Gemotions

The congratulatory emails flooded his inbox, each one a fresh blow. Daniel found himself deleting them without reading them, the subject lines alone enough to trigger a wave of nausea. He avoided Sarah's gaze, the air around her now charged with a sense of accomplishment that intensified his own defeat.

He looked at his hands, remembering the countless hours he’d spent working, the weekends sacrificed, the personal sacrifices he'd made in the name of ambition. It was like he had been running a marathon, only to trip just before the finish line. The ache in his muscles was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

He felt a deep sense of wrongness, as if the world was suddenly out of alignment. His usual energy, his usual enthusiasm, had vanished, leaving him feeling drained, a shell of his former self. He wanted to call his mother, but the words wouldn't come.