Workplace Conflict Resolution

Sophie adjusted her glasses, fingers twitching around the edge of her lunchbox. The break room was five feet away, but her boss was already storming toward her cubicle.

“Sophie,” barked Miranda Sharp, Regional Director of Aggressive Energy. “You missed another deadline. Again. Do you even care about this job?”

Sophie blinked.

Miranda loomed over her. She was all curves and firepower—tight black pencil skirt, sky-blue button-up blouse stretched across her chest like a balloon about to burst, tie caught in her cleavage like a rope between mountains. Every time she leaned in, that tie swung dangerously close to violating workplace policy.

“I need results, not excuses!” Miranda shouted, slamming a hand on Sophie’s desk. “Do you even listen when I talk? Or are you too busy stuffing your face—”

Sophie’s eyes glazed.

Zoning out had been her defense mechanism since childhood. Too much yelling? Too much pressure? Her brain would just… click off. Like a screensaver. A calming blankness took over, and if her hands found snacks, so be it.

She reached into her cardigan pocket. Chocolate bar. Reflex.

Miranda was still yelling. Sophie didn’t hear it. All she saw were soft, jiggling shapes. That low-cut blouse. That swinging tie. The heat. The smell of coffee and perfume. Her chest tightened.

Her mouth opened.

Her hand didn’t stop moving, but the chocolate bar dropped to the floor, forgotten.

Before Sophie knew it, her arms were moving on their own. She grabbed something warm. Something soft. A scream rang out—cut short.

There was a loud gulp.

Then silence.

Sophie blinked.

She was on the floor. Her cream-colored cardigan was rolled up, and Her black skirt had ridden up. A massive, round dome pressed against her side like a wrecking ball under a blanket. Her thin frame somehow supported it. Years of binge eating had made her gut… flexible.

Her boss's tie dangled from the corner of her lips before following her down into Sophie’s gut.

Sophie stared at the ceiling, dazed.

“What have I done,” she whispered, laying a hand on the curve of her distended belly. It gurgled loudly in response.

Inside, something shifted.

"O man I'm in so much trouble"