Gemotions

Liam's knuckles were white as he gripped his beer bottle. The music, a saccharine love song, seemed designed to torment him. Across the dance floor, Sarah, his ex, swayed in the arms of another man. He pictured her as he knew her: smiling, laughing, the life of the party. He felt bile rise in his throat.

He excused himself from the conversation he was in, knocking over a chair in his haste. He needed air, needed to get away from the suffocating spectacle. Outside, the night air was crisp and cool. He took a long drag from a cigarette, the ember a small, angry beacon in the darkness.