Gemotions

The metallic smell of the elevator, usually a minor annoyance, had morphed into something cloying and suffocating. Across from me, Emily, usually bubbly, was pale and silent. I knew her father had been hospitalized recently.

I recalled a conversation we’d had about him. Her eyes had filled with tears when she told me about it.

“Are you hungry?” I asked, offering her a granola bar. She shook her head, but I noticed her hand tremble as she pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

I kept talking to her, trying to distract her from the situation, the stale air, the closed in space. I hoped to lighten her spirit.