Gemotions

The rhythmic clatter of the train against the tracks usually soothed Alex, but tonight, it only amplified the throbbing in his temples. He'd seen the texts on Chloe’s phone – innocuous, perhaps, but the tone, the frequency, the sheer secrecy of it all twisted the familiar knot in his stomach. He’d left the phone right where he found it, but the information was etched into his mind.

He skipped his usual stop and got off at a station he didn't recognise. He walked for hours, the biting wind cutting through his jacket. He didn't know where he was going, only that he needed to get away, to escape the suffocating feeling that had settled over him.

He ended up in a deserted park, the skeletal trees silhouetted against the dark sky. He sat on a cold bench, replaying the images in his head. The weight of it all made him feel impossibly small, a tiny figure lost in a vast and indifferent world. He found himself incapable of speech when he returned home.