Beware The Water

Milk and Smoke

Lux sat curled up in bed, sniffling into her knees and wiping away tears that didn't stop flowing down her cheeks. It was all her fault, she thought. All because she begged for Shorter to break the rules for her and now he's gone. They're forced to leave, but she has to stay in this mafia base without him until he finds somewhere for them to stay.

She begged Sing to change his mind. Pleaded until her eyes couldn't produce more tears. Lux needed him back. She hated sleeping in an empty bed where his side was cold and unwelcoming. She wanted to snuggle into his warmth and for his soft breaths to lull her to sleep.

Lux grabbed her phone and clicked onto Shorter's contact. She smiled at the photo at the top of the screen. He had taken the selfie quick and it was slightly blurry from the movement. They were at a diner one morning, sitting side by side in the booth instead of across. Lux couldn't stop looking at him. The sunlight shined on his face so perfectly that she just wanted to kiss him. So she did. She leaned forward and let her plump lips linger softly against his cheek and he quickly took the picture before she pulled away.

"Can't sleep?" Shorter answered and glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall. 3:45am.

"I'm so sorry, Shorter. I should have listened." She cried.

Another lie was causing Lux to cry, and regardless if he was doing this for their own good, it still hurt. "Hey, don't worry. I'm gonna figure this out. Okay?"

"If it wasn't for me, you'd be in bed snoring right now."

"Well I was snoring until you called." He joked to lighten the mood but he could still hear Lux sniffling.
He pictured the tip of her nose turning pink, same with the apples of her cheeks. Those spots always reddened first whenever she would cry. "You're supposed to laugh."

"I can't." She continued to cry, "You probably hate me right now. You warned me about what could happen if you asked for help from the mafia, but I pushed you to listen to me anyways. Now look." Lux looked over at the empty space next to her, "I'm alone."

"Shhh." Shorter hummed, "You know I could never hate you. And to be honest, this may have been the best thing that could have happened to me. Staying at the base still felt like I had a foot in the door. So, in a way you really freed me, Lux."

"Stop twisting it." She cried more, throwing herself back against the pillows.

Shorter chuckled over the other line. "So dramatic. Look." He turned his camera around for the flash to capture his toothy grin in the dark room of Smiley's apartment. "See? I'm doing okay. Don't feel sorry about it." Lux's bottom lip trembled. "Now you send one back."

Lux's eyes widened slowly through sore lids and saw her reflection in the vanity. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I look ugly. I've been crying for hours."

"You don't look ugly. Stop it. Go ahead. Just real quick." He spoke soft to where Lux imagined him whispering directly into her ear.

Lux was never one to obsess over her looks in a conceited way. She just always liked to look presentable. But when Shorter called her pretty, it made her want to hear it more. He called her pretty when she was finished getting ready for work, stopping in front of the mirror to add a last bit of mascara before she left. He'd say she was pretty while she brushed her hair after a shower. He called her pretty while they fucked and she was flushed and sweaty. Even when she was sick, he still called her pretty.

"Wanna know something?"

"Sure." Lux dried her eyes. Thankful now that the tears had stopped.