Gemotions

He didn’t know why he was doing this. Mark felt like a trespasser, rifling through the belongings of a woman he had only just begun to understand. He’d met his girlfriend's mother, Carol, a few months prior, and the relationship was still new. He was helping Carol sort through her parents' belongings after the loss of her father. In a box filled with old photographs, he found it. A letter addressed to the university, written by Carol's father, resigning from his position as a professor. The language was calm, almost detached, but the reason given - a desire for "more personal freedom" - felt incomplete, a carefully constructed facade. A chill spread through him, despite the warmth of the summer sun streaming through the window. He felt an inexplicable pang of apprehension.