Arnaud Chien collapsed on the floor of the bathroom stall. The hot tears burned around the edges of his eyes as he felt the hot iron rod twist deeper and deeper into his abdomen. He tried his best to breath but each inhale was irrupted but abrupt gasps. This was the third time this had happened this week. He was confident it would not be the last.
Just five minutes prior, standing in the conference room of the telecommunications company he had called home for the past three years, Arnaud faced a room of smiling predators. They were hungry. He was not. The moment he opened his mouth to discuss next quarter’s projections, he already knew that he would be feeling the cold embrace of the cold, corporate tiled floors.
As the pain finally began to ebb away, Arnaud pushed himself up against the cold metal of the stall, his breath still ragged but steadying. He wiped his face with the back of his hand, the moisture mixed with sweat, tears, and the stark realization of his predicament. The job he once thought of as a ladder to his dreams had morphed into a cruel trap, springing shut with every attempt he made to climb higher. It was a cycle of agony, not just physical but emotional, tethering him to a place where his spirit was continuously crushed under the weight of expectations and relentless competition.
Emerging from the bathroom, Arnaud tried to recompose himself, straightening his tie and smoothing back his hair. The fluorescent lights of the office seemed harsher now, casting long, dark shadows that felt like omens. He knew he couldn’t show any sign of weakness; predators smelled fear, and fear was a luxury Arnaud could ill afford. He had to navigate this treacherous terrain with a facade of composure and confidence, all the while searching for an escape, a way out of this relentless cycle that threatened to consume him completely.
In the aftermath of the failed presentation, Arnaud sat in his cubicle, the dim light from his computer screen the only illumination in the growing darkness of the office. The building was almost empty, a silent mausoleum to ambition and greed. His boss had cornered him as the others left, his words sharp and laced with a cruel kind of understanding. “We all have to make sacrifices, Arnaud,” he had said, a wolfish grin betraying his feigned empathy. “You know you can’t afford to leave, and we can’t afford to lose you. Not yet. We’re a family here and it’d be such a shame to break that up” It was a thinly veiled threat wrapped in the guise of mentorship, a reminder of the chains that bound him to this place.
Arnaud’s thoughts drifted to the absurdity of his situation. Here he was, trapped in a cycle of exploitation, a cog in a machine that fed on his misery. The irony was not lost on him; the telecommunications giant he worked for boasted of connecting people, yet he had never felt more isolated. The company extracted every ounce of his energy, creativity, and time, rewarding him with a salary that barely covered his living expenses and student loans. It was a gilded cage, one that promised upward mobility but delivered nothing but perpetual stagnation.
As he pondered his next move, Arnaud realized the system was rigged against him. The deck was stacked in favor of those at the top, the ones who profited from the endless cycle of work and consumption. He understood now that his suffering was by design, a necessary component of a capitalist machine that valued profit over people. But this realization also sparked a flicker of defiance within him. He knew he had to resist, to find a way to break free from the chains of corporate servitude. Arnaud began to envision a life outside these walls, one where he could reclaim his time, his dignity, and his purpose. It would not be easy, but the first step in any journey of resistance was the recognition of the need to escape. And for Arnaud Chien, that journey had just begun.
Arnaud watched the clock on his desktop with immense scrutiny. Each passing minute was both a small victory and a prolonged stab to his intestines. Minute after minute. He waited. Arnaud knew that he needed to leave that gray purgatory but he also knew that it was this 40 hour a week distraction that was keeping his alive. His heart raced as he thought about the possibilities that freedom brings. He closed his eyes so tight he felt the familiar warmth of tears forming. “No. Not tonight. Don’t let today be the kind of day that makes you be that kind of person”, he thought to himself over and over again.
5:01. Arnaud reflexively stood up in front of his desk. His heart was racing. There was a part in the smallest, loudest, corner of his brain that had already decided what kind of night he was going to have. The adrenaline sent his mind into that recognizable fog. He was already two blocks away from the office before he even thought to worry if he had logged out of his computer for the day. Arnaud felt something burning inside of his as his feet, independent of his mind, propelled him down the street.
“Tonight’s not going to be that kind of night”
He truly was confident of that.
The evening air bit the sides of his cheeks as the sky fell comfortably into it’s dark blue facade. His feet were no longer moving. He stood silently as he stared into the glass of the store front. He studied the bottles of wine that he was never going to afford. He did not care. He wasn’t there for the wine.
“No! I’m not here for anything!”, he thought as one side of his brain argued with the other.
“It’s not going to be that kind of night”
Arnaud inhaled every bit of air on the sidewalk until the rhythmic temp0 in his chest subsided. He dragged the concrete pillars attached below his waste and continued down the road. He looked up at what had become a charcoal sky. He glanced at his phone which displayed two missed calls and the time. 5:11.
He paused for a moment. It was earlier than he expected. He calculated the amount of time he had left until he could reasonably go to sleep. He felt a soft beat building in his chest once again.
He took two steps towards home but stopped. There was a sharp twing manifesting in his back that seemed to grow with the quickening tapping in his chest. He looked over his shoulder and he felt that fog returning. A smile found its way onto his face. He accepted the battle had been lost long before he even stood up from his desk.