Gemotions

He stared at the blank computer screen, the cursor blinking like a mocking eye. The task before him – writing – felt impossible. Words, once a source of solace, now seemed to elude him, replaced by a growing sense of futility. He pushed back from his desk, the chair scraping against the floor, the sound grating on his nerves. He felt a pressure building in his head, a headache looming.

He heard a knock on the door, then a woman entered, holding a mug. As she reached to put the mug on the desk, he saw it. The slight, almost imperceptible tremor in her hand that he had been trying to suppress all day. His breath hitched. He knew.

"You, too?" he asked. The woman just looked at him with an answer he already knew.