Gemotions

A lump formed in Carol's throat as she sat at her desk, the spreadsheet blurred before her eyes. It wasn't the numbers themselves, but the context that stung. Michael, fresh to the workforce, was starting at a higher salary. She thought about her own first job, a decade and a half ago, the dreams she had harboured, the ambitious plans she had formulated.

She felt a soft ache, almost like a physical sensation, in her chest. She recalled the youthful idealism, the feeling of infinite possibility. The office felt colder than usual.

She found herself tracing a finger over the smooth surface of a picture of her parents, her parents whose sacrifices gave her a good start.