#MarquessaChallenge – The Other

I stare at myself in the mirror. It confirms what I already know. I look like shit. Not enough sleep last night. I should have ignored his text.

I turn on the faucet and lean down to splash water on my face. It doesn’t help.

I look back in the mirror and my breath catches in my throat.

“Miss me?” The face in the mirror smiles back at me.

“What do you want?” I grab a towel and start drying off my face.

“I thought we’d decided you weren’t going to see him again.”

Rolling my eyes, I throw the towel in the sink. Having my mistakes thrown in my face isn’t helpful. “We did, but…”

“What sob story did he tell you this time?”

I keep silent because I know it doesn’t matter.

“Cat got your tongue?”

More silence.

“He’s no good and the sooner you realize that you deserve better, the happier we’ll both be.”

“Look, I don’t need a lecture from you. Besides, if you hate it so much, why didn’t you show up last night?”

As I stare at the face in the mirror, it slowly disappears.

**

The closer I get to his door, the more my feet drag. It’s a mistake. It always is, but somehow I can’t stop myself and before I know it, I’m ringing the doorbell.

He answers on the second ring, and he’s just as glorious as he always is. His lazy smile makes my heart thud. “Thanks for coming. I knew I could count on you.”

“I really can’t stay. You said it was important?”

Just as the words leave my mouth, he grabs me and pulls me close. Before I can say another word, he is kissing me and his hands are everywhere. As always, I melt and we stumble into his apartment. He slams the door with one hand, while the other starts to unbutton my shirt.

Is this really what I want? I pull back to stare at him, but he doesn’t miss a beat.

“I missed you.”

It has the effect I’m sure he was looking for. I start to lean back in, but another, louder voice in my head starts to scream and suddenly the world turns upside down. My ears start ringing and I’m falling into darkness.

When I open my eyes, I see the face from the mirror hovering over me.

“He isn’t good for us! It’s time someone took care of this, since you seem to be so inept!”

I can’t seem to speak or think so I cower in the darkness. Through a tiny pin-hole in front of me, I watch as she slaps him in the face and walks out.

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#fictionfriday is brought to us by Simply Marquessa. Today’s lyric prompt is: “Don’t pick up the phone. You know that he’s only calling because he’s drunk and alone.”

I’m pretty late in posting this, but I’ve been struggling with some health issues this week. Normally, when I’m struggling this much, I just skip the challenge, but I’d already thought of the idea, I just had to write it out. This time, I’m happy I did. Thanks for the inspiration, Marquessa!