Gemotions

The scent of cardamom and something else, something foreign, filled the air. She found David in the dining room, hunched over the table, illuminated by the warm glow of a lamp. A tablet lay open, displaying a screen full of unfamiliar characters. Her language. A language he’d always claimed was too difficult to bother with. She approached slowly, the floorboards creaking under her weight.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. He looked up, startled, then quickly averted his gaze.

"Just… studying," he mumbled, his shoulders slumping. He seemed smaller, somehow. She swallowed, a knot forming in her throat. The familiarity of their life together, the shared history, felt suddenly fragile, like glass. She turned and walked away.