Gemotions

The landlord's cheery grin felt like a personal insult. "Great news, isn't it?" He'd said it with such casual disregard. David barely managed to nod, the muscles in his face locking up. He wanted to shout, to argue, to grab the man by his perfectly knotted tie.

He escaped the encounter and retreated to the safety of his apartment, slamming the door behind him. The sudden impact rattled the building, a small act of defiance.

He slumped onto his sofa, his body heavy with a sudden and unexpected fatigue. The familiar objects in the room - the worn armchair, the overflowing bookshelves - suddenly seemed alien, belonging to someone else.

He imagined the developers, the suits, the faceless entities who were turning his home into a commodity. A cold wave of something he couldn't name washed over him.