Gemotions

"Well, this is just peachy," Maria muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. The email, emblazoned with a bold, celebratory logo, had just landed in her inbox. A merger, they called it. She called it a total betrayal.

She slammed the laptop shut, the sudden noise echoing in the quiet office. Her palms were damp, and her breathing felt shallow. This job had been the only constant in her life for the last eight years. Now, this rug was pulled out from under her.

She rose abruptly, pacing the small confines of her cubicle. She felt a burning need to do *something*, anything, to channel the boiling rage within. "Merger," she repeated under her breath. It was a word that tasted like ash.