Gemotions

The cold tile floor of the bathroom pressed against Chloe’s bare feet. She leaned heavily against the sink, her reflection staring back at her: wide eyes, pale skin. The phone lay discarded on the counter, the lawyer's polite, yet devastating, explanation still echoing in her head. A half-brother, Ethan, born to her father during a youthful indiscretion.

She hadn’t cried, not yet. Instead, a peculiar numbness had settled over her. She ran the tap, splashing cold water on her face, but it didn't help. The water ran down her face and neck, but there was no relief. She felt a kind of emptiness, the familiar world now slightly tilted. Her father was dead, which made this all the more…complicated.

She wrapped her arms around herself, a futile attempt at self-comfort. She wanted to scream, to break something, to *do* something. The letter they'd sent with the information was on the counter: a brief, polite note from Ethan, suggesting a meeting. She didn't have the courage to even look.