Gemotions

He’d known this day would come, but seeing the listing still felt like a punch. Mark’s jaw clenched, and he pushed the laptop away, the sudden movement knocking over his coffee mug. He muttered a curse under his breath.

He rose and began to pace. The floorboards of his apartment, usually a comfort, now seemed to creak in time with a frantic beat in his chest. The familiar routine of his morning, the carefully brewed coffee, the ordered desk – all of it felt flimsy, fragile.

He went to the window, staring at the distant city skyline, the buildings all wrong and unfamiliar compared to the quaint house of his childhood. Everything felt wrong, off-kilter. He ran his hand across his face, a raw, frustrated sensation.