Gemotions

The sun streamed through the window, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air, a scene that should have been calming, but instead, it amplified her unease. “Okay, so this is the final budget reconciliation,” she told the new trainee, a young man with overly-slicked hair, whose name she couldn’t even remember. She kept tripping over her words.

She felt a strange disconnect from her body, as if she were watching herself from outside. Her hands felt clammy, and she found herself repeatedly adjusting her glasses, a nervous tic she hadn't realized she had. The hum of the server room, usually background noise, now grated on her nerves. She felt a sudden, urgent need to escape, to run.