Gemotions

The restaurant was too small, the tables too close. Clara, usually a picture of composure, felt her cheeks flush a fiery red. She kept avoiding looking at the pizza on her plate. Across the table, Leo, her witty and insightful online companion, was now just… Liam.

Liam, who’d just confessed he was the guy she’d accidentally spilled red wine on at her sister’s wedding last summer. The memory, a crimson stain on her otherwise flawless self-image, replayed in her mind with vivid clarity.

She couldn’t meet his eyes, the laughter lines she’d grown to adore from the photos now a stark reminder of her awkward gaffe. The silence was deafening. She wished she had never been so careless with her comments.