Gemotions

He clenched his jaw, the muscle there throbbing. It was the principle of it, really. Mark had always considered himself a practical, down-to-earth kind of guy. He wasn’t jealous, not really. But the sight of Mr. Henderson, his neighbor, pulling into the driveway in a vintage Aston Martin… It was enough to make Mark's knuckles whiten.

He'd spent all weekend repainting his fence, a project he'd been putting off for months. Meanwhile, Henderson had been “gardening” – a euphemism, Mark now realized, for overseeing a team of landscapers who were clearly being paid handsomely. The smell of freshly cut grass, usually a comforting scent, now filled Mark with a simmering tension.

Mark spat on the ground in a gesture of disgust. He felt a throbbing pulse in his forehead. He grabbed his phone and called his bank to check his balance, as if the numbers would somehow magically change.