Lucy slept soundly, only to be rudely woken by her alarm. She winced as she could smell the smoke in her hair that lay across her face as she sniffed it, she shook her head and climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom to start her morning ritual.
She sat down in front of the mirror in her towel around her chest and unravelled her hair. She wouldn't normally wash her hair so frequently, but she was nervous about the smell of cigarettes in the office.
She bent down and retrieved the air dryer from under the dressing table and started to dry her long hair. After five minutes she was happy that it was dry, she pulled it up out of her face with a hairband on the dressing table and started to look at her makeup.
Her Reflection cheekily grinned at her and glanced down at the pack of cigarettes.
Lucy's heart sank "No not now, please, not before work, that is not fair, I have just had a shower!" she glared at herself.
The face in the mirror again stared at the pack, asking for Lucy to open it.
"You did it all by yourself the other day!" Lucy begged as if she was talking to a toddler, rather than herself.
Her Reflection continued staring at the pack.
"Oh, are you sure?"
Her Reflection stared at the pack and then back at her and smiled kindly.
Lucy's shoulders dropped. She turned and looked back at the alarm clock. "Oh, go on, I think I have time for just one!" She relented far too easily.
As their hands in symmetry went for the pack and extracted a cigarette.
The cigarette was lit, and the smoke inhaled, the mirror teased her holding the smoke for what seemed like ages within her lungs before letting her exhale only a small pathetic steam of smoke. Lucy was surprised as to where it had gone, but her body was soon enjoying the rush again.
They repeated the process once again, Lucy desperate not to lose eye contact on the reflection whilst inhaling and exhaling. With the wisps of the exhale still drifting out of her mouth, the reflection looked down at the makeup, and smiled.
"You want me to smoke and do my makeup?" Lucy asked.
The Reflection nodded.
"I kinda guess I need to get ready!" Lucy said to her reflection and picked up her foundation cream and placed the cigarette in the ashtray and started to cover her face in cream. As she smoothed it in the reflection stared at her as if she were doing something wrong and looked at the cigarette burning on the ashtray.
"Oh, you want me to smoke while you do this, can I?
Lucy instinctively flicked the cigarette to knock off the growing ash and her reflection copied her, and she then placed the cigarette as instructed in the corner of her lips.
She tried to focus on the makeup, trying to add layers. The reflection was kind enough to let her take it out of her mouth to breathe normally every couple of drags, but with the cigarette dangled the smoke kept going up her nose. She eventually stubbed the cigarette out and focused on getting the makeup done.
She finished with her lipstick and dropped it on the table and was about to get up and her Reflection glared at her again.
"Look, I need to get to work!"
Her Reflection looked at the pack on the table and back at her again and flattered her eyelids.
"You want me to have another cigarette?"
And with that she reluctantly but quickly sat back down like a good girl that she was and flicked open the pack.
YOU ARE READING
Watching Her
ParanormalLucy Gilmartin moves into her new house. Her dad helped pay for it, and has also provided a lot of the furniture. That furniture has a history. That history comes to the fore as a Reflection in a mirror
