Gemotions

He sipped his chamomile tea, the ceramic mug warm against his palms. The rain pattered gently against the windowpane of his study, creating a soothing white noise. He was surrounded by his books, the scent of old paper and leather filling the room. He'd been engrossed in a biography of a 19th-century explorer when the notification arrived. A friend request. His thumb hovered over the phone screen, the request from someone he vaguely remembered as being a terror in middle school. He felt a deep quietude, a sense of stillness settling within.