Gemotions

The coffee tasted like ash in his mouth. He’d barely touched his breakfast, pushing the scrambled eggs around the plate with a fork. It wasn’t the food; it was the news. Professor Davies, his advisor, the only one who really *got* his research, was gone. Off to some prestigious institute, leaving him stranded.

He shoved the chair back from the table, the scrape of the legs echoing in the otherwise empty kitchen. The newspaper sat unread, the headlines a blur. He just wanted to be left alone.

A knot tightened in his stomach. He pictured the months of work, the endless emails, the hours spent in the lab, all now… what? A waste? He felt a sudden, inexplicable urge to punch something. His fist clenched, then slowly relaxed. What was the point?