Gemotions

The musty smell of the secondhand bookstore clung to Amelia's fingers as she flipped through the pages. Another dud. Most of the books were dog-eared, the stories tired. She'd been on a mission, seeking a distraction from her sister's upcoming wedding, a saccharine affair she was already bracing herself for.

Her fingers brushed against something stiff. A letter, yellowed with age, fell from a copy of *Pride and Prejudice*. Amelia picked it up, her lip curling slightly. Someone’s secret. What a cliché. She scanned the faded script, her gaze flitting across the flowery prose.

“Oh, spare me,” she muttered, tossing the letter onto the stack of rejected books. The wedding, she thought, would be far more agonizing.