Gemotions

The phone rang, and a jolt of alarm surged through Maya’s veins. It was the call she’d been both anticipating and dreading. She answered, her voice sounding shaky and unfamiliar even to her own ears. It was the HR department.

The news was delivered with polite formality. They were interested in another candidate, and they thanked her for her time. She felt the world tilt on its axis. She mumbled a response, her voice barely a whisper. The phone slipped from her grasp, clattering onto the table.

She pictured her friend, Chloe, getting the good news, her usual bubbly energy now victorious. The thought of Chloe's delight, mixed with her own failure, was almost unbearable. She felt a rising panic, a constriction in her chest that made it difficult to breathe.