Gemotions

The lukewarm coffee burned as Liam drank it down. Another all-nighter, another failed attempt to get the damn program working perfectly. He’d barely slept in weeks. A loud, boisterous laugh echoed from the other side of the office. He knew that laugh; it belonged to Chloe.

He glanced over, his gut twisting. Chloe was presenting her project on the large screen to the team. His project. *His* ideas. He felt the blood drain from his face.

The room seemed to shrink, the air growing thin. Every word she said, every animated gesture, was another jab in the wound. He noticed a crack had appeared in the ceiling and found himself staring at it.

He pushed his chair back, the sound of the wheels grating against the tile. He grabbed his coat, mumbled something about a headache, and fled.