Gemotions

"Just breathe," Maya muttered to herself. The words were a mantra, meant to dispel the rising unease, but they were failing. The afternoon sun beat down, making her already stuffy office feel stifling. A shared document had popped up on her screen. She’d known about the other team, but assumed their approach was different.

She read the document, her jaw tightening with each line. The structure, the focus…it was identical to her own. The very examples she had chosen, the data points she had analyzed. Her knuckles, resting on the desk, were white. She felt a burning sensation in her stomach.

She slammed the laptop shut and leaned back in her chair. A wave of exhaustion washed over her. She knew she'd be stuck with the fallout of the discovery, no doubt stuck defending her work.