Gemotions

The discovery left Iris speechless. She stared at the website, at the image of *her* invention, proudly displayed with a different name, a different company. Her heart pounded in her chest, a frantic drumbeat against her ribs. She couldn't breathe.

She stumbled to the living room and collapsed on the sofa. She picked up the remote, clicked the television on, and flipped through channels, searching for something, anything to distract her. The images flickered past, meaningless and empty.

She felt a hollowness inside her, a vast, echoing emptiness. Her hands trembled. Her phone rang, the sound jarring and unwelcome. She didn't answer it. The world had tilted on its axis, and she was falling.