Gemotions

"Is this some kind of joke?" Chloe’s voice cracked. She gripped the phone tighter, her knuckles white. On the other end, the editor's voice was smooth, dismissive. “It was a mistake, a clerical error.” A mistake? Months of work, her livelihood, stolen, and it was a mistake?

The blood roared in her ears. She dropped the phone on the table. The cheap plastic shattered into pieces. She didn’t care. She was living off ramen, barely making ends meet. This article was supposed to change things.

Her pulse hammered. She felt trapped, like a rat in a cage. She needed to do something, anything, to reclaim what was hers. She grabbed her keys, her hands shaking. This wouldn’t stand. She was going to see the editor. She’d make him… *understand.*