Gemotions

She squeezed her husband's hand under the table, her knuckles white. The clinking of glasses and the murmur of conversation sounded like a roaring in her ears. Each carefully rehearsed phrase had evaporated from her memory, replaced by a suffocating fog of doubt.

She glanced at her notes, the words seeming to shift and blur before her eyes. They were meaningless, a collection of empty platitudes. She’d spent hours crafting the perfect speech, but now, faced with the reality of the situation, the effort felt utterly futile.

The spotlight found her, and she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She forced a smile, but it felt stiff, unnatural. The room seemed to tilt. The next few minutes would either be a success or a complete, devastating failure. There was no in-between.