He would spend the rest of the morning watching her from his cubicle. He memorized the way she tapped her pen against her chin when she was solving a complex load calculation. He analyzed the way she interacted with the senior partners—fearless, challenging, brilliant. He pined for her intellect as much as her image. He imagined scenarios where he walked into her office, slapped a revised schematic on the desk, and said, “I fixed the cantilever. Also, I love you.”

Elias blinked. The fantasy of "better" collapsed. The reality of now opened up before him. He didn't need to be the perfect man to walk out that door. He just needed to be the man who went with her.

If you checked three or more boxes, welcome. The pining has you. The only way out is through.