Julia pulled up her current project, “16 Ways Magnetic Eyelashes Will Change Your Life.” Clicking through the file, her thoughts drifted back to the conversation at lunch about how her own life might be ready for a change. Despite what she was promising in her article, magnetic eyelashes weren’t going to cut it.

She finished the eyelashes story and hit Send. Time to keep her promise. Julia slid from her chair and headed for her boss’s office door. While most of the TrendList staff worked in an open floor plan, some of the upper-level employees had offices. As Julia maneuvered through the beehive of coworkers, she tried to act calm, cool, and collected. But her heart was pounding and her mouth had suddenly gone completely dry. This was no good. She couldn’t have her TADA moment when she was like this.

Shifting direction, Julia circled back to her desk for her mug and then headed for the break room. She was going to keep her promise. Soon. After she’d had her traditional afternoon pick-me-up.

She plopped a compostable coffee pod into the machine and started it up. While waiting for it to brew, she closed her eyes and tried to plan out what she would say. But all her brain kept coming up with was the smartass shit she’d written on her notepad while at the restaurant. Beg. Cry. Plead.

“I think it’s done now,” a voice called from behind her.

“Huh?” Julia’s attention jerked back to the machine. “Oh, sorry.” Flustered, she quickly popped out the pod and grabbed her mug.

“Three p.m. slump, huh?”

Julia stared at the grumpy-faced cat on her mug, too embarrassed to make eye contact with the person behind her. She stepped out of the way, fiddling nervously with cream and sugar. “I know this stuff is terrible, but I can’t seem to break the habit.”

“I used to be the same, but now it’s only hot water for me.” The woman stepped forward, closed the empty pod chamber, and started up the machine again. “Sometimes I spice things up and add a slice of lemon.”

Julia almost dropped her coffee when she realized who she was talking to. Cleo Chen. Editorial director for the Chicago office of TrendList. Sweat prickled on the back of Julia’s neck as she watched her boss pull a protein bar from her purse. So much for planning what she was going to say ahead of time. This was punishment. Punishment for procrastinating on keeping her promise.

“I’m doing keto,” her boss said, unwrapping the protein bar. “Ever try it?”

“I wrote an article about it once. It wasn’t for me.” Julia cringed and mentally began compiling a new list entitled “Ten Ways to Fuck Things Up with Your Boss.”

Number one. Delay their access to the coffee machine.

Number two. Insult their dietary habits.