Gemotions

"Finally," she muttered under her breath, a nervous habit that she'd been trying to break. The front door had opened and closed several times, each time a disappointment. When the flowers arrived, she felt an unsettling mixture of relief and anxiety wash over her.

She examined the arrangement carefully, a meticulous scan for any clue. A single red rose, placed atop a bed of baby’s breath. No note. No signature. She chewed her lip, her heart pounding.

She felt a wave of loneliness, a hollowness that seemed to echo in the empty rooms of the house. She sat on the couch, the rose feeling like a weight in her hand.