Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to the source text’s treatment of addiction and domestic violence.

In Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Jolene Smith is an administrative technician in the accounting department at a regional office of retailer Supershops Incorporated. Now in her eighth year at Supershops, Jolene finds her work boring and her co-workers unpleasant. On her 33rd birthday, she receives an email reminder about an upcoming meeting, which she assumes is a surprise birthday party.

The sender of the email, Rhonda Staples, is a woman nearing retirement age who sits in a cubicle only a few feet away from Jolene’s. Jolene sends an email thanking Rhonda for the reminder. As is her habit, Jolene ends the email with a rude postscript that she types in white font, making it invisible to the recipient. On her way to the meeting, Jolene passes Caitlin Joffrey, who has worked next to Jolene in a parallel role for three years. The two share a petty, adversarial relationship.

Arriving in the boardroom, Jolene finds her boss, Gregory Hall, waiting for her, accompanied by Cliff Redmond, a newly hired human resources (HR) analyst. Gregory shows a printout of an email Jolene sent to Caitlin a few days ago, including a rude postscript that Jolene forgot to white out.