Gemotions

The phone rang, and Maya, after a moment of hesitation, answered. It was her sister, calling from across the country. Maya listened to her sister's enthusiastic greeting in their shared dialect of Yoruba and smiled. Across the living room, Alex, her partner, sat hunched over a tablet. He’d been unusually quiet and preoccupied the past few weeks. Maya hung up, and turned to look at him.

Alex looked up, a guilty expression on his face. Maya leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. She gave him a sweet smile. "What are you studying, dear?" she asked.