Isolated, Until I Read the Layoff List

Synopsis

"When is she finally getting kicked out?" "Probably soon. It's already been three months." Voices hummed quietly from the break room, but every word landed on me like a slap as I stood in the doorway, cup in hand. "I bet she's gone by the end of this week. Loser buys dinner." "Deal." I turned and walked back to my desk. My workstation was right next to the restroom, where a stale odor always lingered. I sat down, pulled up my computer, and kept working on my spreadsheet. No one knew what I'd been jotting down day after day for the past three months. And none of them had any clue how long the list was that I'd be reading out at the company annual meeting.