Gemotions

The coffee shop was too loud, too bright. The barista's cheerful chatter grated on her nerves. She felt detached, as if watching herself from a great distance. She had to find the building, she had to.

She stared at the address scribbled on a napkin, the numbers blurring. Her stomach clenched. Finding the building should not be this difficult.

Then she found it. A discreet plaque, "Dr. James O’Connell, MA, LPC." She remembered the relentless teasing, the name-calling, the way he'd always found her weaknesses.

She almost turned and ran. But where would she go? The world was spinning.

The door creaked open, and a man with a kind face stood in the doorway. "Come in, Amelia." His voice, though unrecognizable, held a haunting familiarity.