Gemotions

The spreadsheet blurred before Amelia's eyes. She’d been staring at it for an hour, the numbers swimming in a confusing dance. Then, a sharp pain blossomed in her chest, a sudden pressure that made it difficult to breathe. Liam, fresh out of college and barely a year in the company, was making more than her. She’d dedicated five years, sacrificed evenings and weekends to climb the ladder, and for what? To be outpaced by someone who still needed help with the coffee machine?

She slammed the laptop shut, the abrupt noise echoing in the quiet office. Her hands, usually steady, trembled as she reached for her water bottle. The cool liquid did little to quell the heat rising in her cheeks. She felt a knot forming in her stomach, a bitter, acidic taste coating her tongue.

Amelia found herself pacing her small cubicle, the confines suddenly feeling oppressive. The meticulously arranged photos of her family on her desk seemed to mock her, silent witnesses to her perceived failure. She needed air, she needed to think, she needed… something.