Gemotions

The scent of fresh paint and new furniture in her new office did nothing to cheer her. She sat slumped in the chair, staring at the blank computer screen. Her stomach churned, a constant, unpleasant reminder of the abrupt change. The silence in the cubicle farm felt suffocating after the buzz of the customer service department.

She picked at the corner of a sticky note, a familiar nervous habit. The faces of her former team members flashed through her mind. The inside jokes, the shared frustrations, the camaraderie… all abruptly severed. She longed for the familiar rhythm of the phone ringing, the constant chatter, the feeling of being part of something.

Her lower lip trembled, and she quickly bit down, trying to regain some semblance of composure. She had to be strong, she told herself. But the weight of the new reality pressed down on her, heavy and unyielding.