Gemotions

The email arrived, the subject line: "Friend Request." It was from Jason Riley. Her fingers tightened on her coffee mug, knuckles turning white. She'd been working on a project all morning, meticulously rewriting a single paragraph, perfecting the phrasing, erasing and starting again. It was exhausting but necessary, she reasoned. Everything had to be just right.

She felt a hot flush creep up her neck. He'd been so sure of himself, so…superior. She remembered the way he'd laughed at her attempts to play the violin. Her current apartment, small and cluttered, was a testament to her failures. She didn't want him to see her like this.

She closed the laptop, the click echoing in the otherwise silent room. She couldn't deal with this. Not today.