Gemotions

Her shoulders slumped. The elaborate cake she had ordered, decorated with her favorite flowers, seemed to mock her from the bakery's website. Her phone buzzed again, a new message. She ignored it. It's not happening. The phrase repeated in her head.

She picked at the corner of a newspaper, the paper tearing easily under her agitated touch. Her throat felt tight, and she had trouble swallowing. The apartment felt too small, the walls closing in.

She felt an overwhelming urge to run, to escape the suffocating sense of letdown. She found herself staring at the window, the world outside seeming both distant and impossibly bright. The idea of going out, of facing anyone, was unbearable.