Clearing her throat, she took it from the top:

“This housing crisis won’t be solved by a couple rent-controlled units in yet another luxury—”

Behind her, a junior staffer opened the conference room door, ruining the take. The tripod shook slightly as Alex paused the recording.

“Clara, I’m filming something. What do you need?” She made a point to soften her harsh tone mid-sentence, making the question sound a little strange.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Clara slipped into the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

“It’s okay.”

“This will only take one second, I promise.” She was wearing the unofficial summer uniform of the Worker’s Horizon Party’s junior staffers: a party tee shirt, cutoff denim shorts, Birkenstocks. Alex was only thirty-two, but her business casual outfits were starting to make her feel like the RA of the office.

“No problem.” Alex sighed, closing out of the video app on her phone. “What’s up?”

“Nate told me I was supposed to be taking over analytics while you’re gone, but we never talked about it.” Clara pulled out her laptop, her hands shaking slightly.

“I thought he was going to talk to you about it last week,” Alex grumbled, grabbing her own computer and sitting next to the nervous new employee. “We’ll go over it now. It’s not complicated.”

Before she realized what was happening, her open browser betrayed just how much she’d been procrastinating, herself. There was a tab for the luxury company chartering their boat, a tab for each port on their itinerary, a tab for the hotel in Cyprus where the wedding would take place, and a tab for an upscale clothing boutique she absolutely loved—and absolutely couldn’t afford.

Clara cleared her throat, obviously having noticed what was on the screen. “Your trip sounds so cool. I can’t believe you’re living on a boat for ten days.”

“Same,” Alex replied, moving over to a fresh window. It definitely didn’t align with the party’s values—going on such a luxurious bachelor trip for her best friend—and Alex felt an acute embarrassment imagining the whispers that were undoubtedly bouncing around the office.

“My best friend from college is getting married,” she justified. “He lives a pretty crazy lifestyle.”

“Sounds like a good friend to have.”

“Yeah, he’s great.”

An awkward silence began to accumulate, so Alex pushed on. “Anyway, let’s talk analytics.”

Clara dragged her eyes away from the computer screen. “I basically know how to do it. I just don’t want to mess anything up while you’re gone and have to message you or something.”

“Please, I’m fully throwing my phone onto the highway on my way to the airport.” Alex smiled cheekily.

The young staffer looked even more nervous.