Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windows of the coffee shop, mirroring the storm inside Leo. He hunched over his lukewarm latte, the ceramic cup warming his cold hands. Sarah had always bragged about her glamorous career as an art curator. He'd envisioned her in hushed galleries, discussing masterpieces. Today, he’d seen her, scrubbing tables in a greasy diner. His chest felt tight, as if a weight had been placed upon it.

The familiar clatter of the shop didn't reach his ears. He focused on the droplets tracing patterns down the glass, each one a tiny world he couldn’t enter. He thought about their last conversation, about how easily he’d been misled. He felt a deep ache within him, a kind of emptiness that the coffee could not fill.