He wondered why Lena had refused to sign the updated weekend schedule at the diner the week before.

At half past seven, fluorescent lights hummed up near the ceiling of the Apex Logistics office.

Michael sat at his metal desk going over shipping schedules for the regional fleet.

The numbers swam together on the bright monitor.

Carla came out of her corner office with a green plastic folder.

She dropped a thick stack of coffee-stained quarterly budget sheets on Michael’s desk.

“Thursday’s route projections are completely wrong,” Carla said in her crisp business language.