Gemotions

The office air conditioning hummed, a monotonous drone that was lulling to Chloe. She was struggling to keep her eyes open, each blink feeling like a tremendous exertion.

She shuffled into the apartment, the keys nearly slipping from her fingers. Liam was in the living room, surrounded by papers.

"Hey," she said, voice cracking. "Rough day."

Liam looked up, grinning. "Ni hao! Yes, I was just reading up on Mandarin. I figured, you seem a bit exhausted, so a nice little language surprise!"

Her brain struggled to process this. Mandarin? Right now, all she wanted was to lie down, to be still.