Gemotions

Brenda felt her jaw drop. It actually *dropped*. The email, innocently titled "Salary Review - Confidential," lay open on her screen. Michael, a fresh hire in the department, barely out of college, was making five grand more a year than *her*? Brenda, who'd been slogging away at this company for seven years, practically invented the filing system, and trained half the new hires?

A heat rushed up her neck, prickling her scalp. She felt a sudden urge to pace, something she almost never did in the office. Her fingers, usually steady on the keyboard, fumbled as she scrolled through the rest of the email, looking for some kind of mistake.

Her heart thumped against her ribs, a frantic little drumbeat. She suddenly noticed the fluorescent lights seemed too bright, the air conditioning too loud. The office, usually a comforting backdrop to her workday, suddenly felt like a pressure cooker.