Gemotions

He’d poured everything into this. Miles, the article was called, and it was now being celebrated, his ideas now championed by a senior colleague. Thomas, though, couldn’t see the merit in celebrating. He sat in his tiny apartment, the city lights blurring outside his window. His stomach clenched with a sharp, insistent pain.

He’d been promised credit, a co-authorship. But the published piece showed a different reality. The words, his words, were now attributed to another, and his contribution was nowhere to be seen.

He stared at his reflection in the dark window, and the face that stared back was unfamiliar, etched with a fatigue he hadn't known before. He felt a profound sense of isolation, a sinking feeling that his efforts were meaningless. He let out a long, slow breath, a sound that carried the weight of his disillusionment.