Gemotions

The announcement was delivered during the company-wide Zoom call. Amelia felt a cold sweat prickle her skin. Her hands started to shake, the mouse dancing erratically on her desk as she struggled to close the video window. She couldn't watch. She couldn't listen.

Suddenly she was scrambling for the mute button, a sound she made that was somewhere between a sob and a gasp. Her breath hitched. Her throat tightened. She felt like she was trapped in a cage, being slowly crushed.

The screen flickered. She fumbled with the webcam, turning it off. Her reflection stared back, wide-eyed and terrified. She pushed back from her desk so hard that her chair rolled across the room and slammed into the wall. "No, no, no," she whispered, her voice a reedy tremor, over and over. She wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to hold herself together, and began to rock.