Gemotions

The cafeteria was a cacophony of lunchtime chatter, the sounds seeming unusually loud. He had been training his replacement, a young woman named Emily, for a week now. The other woman was a sponge, absorbing information with ease. He had the sudden urge to leave.

He felt the weight of the past years bearing down on him. All the effort, the long hours, the late nights. He thought of his desk and everything on it. The files, the pens, the coffee mug.

“It's pretty straightforward, really,” Emily said, her voice light and cheerful. He nodded, unable to return her smile. All the work he had to do seemed irrelevant.