Gemotions

"He's *what*?" Sarah stammered, the coffee cup shaking in her hand, the hot liquid sloshing dangerously close to her fingers. The news, delivered with a casual shrug by a fellow grad student, sent a jolt of ice through her veins. She felt the sudden urge to run, to escape the bright, chattering student lounge. The air seemed thick, suffocating. Her mind raced, the carefully constructed plan for her dissertation – the product of months of collaborative work with Dr. Chen – crumbling into dust before her eyes.