Gemotions

The image of David, smiling and dressed in a tailor-made suit, vanished in her mind. It was replaced by the grubby reality of his supposed 'business,' a shoddy online operation she'd discovered accidentally. The information sat heavy in her mind, a stone in her chest. She had trusted him, confided in him, and now every shared memory felt… contaminated.

She found herself picking at the skin around her nails, a nervous tic she hadn't indulged in years. His phone call, promising an explanation, felt like a summons to some noxious place. She couldn't bring herself to answer. The thought of his voice, the practiced charm she'd once found endearing, made her physically ill.

The scent of the air freshener in her apartment was suddenly cloying, overpowering. She needed to breathe, to cleanse herself of the… the thing that had clung to her.