Mirror mirror

I no longer had Gray coming to pick me up as I drove the white Porsche out of the parking lot and headed to the mansion. After setting my eyes on Lizzy Gold, a serious lump formed in my throat and refused to go away. The ringing of my phone drew my thoughts from her.

"Hey Trish."

"Hey brideeeeee." Trisha chirped excitingly over the phone, "How have you been doing?"

"You and your silly jokes, Trish."

"What? Aren't you the little bride?" She joked, "Come on tell me, how has our little plan been?"

I heaved a sigh, "I don't know Trisha."

"What do you mean you don't know? You can't seduce a man properly?"

I groaned. The day I confronted Damien Jaeger and finally decided to leave the mansion and go to Trisha's house, she gave me some advice:

"You need to be bold, girl!" She had said, "I know the contract is messed up, but don't let him intimidate you. Instead, use that as an advantage to punish him for the fucked up thing he made you sign."

"How?" I asked in a broken voice. My eyes were watering with tears.

"You know how, Mélie."

I had no idea what she was talking about.

"By playing the same games that he is playing." Trisha's voice was conniving.

Play the same games that he was playing. I had pondered on those words for a long time and had returned to the mansion like I owned it. I showed him my face- daring and unafraid, but that mask quickly faded like the illusion that it was. And although I no longer despise him as I did when I learnt the truth, I despise the way I feel around him; How he still intimidates me just by staring at me.

"How are you supposed to seduce a man that drives you into a trance if you stare at him for too long?" I asked, still on the phone with Trisha.

Trisha laughed, "He's your husband, why don't you figure it out?"

"How's Darcy doing?" She asked as I made a turn and drove into area 34, the humongous mansions started coming into sight.

"She's adorable as always." I replied, "She's been spending time with her sisters."

"That's great. Those crazy women don't have a problem with it?"

I laughed, "I'm sure they do. Speaking of crazy women, let me let you in on what happened between them."
~

My cheeks flushed as the search results popped on my screen. This is ridiculous. I thought. I was sitting in my bedroom right after dinner, searching online for how to seduce men.

"This is ridiculous." I murmured to myself as I read something a blogger had assured would work. Maybe it could work for a high school girl who's trying to seduce the most popular guy in high school but it could never work for Damien Jaeger.

After reading through endless blogs, I finally gave up and crashed into bed for some shut eye.
~

I stood in front of the mirror holding a red lipstick in my hand. Looking at the dressing table in front of me, there were more makeup items than I knew what to do with.

I wonder how Sharon got hold of these within the very short period of time that I had requested them. A feeling of embarrassment gushed over me as I stood in front of her in the kitchen earlier this morning requesting for them. She gave me a suspicious look and then suddenly, her cheeks became pink with blush.

I picked up an item that resembled a chapstick. The internet told me it was meant to keep my eyebrows in place. I could have taken that straight to my lips. It wasn't my fault. I had only ever used lip balms, clear lip gloss and maybe sneak in some extra mascara when I was meeting up with Derrick.

That name brought back memories of over 3 years ago. Derrick Hudson had always been a lover of makeup. He loved feminine women and he would tease me for refusing to apply makeup on my face. Now that I thought of it, he wasn't just teasing but mocking and insulting. I had been so drunk in love that I never realised it.

I bit my lips at a bitter memory: He had invited me to a friend's birthday party and had given me a dress to wear for the function. The dress would expose nearly all of my boobs and was far too short for comfort so I turned up for the party wearing something else. Derrick couldn't conceal his anger;
"You'll return home and wear that dress or you just go home and don't come back."

I was shocked beyond imagination, "You're kidding me, right?" I asked.

But he wasn't kidding. He hissed loudly and returned to the party. I had remained outside for over 20 minutes watching what he was doing and he seemed to be having great fun without me, with women who were dressed in the outfits he admired.

Now that I think of it? Why didn't I just break up with him then? I gave him liberty and let him control me all the way to the end.

I blinked repeatedly in order to avoid my tears from smudging the eyeliner that I had applied. When the tears left my eyes, I picked up the pink lipstick and applied it on my lips, having decided against wearing the red one I initially carried. I needn't make it too obvious that I was dolling up for- I shook my head as I thought of his name.

"That will do." The woman staring back at me in the mirror looked pretty gorgeous; Her large eyes looked bigger and bolder than usual and were veiled by a set of thick curly lashes that complimented them. Atop them sat a set of thick perfect eyebrows that one could easily swear was done in one of those beauty clinics in Brooklyn. Her nose was straight and small and sat well on her face which curved at intervals. Her brown hair hid most of the sharp edges of her face yet her jawline refused to go unnoticed.

A knock on the door interrupted her self admiration.

"Who is it?" I asked, taking my eyes from the mirror.

"It's Sharon, ma'am. Breakfast is ready." She announced.

I picked up my handbag and gave one final look at the mirror. My tight navy blue pants and matching blazer suits me well. I thought before catwalking out of the room like a professional model in my Jimmy choo heels.