Page 61 - Contrast2014

Andrea Briggs

Lamp with Two Figures

Perched on the low stool in front of her mahogany
vanity, Shelley slowly unclipped one earring after the
other, setting them in a little silver dish. The pearls had
been a gift from Paul, given on their third wedding
anniversary, and in the two years since, she'd worn them
exactly seven times, only ever on his suggestion. They
were for special occasions, the types of events that
required her to purchase a new dress and fresh lipstick
with which to put on a smile. The little metal tubes were
lined up like tiny soldiers along one side of a tray on the
vanity, gold cases containing the slick reds, glossy pinks,
and flashy corals she used to hide behind.

Shelley could hear the shower running behind the
closed door to the master bath, and tried to calculate just
how much time he'd been in there. Paul usually took no
more than ten minutes in the morning, but on those
seven certain nights since he'd given her the earrings, he
would spend up to twenty minutes beneath the spray,
under the guise of wanting to "relax" - but they both
knew it was only because he didn't want to have to wait
for her to be already undressed.

She was wasting time, she knew; she hadn't even
taken her shoes off yet, the straps still digging in around
her ankles. For as much as she'd been desperate to get
back home after the company dinner, now, anything
seemed preferable to sitting here, waiting on Paul,
wanting to get it over with so she could go to sleep.

Only the lamp next to the bed had been turned on,
casting the room in odd shadows, the streak of the

contrast I S9