Marriage

 

She lighted a cigarette while waiting. He was late and that was very strange. She could almost smell him. That special mixture of mint and tobacco. She was imagining him in his smart black suit and his brilliant shoes!. She still kept a tie she had bought for him inside her bag. The shop assistant had smiled at her while wrapping it.

The phone rang in the bar . One of the waitresses answered it. He was too late, ...she thought and then looked at her watch. Half an hour late!. He never used to do such things as being late without bsending a message or giving her a call. “something is wrong” she thought.

Suddenly a shiver ran down her spine. He was driving from Dublin. He might have had an accident. He could still be in the middle of nowhere, asking for help. He might be hurt, or even worse than that, dead. She lighted another cigarette and stood up to look through the window. It was starting to rain. She sat down again, grabbed the gift and opened it  tearing up the wrapping paper.it was such a pretty tie,  Red-wine colour and pink stripes... she tried it on, but then she felt sick. Then, she asked for the bill and left. She did not have an umbrella  and was getting soaking wet. “where are you, Michael?”she shouted into the air. She got in her car and drove home. The rain helped up. When she got home got off the car and took off her red  high heel shoes. She had spent the whole day primping herself for him. The road was wet and that helped her  feel better. She felt heavy  tired, but no longer worried. She saw a dark figure moving around the bushes. “miaow”. It was just Otto, neighbor’s cat. Once inside, she put on a gown, walked towards the balcony and lighted another cigarrete. The wind swayed her blond hair. It was nice. She smoked another two cigarettes and helped herself to a glass  of red wine. Her mother had always said her that refined women only drink white wine, instead of red, suitable for men. “Red wine!” she thought “red as blood!”. Where was he?. She remembered that she was still wearing his tie. She had never imagined  what her life might be like without her husband. She was not used to work. All she knew about was how  to look pretty. She looked around. Her house was comfortable and carefully decorated by herself. The curtains were handmade. Silk was expensive... she recalled her wedding day. She was not sure about Michael. “love may come later”her mother had said. She had always been a very clever woman, but she could not cry when  she was buried by her father’s grave. “rest in peace, witch”  she had said loudly. She  now threw the glass over the balcony rails. It broke into many pieces near a streetlight. “well, nothing to be done. Just wait for him to come home”. She went to the bathroom,  applied russian red lipstick on her lips and brushed her hair. Then she took off all her clothes. She was aware of her beautiful body and how Michael’s friends looked at her lustfully. She touched her smooth breast and her pubis’s curly hair. “Perfume” she reminded herself. Her perfume was so intoxicating  she applied a few drops on her neck and wrists. Then, she put on the tie around her neck and went back to the balcony. There was no sound in the street. All she could hear was her own breath. The feeling of her nakedness was stronger now. She pulled the last cigarette out of its case an lighted it. Time was five o`clock. A car pulled into the garage. “Michael”. She tied her gift to one of the rails of the balcony. Michael was in the room now. He looked at her, shocked as she blew him a kiss and jumped over the balcony hanging herself...

Next morning the news spread that Samantha Powell had died. “she had had a car accident the night before while she was driving home from a bar” said her husband to the neighbors. “I wasn’t allowed to see the corpse because of her scars and bruises” he finally declared. Some old ladies that knew her raved about her. One of them said that she had been taking pills, another one that she had got a lover, and her husband had found out about it...No, said one her friends. She was very ill. She had been very ill for several years. “what kind of illness did she suffer from?, asked one of the ladies”. “the worst one”, answered the other woman “marriage”.