Gemotions

The fluorescent lights in the office hummed, a sound that usually faded into the background, but today it grated on Amelia’s nerves. Across the room, David, the other candidate, was laughing, his voice a little too loud, a little too carefree. He was probably regaling someone with a story about his weekend, probably something charming and easily digestible. Amelia clenched her jaw, feeling a familiar tightness in her chest.

She slammed the file she was holding onto her desk, the sudden noise making two other people jump. She didn’t apologize. Her fingers tapped a restless rhythm against the cheap plastic surface.

The email from HR, announcing the decision, arrived with a sickening thud in her inbox. She could practically feel the congratulations being offered across the office to David. His winning smile, the carefully crafted persona. She wanted to scream.