No missed notification.
Nothing.
I parked out front, balloons bouncing against the roof of my car, and walked up to the bay doors with the cake balanced carefully in both hands.
I expected someone to notice immediately.
They did.
Just not the way I expected.
Nobody smiled.
That was the first thing I noticed, before I even said a word.
A few of the guys looked up, then looked at each other, then looked away from me entirely, like they were waiting for someone else to speak first.
For a second, I wondered if I’d interrupted something serious.
The station wasn’t loud like I remembered.
No television blaring in the background.
No one calling across the room.
No stupid joke flying in my direction.
The air felt strangely still.
I tightened my fingers around the cake box.
