Gemotions

The flickering fluorescent lights of the interview room seemed to pulse in time with Amelia's anxiety. Her palms were slick, and she kept discreetly wiping them on her skirt. Across the table, Liam, her best friend since kindergarten, was radiating a calm she couldn't comprehend. He smiled easily, his posture relaxed. She felt like a tightly wound spring, ready to snap. She had poured her heart and soul into this application, this opportunity to escape the monotony of her current job, but the competition with Liam felt like a suffocating pressure.

He’d winked at her just before the interview started, but it felt more like a taunt than a gesture of camaraderie. The air in the room was thick, heavy, as though the walls were closing in, the questions a constant reminder of everything she was trying to leave behind.

She kept thinking of her cramped apartment, the relentless bills.