Gemotions

He’d been cleaning out his late father’s desk. Arthur, a man of routine and quiet contemplation, hadn’t expected to unearth anything truly shocking. Then he found it: a letter, addressed to a woman he’d never heard of, dated from the summer before his parents married. His breath hitched.

He reread the lines, his eyes widening with each sentence. The confession of a secret, passionate affair. He felt a dizzying sensation, like the world had tilted on its axis. He slowly sat, the chair groaning under the sudden weight. His father, the stoic, reserved man he’d known, had held a hidden life? He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous gesture he hadn't realized he’d inherited.