Samuel’s workplace was clean, efficient, and always slightly too bright. The kind of place where conversations happened in conference rooms with glass walls and words like *bandwidth* and *expectation* were used as though they were measurable units of the soul.

He had done good work there for years. He was dependable, organized, and respected. Which was why, when his supervisor asked him to step into the office late Tuesday afternoon, Samuel already sensed the shape of what was coming.

The door closed softly behind him.

His supervisor folded his hands and got right to the point.

“We’re restructuring the schedule,” he said. “We’ll need more flexibility from key people. Some evenings. Some weekends. Maybe more on short notice.”

Samuel listened without interrupting.