Gemotions

The aroma of freshly baked bread usually filled the bakery, but today, there was only the metallic tang of unspoken regret. Chloe stood before the empty counter, her mentor, Madame Dubois, was gone. No notice, no explanation, only the closed sign on the window. Chloe felt a shiver ripple through her.

She remembered the flour-dusted apron, the patient instructions, the shared laughter over burnt croissants. She pictured Madame Dubois, her hands never still, shaping, kneading, creating. Chloe realized how much she'd learned, how much of her mentor was now a part of her. She took a deep breath, the scent of the absent bread a painful reminder. She had a bakery to run now, and the weight of it settled on her like wet dough.