Gemotions

The expensive bottle of wine remained unopened on the counter. The celebratory mood he had planned for the evening evaporated with the sound of the phone ringing. He could hear his wife, Jessica, in the other room, speaking in a tone he hadn’t heard in years, a husky, flirtatious lilt.

His stomach twisted into a painful knot. He ran a hand through his hair, the gesture more frantic than calming. The joy, the expectation, the simple happiness he had felt moments before had been replaced with an icy dread. He felt a profound sense of displacement, as if he were suddenly a stranger in his own home.

He felt the sudden urge to flee, to escape this suffocating atmosphere, but his feet remained rooted to the spot.