelled new — like leather, expensive paper, and ambition.
"You met Jacob, huh?" Laura said after a few steps, glancing sideways at me like she already knew the answer.
My throat tightened.
"Briefly."
She chuckled under her breath. "That's about all most people survive the first time. Briefly."
I couldn't help the small laugh that escaped me — shaky but genuine.
"Don't worry," Laura added with a wink. "You get used to the intensity. Or you don't. And you fake it really, really well."
We stopped by a wide glass door.
She pressed her thumb against a small scanner and the door clicked open.
Inside was a modern lounge — sleek chairs, coffee machines that probably cost more than my dad's car, a wall of monitors streaming news channels on mute.
A few people glanced up when we entered but quickly looked away.
"Your induction starts here," Laura said, handing me a slim badge clipped to a lanyard.
SELENE JAVIS — TEMPORARY STAFF it read.
Temporary.
The word stung a little more than it should have.
I slid it around my neck and looked up to find Laura watching me carefully — not unkindly, but not casually either.
Like she was memorizing me.
"You okay?" she asked.
I swallowed. "Yeah. Just... a lot."
She nodded like she understood more than I was saying.
Maybe she did.
"This place," Laura said, lowering her voice a little, "it's not like anywhere else. You'll figure that out soon enough."
Something about the way she said it made my stomach turn.
It wasn't a threat.
It wasn't even a warning.
It was just... the truth.
"So," she continued, clapping her hands softly, "you're going to be assisting various departments for now. Learning the ropes. Feeling out where you fit."
"That's fine," I said. "I'm here to learn."
Laura smiled, but it was a little sad. "Good answer."
She walked me through a basic orientation — where the main conference rooms were, how to book private spaces, what floor the cafeteria was on.
Her voice was upbeat, efficient.
But every now and then, her eyes would drift somewhere distant, and she'd pause, almost forgetting where she was.
I realized something then.
Laura wasn't just my guide.
She was... stuck here too.
In her own way.
I didn't know why that thought unsettled me.
Maybe because it mirrored something raw inside myself — the feeling that I wasn't walking into a career.
I was stepping into something much bigger.
Something I couldn't see yet.
And somehow, some way, it was all tangled up in the questions I carried like scars.
Grandfather.
The explosion.
The lies we swallowed just to survive.
My chest tightened.
I blinked and realized Laura was watching me again, eyebrows lifted slightly.
"Sorry," I said quickly. "Just... overwhelmed."
She smiled — this time softer.
"You're not alone, Selene. Trust me."
For a second, I almost believed her.
We finished the tour on the sixth floor — a quiet corner of the building that overlooked the river.
The offices here were smaller, more personal.
"This will be your temporary space," Laura said, pushing open a glass door.
A neat desk, a slim computer, a small shelf of neatly arranged files.
Simple.
Deceptively simple.
"Get comfortable," Laura said.
"Someone will be down later to brief you about your first task."
I hesitated.
"Who?"
She shrugged lightly. "Could be HR. Could be... someone else."
Helpful.
She started to leave but paused in the doorway.
"Selene," she said, voice low enough that it barely carried.
"If you ever feel like you're drowning here... you can talk to me."
I stared at her — at the strange glimmer in her eyes — and nodded.
But deep down, I already knew.
No one was going to save me in this place.
Not Jacob.
Not Laura.
Not anyone.
If I wanted to survive Skype — if I wanted to uncover the truth that kept me up at night —
I had to save myself.