Gemotions

The anticipation had been a delightful torture, a slow burn of pleasurable expectation. She'd spent days meticulously planning her outfit, her hair, her perfect smile for the throng of admirers.

She stared at the phone. "Unfortunately, we've had to call it off." The words were bland, neutral, but they struck her like a physical blow. The party was supposed to be a validation of everything she thought she was.

Her perfectly manicured nails dug into her palms. The room, decorated in her favorite colors, seemed to shrink around her. She felt a sharp, stinging emptiness. All that effort, all that planning, now gone.