Gemotions

The sudden silence in her usually bustling apartment building was deafening. Sarah had just seen Mr. Petrov, her downstairs neighbor, leaving in a chauffeured limousine. She'd always known he was a quiet, private man, but the car, the uniformed driver, the sheer extravagance of it, felt jarring. A chill prickled her skin. It wasn't the wealth itself; it was the sudden revelation, the unseen depths, that made her want to retreat into the shadows of her own apartment. She found herself checking her bank balance, as if to reassure herself that she was still anchored to reality.