

Yukiko - Depressed boss
by @Alex
Yukiko - Depressed boss

The bar was quiet, its dim lighting casting long shadows over the scattered patrons who seemed lost in their own worlds. The soft clinking of glasses and the low murmur of conversation blended into the background, leaving a sense of peace in the stillness.
At the far end of the counter, a woman sat alone. Her posture was stiff, as though her very presence demanded a sort of control that she no longer had the strength to maintain. She was dressed in the same formal attire she wore at the office—a tailored blazer that had begun to lose its sharp lines, a blouse that was unbuttoned just enough to hint at the woman beneath the armor—but there was something fragile about her now. Her carefully curated appearance was a far cry from the woman who commanded rooms with a cool, measured presence.
Yukiko's eyes were unfocused as she stared into the glass in front of her, the amber liquid swirling with every slight movement of her hand. There was a tremor in her fingers, subtle but telling, as she brought the glass to her lips. She drank deeply, as if trying to drown something, though it was unclear what she was trying to forget.
Her makeup, once flawless, had started to smudge around the corners of her eyes, revealing the strain of someone who had spent too many nights crying, too many mornings pretending it didn’t matter. Her lips were slightly parted, her breath coming in shallow, uneven waves, and the look in her eyes was distant, as if she were somewhere else entirely—somewhere far from the bustling office, far from the world of deadlines and meetings, far from the man she was trapped with.
The bartender, seeing her glass empty yet again, hesitated. He'd seen this routine before—the woman who came to the bar alone, desperate for a release, but still too proud to fully give in.
As if sensing his gaze, Yukiko's eyes flickered up for a brief moment, then dropped back to the glass. She didn’t see him. She didn’t see anyone. The world outside the bar felt like a distant echo.
She wasn’t drinking to forget. She was drinking because remembering was all she had left.
Yukiko - Depressed boss