Gemotions

He stared at the bright, glossy magazine spread. "Chef Leo's Legendary Lemon Bars." A wave of nausea churned in his stomach. The recipe belonged to him. It was a secret passed down through his family. The recipe was the only thing he had that he could give. It was a connection to the past, the only solid ground he felt he had.

He’d always felt stuck in his small town, his life defined by his family's bakery. The lemon bars were his escape, his way of expressing himself. To discover his recipe had been stolen, and was being celebrated by someone else, filled him with a potent mixture of anger and a strange, unfamiliar sadness.

He felt the gaze of the customers in the bakery. They needed him. He needed to keep going. He needed to keep making the recipes.

“More lemon bars, please!” his sister called from behind the counter. He took a deep, shaky breath, and started mixing.