Gemotions

The silence in Sarah's apartment was oppressive. She sat on the couch, the cheap sofa fabric digging into her back. The framed photograph on the coffee table – a candid shot of her and Emily laughing on a beach trip – seemed to mock her. Emily, the "freelance writer" who was now… the CEO of a tech startup.

Sarah picked at a loose thread on the sofa. She had always prided herself on her ability to read people, to understand their motivations. Apparently, she was blind. She had always thought of Emily as a kindred spirit, a fellow struggling artist.

A coldness spread through her limbs. She replayed their conversations in her head, searching for clues, for hints. She found nothing. Just the carefully constructed image of a life lived on a shoestring budget, a life that apparently never existed.