Inspired by the painting "3 To Get Ready," the first visual prompt for the group "Writing Inspired By Art Inpired By Writing."
Sophie stared into the golden micro bubbles in her "Hopalicious" pale ale and took a chestful sigh. Without looking in the eyes of her friends, she clutched her pint like a holy sacrament and said, "Thank you, you guys, for meeting me here on such short notice." The hand she rested on the bar shook and twitched. Her soft eyes seemed to melt with forbidden tears.
Doug looked at his wife, Ruby, and gave her that "We gotta make sure she's OK" look, and then looked at Sophie's grip on the sweaty pint.
Ruby stretched her neck over to see if she could read Sophie's lips to aid herself in hearing her friend's woes. Granted, after a fine glass of Cline Zinfandel on an empty stomach, she had a hard time keep her hands off Doug's knee under the bar. Doug would slap her hand and give her a look again. Time to be serious.
"He's cheating on me," Sophie stated, still focusing her gaze to the thin streams of beaded sweat on the pint glass. She knew if she looked at Doug's face, she'd start bawling uncontrollably. She also knew that if her eyes wandered to Ruby's glowing face, she'd want to punch the happiness out of her. It wasn't fair how in love those two were, but they were the best friends for such situations. She knew this most of all.
"Yeah, I caught him driving with some blonde out of town. He had a conference. I didn't want to go, so I told him he should just go by himself. He didn't argue for one second. He just tighten his lips, spun around on his heals, mumbled something I could not understand, and then marched out of the house. Next thing I know, I'm driving home from running errands and there he is, driving out of town, suitcases in the back, with a frickin' blonde! And she looked younger than me too. That, I think, was what hit the most. Isn't that weird? But it stung to see this younger blonde girl sitting in my passenger seat. That should have been me, rubbing the back of Michael's neck with one hand, a map in the other."
Doug nodded. Ruby shook her head.
"You can't think like that, Sophie," Ruby called so quickly, she hardly swallowed her gulp of wine. "Sweetheart, you are better than this. You are better than him. Come on, now. Here we are, in the middle of tourist season, with all these hot boaters flinging hundreds all over the place. We'll show that fuckin' Michael what you are made of!"
Doug rinsed his teeth with his scotch and shook his head violently. "Ruby, you are way off. Way off! You can't beat fire with fire. Sophie is hurt here. She needs us to listen to her story, not throw her into a midlife crisis."
"I think I've already hit the midlife crisis part, Doug," Sophie whispers in a husky choked voice. Her shoulders hop up and down, her back shakes, and she starts blinking back tears. "No, not here. I thought I was all done crying. Jesus, I cried enough already!"
... to be continued...
Copyright 2008 Laura Beck Nielsen
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Comments: 16
Blessings ~
Rene
great story adaption to the painting
thank you!
loved that line!
One comment (because you have convinced me you want to hear these things): Clutching her beer like a holy sacrament didn't work that well for me. It makes it feel like she is worshiping her beer instead of hanging on to it, which I feel may be what you want to say.
One question: Did she SEE the blond rubbing her husband's neck, or just imagine that she should be doing that? (I can't help trying to guess where this will end up when you finish this fine opening.)
Great to see you back, Laura. :-)
The little pokes to the side are most welcome, as you guessed.
As you know, I never consider my postings perfect. I wondered why I kept staring at the "holy sacrament" after typing it, but then thought I was over analyzing. The tenses are all screwed up too. Yet your questions of of the actual cheating facts are hilarious to me! Ha! I actually got you fantasizing a bit, did I? All the more reason to wait a couple more days before posting the rest. :) HA!
I love the descriptions you use in your story and the way the 3 characters interact.
And was that a made up word there at the beginning : - )
I'll be waiting for Sophie's come back