Watching Her

Chapter 8

Five hours later, and yet another long conversation with her mum, it was dark, Lucy sat back on the stool looking at her reflection in the mirror. She was lit by just the angle light beside her, in the darkness it was just her and her mirror image. It had been driving her mad that the intensity and pleasure from that first cigarette was amazing and she was enjoying it until the phone rang.

Lucy had plugged the phone into a socket near the bed to charge overnight and purposely turned it on to silent. She needed to focus. She sat there staring at the mirror, the pungent smell from the half-smoked cigarette still emitting from the ashtray ticking her nose. She had been too cross with herself to throw it out just yet. She sat there impatiently and frustratedly waiting for her Reflection to change. Nothing happened. It was still her. She tried turning her back, she tried pulling her t-shirt on and off, took her bra off and dropped it on the floor nothing changed. She sat there topless in front of the mirror, her smallish perky C cup white breasts, with light pink mammary with small nipples reflected back. Nothing.

Lucy huffed loudly and leaned on the tabletop as she went to move to get up but glanced back at her topless Reflection which stayed put and grinned back at her.

"You are a Bitch!" She shouted at herself in the mirror as she sat back down.

The eyes of the Reflection ignored her and looked down at the open pack. "Okay, let's do this again!" Lucy stated as both her and her Reflection rubbed her hands together confidently.

Within seconds Lucy was staring at her Reflection, the white cylinder with the dark almost mysterious tobacco stuffed in the end looking back at her. Again, she was mildly surprised and taken aback by the heat and brightness near her nose hot flame from the lighter that in perfect harmony with the one in the mirror touched the cigarette. She was good and followed her Reflection. Her cheeks collapsed as if she had done this thousands of times as she pulled the thick grey smoke into her lungs.

In harmony they removed the cigarette from their lips allowing an initial cloud of smoke from the filter to appear in front of their faces as the deep suction was removed. They looked at each other almost gaming who was going to exhale first. Lucy was almost enjoying the barrage of smoke as it hit her lungs. As the flood nicotine that again started to be pumped around Lucy's blood stream as they tilted their head and exhaled a backlit cloud of smoke into the darkness of the room.

Lucy kept her eyes on her Reflection the whole time even as they tilted, she didn't dare lose sight of her again. They almost teasingly together ran her tongue across her lips to deal with the bitter taste she could feel on her tongue. She desperately tried to see if she could find a drink, but before she could move, her Reflection again looked at the cigarette burning between her fingers. The steady stream of smoke leaving the tip and heading straight up, she was demanding another drag. There was no rest for the wicked.

Lucy gulped and submitted to the request, and her Reflection smiled at her as she placed the orange filter back between her lips and Lucy smiled too, she was transfixed by her reflection as the tip of the cigarette fizzed as they both inhaled.

For the next three and a half minutes Lucy and her Reflection worked in harmony. As the ash on the cigarette grew, her Reflection would look towards the ashtray beside them and they would flick the long greying ash off, before quickly returning the filter to their lips.

Like dancing without music with her Reflection. It led them a waltz around the smoke-filled dancefloor until finally they were at the butt. With one final exhale Lucy followed her Reflection as they triumphantly stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray. Lucy looked up and smiled, and her Reflection smiled back too as she watched a little more smoke drift out of her nose as she breathed out.

As the smoke quickly dispersed the next glance back at the reflection her face in the mirror was normal. It had morphed back, she leaned forward, nope, it was her again in the mirror, the glass clearly showed the two butts rather than the ten in the ashtray.

She sat there staring at herself as all that could hear in the silence of the darkened room was the fast beat her heart thumping loudly as it pumped the nicotine around her bloodstream. She felt elated, but with the buzz she got up and felt the queasy and giddiness. She felt as if she was drunk, she stumbled in just her black thong as she headed desperately to the bathroom to gargle mouthwash to try and remove the putrid taste in her mouth.