Gemotions

The office felt stifling. He kept glancing at the door, the window, the fire escape. The DNA results had given him a new lens through which to view the world, and what he saw was unsettling. The faces of his coworkers seemed unfamiliar, their conversations suddenly suspicious.

Lunch breaks were spent alone, eating in his car, parked in a different spot each day. He had to be careful. He kept a knife clipped to his pocket. He was certain they were all in on it, that he was the target.

He found himself avoiding eye contact, his heart rate spiking whenever someone approached him. He started calling in sick, the fear a constant, gnawing presence in his stomach. The job, once a source of stability, now felt like another potential threat.