Gemotions

The city noise outside Maya’s apartment sounded louder than usual. She barely registered it. She kept staring at the email, the subject line screaming at her. The competition. The project. Everything she'd painstakingly built.

She felt a wave of nausea. She grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts, hesitating. He was there, on the list. The other researcher. The one who had suddenly appeared in her life. She’d sensed something off about him.

She paced around the living room, whispering to herself. She repeated what she wanted to do, what she would say. She would find answers. She went to the window, peering down at the street. The streetlights cast elongated shadows. Every car that passed by seemed to slow down.

She ended up turning off all the lights. She did not want anyone to see her.