Gemotions

A sharp ache throbbed behind Clara's eyes. She kept replaying the email in her head, the polite rejection stinging like salt on a wound. They had both wanted this promotion, she and Liam. He had that easy charm, that way of connecting that always seemed to impress people.

She picked listlessly at a loose thread on her sweater. It was a familiar, unwelcome sensation: the leaden feeling in her limbs, the reluctance to even change the channel on the TV. The apartment, usually a haven, felt suffocating.

"Another day of nothing," she mumbled, staring into the dark screen of the television. She turned away and walked out the door and into the harsh sunlight.