Heart-Shaped Sunglasses
Sarah pulled down her heart-shaped sunglasses, simultaneously raising one perfectly manicured eyebrow. Her red lipgloss shone with a strong glare in the light, and an astute observer may have noticed a slight trembling that revealed a volatile combination of anger and confusion. Sarah was an expert at keeping a great poker face.
“What do you mean, Mercy ran off with Jared?”
“I mean that they ran off. What else do you want me to say?”
“I mean, how? How long has this been going on?”
I paused briefly, contemplating what I should and shouldn’t tell her. I am a firm believer that women should always know what’s going on behind their back, and I was ashamed to admit that I had facilitated a situation where she was the last to know. It’s a shitty feeling; one that is sadly familiar to me, and endlessly frustrating. I shook off my most selfish motivations, bracing myself for the impending storm.
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“Mercy and Jared have been a thing for a while now. I don’t know when it started. Maybe when you two were together. At the very least, I saw them together at the movies about a week after you broke up, holding hands. I was sitting behind them; I don’t think they saw me. Seemed pretty fast to me to have only been going on for less than a week.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me!?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry, Sarah. I’ve been a shit friend. I know it. This one has been killing me.”
“Good. It should be. You are a shit friend.”
Sarah paused for a minute, her breath shaky with righteous indignation. She let out a rare apology. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault. I shouldn’t be taking this out on you. But that fucker is going to pay for this.”
I ran through the possibilities in my head of what exactly that “payment” might be.
I am hoping there will be a part two, but if not, that was really great. I could see those ever so slightly trembling lips of rage waiting to burst forth from her. Admirable job in setting the scene.
Thank you so much for reading! I don't know what would happen in part two. Any suggestions?
Well if this was a Lifetime Channel movie, (i don't have cable and haven't for about ten years so not sure if they are still around or not), but Sharah would befriend, her old boyfriends new girlfriend. Pretending all along she is happy for the couple, (not hard to do since she is a poker player), then she would set Mercy up to where she believed that Jared was cheating on her. (After all we know Jared is a cheater type). Then when she fell for the plot, put thoughts of revenge in her mind of getting even with Jared. Then Sarah can just sit back and cackle her tight little ass off smiling as she rakes in another winning pot at the poker table, and no one the wiser as to why she is so happy.
Maybe she’s friends with Mercy already, and she pretends that she doesn’t know about Jared, and when Mercy tearfully confesses that they’ve been seeing each other (omitting the detail about the cheating/overlap), Sarah acts like she’s totally forgiving and just appreciative that Mercy told her, and tells her that she really just loved Jared as a friend and is happy for them. In the meanwhile, she starts gaslighting Mercy in a subtly escalating game of psychological warfare. Ultimately, Mercy is driven to extreme anxiety and paranoia, and strangles Jared in a fugue state. The story ends with her being carted off to a mental ward in a prison.
Yes, I believe that would work.
I think since I'm still in my early days of writing fiction I haven't fully figured out how to tell a complete story, so I just kinda start at what would probably be a few paragraphs in for a regular short story, and stop when I get to a cliffhanger, and then quit while I'm ahead. :p
nice publication.. keep it up
I am glad that you decided to make it into a post!!
Maybe you are going to take 40 % off your writing time today? 🤣 Better not. 5 minutes is such a deal!!!
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-224-5-minute-freewrite-thursday-prompt-40-off
This is a good story. I didn’t know you started writing short stories (that’s how out of touch I am with Steemit). I’m finding it hard to find time to come online and read for enjoyment nowadays. Glad to see you still have the writing bursts!
Yeah! I didn't know I would either. I had never once written fiction before I got to Steemit (except when I was a little kid). I was convinced I would be terrible at it. I love it now! It's my new favorite thing to write. So relaxing. This story isn't my best, if I'm going to be honest with myself, but some of the ones I posted before are pretty good, I think. I'm glad you liked it though!
It looks like you have knack for writing fiction too, with the latest curie support. You'll never know what it is that you'll be good at it until you try. Too bad I really have no creative talent to be a writer. The only thing that seems to get me into writing a long novel is if the topic is steemit-related, lol. Oh well. :) Just have fun. Didn't I say that to you when you first started? Look where you are now. ;)
btw, I came across this history write-up job just now. Is it something you're interested in getting into? I don't know him but some of my steemit friends are his friends.
https://steemit.com/history/@energyaddict22/calling-all-writers-usd50-usd-for-original-articles