Gemotions

The elevator ride felt interminably long. Sarah clutched her coffee cup, her knuckles white. Professor Kim’s announcement - it hung heavy in her mind. Her carefully crafted research plan, the intricate path she had built with Professor Kim, now felt like a house of cards.

She got out on her floor and walked slowly down the hallway, each step deliberate, as if she were wading through thick mud. The familiar smell of the science building, usually comforting, suddenly seemed sterile, antiseptic. She had to talk to someone.

She opened the door to her lab, her breath catching in her throat as she saw a student. They were deep in conversation. Sarah was almost to them when the student smiled and moved on. So she had missed her chance. She closed her lab door and went to sit at her desk. The empty desk.