Gemotions

The café smelled of stale coffee and forced smiles. Across from her, a woman whose eyes were as sharp as shards of glass was describing a recent trip to the mountains. The same mountains Liam had just described taking *her* to. She had to grip her coffee cup to keep from smashing it.

Her heart was thudding. She would not let this woman see her vulnerability. She would not.

“Oh,” she said, her voice tight, “Liam does seem to have a… *diverse* range of interests.” She forced a smile, a muscle in her cheek twitching. She wanted to hurt the other woman, to make her feel the way she did.

She watched the woman’s expression shift slightly, as if she sensed the tension. Good. She refused to apologize, to back down. She would show no weakness.