In the Mirror

In the Mirror

By Heather Ann Martinez

The champagne bottle popped. Larry jumped back. Izza gasped and Ginger started laughing. Frank sat nursing his cocktail at the end of the bar. He wasn’t amused. Larry began pouring the champagne into glasses and Ginger passed one to Izza and Frank. Frank nodded at Ginger. He had had a crush on Ginger since they were in preschool. He was married to Izza. She was a beautiful Italian princess in his mind. She was fifteen years his junior when they met and they married three years later. Frank was more reserved than Izza. She wasn’t fluent in English, and she struggled to understand what everyone was saying. Larry was married to Ginger. He and Frank had been business partners. They were both working for different companies now. This evening, they were celebrating Larry’s promotion and gift from his boss.

Larry had been gifted a two bedroom cottage. It was nestled in the mountains along the California coast. Izza thought it was too small. It had a kitchen, a living room and two full bathrooms in each of the bedrooms. Larry and Ginger invited Frank and Izza to stay with them at the cottage for the weekend. Frank was happy that there was a local bar not more than a mile down the road. He knew Izza would complain about how small the cottage was. He had to convert two of their rooms in their house to be closets for her ever-growing wardrobe. She even insisted on buying new clothes and an additional suitcase for this weekend getaway. Frank felt powerless when it came to Izza’s spending. If she thought a scarf or a pair of shoes were cute, they were in her closet by midday.

On the other hand, Ginger was a lot more thrifty. She wore a gold chain around her neck and a gold wedding band. Ginger was always proud of herself for finding meat on clearance sales and bought most of her clothes from second hand shops. Ginger was frugal, but treated herself every once in a while. Larry appreciated Ginger’s financial sense as he struggled a lot over the years financially. Larry wasn’t even certain he would be able to handle all of the job responsibilities of his new promotion. He had lied to his boss about one of his credentials and no one in human resources had checked as far as he knew. Larry intended to sell the cottage if he was found out. Larry was hoping to spend some portion of the weekend talking Frank into working together again. He knew Frank had a job he loved now. He knew it would be a hard sell especially as their Friday night champagne celebration was not off to a great start. Frank couldn’t be bothered. Izza kept engaging Larry in conversation. Izza wondered if she married the wrong man. She saw Larry as being more successful than Frank. She had no idea of how often Larry had lied and cheated his way to get to this point.

Of course, Ginger knew Larry was not all she hoped he was or could be. She worked as a librarian at the community college. She put more than forty percent of every paycheck into a savings account. She planned for Larry’s well to run dry. She knew it was only a matter of time before the truth would be revealed. If you asked her why she married him, she would tell you that it was because he was the only one that ever asked. She was never certain if he loved her or if she loved him. Ginger didn’t think she was attractive and feared no one else asking her to marry him. She always thought Frank would but he kept a distance even if they were standing in front of each other.

After a couple of hours at the bar, they made their way back to the cottage. Larry was laughing so hard, he dropped the key to the front door. When he bent down to pick up the key, the front door opened. There was a fire burning in the fireplace but Larry and Ginger didn’t remember touching the fireplace when they arrived the night before. They all looked at each other uncertain of who should go in first. Finally, Izza pushed past Larry and Ginger. She laughed and thought they were playing a joke on her about starting a fire. Izza was tired and wanted to get the weekend over with as quickly as possible. She wanted to fall asleep before Frank started snoring in her ear. Izza walked into the house.

She looked in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. The word deceitful appeared reflecting in the mirror. She jumped back and started telling the others in Italian what she saw in the mirror. Frank understood enough of what she said to look into the mirror himself.  The mirror said unfaithful. Frank asked Larry what was going on with the mirror. Larry told him he didn’t remember the mirror hanging there before they went to the bar. He told Frank he probably had too much to drink and thought it best that they all sleep it off. Larry was more concerned about the fire in the fireplace and decided to look around the cottage to see if anyone was there. He found a note taped to the opposite wall from his boss. The note said that he stopped by to drop off a spare key and noticed how cold the cottage was. He started the fire and thought he put it out before he left. Larry became unnerved. He thought his boss gave him the cottage free and clear.  He was careful not to alarm the others and reminded everyone that it was late. He put the fire out and suggested that they all go to bed and have an early start. Izza asked him what he planned to do about the mirror. Larry laughed. He told Izza there was nothing to worry about. He walked over to the mirror and tried to take it off the wall. It wouldn’t budge. It was framed in bronze. He asked Frank to help him, but Frank was already in the guest bedroom getting ready to sleep. When Larry looked at his reflection in the mirror, the mirror said liar.

Izza heard the word liar too. She went to the bedroom and told Frank she wanted to leave. She said she didn’t want to stay in a house with a haunted mirror. Frank told her they could leave first thing in the morning. He knew neither of them were in any condition to drive back to the city. He reminded her they all had a lot to drink and told her a story about how he thought there were spiders in his bed after a night of drinking in college. She laughed and agreed that they might be imagining things because they had been drinking. She kissed Frank on the cheek and started getting ready for bed herself.

No one really noticed that Ginger had stepped outside in the cold air. She looked up at the sky and began confessing all of her sins. She named as many as she could think of. Eventually, Larry pulled her inside. She passed by the mirror and looked into it. The mirror said confessed, forgiven. Ginger continued walking toward the bedroom. Larry told her what the mirror said to him. She asked him if the mirror was right. She wanted to know if he was a liar. He told her that we all lie from time to time. She agreed with him and suggested that he confess what he was lying about. He told her he couldn’t do that. Their whole world would unravel if he did that. She told him she knew there would be consequences but she was ready to face them. As they began to settle into bed, Larry realized he hadn’t locked the front door. He got up and walked past the mirror. This time, the mirror said murderer. Larry faced the mirror. He held onto the cold exterior brass frame. He told the mirror that it was an accident. He didn’t know his boss was so close to the edge of the cliff when he pushed him. His boss found out about all of Larry’s false credentials and previous aliases. He went to the cottage to confront Larry and take back ownership of the cottage. Ginger drove with Frank and Izza hours later. Larry told them to stay in the car. He quickly put their luggage in their respective rooms and scribbled a note from his boss. He knew he didn’t have enough time to make it look like it did when he arrived earlier.

Normally, Frank sleeps soundly. He heard Larry confessing to the mirror although he couldn’t exactly make out what Larry was saying. He waited until Larry went back to bed before he went to the hallway. Frank looked into the mirror and saw a reflection of his younger self. He saw Ginger running into his arms. He had been unfaithful to Izza shortly after marrying her. Tears started streaming down his face. He muttered out loud. He apologized. He asked for forgiveness. The image in the mirror changed to his reflection. He sat on the living room sofa in the dark. He knew Larry had lied about why his boss was there and why a fire had been lit. He didn’t feel well enough to drive and hoped that Izza would be ready to leave at daybreak.

Hours passed. Frank woke up on the sofa. He walked to the guest bedroom to wake Izza. He didn’t want to disturb Ginger and Larry whom he assumed were still asleep in the other room. Frank whispered Izza’s name and gently touched her shoulder. Her arm fell over the bed. Her hand clasped a bottle of sleeping pills. She had been dead for several hours. Frank held her cold body and sobbed. Then Frank heard someone clapping. He looked toward the bedroom door. Larry congratulated Frank on being a fellow widower. He told Frank that Ginger wasn’t willing to take sleeping pills like Izza. Izza figured out Larry killed his boss and told Ginger in a text message. He told Frank they wouldn’t keep a secret like that for the rest of their lives.

“Would you be able to keep a secret like that?” Larry asked Frank.

“You know that I could. You know that I have covered for you many times before. You know I have never been a faithful or loyal man to anyone except you. But I can’t serve two masters or try to at least. I saw the truth of who I was in the mirror last night and I know who I want to be going forward. I can’t follow after your lies anymore. You dangled Ginger like a carrot in front of me for years. You let me have Izza to keep me in perpetual fear. I know what I’ve done. I’ve asked for forgiveness, and I am leaving. I am no longer going to be a wandering soul. I know it’s not too late for redemption.”

Frank walked out of the cottage. Larry burned the cottage to the ground and took on a new name.