Gemotions

"I... I don't understand," Maya stammered, her voice barely a whisper. Professor Chen, her mentor, had delivered the news face-to-face. The fluorescent lights of his office seemed to glare, the comfortable armchair now a monument of looming despair. Her vision swam. He was leaving for a position at a prestigious institute, a dream come true for him. But for her? The implications were overwhelming, a black abyss opening beneath her feet. She fiddled with the strap of her bag, her fingers clumsy and unresponsive.