Gemotions

The email sat in her inbox, the subject line a deceptively innocent “Catching Up.” It was from Sarah, who had supposedly been working abroad. The email, however, was filled with vague generalities, the language stilted and impersonal. It felt… staged.

She spent the next hour meticulously dissecting the email, scrutinizing every sentence, looking for hidden meanings. She even checked the sender's IP address. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic rhythm against the backdrop of the quiet office. She could feel the walls of her workspace closing in.

She kept replaying their last phone conversation in her head. Sarah’s hurried tone, the background noise that sounded suspiciously like a coffee shop. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being lied to. She deleted the email and then decided to check up on it again a few minutes later, then deleted it again, and so on.