Watching Her

Chapter 7

Lucy again drove home in silence and between changing gears her fingers were tapping incessantly on the top of the black pleather steering wheel. She was nervous to get home, every single set of traffic light's that she encountered were just changing orange to red as she came up to them, the car in front was making a conscious effort to stop early, it made the journey frustratingly slow. She was never quite at the point of no return and had to stop.

The most irritating thing about the car she was following as she crawled home in traffic was that it was an old white Skoda diesel car and the smoke and soot was pouring out every time it accelerated. She almost growled as she flipped the vent on the blower to recirculate to try and keep the air in the car clean. She didn't fancy taking deep breaths of gunk in.

Eventually got home and picked up the junk mail post and put it on the bottom step and kicked off her heels and then climbed the stairs. She had only one thing on her mind, and that was to talk to her reflection in the mirror.

Lucy flumped down on the stool and leaned on the tabletop and studied the reflection. It copied her, it was a normal mirror, there was a 30-year-old young woman looking back at her. The ashtray in the reflection was clean and empty as was hers. She shook her head and slowly unbuttoned her blouse. Her mirror image copied her until they both tossed their blouse on the floor behind her. She was sitting in front of the mirror in just her boring white work bra. Her practically China clay white skin with the exception of a dark brown mole just above the right breast, Lucy was proud of her slim figure. She smiled at the mirror and attempted to tease it by moving her white straps along her shoulders as if the bra were going to come off, but the mirror didn't play ball, it was just a reflection of her moving her straps around. She shook her head and shivered and so spun her legs around to pick up her t-shirt off the bed, she picked up her blouse off the floor and threw it on to the bed. As she fought it and put her arm holes through it, she turned around and looked at the mirror again. Her Reflection in the baggy shirt smiled back. Their hands reached for the pack and pulled out a cigarette.

"Bitch!" Lucy swore at her Reflection.

Lucy's reflection shrugged her shoulders and placed a cigarette between her lips. The Reflection intimated to Lucy that she should pick up her pack.

She slid her hand over the pack and both of them nodded in unison, her Reflections cigarette bounced between her lips. Lucy picked up the pack and was faced with the cellophane after a few seconds the wrapping was off and in the ashtray. Her reflection smiled at her as she patiently waited for Lucy to catch up.

Lucy pulled out the filter between her sunshine yellow painted fingernails and nervously placed it between her lips.

"Now what?" Lucy mumbled as the cigarette perched between her lips.

Her Reflection looked down towards the lighter on the table and in unison they both picked it up.

They flipped open the gold lighter and the flame instantly appeared and in synchronised harmony the flames touched the end of the cigarette, a perfect reflection, Lucy copied the two drags to get the cigarette alight. She kept her eyes on the Reflection as she smelt the awful burning smell and then felt the smoke as it rushed down her throat and hit her now waiting lungs. She waited for the cough. Everyone always talks about the cough with your first cigarette. She kept her blue eyes focused on her Reflection it never materialised. She felt the smoke in her mouth as she tried not to blink as kept her eyes on the Reflection as the smoke then suddenly arrived in her lungs. They instinctively smiled at each other and then as per the Reflection she tilted her head and exhaled the perfect cone.

"Fuck, I am actually smoking a cigarette!" Lucy and her Reflection said together. "I needed that." They said together this time with a slightly deeper voice. Lucy looked puzzled as to why she said that.

Her Reflection in the mirror smiled at her and intimated towards her hand to go again.

The two of them placed the cigarette between their lips and their cheeks collapsed in perfect harmony as they pulled the smoke into their lungs and then removed the cigarette from their lips as they held the smoke for half a second as they stared at each other. They then exhaled the smoke in a repeated cone. There was no coughing, no problems at all, Lucy was feeling the adrenaline and the nicotine doing their thing as she could hear her heart beating in the silence and was starting to feel a pleasurable wooziness come like a crashing wave over her.

They kept their eyes on each other through the smoky haze. Lucy was trying to study the deeper crow's feet in the corner of her Reflection's eyes. The slightly more pronounced wrinkles on her forehead. Her Reflection rudely distracted her again by looking across towards her hand. It wanted more nicotine! The Reflection needed Lucy's help.

Their arms moved again in time with each other attempting to outstare each other. The cigarette was placed in the middle of the lips, their cheeks concaving together. The tip of the cigarette burned bright orange as the lungs pulled the smoke deep within the chamber. As the Reflection held the smoke in their lungs, Lucy did too. Waiting for permission from her reflection to exhale. After the beat of one second the sound of a mobile phone ring tone belted up the stairs Lucy instinctively looked away towards the door, and away from the mirror. She instantly lost eye contact with her Reflection. Unfortunately, she was still with a lungful of smoke and it was then she spluttered and coughed hard. She dropped the cigarette in the ashtray as she bent over double, leaning forward on her legs and coughed between her legs, she sputtered, urged, and coughed again.

She unsteadily got up as she kept coughing, gasping for air as she glared at the mirror as she staggered towards the door and used her hand on the door frame for support. The ringing was getting louder as she got down the stairs. She was wheezing trying to get oxygen in her now smoke poisoned lungs. The phone is on the kitchen counter vibrating and clattering whilst ringing away, she stares at the screen, it's an unknown local number, and she frantically swiped up twice to try to answer.

"Hi, we understand you have been in a car accident in the last three years that wasn't your fault, please press 1 to talk to a trained operator...."

Lucy again coughed, glared, and swore loudly at the phone screen and quickly pressed the large red button and dropped it noisily back on the counter. With focus she shuffled over and pulled a glass out of the cupboard and quickly filled it with tap water. She hurriedly chugged down the water as if putting out a fire. Lucy instantly filled it back up again. The water was dripping down the side of her mouth splashing on her top and the counter as she focused on quickly pouring water down her throat trying to remove the awful taste from her mouth.

She sat down on her sofa and as she took a deep breath and exhaled fresh air as she sighed loudly. Lucy was conflicted, her mouth tasted like coal, but her brain was certainly enjoying the nicotine rush. She threw her head back against the sofa as she cried out in frustration and stared at the ceiling whilst she panted desperately for the delightful oxygen.