Gemotions

The news anchor’s voice on the television droned on, but Maya barely registered the words. The breaking story: a rival company unveiling a product remarkably similar to hers. Her throat constricted. Her carefully crafted marketing campaign, the weeks of preparation, the loans she’d taken out… all for naught.

She felt a rising tide of nausea. She grabbed her purse, fumbling with the strap. She had to get out. The air in her apartment felt thick and oppressive. She needed to escape the suffocating reality of the situation. Her keys slipped from her grasp, clattering to the floor.

She bent to retrieve them, her movements quick and jerky. She had no plan, no recourse. She just had to get away from the television, from the impending doom. It felt like she was trapped in a dream, one she was desperate to wake up from.