THE RESET: A New Year's Eve Story PART 8 - MONDAY MORNING
Back at work, the real test begins.
Marcus arrived at the office at 8:47am, coffee in hand, trying to act normal.
Normal was harder than he'd anticipated.
He walked through the lobby, nodded at security, took the elevator to the fifth floor. The sales department. His home for the past six years.
Nothing had changed. Same gray carpet. Same fluorescent lights. Same hum of phones ringing and keyboards clicking.
But everything felt different.
He rounded the corner to the main bullpen and saw Becca at her desk. She looked up, caught his eye, smiled.
Not her usual competitive smirk. A real smile.
"Morning," she said.
"Morning."
He set his bag down at his desk, two rows over from hers. Logged into his computer. Checked his emails.
Jamal walked in ten minutes later. Stopped at Marcus's desk.
"Coffee?" he asked.
"I have coffee."
"I'm making a run. You want a better one?"
Marcus looked at his cup. Then at Jamal. "Yeah. Actually, yeah. Thanks."
"Becca? Aisha?"
"I'll take one," Becca called out.
Aisha appeared from the break room. "Make it four. Diego and Claire just pulled in."
Jamal grinned. "One massive coffee run. Got it."
He headed for the elevator.
Two desks over, Rachel from accounting stared. "Did Jamal just offer to get you coffee?"
"Yeah," Marcus said.
"Voluntarily?"
"Yep."
"Are you dying?"
"Not that I know of."
Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Something's different."
"We had a good team-building weekend."
"Team-building doesn't make Jamal Williams get coffee for people."
Marcus shrugged. "Maybe it does now."
By ten am, the entire office had noticed.
The Apex Solutions Six were... nice to each other. Genuinely nice.
Becca brought Claire a donut from the break room. Claire thanked her. Out loud. With actual warmth.
Diego high-fived Marcus in the hallway.
Aisha and Jamal collaborated on a client pitch without a single passive-aggressive comment.
The rest of the sales department watched like they were witnessing a nature documentary.
"What happened to them?" someone whispered.
"I don't know, but I want to go to that retreat."
At 10:30, Kevin from B-team cornered Marcus by the copier.
"So," Kevin said. "How was it?"
"How was what?"
"The team-building. I heard you guys went to some fancy resort."
"It was nice."
"Nice how? What did you do?"
"Trust falls. Sauna. Team exercises."
"Who won?"
Marcus looked at him. "Won what?"
"The exercises. The competitions. You guys are always competing. Who came out on top?"
"Nobody. We all won."
Kevin blinked. "What?"
"We worked together. As a team. Everyone contributed. No individual winners."
"That doesn't sound like you."
"Maybe I'm different now."
Marcus grabbed his copies and walked away, leaving Kevin staring after him.
Similar conversations happened all morning.
Someone asked Diego about the weekend. He said, "We had a great time. Really bonded."
Someone asked Becca who the MVP was. She said, "All of us."
Someone asked Claire what the team-building activities were like. She said, "Transformative."
By eleven, rumors were flying.
"They got brainwashed."
"Corporate sent them to a cult."
"Something happened and they're all in on a cover-up."
At 11:15, the six of them were in the break room, making lunch plans, when Tom Morrison walked in.
Tom Morrison. VP of Sales. Their boss.
"Hey team," he said, smiling. "Got a minute? Conference room. All of you."
The smile didn't reach his eyes.
Marcus's stomach dropped.
They filed into the large conference room. The one with the big table and the windows overlooking the city.
Tom closed the door behind them. Gestured at the chairs.
"Please. Take a seat."
They sat.
Tom remained standing. Hands in his pockets. Looking at them with an expression that was hard to read.
"So," he said. "Sundrift Resort."
Oh god.
"How was it?"
Silence.
"It was great," Claire said finally. "Really great."
"Good. Good. I'm glad." Tom paced a little. "You know, I'm the one who recommended that place to Angela's temp when she was booking your retreat."
"You did?" Becca said carefully.
"Yeah. I went there with my wife. God, must have been five, six years ago? We had an amazing time. Just... incredible. So relaxing. So freeing." He smiled at the memory. "I told Angela's assistant, 'Send them to Sundrift. Best resort on the coast. They'll love it.'"
The six of them exchanged glances.
Did he know?
Tom kept talking. "The food was fantastic. The spa was top-notch. And the beach. Oh man, the beach at midnight on New Year's Eve. Have you ever experienced anything like that?"
"It was memorable," Marcus said.
"Memorable. Yeah. That's the word." Tom nodded. "And the sauna. Did you try the sauna?"
"We did," Aisha said.
"Isn't it great? So peaceful. My wife and I spent hours in there. Just... relaxing. Letting go of all the stress. All the performance. All the..." He paused mid-sentence.
His eyes went distant.
Then wide.
The color drained from his face.
He looked at them. Really looked at them.
They looked back.
The same expression on all six faces.
The expression of people who'd been in that sauna. Who'd been on that beach at midnight. Who'd done exactly what he'd done.
"Oh," Tom said quietly.
Silence.
"Oh no."
More silence.
Tom cleared his throat. Loosened his tie slightly. "Okay. Great meeting. Umm. Yeah. So... great meeting. I'm glad you all had a good time. Team-building. Very important. Builds... teams." He moved toward the door. "Now get back to work and I hope this team wins again next year. Great. Good. Okay."
He opened the door. Stepped out. Closed it behind him.
The six of them sat in stunned silence.
Then Diego started laughing.
Not quiet laughter. Full, gasping, can't-breathe laughter.
Within seconds, they all joined in.
Laughing so hard they were crying. Doubled over. Holding their sides.
"He SENT us there!" Becca wheezed.
"He had NO IDEA!" Marcus gasped.
"The look on his face!" Jamal couldn't even finish the sentence.
Claire wiped her eyes. "Oh my god. Poor Tom."
"Poor TOM?" Diego said. "What about us?!"
"We're fine. We survived."
"Barely!"
Aisha pulled herself together enough to speak. "You know what this means, right?"
"What?" Marcus asked.
"We have to win again. So we can go back."
Everyone stared at her.
"You want to go back?" Becca asked.
"Don't you?"
Silence.
Then Marcus smiled. "Actually... yeah. I do."
"Same," Claire said.
"I'm in," Jamal said.
Diego shook his head, grinning. "You're all insane."
"So is that a yes?" Becca asked.
"Yeah. That's a yes."
"Then it's settled," Aisha said. "We win this year. And next New Year's Eve, we're going back to Sundrift."
"Together," Claire added.
"Together," they all agreed.
They stood. Headed for the door. Back to their desks. Back to work.
But something had shifted.
The competition was still there. The drive. The ambition.
But now there was something else too.
Trust. Respect. The knowledge that they'd seen each other at their most vulnerable and hadn't flinched.
They were still the Apex Solutions team.
Just a different version.
The kind that got coffee for each other.
The kind that smiled in the hallways.
The kind that had jumped into the ocean together at midnight and come out transformed.
As they walked back into the bullpen, Rachel from accounting leaned over to her neighbor.
"I'm telling you. Something happened at that resort."
"Think they'll ever tell us?"
"Not a chance."
She was right.
Some things were just for them.
END OF PART 8 of 8
The Apex Solutions team will return this summer.
