Gemotions

The fluorescent lights of the accounting department hummed, a sterile soundtrack to Elias's new reality. His desk, a stark island in a sea of focused faces, felt particularly isolating. He swallowed, the back of his throat suddenly dry. He'd tried to join the after-work coffee run, but the conversation had flowed around him, a river he couldn't seem to wade into. He picked up a pen and pretended to study the quarterly reports, but the numbers blurred before his eyes.

He ate his lunch alone at the corner table, watching the others laugh and share jokes. The silence in his ears was a heavy weight. He imagined his old department, the casual banter, the shared jokes, a world he'd been abruptly ejected from. His stomach twisted. He pushed his half-eaten sandwich away, suddenly without appetite.