Gemotions

He heard the news from a terse, hurried email. The head of the department had a brief announcement at the meeting, and Dr. Chen would be leaving at the end of the semester. John took a long sip of his bitter coffee. It tasted metallic, like it always did when something significant shifted in his life. He watched the others in the small lecture hall, their faces animated with shock or polite concern. He just nodded slowly, a small, almost imperceptible movement, and rubbed his temples. The projects he was working on, suddenly felt… pointless. He could almost feel the gears in his mind grind to a halt.