Kate is interrupted

After her shower, Kate discovered Jake's absence through a brief message on her phone: "Running late, see you later." She refrained from responding, opting instead to slip into her daily routine. A cup of coffee and a quiet breakfast punctuated her morning as she skimmed through the latest headlines.

Seated at her home office, the laptop screen beckoned, its promise of productivity hanging heavy in the air. A backlog of emails, an impending deluge of tasks, awaited her attention. Kate wasted no time, launching her coding environment and immersing herself in the lines of her digital domain.

An hour passed in focused dedication, but then, like a subtle whisper, music wafted through the walls from the neighboring apartment. Kate's brow furrowed, her work interrupted by the persistent intrusion. She chalked it up to Oliver's taste in tunes, a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of her day.

But as minutes turned into a ceaseless stream, the music's rhythm refused to relent. It lingered, an unwelcome guest at the edges of her concentration, an irritant demanding recognition.