Gemotions

The title alone, "A Portrait of Ava," was enough to give Daniel a jolt. Ava, his girlfriend, had always talked about writing a biography. But this was…different. It was fiction, but the protagonist's mannerisms, her favorite perfume, the tiny scar above her eyebrow…it was all Ava.

He'd been curious, yes, but now that he was reading, his curiosity had morphed into something akin to dread. He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit. The language was flowery, overly sentimental, almost mocking in its depiction of him as a "loyal and stoic" partner.

He felt a sudden chill, a sense that he was being judged, analyzed, dissected. He shut the laptop, the sudden darkness a physical relief.