Gemotions

The text from Chloe popped up on David’s phone: "Got the job! 🎉 So excited!" He tossed the phone onto the coffee table. The screen landed face down. He wanted to throw it across the room. He took a deep breath.

He knew he should be happy for her. They’d been through thick and thin together, supporting each other through every professional hurdle. But the feeling that swamped him was not happiness. He stood up abruptly, pacing the length of his small apartment. The walls seemed to be closing in.

He picked up the phone. His fingers fumbled with the screen as he was about to text her back, but the words wouldn’t come. He closed the message app, and stared at the ceiling. The ceiling was white, the color of a blank page. He wanted to write something, anything, to release the pressure, but all he felt was a vast, echoing emptiness.