Gemotions

The cafe was buzzing, a low hum of chatter and clinking cutlery. Elias clutched his coffee cup, knuckles white. A familiar guitar chord drifted from the small stage. He stiffened, every muscle suddenly taut.

He strained to hear, the blood rushing in his ears. The singer’s voice, a woman’s, was unfamiliar, but the melody… it was his. The song he’d poured his heart into, the one that had been his lifeline, now being butchered by someone else.

His breath hitched. He scanned the room, each face a potential threat, a possible conspirator. Did they know? Were they all in on it? The lyrics, mangled and twisted, felt like a personal violation. He wanted to scream, to run.