The Holo Earth

Chapter 14

As Liam wandered through the maze of short-walled cubicles, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Settling into his chair, he couldn't help but grin at the thought of the potential windfall awaiting him. He pulled out his phone, fingers trembling slightly as he checked his messages.

Calvin's voice boomed across the office. "Two weeks in Cancun, baby! That's how you do it!" From across the walkway, he could see Calvin leaning back in his chair, arms spread wide, a smug grin plastered on his face as the others rolled their eyes and hunched lower over their keyboards.

Calvin's voice grated on Liam's nerves. Calvin made no mention of how Liam's loan was helping to fund his vacation, and ignored the fact that Liam couldn't afford such a trip himself.

Then his phone buzzed. An offer of $47k for the radio knob. Liam's breath caught in his throat. Something in him knew it was worth more. A surge of confidence he couldn't explain filled him as he typed: "For $55k, it's yours."

As he hit send, he noticed his coworkers fanning the air in front of their faces and shooting annoyed looks toward Ray's office. Then an overpowering aroma assaulted his nostrils, making him wrinkle his nose. The smell of mrouzia wafted through the office. Liam knew the dish well - lamb cooked with honey, almonds, and an array of potent spices. Ray's breakfast, no doubt.

Ray had once again brought his strongly scented food into the shared space. It wasn't just the smell that bothered him; it was Ray's complete disregard for anyone else's comfort. The man seemed to live in a bubble where only his own culture mattered.

Trying to distract himself from the overpowering aroma, Liam turned to his computer and pulled up his stock portfolio. His eyes widened in disbelief. Gray Cougar stock had skyrocketed, increasing twentyfold overnight. Liam's $7,000 investment was now worth $140,000.

For a moment, Liam sat frozen, staring at the screen. Then, with trembling hands, he initiated the sale.

As the confirmation came through, a wave of emotions washed over him. Relief flooded his system, followed quickly by a surge of excitement that made him want to jump out of his chair. Then came the disbelief - had he really just made over $130k in a single morning? A touch of guilt crept in. Was this too good to be true?"

As the initial shock wore off, Liam's thoughts turned to his coworkers. Imad was on a two-week vacation, and he'd overheard Calvin bragging about his upcoming time off next month. With his newfound financial cushion, Liam felt a surge of hope. Surely, he could take some time off too?

Buoyed by optimism, Liam drafted his vacation request and made his way to Ray's office. The smell of mrouzia grew stronger. Imagining Ray's sausage fingers covered in greasy stinky broth made his stomach churn.

Ray's shirt buttons strained against his protruding belly. The office chair groaned in protest as he shifted his weight. "Vacation?" Ray scoffed, reaching for another piece of bread with grease-stained fingers. "With Imad gone and our workload increasing? Not a chance, Liam. In fact, I need you to put in some overtime to cover Imad's quota."

Liam's shoulders slumped, his earlier excitement evaporating like mist. He clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to argue as he turned away from Ray's office, his footsteps heavy as he trudged back to his desk. The thought of quitting still filled him with anxiety. A memory of Calvin's monumental blunder made him wince; somehow, he'd managed to delete an entire week's worth of carefully gathered test data and bug reports from the shared server. The team had to recreate all that work from scratch, pulling long hours to meet their deadline. Yet, as always, Calvin had talked his way out of any real consequences.

Retreating from Ray's office, Liam made his way to his secret sanctuary, a spot under the stairwell where he often went to collect his thoughts. As he sank down onto the cold floor with the cleaning supplies around him, at least he was comforted by the quiet here. And at least the smell of bleach was better than the smell of that dead sheep.