Short Story: “Scarlett in Red”

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Scarlett was sipping her glass of red wine when a familiar face and figure suddenly appeared in front of her. She was caught redhanded by her husband having a dinner date with Rusell, her ex-boyfriend. She panicked and all her bright red lips could manage to utter was, “It’s not what you think.”

Tonight, she chose to wear the red cocktail dress that Rod bought three years ago as an anniversary present for her. She had never worn it once. “What was I thinking?” How could she explain that it was not her intention to hurt Rod? She thought that it was the only way she could help resurrect her husband’s company, which was approaching its imminent death or bankruptcy.

Tonight, she executed her plan to revive it, somehow. Scarlett knew that Russell still had strong feelings for her, and he would do anything for her, regardless of the fact that she was already married.

“It’s not what you think,” Scarlett repeated. Rod only looked viciously at both of them. His red eyes were filled with rage and tears. He desperately wanted to punch Russell in the face, but he was aware of the ogling eyes of the people around him.

Rod left the restaurant instead without saying a word. He made his mind up that he was not going to forgive his wife. He didn’t need an explanation from her. He sat morosely in his car, contemplating on the preceding events that led their marriage to this.
“Is our marriage over?”
“How was I not able to see this?”

Her face with glowing red lips and makeup hovered in his mind, then he decided to switch the car engine on. He came to a decision that he was going to win her back. He would wait for her to come home and they would talk. There was still time for reparations and their marriage could be saved.

Meanwhile, Scarlett hurriedly went home. She wanted to make it right with her husband. She could not count anymore how many times she left him messages on his phone. She turned the TV on and sat on the sofa, whilst holding her glass of wine. Home and Away was on. She could not bother switching channels. She was more consumed with thoughts of the right words to tell Rod to make him understand that what she did was for the best of them.

During a commercial break, Southern Cross News reported about a fatal accident of a car crashing into a speeding truck. Scarlett thought the car was familiar. “No, it couldn’t be,” she nervously muttered.

A glass of red wine was not enough. She poured in some more red wine when her first glass was finished. Then she had some more. When the reporter confirmed the name of the victim, her hand suddenly lost control and dropped the glass onto her sofa.

Copyright © April 2018 @evlachsblog

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