The Constant

With the flick of the lighter in the grey cast room he knew she was there.

-She was always there

The smell of her stale cigarette that she insisted on still breathing in creating a hue inside of her lungs similar to the one surrounding them in this room

now catering to her billowy smoke rings, cheap perfume and disgusting stale menthols that he swore must have been soaked in formaldehyde.

A lump forming in his throat as he tried to fight back the urge to speak or breathe

Choking on the air he stumbled around the room hoping not to injure him or startle. She was a beast in every sense of the word. And no one could tame her

- though few have tried.

Eyes fluttered, trying to make out her frame that been the backdrop to that putrid cigarette. The licking of her lips before she began to take each drag sounded like rakes against cement.

Swallowing hard he grabbed the nearest seat, nearly injuring his tailbone in the process. He knew she wanted something.

-What was it this time?

His pale freckle covered skin was pulsating with sweat beads. She had a way of wrapping him around her finger.

                “Kill him.” She said in a raspy, unprovoked voice.  Just before licking those lips of hers and sucking the end of that smoke like it was her business.

Lips quivering, hands shaking he tried to get up the nerve to ask. “Who?”, he asked without confidence or charisma. The wavering of his voice was now a mixture of nerves and the fact that he could now taste that array of scents that infiltrated the room.

 

He heard the rustling of her skirt as she stood up. Her heels clicking against the hardwood floor that was covered in a layer three inches high worth of dirt.  She stopped a moment and let out a chuckle as she walked toward the door of his bedroom.

 

Opening the door she cocked her head, stopped a moment and placed an envelope on tattered pile he called a dresser.

“I asked who!?” the nervous man finally grew a pair. There was a bit more confidence in his once wavering voice. Her response was a swift pull of the door behind her as she exited like an apparition in the night.

 

Taking a heavy breath he stood and made his way to the envelope, opening it with closed eyes. 

Moments passed by before he opened his eyes,

-peering at his own reflection.

Reviews

[TLK]

The use of "I ask who!?" is a little over-the-top -- more melodramatic than a shocked question.