That's Not a NO

Chapter 12: Can You Handle the Flame?

She stared at the screen like it had personally betrayed her. Which, to be fair, it had.

"I'm going to scream," she whispered.

Ash appeared two seconds later, looking too calm for someone wearing mismatched socks. "Let me guess. File meltdown?"

"It's gone."

"Did you save to the drive?"

"I thought I did."

Ash squinted. "That sounds a lot like didn't."

"Ash, if you value your life—"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Let's bring in the cavalry."

Crystal arrived five minutes later with a USB like it was a holy relic.

"Backup copy. I made it yesterday because I don't trust you not to spiral."

Elise nearly cried. "Have I told you I love you today?"

"You tell me that every time I save your ass," Crystal said with a smirk. "Which is more often than it should be."

By the end of the day, Elise had everything back in place, plus two contingency versions, plus a printout that she taped under her desk like a weird data shrine.

"You're aware you're mildly unhinged," Josh told her as he watched her label a third folder with "ABSOULTELY FINAL FINAL V2."

"Mildly?" she asked. "Disappointed in your low standards, Navarro."

Ash leaned over her shoulder, pointing to the title. "You know the naming convention only works if you stop at two finals, right?"

"I live in a world of delusion and poorly timed optimism," Elise replied.

He laughed, then added softly, "You did good, Elle."

It hit her harder than she expected.

No big confetti moment. No parade. Just quiet acknowledgement. And him calling her Elle.

It mattered. But she acted like it didn't.

By 4 p.m., Elise had re-saved her project in five different formats and backed it up to three cloud services, one encrypted USB, and, possibly, a cursed flash drive Josh claimed he found in a parking lot.

"I've created a system so foolproof even I can't ruin it," Elise said, tapping her perfectly color-coded spreadsheet tabs like a proud engineer defying gravity.

Josh squinted. "Are your tabs named after emotions?"

"Yes. 'Rage,' 'Despair,' and 'Questionable Hope.'"

Ash peered over her shoulder. "Why is there one called 'Icarus'?"

"That's the scenario model where everything looks good until it crashes spectacularly."

Ash laughed. "That one's my favorite already."

Before long, Crystal gathered them into the break room under the guise of a 'post-project debrief'—but there was pizza. And cupcakes. And Kelly playing DJ with an ancient Bluetooth speaker that kept glitching like a haunted mixtape.

"We survived," Crystal declared, holding up a slice like a sword. "Mostly intact."

Elise sank into the couch with her box of cupcakes like she was preparing for war. "No offense, but if any of you say the word 'pivot table' before Monday, I will set your laptop on fire."

"Reasonable," Ash said, biting into a slice. "What about 'VLOOKUP'?"

"Die."

"Okay, now you're just threatening my entire love language."