Gemotions

The emergency lights bathed Clara in an unsettling red hue. It mirrored the flush that bloomed across her chest. She kept adjusting her collar. Her colleague, Kevin, was fiddling with his phone. She could almost taste the bitterness. Only this morning, she had overheard him talking, the soft tone in his voice dedicated to someone else.

Her chest clenched. She forced a smile, but it felt brittle. His casual small talk, which she had always appreciated, now felt like a taunt.

"So," Kevin said, breaking the silence. "How about that presentation?"

Clara nodded slowly, unable to meet his gaze. The elevator's stillness was a giant, echoing space of the way he'd made her feel.