Gemotions

The elevator car seemed to shrink with every passing minute, trapping him in a suffocating bubble of stale air and the overbearing presence of Carol, who was babbling about her cats. He felt a rising tide in his gut, a physical reaction to the forced cheerfulness and the smell of her floral perfume.

He stared at the numbers above the doors, willing them to change. The flickering lights overhead seemed to amplify the sense of confinement. He felt a need to escape, to run, to be anywhere but here.

He took a sharp breath, trying to dispel the feeling that the walls were closing in, that he was being slowly, inexorably crushed. He swallowed down a lump in his throat.