Gemotions

The ringing of the phone sliced through the quiet. Ava flinched, almost dropping her phone as she answered. "Yeah, it's me." Across the room, Ben was cradling a fluffy Persian cat, its eyes gleaming. The very sight of the animal set her teeth on edge. She hated cats, always had. The way they moved, the way they looked at you.

"It's just, I don't know, a lot," she said, her voice strained. She ran a hand through her hair, feeling a coldness creeping into her limbs. The small apartment suddenly felt stifling, the walls closing in. Every detail, from the cat's fluffy tail to the faint smell of cat food, seemed amplified, irritating.

Ben was smiling, oblivious. "He's perfect, right? We can name him Mittens!" Ava hung up the phone. She needed air, needed space. She felt a desperate need to escape the confines of the apartment, the suffocating presence of the cat.