Gemotions

The restaurant buzzed with laughter and chatter, but for Emily, the noise was a grating intrusion. Across the table, Chloe was regaling the group with tales of her jet-setting lifestyle. The latest? A "crucial" business trip to the Maldives. Emily watched Chloe’s animated gestures, the practiced ease with which she spun her web of lies, and felt her stomach clench.

It had taken a casual remark from Chloe's sister, overheard at a family gathering, to expose the charade. Chloe, it turned out, worked at a travel agency, not as a globe-trotting executive. The delicious aroma of the food in front of Emily was now repulsive. She put her fork down with a loud clatter.

Emily felt a flush creep up her neck. She could feel a pulsing behind her eyes, the familiar precursor to a headache. She had a sudden, overwhelming urge to leave, to escape the suffocating performance.