Gemotions

The antique clock in the hallway ticked with a maddening insistence. Sarah couldn't sit still. She paced the length of the living room, her fingers drumming a nervous rhythm against her thigh. A half-finished jigsaw puzzle lay abandoned on the coffee table, a testament to her inability to concentrate. It had been like this for weeks. She felt a vague discontent simmering beneath the surface, a prickling sensation that made her crave something, anything, different.

Her gaze landed on the laptop perched precariously on the kitchen counter. It wasn't hers. It was Leo’s. Curiosity, a familiar and unwelcome guest, tugged at her. He'd been unusually secretive lately, holed up in his office for hours, claiming "work" kept him busy.

She opened the laptop. Password, surprisingly, was their anniversary date. She logged in, telling herself she'd just check the news. But her fingers, seemingly of their own volition, hovered over the icon for "Documents." She clicked. A file labeled "The Ballad of Eleanor" stared back at her. Her name wasn't Eleanor. But, she opened the file anyway.