Scorn of a woman

By Nandita Chakraborty

“Damn, Tom you are such a child!’’ Tom laughed at this remark. “This is not just about the money is it?”

Grabbing Kate tightly with his right hand, he tried to hold on to his bag strap with the other. “Let go of me!’’ Kate pushed him away as far as she could.

She stood next to the missing brick, panting for air. Silence was the only medium between them. Tom was still looking at her, as if waiting for her to say something.

He was always waiting for her, waiting for her to make decisions for them, waiting for her to connect him to his past. “Will I ever connect and if I ever connect what will it all mean for me?” Tom thought to himself.

Walking slowing towards her, he looked for signs that she might rebel and lash out again.

They looked at each other for a long time and stood together in the silence, until Kate took the first step. She leaned forward and slapped Tom on his right cheek. Surprised with this, Tom slapped her back.

“You are happy now Tommy, happy to take all your frustrations out on me?”

“You hit me first – what the hell was that about!  You’re the one out of your mind over all this money and that real estate guy – for god’s sake get a grip on your-self Kate.”

Thick air of silence came between them again and separated them back into their respective corners.

“I am sorry, I did not mean that, I just over-reacted I guess. Look, I am sorry.’’ Taking Kate in his arms, he kissed her passionately on her lips. Slowly caressing her cheeks, he looked into her deep blue eyes. The pseudoscience of time, translated her eyes as a lulling and soothingbackground for him. He did not feel insecure anymore.

Slowly breaking herself free from the kiss, she reached for his cheeks; gently stroking with her tongue, she nibbled on his ears. Kate, aware of her precarious posture, wanted to make it comfortable for him, slowly guiding him towards the bedroom.

“He is such a hard work! I’ll have to finish this quickly before Simon comes for me,” she thought to herself, glancing quickly at the bedside clock.

Pushing Tom’s hand gently off her, she looked at him for a long time. Reminiscences  of the past began to haunt her. The countless houses she saw with him, one application after another, dealing with his insecurities, her feelings trapped with him, her playing blackjack with Simon at the casino, the mindless one-night stands with Simon, his confident attitude towards life and himself, opened a box of Pandora for her to scheme with. She felt like she could dream again, she was alive.

In about half an hour from now Simon will be waiting for her outside. She looks at Tom for one last time, still deep in sleep. Quickly, she slips out of the bed sheets, still thinking about what Tom had said earlier about Simon being in danger.

Smiling to herself, she changed into her black dress and high heels and reached for the already packed suitcases. She checked her satchel to see if her blue nurse’s uniform was not forgotten in the rush. Her lips broke into a smile when she saw the blue uniform neatly folded under stack of papers, which she carefully used to camouflage the money.

“Goodbye my love.’’  Softly whispering to herself, she closed the door behind her.