Gemotions

The email arrived at 4:57 PM. Sarah reread the subject line – "Department Reassignment" – three times, each pass a little slower than the last. Her stomach lurched. Was this a good thing? Bad thing? She’d been in Accounting for seven years, practically a fixture. Her fingers tightened around the mouse, her knuckles white against the cool plastic. She clicked open the message. The words swam before her eyes. Marketing? Why Marketing?

She glanced around her cubicle, at the framed photo of her cat, the overflowing in-tray, the familiar beige walls. It was a space she knew. Now, she felt a profound disconnect from it. She swiveled slowly in her chair, the squeak of the wheels echoing in the sudden quiet of the office.

“Well, this is… something,” she murmured, the words barely audible. The air in the room seemed to thicken.