Gemotions

The music faded into background noise as Michael saw her enter the room. He took another drink, the alcohol burning a familiar path down his throat. He saw the way she laughed, the way she interacted with her new partner.

He fixated on the gifts, the expensive china, the crystal glasses. He thought about all the things he *didn’t* have, all the things she now enjoyed with someone else. He felt a deep, gnawing dissatisfaction.

He went to the buffet table and began to stack his plate, ignoring the polite chatter around him. He needed to *take*, to have, to fill the vast emptiness within. He felt an intense need to prove himself.