Gemotions

The break room was stuffy, smelling faintly of stale coffee and desperation. Sarah watched Mark, hunched over a microwave burrito, his shoulders tight. He looked exhausted, the kind of tired that seemed to sink into your bones. It had been a rough week, with the quarterly reports looming and the boss breathing down everyone’s necks.

"Hey," she said, her voice gentle, "that looks... underwhelming. You okay?"

Mark looked up, startled. He managed a weak smile. "Just surviving. You?"

She knew he was a vegetarian, a fact she'd picked up from a previous interaction. "There's a good vegan place a few blocks over. Fancy ditching this culinary masterpiece and getting some fresh air?" She noticed his eyes were bloodshot.

He hesitated, then sighed. "Sounds... nice, actually."