Page 10 of Lust
Lust said nothing
“If she hadn’t up and left one day with all her shit, I would still be with her.”
Mercy awaited the condescension. The, “You deserved better and should have known better.” Yet Lust didn’t say any of that. Instead, she stroked the back of Mercy’s head, like a mother soothing her heartbroken daughter.
“You loved her very much. It’s easy to blind ourselves to what is right in front of us in the name of love.”
Mercy sniffed and looked away.
“How long ago was that?”
“I dunno. Six months? I should be over it by now, huh?”
“Everyone heals from such trauma at their own pace.”
“I guess so.”
“Have you tried dating again since then?”
“Why bother?” Mercy laughed. “I’m damaged goods now. Who would want to be with someone messed up like me?”
She could practicallyfeelthe look of pity Lust now gave her. “Many times we think we’re not worthy,” the woman in red said, “but in truth, we are the worthiest because we doubt ourselves. Of course, it’s hard to believe when we doubt ourselves so much. Yet to move on and allow ourselves to fall in love again, it’s imperative to look in a mirror and see how beautiful we are.”
From the cherry red folds of Lust’s dress came a gilded hand mirror. She held it before Mercy’s face. “What do you see?” she asked.
Mercy stared at her own reflection. What did she see, anyway? Dark bags beneath her eyes from all the crying she had spent those past few months. Crinkled, oily hair she never cared for now – washing it once a week, atleast.The smelly blouse she probably hadn’t washed in two weeks. Most of all, however, she saw that aura of despair as it settled deep into her marrow and seeped through her clogging pores.
“I see some piece of shit named Mercy Devereux.”
Lust took back the mirror. “That’s not whoIsee. I see a beautiful woman who is having trouble with her healing process.”
“You know I have more problems beyond my ex, right?”
“You can confront those problems, in time. Yet my job is to kickstart your ability to feel alive again. It only has to happen once in a while, you know? Enough to keep you going until the process is fully complete.” Lust hid the mirror in the folds of her red dress. Mercy didn’t question where things disappeared. Or reappeared, for that matter. “You can’t begin your journey until you find that spark inside of you.”
Mercy snorted. “How are you going to do that?Therapy?” If she could have spit the word, she would have. Her few attempts at getting proper therapy had not been great. Enough so that she wasn’t inclined to try again anytime soon.
“Yes.” Lust held Mercy’s chin with steady fingers. “Mykind of therapy.”
Before Mercy had a clue about what was happening, lips touched hers.
5
Surprise overcame poor, unsuspecting Mercy Devereux. Yet that surprise was fleeting. Probably because the sensations filling her weremoresurprising.
Desire. Need. Attraction. Wanton lucidity.
The warmth from Lust’s corporeal body flowed into Mercy’s through that simple kiss, awakening the parts of her that hadn’t been stimulated in months. Not since Marissa, anyway. The last time Mercy made love to a woman… no, no… it was too painful to think about. So many months ago.
She didn’t think it was possible to feel desire like that again. Yet her skin prickled. Her sensitive spots cried out, as if they had not been dormant for such a long time.
Lust clenched her hand around the back of Mercy’s neck and attempted to devour her mouth.
“W…whoa!” Mercy discovered the wherewithal to return to Earth, where one did not tolerate anything – God or not! – making such a move without consent. Mercy leaped from the bed and wrapped her arms around herself. Lust remained seated, hands hovering in the air as her face looked for Mercy’s. “What the fuck are you doing?”
The red woman cleared her throat and straightened her dress. For the first time, Mercy was compelled tolookat Lust. Not only as an entity sitting on the bed, but as the embodiment of sexual, carnal desire. Oh, Mercy felt it now. It swirled in her gut and made her heart beat fast. Too fast. Mercy gazed at that cleavage spilling from the front of Lust’s dress, those impressive mounds straining against the enticing fabric of that bodice. And her waist! Cinched with a string of rubies sparkling like runway lights pointed toward the abode between her legs. Mercy wanted to place her hands there, to squeeze Lust’s body and to touch that mesmerizing hair. Oh, no. The hair. The hair framing that round face, with red lips and eyes that burst with crimson and amber.
Mercy found little to live for those days, but the energy coursing through her made one more night… viable. That? Scared the shit out of her.
