The Brushoff

Jake and Chloe stood side by side in the dimly lit bathroom they had shared for the past five years. Their reflections were so familiar but the persons they now shared this room with were not. They had always intended to repaint the dull gray walls, but those plans fell to the wayside, like so many others. They looked at each other nervously, first in the mirror, then directly in side-long glances.

Chloe strained to draw a deep breath from air so thick with tension. Jake fumbled with his tie, the silk slipping through his fingers. His eyes darted to Chloe's reflection. Her body was stiff, as she meticulously applied her mascara, her lips pursed in concentration.

“You know,” Jake began, “we could’ve avoided this whole mess if you’d just let me keep the damn house.”

Chloe's mascara wand froze in mid-air. She scoffed, “And let you turn it into your bachelor pad? No way. Besides, it’s my Nonna's house.”

“Your grandmother’s house,” Jake muttered, “which I’ve been paying the mortgage on for six years.”

“FIVE years” Chloe corrected in an icy tone. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed your wandering eye during these lawyer meetings. Not that I care ...”

"Then why bring it up?" Jake shot back.

"Because I'm not going to have you screwing my divorce attorney in Nonna's house!" Chloe shrieked.

Chloe dabbed at a small tear on her cheek, "And your phone is buzzing ..."

"That's not my phone ..." Jake scanned the countertop. "It's ... the toothbrush?"

Jake and Chloe's gaze slid to the bathroom counter, where their shared electronic toothbrush lay, a relic of happier times. Jake had always let Chloe brush first. She would then rinse and dry the device, remove her brush head, and return the toothbrush to its charger. Jake would grin at her as she inspected her smile. Then he'd grab the toothbrush from its charger, insert his brush head, and the buzzing would resume.

But this time the buzzing had begun on its own ... the toothbrush stood in its charger. It buzzed only briefly, and then it stopped. Jake and Chloe looked at each other.

"That was weird ... " Chloe said softly. "Maybe the battery is going."

"Well," Jake chimed in, "we'll soon find out."

Jake reached for the toothbrush, but before he could grab it, the toothbrush began to buzz again. When he withdrew his hand, it stopped. He reached once more, and it buzzed, louder this time ... but stopped when an alarmed Jake stepped quickly backward.

"What the fuck!"

Chloe was getting frustrated. She looked at her watch, "We don't have time for this! We're going to be late!" She grabbed the toothbrush, inserted her brush head, ran it under the tap, and applied some toothpaste. Chloe grinned, "Never send a man to do a woman's job!"

As Chloe pushed the head of the toothbrush into her mouth, she pressed the button 'ON' button and the toothbrush sprang to life ... but it was not the steady buzz she was used to. The pitch of the toothbrush was rising and falling ... a tune from deep in her memory ... a lullaby. From Nonna? She felt both frightened and consoled.

Attempting a return to normalcy, with her mouth full of foam she garbled, "Yeah, I think the battery is going."

Jake was irritated, "It's not battery-powered. Are you done yet? " He was standing next to Chloe with the uncapped tube of toothpaste already in his hand.

As soon as Chloe set the toothbrush down Jake snatched it from the counter, without changing the head, and immediately began to apply the paste. When he did the brush head sprang to life and splattered toothpaste all over Jake's shirt and tie.

"Goddam this thing!" Jake was angry but undeterred. He shoved the toothbrush in his mouth, growling and gurgling as he did. No sooner than he did, his eyes opened wide, and a look of terror spread over his face. He was choking.

Jake pulled the base of the toothbrush from his mouth, but the brush head was missing!

Chloe grabbed the base of the toothbrush from Jake and it stopped vibrating, but she could still hear buzzing! She looked at Jake. The buzzing was coming from inside Jake's mouth!

Jake was turning blue, and his knees buckled. Staggering backward, he hit the counter and fell to the floor. Chloe leaped at him, straddling his body, and pushed her hand into his mouth.

Her fingers flailed wildly inside his mouth until she felt the base of the brush head at the back of his throat. The plastic was slippery and vibrating wildly. She couldn't get hold of it. Jake's head was now on the floor and she was pushing hard at the back of his throat.

Jake gagged as if he were about to throw up, which pushed the brush head forward, and Chloe was finally able to get her fingers around the plastic stem. The vibration stopped. She pulled it from his mouth. For a second, the room was very quiet. Chloe became alarmed.

"Jake! Jake! Are you okay?"

Jake's eyes opened slowly. Chloe looked at him, then at the toothbrush head in her hand. She grabbed the countertop and pulled herself up. Jake soon appeared next to her in the mirror. He was badly shaken but had thought to grab the toothbrush base from the floor. It was now buzzing once again.

He looked at his assailant and a wave of anger surged over him. He cocked his arm preparing to rifle his buzzing enemy into the mirror. "NO!" Chloe shrieked. "Don't!"

She reached up and gently took the base from Jake's hand, and the vibration stopped. She took both pieces and slowly moved them together, inserting the brush head into the base. Tipping her head downward toward the newly joined pair, she said very quietly, "I can still use them."

Jake's eyes narrowed, and he forced a smile ... but then his face softened. His lips pursed and he let out a gentle whistle. "We're going to be late. Fuck my teeth. We need to go."

He turned to walk away, then stopped and turned back to Chloe. Looking at her in the dim light of the bathroom he said softly, "You're right. It's time for me to move out."

Again Jake turned to leave but stopped. "And, I remember that lullaby the toothbrush was playing for you. You know what I’m talking about? You sang it to me the first time we slept together."