Gemotions

"Another late night, darling?" Chloe’s voice was clipped, devoid of warmth. Her words hung in the air, an icy reminder of the emotional distance that had settled between them. She was exhausted. Physically, yes, but her exhaustion ran far deeper.

He'd discovered the manuscript in a locked drawer. The book, "Shadows of the Past," described a woman perpetually haunted by the ghosts of her childhood. The book's protagonist, "Iris," was a portrait of self-loathing.

Chloe's head throbbed. He’d spent years telling her she overreacted, that she was making things up. Reading the book, she realized he'd been cataloging her reactions. The very parts of her he loathed had become fodder for a story.

She felt a hollowness, a complete and utter emptiness.