A Hundred Ways To Hurt

Chapter 1: Benevolent Nightmare

Alessa sighed before she started her short journey up the staircase. 

The navy Toms on her feet kissed the shagged carpet covering the stairs as she climbed up. She stopped as she passed a few lonely bronze-framed pictures hanging solemly on the Columbian blue walls. She picked out the wall color only a few weeks ago, yet for some reason now she was starting to second guess her decision. The color was beautiful in the store and when the fresh coat of paint covered a small section of the wall, she knew she had chosen the right color for their dream home... 

Yet, right now, the light blue seemed to display a solemn feeling; even the pictures on the wall seemed to be a little bit lonely. She gave the pictures a slight gaze of euphoria as a slight smirk danced on her on her pale face. Morris's hobby of talking surprise pictures of her, at first, was an annoying little habit that Alessa hoped would have ended as soon as they got married. However, once those annoying little pictures of her staring blankly out the car window or of her absently eating her box of Curlys cereal in the morning with a serious case of bedhead, Alessa found herself having second thoughts about her husband's nearly discovered hobby. 

Husband. 

Just the word alone gave her a slight blush as her slow stroll up the stairs turned into a slight run- as if she couldn't wait to see her husband. 

Once she made it up the 11 stairs, she eagerly strolled over to a pastel colored door that read the words "Knock First Before Entering" and obeyed its silent command. She racked her knuckles against the hard wooden door and grasped the cold metal knob waiting to hear Morris'-

"Come in, Ales." 

With that, she opened the door wildy and waiting to see the figure of her darling husband's thin metal glasses and long brown hair that was in dire need of a cut since they first said "I do". 

Instead, her vision was met with a 15 feet tall stack of Thesauruses and Atlases. She gave a slight gasp and heard an even slighter chuckle. 

"Morris?" 

She saw a tall black shadow dance around the stack of books before she was met face to face with an exhausted looking Morris smirking back at her. She gave him an equally exhausted smile in return. 

"Hello, darling," he started with one of his worldly accents- this time a bit British just to be polite- and gave the frail Alessa an awkward hug. Their hugs have always been awkward for some reason probably because of Morris's germiphobia or his lack of trust when it comes to bodily contact. Morris's father was killed by a shack to the abdomen while giving a hug to a fair brothel women in the streets of London and even though the likelihood that the same fate would fall upon him too, Morris always found himself cautious when it came to bodily contact. 

Especially when it came to sex. Morris, on their wedding day, made them swear to celebacy until they were 10 years into their marriage (though, it's not as though they haven't tried to break their celebacy) .

"What brings you here to my chambers this fine fine morning, my dearest?" he continued as he slowly inched away from the already stiff hug and walked back over to a pile of paper cluttering any walking space in the room. Morris's office, often referred by Morris as his "chambers" was the heart of the house- though not a lot of people were allowed to come in. Morris, as a prime time reporter for the world renown Charlettan Gazette, was a horrendous workaholic. His whole world revolved around journalism- something Alessa never thought much of since she was also somewhat of a workaholic like Morris. 

Just as Morris spent the hours creating beautiful soliloquies about a death that occured on 4th street or magestic metaphors for a cat stuck in a tree on Billingsley Court, Alessa spend most of her time creating her own guilty pleasures into a productive hobby. 

Alessa was a local teacher at a nearby kindergarten center. 

She's always had a beautiful infatuation with children and couldn't wait to have a child of her own. When she met Morris 2 years ago, she made sure to tell him about her love for kids a few dates into her relationship. Of course, Morris was a bit skeptical about her odd confession especially since it was during their usual library dates but he learned to expect her aimless rambles and confessions over the years. 

Even he had to admit that he hoped to have little ones in the near future, however.. 

"I was just wondering what your plans were for today," Alessa stated with a small smile as she continued to stand in the doorway of the room. She watched Morris scramble to pile up a handful of primary documents into a neat pile then shoved them into an overfilled file cabinet near the oak bookshelf they got as a wedding gift. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to the park with me. We could pack a basket with a few sandwiches and some lemonade and make it a picnic date in Central Park. Doesn't that sound romantic, love?" She swooned a bit at the thought of a quiet date with her newly married husband in the park, drinking in the beautiful nature of New York and eating Morris's delicious cooking.

Morris, unexpectedly, grunted. 

"But does sound amazing, darling, absolutely amazing." he started as he picked up the file cabinet absently and placed it closer to his desk in the corner of the room. With a relieved sigh, he straightened his flannel shirt and walked over to Alessa. He hesitantly grasped her hands and gave an unsure smile. "Unfortunatlely, love, I have a bit of paperwork to get done today so that I don't fall behind." he explained as he squeezed her hands assuringly as he could see Alessa's frown appear on her face. "If you still want, we could go tomorrow- " he attempted to negotiate but stopped when Alessa lightly shook her head. 

"No, it's ok," she started, though, she could feel the hurt seeping into the bottom of her heart. She replaced her soft frown with a fake smile and looked down at her empty hands as she spoke." I know how busy you get especially doing such an importnat job. It's okay, Mo, I'll just take a walk today, maybe take a few pictures of the scenery and whenever you're free, maybe we could both go." 

Before he had the time to react, Alessa turned and headed down the solemn stairs. Morris, opening his mouth to project his protests, his cellphone began to ring on his desk. He watched Alessa's figure steadily disappear down the staircase before he hurried to his desk to retrieve his phone. He shut the door on the way over. 

At the sound of the office door shutting, Alessa released a shallow sigh. The Columbian blue walls, in sheer irony, laughed and giggled with bliss while Alessa felt a dull pain in her heart with every step. 

"My dear Morris." She mummered as she grabbed his Canon camera and opened to the front door to their small house. "My love... My light... My world," she continued as she stepped outside with a ghost smile. "I will always love you." And with that, Alessa stepped outside in the fevered-spring weather and began her trek to the nearest park. 

'What a horrible way to spend a honeymoon.'