My promotion review for the regional director job was set for Tuesday afternoon.

I’d worked eighty-hour weeks since February to make it to the final interview.

I opened a new message and typed my manager’s address in the top line.

I wrote a three-sentence request for an open-ended leave of absence starting right away.

Hitting send meant giving up the promotion entirely.

I watched the blue progress bar crawl across the top of the screen.

The email vanished from my outbox.