Gemotions

The coffee tasted like ash. Clara pushed the mug away, the ceramic rim scratching against the desk. Across from her, David, the new intern, was meticulously taking notes, his pen gliding smoothly across the page. Her own pen felt heavy, useless.

Why was she here? She had been a part of this team for nearly a decade. She knew the ins and outs of this place, the hidden quirks, the unspoken rules. Suddenly, it was all scrambled, jumbled. Everything was wrong.

She struggled to maintain a semblance of composure, her smile a fixed, tight line. "Okay, so the first step is to…" Her voice trailed off. She couldn't remember. The words were there, somewhere, trapped behind a wall she couldn't break through. She looked at David, his eager face expectant. She felt a cold sweat prickling her skin.