Gemotions

Sarah watched the numbers on the panel stubbornly refuse to budge. A cold dread, a sickening knot, formed in her stomach. Her palms were clammy, and she surreptitiously rubbed them on her skirt. The silence between them, the shared awkwardness, was unbearable. It was all her fault, she knew. She should've kept her mouth shut in the meeting. Now, here she was.

She could feel the blood rushing in her ears, a roaring static that drowned out any logical thought. The confines of the elevator felt claustrophobic, the polished metal walls reflecting her increasingly frantic expression.

"Are you okay?" her coworker, Mark, finally asked, his voice tight. She couldn't meet his eyes, the guilt a heavy weight. She hated this.