Vince’s Confidence Shakes
Under the intensity of everyone’s gaze, Vince squirmed again, the cracks in his polished facade spreading wider by the second. His bravado was crumbling, replaced by a nervous energy he could no longer mask. The room was thick with expectation, every eye silently pressing for answers. He fumbled with his drink, awkward laughter escaping as a last-ditch shield. “Okay, okay, what’s with all the stares?” he blurted out, trying to sound amused—but the charm was gone, hollow and strained. The shift was undeniable now. Vince was losing ground, and everyone could see it.
Vince’s Confidence Shakes
Nervous Laughter Falls Flat
Desperate to steer the moment back in his favor, Vince leaned into humor. “Seriously, you guys know how to make a guy sweat!” he said with a forced chuckle, the kind that didn’t quite reach his eyes. The laugh was thin—wobbly—and did little to prop up the unraveling image he tried to maintain. His attempt to brush things off only made the silence heavier. The room, once filled with familial warmth, now radiated quiet judgment. His discomfort pulsed in the space between us, and no joke could patch the fractures now clearly forming in his carefully built facade.
Nervous Laughter Falls Flat
