Gemotions

He adjusted his tie for the tenth time, the silk cool against his sweaty palms. His palms were slick. The fluorescent lights of the conference room seemed to buzz with a predatory energy. The air hung thick, charged with an unspoken tension. He felt a creeping unease. He was about to present his findings on Project Chimera, and he had a terrible feeling.

The door burst open, and in strode Dr. Anya Sharma, his counterpart from the East Coast lab. She looked composed, calm. He had seen her presentation on the same topic, the one he had spent the last two years obsessing over. He’d seen the leak. He knew.

He swallowed hard, the lump in his throat making it difficult to speak. He tried to take a deep breath, but his lungs felt constricted. His carefully rehearsed speech, which had sounded flawless in the mirror this morning, now felt like a jumble of meaningless words. He wished he could turn around and run.