Gemotions

The invitation was elegant, the handwriting impeccable. It had been delivered at the office, addressed to her maiden name. Sarah's hands became ice. A smile was plastered on her face as she spoke to her client, but her mind was a million miles away, replaying that disastrous first date, the misplaced confidences, the clumsy goodbye.

She excused herself and fled to the ladies' room. The metallic scent of the tap water did little to quell the rising panic. She splashed cold water on her face, but the image of *him*, his bewildered expression, remained vivid. She couldn't breathe properly. She felt small, exposed, vulnerable. She wished, with a desperate longing, that she could rewind time, erase everything.