Gemotions

The news had hit her like a punch to the gut. Not because she particularly *liked* Professor Ramirez, but the abruptness of it. It was like someone had rearranged the furniture in her brain. One minute, she was expecting the usual weekly meeting, and the next, a mass email informing her that her advisor had accepted a position at a rival university.

A wave of nausea churned in her stomach. She pictured Ramirez, his perpetually optimistic smile. He was leaving behind all his advisees, his research. Did he even care?

She crumpled the email in her hand, the paper twisting into a tight ball. She tossed it into the overflowing trash bin beside her desk. The bin was a mess, like her own life.