Alexander's Gift

The Actress- 5

Mary felt embarrassed for Dick's sake that she had to leave the party early due to a migraine, insisting that he stay and allow her to take a taxi. Under normal circumstances, she would have been more than glad for Dick's gallantry, however she had seen how happy he was around his coworkers and superiors from the bank- how proud he was to finally be one of them of his  own accord. She had been feeling the undefinable strain between them lately, and didn't want to be the cause of him missing out on the party.

So, as Mary lay tiredly on the living room couch, knowing that it was around the time Dick should be coming home by, she wanted to warmly receive him to make up for her leaving. One part of her knew full well that her being sick was nothing to apologize for, but another part . . . just felt plain rotten. 

The distant squeal of tires alerted her to the presence of a car, but surely that car was driving much too fast to be Dick's. But the low rumblings of an engine coming nearer and nearer, only to pull up lateral to the house proved for her to be wrong. Dick was home. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, resisting the urge to yawn, and waited for the door to open. There was the muffled slam of the car door, and then heavy footsteps- her head perked up- did Dick just fall? There was a grunt and more footsteps, some fast and some slow, and then the door swung forcefully open. 

"Di-" Her voice abruptly went silent as she watched Dick stumble into the living room, mumbling under his breath and kicking the door shut as he struggled to strip off his jacket . . . reeking of alcohol. Mary abruptly stiffened at the sight like a soldier snapping to attention, the only difference being the coldness that raked down her spine, settling in the pit of her stomach. As if on cue, her hands began to tremble, and oxygen was suddenly evading her grasp . . . instinctual reactions to her parents' condition that had apparently never left, and just laid dormant until they were needed again.

"Why are you drunk?" Someone spoke harshly, breaking the silence. Could it really have been her? Dick fixed her with an intently focused glare as if he had just now noticed her presence, and was trying to remember who she was. Finally he said in a voice too loudly, stumbling over his words as though his mouth was no longer under his control, "'M not drunk . . . I've gotta go to bed." 

The wherewithall was slowly returning to Mary, and she stood from the couch with lower lip trembling in a mix of sadness and anger. "You are drunk. What were you thinking? And you drove here, too! What if you had crashed?!" 

Dick swiped a hand dismissively in her direction, shaking his head vehemently. "I didn't crash." 

"How could you do this to me?!" Her  voice rose liltingly, piercing the air with emotion, and she finished in a wavering breath, "Are you an alcoholic, Dick?" The dreamy fog that had clouded Dick's eyes since he had wandered into the house abruptly left, only to be replaced by a dark, violent anger that frightened Mary to the very core and made her step back into the couch. Sweat matted hair hung low on his forehead as he walked unsteadily towards Mary, mouth set in disdain that was utterly foreign to her. She could feel her body shivering uncontrollably as he stopped inches from her to spit out, "Don't call me that." Stomach twisting, Mary turned her face away from the acrid breath that burned her nostrils. "You look at me when I'm talking to you, damnit!" His voice rose dangerously, and Mary barely had time to react as a hand roughly grabbed her by the chin and jerked her face back in his direction. 

Feeling like a little girl once again, Mary feebly pulled on his arm, tears rising to her eyes. "You're hurting me!" She cried out, looking into Dick's burning eyes to reason with the decent human within him. But it was in that moment that a revelation of understanding washed over her. A revelation so earth-shattering that she let out a sob of despair and wrenched herself away from him, running into the bedroom and locking the door behind her.