Chaptire Sept: Devil on My Shoulder
2021
Wiskayok, New Jersey
"Wake up." Taissa pulled the blinds back, getting a groan from the other woman.
"Fuck, Tai. Are you serious?" The brunette raised a hand to shield her eyes, attempting to escape from the morning's harassment.
But Taissa wouldn't let her. She marched up to the slouch and yanked her barrier of comforters off, "It's 8 o'clock, Mack. Get up."
"Ok, ok." With a click, Mack pushed herself up till her back was up against the headboard. She yawned, stretching the night's rest and alcohol out of her muscles while Taissa went to search for her shoes. After collecting herself, Mack peered over to watch the woman, "How come you're up so early? If I remember correctly, you drank more than me."
"I can hold my liquor, unlike you." Taissa responded, sinking into the bed to slip her heels on, "And unlike you, I also have important things to take care of."
"Is this your wife and son?" Mack asked, making Tai snap her head towards her. The other woman waved her phone around, tapping her ring finger against the side of it, "You got a notification-"
Before she could even finish the sentence, Tai snatched it away, looking over the barrage of messages she missed thanks to Mack. The spoken of devil scooted closer and looked over her shoulder, attempting to read as much as she can. "Damn, you can't have a single second of peace, huh?"
Turning her phone off and closing her eyes, Taissa took a sharp breath in. When she exhaled out, the politician faced the hooligan next to her, "I asked you this last night and I'm going to ask you again. Why are you here, Mack? To waste my time? To give me a headache? To raise up problems-"
"To give you a break." She answered, crossing her legs before herself. Mackenzie leaned forward, resting her elbows on top of her knees as she added, "Look Tai, no amount of makeup could hide those frown lines."
"Grow up."
Mack reached for one of Taissa's hands and held it between her own. Her chilled thumb caressed Tai's warm wrist as she added, "I'm proud of the life that you've built for yourself. The career, the hot ass wife and the little brat. You're doing well for yourself, Tai, and it's honestly fucking amazing. But it's also taking a toll on you. I've seen clips of you on YouTube and you were practically screaming for help in your eyes."
"And so, your solution of ridding me of my stress is by breaking into my hotel room and getting me 'fucked up?'"
"Well, I don't have many other options. All the others are.." Mack's movement stopped and her eyes flickered away from Taissa's face, though her smile was for her, "..morally wrong to entertain."
Taissa scoffed and was going to pull away when she realized that it was her that was prolonging their hold. While Mack had curled her hand up, Taissa's index finger grazed over the etched letter near her wrist. Mack looked back at her then and inched forward, "Just think about it, ok? I'll be here."
"Unfortunately." The ringing of Taissa's phone brought an end to their conversation.
"Hi, baby" She answered, though her attention was pinned on the woman dragging herself to the bathroom. When the door closed, Taissa raked a hand through her hair.
