Gemotions

He leaned back in his ergonomic chair, the leather cool against his back. A smile played on his lips as he surveyed the meticulously organized office. Everything was exactly as he wanted it. His fingers tapped a rhythmic beat on the desk, a quiet counterpoint to the city sounds drifting in from the open window. It was a perfect morning.

Then, he saw it. The email notification. A link to the online journal. His heart, previously content, began to hammer against his ribs. The article, the one he had slaved over for months, was published. And the byline... it was not his. Anger, sharp and sudden, pricked at him.

He felt the blood drain from his face, leaving him cold. The meticulously organized office suddenly seemed suffocating, the open window letting in the noise of a world he no longer recognized. He swiveled in his chair, his gaze fixed on the pristine wall, wishing he could somehow erase the betrayal.