Gemotions

He found the flyer wedged under his door, the glossy paper practically sneering at him. He scanned the fine print, his lips pressed into a thin line. It was an affront, a slap in the face. All those years, paying rent, and now this? They thought they could just evict him? He crumpled the paper so hard it tore.

He grabbed his phone, dialing the number for the management company. The hold music, a jaunty tune, grated on his nerves. He tapped his foot, the sound a furious tattoo against the hardwood floor. When someone finally answered, he barked, "I want to know what this is about! This... this encroachment!"

The phone went silent. He thought about the landlord, about the way they’d never fixed the leaky faucet, about the condescending way they’d always acted. He'd lived here for twenty years! The injustice of it all tightened his chest.