Masked night

Sophia stood aimlessly naked in front of the bedroom mirror and studied herself like one inspects out of date fruit to see if it is safe to eat. Strangely she felt awkward and somewhat exposed as she stared vacantly at her own bare skin. It felt almost improper of her as if she should not be doing this. She slipped into an elegant red mini dress that accentuated her waist and was slightly too tight for her body. After putting her heels on she sat and now she waited. The front door creaked open like clockwork and her body involuntarily stood up and made its way downstairs where she was met with a man in a black suit. This was her husband.

“Where is dinner?” he asked not yet acknowledging his wife’s presence.

“Dinner is already on the table,” She answered.

As he finally looked his wife in her eyes, Sophia knew in this moment how much she hated him. She hated everything about him. She could feel her hatred for him in the pit of her stomach like a barbaric fire growing, festering and filling her with a burning rage that she had no outlet for. And therefore, she was left with no other option than to supress this fanatical resentment. All she wanted was to grab a gun and shoot one bullet perfectly in the middle of his thick skull and watch him drop dead.

“Look at what you’ve done!” he snapped. He shoved his jacket into her arms and made his way to the table in a huff. The table was filled with an assortment of meats and vegetables as well as bread, mashed potatoes and fruit. Sophia stood like a coat rack holding her husband’s jacket waiting silently to be told off as if she were a small child.

‘What is this?” he said pointing to a bowl filled with a cream-coloured substance.

“It’s mashed potatoes,” she said.

“Mashed potatoes, did I not specifically ask for roast potatoes today?”

“It must have slipped my mind I’m sorry,” Sophia said clinging on to the jacket.

“You can never do anything right!” he yelled flapping his arms. Before he could continue his passionate speech, a phone began to ring. It was coming from the jacket. Suddenly the jacket was swiftly removed from her arms, and he answered the phone he pulled from its pocket.

“Hello…. yes, this is Jason Brooker.”

And so, they sat down to eat.

Not all marriages are derived from love. Some are arranged, some are just convenient and some fall into the latter. Sophia thought back to her own wedding day, how she had made her father proud. Of course, being from a wealthy family meant she was given a choice of suitors who fit her family’s criteria, those being that they too were wealthy, someone who could potentially take over the family business and most importantly of good reputation. And thus, she knew which category her own marriage fell into. Business transaction. She had almost picked Aaron Sanders, he was the CEO of some Lavish company, perfect height and owned quite an impressive car collection. However, he was a divorcee, and the rumour was he had cheated with his much younger sectary, and this was far too scandalous for father. Then of course it could have been Nick Jenson standing down that isle. His father was an important politician, and he and his brother came from a notoriously rich family who owned a huge estate. However, Nick seemed to lack the work ethic and quite frankly the intelligence of his older brother who was already married and favoured to inherit most of the Jenson estate. To put it in her father’s words “we will not settle for the younger Jenson it will make our family look pathetic.” And so, we were left with Jason Brooker, he came from a wealthy family, graduated first in his class and seduced her father with his extensive knowledge on Swiss banking. It was a match made in her father’s office and was sealed with a firm handshake. And here she was 5 years later in a loveless marriage with a man obsessed with other people’s perception of himself, just like her father. But deep down underneath her overbearing hatred of her husband she did feel some kind of love or perhaps fondness for him. There was once a time when she had wanted her marriage to work but that all seemed like a faded memory now. 

Jason put the phone down and began tearing into a piece of cooked chicken. The silence in the room was filled by the sound of knives and forks scraping against the plates.

“Some business associates will be joining us for dinner shortly,” he said.

Sophia continued to keep her head down and focused on the food in her plate.

“I hope you will act accordingly,” he had now stopped eating and she could feel his eyes glaring at her. “Of course,” she said with an unconvincing smile.

“Perhaps we should have some wine, there is a bottle in that cupboard,” he said, indicating that she should go fetch it. Sophia grabbed the wine from the cupboard and as she began pouring it in his glass, she noticed he was observing her, he was really looking at her and his mind seemed busy. He broke the silence finally as he asked, “have you gained weight?”

And there it was again the sudden urge to grab the knife situated next to the mashed potatoes and stab him in the Carotid artery and watch him bled out slowly. This deep entrancing thought was interrupted by an abrupt shriek.

“Look at what you’ve done!” he exclaimed. She glanced down and saw a red coloured stain on his shirt, for a second, she thought her bloody vision had come true but was quickly brought back to reality when Jason snatched the wine bottle from her hands.

“Are you stupid? Can you not pour a simple glass of wine?” He shouted.

“I..I’m so sorry,’ Sophia’s voice was shaky and she was trying to clean his shirt with a cloth which he knocked out of her hands and then stormed upstairs to change. Quickly she cleaned whatever wine had spilt onto the table when there was a knock at the door. After a deep breath she opened the door and in front of her was a man and a woman. The man was averaged height with dark blonde shaggy hair, his face looked soft (which probably meant he was still young) and he wore a well fitted suit. But the woman was possibly the most heavenly creature she had ever laid her eyes on. She had long golden locks that complimented her glossy tanned skin, as well as cherry red lips. Her figure was sculpted and shapely and was accentuated by a black mini dress that wrapped around her body perfectly. 

“You must be Mrs Brooker,” she said with a seductive smile.

Sophia felt a hand wrap around her waist which belonged to her husband, who had returned in a new shirt. “She is, please do come in,” he said.

As they entered the house her alluring exotic perfume sneaked in and her heavenly scent lingered in Sophia’s nostrils, it seemed enough to make you feel intoxicated. Introductions were short and sweet her name was Katherine Harper and the young man who was accompanying her was her younger brother Jack Harper. Dinner was going well they laughed, they ate and Sophia fulfilled her duties as a housewife by refilling the guests drinks this time with a steady hand. Jason even gave her the occasional smile and for once it seemed like the ring on her finger had meaning after all.

“Well Jason it has been a successful day and I look forward to working with you,” said Jack.

“We should have a drink to the merging of two businesses,” Katherine said with a smirk and lifted her glass in the air.

“We can all celebrate at the masquerade ball our company is throwing this weekend in honour of this business deal,” replied Jason matching Katherine’s gesture by raising his glass and Jack did the same. At this point they appeared to turn the only person with their glass on the table. Suddenly Sophia felt her throat tighten and her body grew hot like someone had turned on a fireplace. She had no idea who these people were, what business deal they were talking about or anything about a masquerade ball. Very quickly the ring on her finger had become invisible again. She was invisible. Across the table sat Katherine Harper, a woman she had just met but exerted a sense of power that Sophia envied. She thought back to looking at her own body in the mirror just a piece of old fruit, out of date and forgotten about. Why couldn’t her husband talk to her? Love her?

“Sophia?” Jason said with a concerned smile and wide eyes.

Sophia raised her glass and smiled as she said, “this is great news.” The lie slipped out of her mouth so easily that nobody had noticed how quickly her smile disappeared.

That night in bed Sophia lay awake staring at her husband’s back fiddling with her ring. Her mind pondered about many things that night. First, she thought about that red dress how uncomfortable and scratchy it was. Then her husband. She had thought about getting up walking out of that door and never coming back. Never having to see him again. She would take the car drive to an airport and buy a one-way flight. Maybe Paris or Rome, somewhere in the countryside where she could go on long walks. She had even thought about Aaron Sanders, if he was still single, she would ask him to run away with her. She thought about what it would be like to make love to him. Sophia closed her eyes and drifted off. Katherine Harper’s sultry scent still lingered in the air.

Sophia was downstairs making breakfast when she noticed one of her husband’s files on the counter. She picked it up and decided to put it in his brief case which was in the living room. Sophia tried to open the briefcase, but it was locked.

“What are you doing?” said a voice from behind her.

Turning around she said, “I was just putting this in your briefcase.”

Jason snatched the case out of her hands and said, “don’t touch things to do with my work!”

“I’m sorry,” Sophia pleaded.

“Look at what you’ve done! You’ve scratched the leather,” he said.

“No, I swear,” said Sophia.

“Don’t touch my things,” Jason said slamming the door as he left the house. Now she was all alone. As she returned to the kitchen, she noticed that Jason had forgotten to take his lunch, even though it was he who had forgotten it she knew she was to be blamed. Quickly she tried to call him. No answer. She began pacing up and down the kitchen twiddling her thumbs wondering what to do. There was only one solution, she had to take it to him before he had noticed.

The taxi pulled up to an elegant building and Sophia stepped out of the car with her husband’s lunch. Making her way up to his office she had passed many members of staff who greeted her and she gave a gentle nod back to acknowledge their gesture, for she knew if she had spoken to anybody for too long Jason would be displeased. As she reached his office his blinds were closed which she thought was peculiar. Was he not in? Then she heard a noise coming from inside the office. It sounded like something had fallen. She slowly opened the door and peaked in. She saw her husband but wait there was someone else it was Katherine Harper, they were talking. Maybe this was a bad time she didn’t want to anger him. Just as she was about to leave her husband grabbed Katherine’s waist and Sophia froze. Her body turned ice cold and she couldn’t move a muscle, she couldn’t even blink. Their lips met and they kissed with a kind passion that Sophia had never seen before. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing and quickly ran as fast as her feet could take her out of the building. What had she just witnessed? Her husband fondling with another women. Katherine Harper was receiving love that was meant for her. This vision of adultery was playing on a constant loop in her mind, which filled her with indignation and a vigorous rage. How can his treatment of her be fair? Why should she have suffered this whole time in a false marriage with no escape and he give his sweet affections to her? Her mind was racing, and her thoughts turned bloody. She had acted like his doll and her blind devotion to him has been rewarded with an ultimate betrayal. He had stabbed her in the back and now she would drive this same knife into his heart. In this moment her whole life her whole purpose had been shattered by this foul sin and they will be punished.

The door opened like clockwork and Sophia joined her husband downstairs. “Is dinner ready?” asked Jason.

“Yes,” Sophia replied with a wide smile.

“Why are you so happy?” he asked.

“Because I have a surprise for you,” she said.

He looked up and seemed intrigued. Sophia removed her long gown to reveal the red lace lingerie she was wearing. Jason seemed surprised to see his wife’s body, it was a rare sighting like a solar eclipse.

“What is this for?” he asked, his eyes never left her body. She caressed his shoulders and replied, “because you’ve been working so hard at work,” and slowly she removed his jacket and let it drop to the floor. He kissed her. She was in control she now had power and as they kissed, she thought this was the moment. The knife was on the table she caught a glimpse of it from the corner of her eyes. Her hand reached out to grab it when Jason said, “Let’s go upstairs.” 

Sophia had never felt so powerful. He had no idea that she knew what he had done to her. He had no idea what she was going to do to him. The entire time she thought of Katherine Harper her scent, her body and how this submissive doll was going to commit a gory crime. It was only a matter of time.

It was the day of the masquerade ball. It was a dark and gloomy day and there was an ominous tension in the air. Sophia wore a long black dress courtesy of her husband and placed the black and golden mask over her face. She had never felt more herself. The car journey was silent and she glanced at Jason and knew that by the end of the night things would never be the same. The ball was magnificent, and the inside was filled with expensive gold decorations. People were unrecognisable in their fancy masks and costumes. As they entered Sophia noticed the busy atmosphere and accepted the champagne that was handed to her. Soon they were joined by two masked people. After removing the masks, she discovered them to be Katherine and Jack. Katherine was wearing a long black dress simple but classy.

“Isn’t this party amazing?” Jack said.

“It’s wonderful,” said Jason.

“Well, you both look amazing,” said Katherine. She and Jason exchanged some kind of look which send a sharp pain in Sophia’s stomach.

“Sophia we are almost matching, we could be twins,” Katherine said.

Sophia replied with a half-hearted smile.

Jason leaned into to his wife’s ear and said, “I am going to go say hi to some people,” and he swiftly left. Sophia went to explore the party. The music was classy, and food was served in tiny portions, she wouldn’t have expected any less. She was about to find a bathroom when her arm was grabbed a waiter wearing a mask.

“Mr Brooker asked me to tell you to meet him on the upstairs balcony in 10 minutes but make sure she doesn’t see you,” Sophia stood very still and had even stopped breathing. Had the waiter mistaken her for Katherine? She knew now what she had to do.

 Quickly she searched the crowed until she found who she was looking for.

“Katherine is that you?” Sophia asked. Katherine removed her mask placed it on the table.

“Yes, is everything okay?” she asked.

“No Jack told me to tell you that you need to meet him outside it’s urgent.”

“What! What’s wrong?” Katherine asked in a worried tone.

“I don’t know,” she said.

Katherine pushed through the crowd and left.

Sophia picked up Katherine’s mask with a smile.

Sophia entered the balcony where her husband was waiting for another women.

“Katherine you’re here,” he said.

Men they don’t pay attention. You see if men paid attention, then Jason would have noticed that Katherine’s eyes were green, but Sophia’s were blue. He would have noticed that the masked women in front of him was wearing a wedding ring and Katherine was not married. But again, the ring was always invisible to him.

“We must be quick,” Jason said, “if I am away for too long it will be suspicious.”

Sophia did not say a word. She moved closer towards him, and he began stepping backwards until they got to the edge of the balcony. She revealed herself to him and his eyes widened in pure shock. Sophia saw her reflection in her eyes and smirked. With one big push Jason was gone. Sophia stood looking over his body in the distance and said with a sinister smile “look at what you’ve done.”