Gemotions

The meeting went on, the buzz of the office a distant echo. Maria sat at the back of the conference room, listening to the energetic presentation. Her new colleague, the one fresh from school, was getting promoted, it seemed. Maria’s jaw clenched, but her face remained neutral. Her hand drifted to the clasp of her necklace, fiddling with it absentmindedly. After the meeting, she went to her desk, gathered her things, and walked out. She skipped going to lunch. She felt a profound weariness, a deep, bone-deep fatigue that made her movements slow and deliberate.