"Him, her… and me." by Nicola Murphy
Posted: 03 Mar 2015, 13:22
The following story has been selected as a featured runner-up in our 2015 short story contest (Contest Theme - "The Self-Destructiveness of Vengeance and Hate")
"Him, her... and me." by Nicola Murphy
She had blonde hair, big red lips and even bigger eyes. Blue eyes. They were big and they were blue. I will never forget her eyes. The way she looked blankly towards the night sky, the way the stars reflected in her sparkling eyes. So beautiful.
Her name was Isabel. Isabel went to my school. We were never friends but I knew her. Everybody knew her. She was really good at sport, she was really good at debate, she had an aptitude for every subject, Isabel was just really good at everything. “Why can’t you all be more like Isabel?” every teacher would ask. “Why can’t you be like that good girl at school?” the disappointment was clear in my parents tone. I did not care much for Isabel because she did not care much for me or for anyone else in fact. She flicked her smooth shiny hair, she slowly blinked her voluminous lashes, she strutted her long legs and she clicked her manicured fingers. They stopped, jaws dropped, they watched, they jumped when she said jump and they sat when she said sit. Isabel had a lot of time. A lot of time for herself. I did not think I would ever want to be like Isabel.
His name is David. I met David as an intern at a law firm. We were both interns and so we confided in one another. David is tall, dark and handsome. He is your typical looking jock but he is a big softie at heart. He is the kind of guy everybody would like. He is the kind of guy everybody likes and everybody does like him, but he just liked me. Three years passed. We had advanced in our careers and advanced in our relationship. David was mine. We worked together, we lived together, we did everything together.
My name is Annie. To the delight of my parents and not so much a delight to me, I am a lawyer. I am twenty eight years old. That age where everything in my life should be planned out, but it is not. I have a job I hate. I have an over priced apartment. I have no boyfriend and to the dismay of my mother nor do I have any likely romantic prospects. I go to work, I eat, I sleep and I repeat. My friends? To add to my despairing situation they are either married or engaged or having children. There was a time when I wanted all of that, when I had someone to make it all possible. I was happy but I guess he was not. You think you know someone but you never really know anyone.
He was allocated to a higher department than me at work, where he was to be the head of his own team for an upcoming high profile case. This was big news and big money. He was happy and I was happy for him. A new lawyer joined our firm and joined his team. She was good, very good. She was power hungry, she wanted it all and she was used to getting it all, anything she wanted. They had to spend a lot of time together but he insisted it was “work”. He was tired, he was stressed, he was different. Everything was different.
He moved out and in time they moved in together. He seemed happy. Work was hard now, we would try to avoid each other and for the most part we would not see each other but I would see her. I would always see her, it was as though she did it purposely. She would apply her red lipstick and perfume next to me every lunch time in the bathroom, she would attend her flawless hair and she would smile at me. That smile. The kind of smile that suggested she did nothing wrong, but she was wrong, she was very wrong.
I bought a red dress. Red was his favourite colour. It was long and clung to all the places you would like it to cling to. I put my hair in curls, he liked it like that. I got my makeup done, the natural look. I just wanted answers, I just wanted to ask him why? Why did he leave me without explanation or an inkling to what I did wrong? Why did he find someone else? Most importantly, why her? I would arrive early to the staff party so I could catch his attention.
They walked in together but he did not even notice me, but she did. She glanced over his shoulder with that look and that smile. She had a satin knee length dress on. It was red. Her hair was curled to one side. She was just beautiful, so beautiful. I felt like all my inside hurt. She was laughing at me, everyone was. I just knew they were, I could sense it.
I watched him all night, I tried to get his attention but he was not having it. He would not talk to me or even acknowledge my existence. I felt belittled and betrayed. If he would not answer my questions, she would. She left his side once to go outside seeking air, so I followed seeking answers. I waited until she was down that path and then I joined her. We were out of sight of the party, no one could see us or hear us here.
“Hello Isabel,” I directed towards her trying to keep my calm. “Am, hi... Annie?” she replied as if she did not know my name or who I was, but she knew. We talked for awhile, but it was not what I wanted. She was patronising me. She was not giving me answers. She was not sorry. She did not care that she had turned my life upside down, that she had simply ruined my life. She attempted to ignore me. She tried to brush past me. I was frustrated and embarrassed by her treatment, I clung to something nearby and stroke her lightly on the temple. It was just lightly, I did not mean any harm, I just wanted her to listen to me and to talk to me. She collapsed to the ground and laid on her back.
Her blonde hair, her red lips and her big eyes. I will never forget her blue eyes. The way she stared blankly towards the black sky, the way the stars reflected in her sparkling eyes. Isabel was beautiful. She was so beautiful. I closed her eyes. She was not his now. She was not anybodies. She never would be again. I laid there watching the dark sky. I was not his. I was not anybodies.
I wonder who will close my eyes.
The end.
Nicola Murphy
"Him, her... and me." by Nicola Murphy
She had blonde hair, big red lips and even bigger eyes. Blue eyes. They were big and they were blue. I will never forget her eyes. The way she looked blankly towards the night sky, the way the stars reflected in her sparkling eyes. So beautiful.
Her name was Isabel. Isabel went to my school. We were never friends but I knew her. Everybody knew her. She was really good at sport, she was really good at debate, she had an aptitude for every subject, Isabel was just really good at everything. “Why can’t you all be more like Isabel?” every teacher would ask. “Why can’t you be like that good girl at school?” the disappointment was clear in my parents tone. I did not care much for Isabel because she did not care much for me or for anyone else in fact. She flicked her smooth shiny hair, she slowly blinked her voluminous lashes, she strutted her long legs and she clicked her manicured fingers. They stopped, jaws dropped, they watched, they jumped when she said jump and they sat when she said sit. Isabel had a lot of time. A lot of time for herself. I did not think I would ever want to be like Isabel.
His name is David. I met David as an intern at a law firm. We were both interns and so we confided in one another. David is tall, dark and handsome. He is your typical looking jock but he is a big softie at heart. He is the kind of guy everybody would like. He is the kind of guy everybody likes and everybody does like him, but he just liked me. Three years passed. We had advanced in our careers and advanced in our relationship. David was mine. We worked together, we lived together, we did everything together.
My name is Annie. To the delight of my parents and not so much a delight to me, I am a lawyer. I am twenty eight years old. That age where everything in my life should be planned out, but it is not. I have a job I hate. I have an over priced apartment. I have no boyfriend and to the dismay of my mother nor do I have any likely romantic prospects. I go to work, I eat, I sleep and I repeat. My friends? To add to my despairing situation they are either married or engaged or having children. There was a time when I wanted all of that, when I had someone to make it all possible. I was happy but I guess he was not. You think you know someone but you never really know anyone.
He was allocated to a higher department than me at work, where he was to be the head of his own team for an upcoming high profile case. This was big news and big money. He was happy and I was happy for him. A new lawyer joined our firm and joined his team. She was good, very good. She was power hungry, she wanted it all and she was used to getting it all, anything she wanted. They had to spend a lot of time together but he insisted it was “work”. He was tired, he was stressed, he was different. Everything was different.
He moved out and in time they moved in together. He seemed happy. Work was hard now, we would try to avoid each other and for the most part we would not see each other but I would see her. I would always see her, it was as though she did it purposely. She would apply her red lipstick and perfume next to me every lunch time in the bathroom, she would attend her flawless hair and she would smile at me. That smile. The kind of smile that suggested she did nothing wrong, but she was wrong, she was very wrong.
I bought a red dress. Red was his favourite colour. It was long and clung to all the places you would like it to cling to. I put my hair in curls, he liked it like that. I got my makeup done, the natural look. I just wanted answers, I just wanted to ask him why? Why did he leave me without explanation or an inkling to what I did wrong? Why did he find someone else? Most importantly, why her? I would arrive early to the staff party so I could catch his attention.
They walked in together but he did not even notice me, but she did. She glanced over his shoulder with that look and that smile. She had a satin knee length dress on. It was red. Her hair was curled to one side. She was just beautiful, so beautiful. I felt like all my inside hurt. She was laughing at me, everyone was. I just knew they were, I could sense it.
I watched him all night, I tried to get his attention but he was not having it. He would not talk to me or even acknowledge my existence. I felt belittled and betrayed. If he would not answer my questions, she would. She left his side once to go outside seeking air, so I followed seeking answers. I waited until she was down that path and then I joined her. We were out of sight of the party, no one could see us or hear us here.
“Hello Isabel,” I directed towards her trying to keep my calm. “Am, hi... Annie?” she replied as if she did not know my name or who I was, but she knew. We talked for awhile, but it was not what I wanted. She was patronising me. She was not giving me answers. She was not sorry. She did not care that she had turned my life upside down, that she had simply ruined my life. She attempted to ignore me. She tried to brush past me. I was frustrated and embarrassed by her treatment, I clung to something nearby and stroke her lightly on the temple. It was just lightly, I did not mean any harm, I just wanted her to listen to me and to talk to me. She collapsed to the ground and laid on her back.
Her blonde hair, her red lips and her big eyes. I will never forget her blue eyes. The way she stared blankly towards the black sky, the way the stars reflected in her sparkling eyes. Isabel was beautiful. She was so beautiful. I closed her eyes. She was not his now. She was not anybodies. She never would be again. I laid there watching the dark sky. I was not his. I was not anybodies.
I wonder who will close my eyes.
The end.
Nicola Murphy