Gemotions

He’d spent weeks, practically living in the cramped apartment. Now, as the presentation timer ticked down, a coldness spread from his stomach, wrapping his insides in ice. The room spun slightly. His palms were slick with perspiration, and he wiped them surreptitiously on his jeans. This couldn’t be happening.

The PowerPoint slides flashed on the screen, his painstakingly crafted work. Across the room, a woman from a rival firm rose and began to present. The images, the data, the arguments… they were a mirror image of his own. He felt a wave of dizziness and a strange pressure behind his eyes.

He heard his own breath hitch in his throat. He should speak up, interrupt, scream. But his voice was trapped. He stared, frozen, as his dream, his livelihood, his future, slipped away.