Gemotions

The cafe air, normally smelling of roasted coffee and hopeful conversation, felt thick and suffocating. Clara’s breath hitched. Across the small, wobbly table, Liam, with his perfectly sculpted beard and too-kind eyes, was explaining how "Sarah" had, in his words, "broken up with him last week." Clara's head swam. The way he kept touching his chest? Like he was trying to hold himself together. She knew that feeling. Her own hands were trembling so violently, she had to grip her water glass with both of them.

“She told me she was going away, you know? For a job,” Liam continued, his voice cracking. Clara choked on a sudden, sharp laugh. A laugh that came from somewhere deep inside that felt like a scream was trying to claw its way out. The thought of this woman, Sarah, skipping town? And for a job? What about their job? Their *relationship*? Her fingers were pricking as if needles were being stuck in them.

“A job,” she repeated, her voice thin and reedy.

Liam nodded, oblivious. “Yeah, it was really sudden. But… she’s, uh… she’s always been so driven.” The drive felt like a runaway train now, headed directly for Clara’s heart. She needed to leave.