Gemotions

The email sat in her inbox, stark and unwelcome. Subject: Retirement. Body: "Thank you for everything. I'm moving on to new adventures." No signature. Her breath hitched, a small, strangled gasp in the quiet office. She clicked furiously through the sent messages, the archived messages, the spam folder. Nothing. He’d simply vanished. A coldness spread through her limbs, leaving her fingers numb as she scrolled through his previous emails, each one now a ghostly echo of their past collaboration. The half-finished proposal on her desk seemed to mock her, a testament to a future that wouldn't happen.