Gemotions

He had been planning to ask her to help him choose a wedding band, that evening. He'd even rehearsed the wording in the elevator on the way up to her apartment. Now, standing in her doorway, the carefully constructed plan disintegrated into dust.

"I got accepted to grad school," she said, her voice soft but firm, a tremor in her hands. The words were a physical blow, knocking the breath from his lungs. The flowers he’d brought, a small bouquet of her favorite lilies, felt heavy and awkward in his grip.

A knot formed in his stomach, twisting with a familiar, unwelcome intensity. The air felt charged, as if a storm was about to break. He stood frozen, unable to speak, the rehearsed words now useless and meaningless.