Gemotions

She stared at the phone screen, the words blurring. Her vision tunneled. Her meticulously researched, carefully constructed article, the one she’d poured months of her life into, attributed to *him*. She ran a hand through her hair, tangling her fingers. A strangled sound escaped her lips.

"No," she whispered, the word a fragile breath against the sudden, crushing weight on her chest. She re-read the email, each word a venomous dart. The company’s legal department had done what? The explanation was a jumbled mess of excuses and apologies. She paced her small apartment, back and forth, the worn rug under her feet the only constant in the swirling vortex of her emotions.