Gemotions

The cramped apartment felt stifling as Maya held the letter. It was a draft to a potential employer, written years ago, detailing the myriad reasons she felt she deserved the job. The bravado, the exaggerations, the desperate pleas for validation… they made her stomach churn.

She paced the length of her tiny living room, the letter clutched in her hand. The image she'd tried to project, the polished professional, crumbled under the weight of her younger self’s insecurities. It felt like an invasion of privacy, this glimpse into her past ambition. She hated the way she tried to sell herself and felt shame that she ever had to.

She flung the letter onto the floor. It was a reminder of her past failures. She kicked it under the couch, hoping it would disappear. The memory of the interview, the crushing disappointment when she didn't get the job, resurfaced, sharp and bitter.