Courting Trouble

Faulty Conscience.

|Faulty Conscience.|

Malisha had always hated being the centre of attention and now, despite their previously ferocious gazes, she found that she had turned to be the centre of their amusement. Angered by this, Malisha turned to throw each of them a glare. Where she found the courage and the time to do so, she could not tell. After all the worst had already happened, she thought as she stomped away, limping down the driveway towards the main house with a broken heel and a missing shoe.

Despite what anyone would think, Malisha was quite aware of her own appearance. Even without a mirror she knew that her dress was no better than the state of her feet. For they were muddied beyond recognition. Her hair could only be described as a rat's nest and her face, well she could only begin to imagine how that looked like. The truth was that she looked like a clown. That is, if mud was the standard for clowns with green splotches of grass stains all over her dress from when she had tipped over and fallen into the mushy meadows.

To think that she was not able to retrieve the very thing that was responsible for this mess? "What a pity!"She thought as she trudged up the front steps two at a time, her single loosened heel clomping against the white marble, soiling it and causing such a racket that it drew the attention of not just the butler but the entire household's staff as well. They stopped in their tracks upon seeing her. The parlor maid, the two chambermaids that were on their way from the respective work places, the housekeeper and even the footmen stared at her and Malisha could only smile back nervously as she rushed down the main hallway to disappear into the lift, leaving behind her a trail of amused, shocked and very curious faces.

-*-

At this point, she could only imagine how the news would get to her parents that is if they hadn't already reached them. Her mother's disappointed look - she was aware would forever haunt her, but worst still was her father's accompanying glare that she knew would not ease up just like that day four years ago.

"Remind me again. How do you get yourself in these situations?" The voice spoke after what had proved to be a very short intermission.

"Shut up!" She hissed back, unwilling to let the annoying voice of her conscience to further devastate her. It could not keep away the memories though. The memories of her rather disastrous morning that were rearing up their ugly heads at her, tormenting her even as she attempted push them down to keep them from forcing their way up into forefront of her current thoughts. A shiver rocked her body and Malisha quaked at the barrage of her thoughts and the image they had conjured up yet again.

She saw herself running after the scarf, the wind so strong and teasing. It tagged at her scarf and pulled into the direction of the glassy knoll that was on the other side of the road. Malisha saw herself hesitating, once then twice before she made up her mind and pulled herself up to climb the barbed fence. She had done this before, hadn't she? Yet her own thoughts now laughed at her.

Why did things have to turn out differently? Why did her red pumps catch on that spike of protruding wire that had tripped her? Why did she have to fall down from the topmost wire like a total amateur? More tingles shot through her body even as her vision blurred with the images of soft grass rising up to kiss her face. Malisha shook her head in a futile attempt to rid herself of those tormenting thoughts, but the mental onslaught kept on coming and coming. There was no end to it nor was there a moment of reprieve from the deriding laughter and words that her own consciousness was now feeding her.

"Have you no pride!" the voice jeered, cajoling her even as it mocked her for her obvious lack of wisdom when it came to certain choices in her own life.

"This is on you too. You didn't stop me, remember?" Malisha accused after having had enough of it. Just then, the elevator dinged as it came to the second floor and she peeked out a head to look around, ever so vigilant and eager to escape the box that had trapped and if possible sneak into her room albeit this time unnoticed.

"Oh, I did, but you never listen, do you?" The voice riposted and she shook her head an angry no. As if to prove her wrong, another image that was more humiliating than previous set popped up and she cried in embarrassment.

"Will you please stop?" Malisha said as she closed her bedroom door and her eyes in frustration.

"Why? Because you exposed your entire derriere to the handsome Duke of Carlisle?" The voice goaded.

Malisha tried to push away the image, but was still unsuccessful. She could see herself now. In her white, floral print dress. As she fell and the dress floated up exposing her entire bottom in the wind of the fall and in a mud puddle nonetheless.

"Stop that! And I will have you know that his name is Duke not the Duke. " She grinded out, wincing as even more images that continued to explode in her vision took over her thoughts and her sanity as well. "Whose side are you on anyway?" she finally cried out in pain.

"Of what is right."

"Yea right." She rolled her eyes causing the voice to chuckle back with much derision.

"I must commend you though. You did do a great job of salvaging that situation."

"Yea, right," she remarked once again, this time, moving on to her en-suite bathroom still unable to stop the memory of his searing comments and the deriding laughter that had followed from haunting her.

"I mean, how could you have known that that particular 'someone' would ride up at that particular moment and with his little 'harem' " she could feel the air marks on that one, "in tow ?" The voice laughed.

"You mean Genevieve Mathers? She is practically his girlfriend right now so there is no surprise there, but riding with a host of dignitaries at eight o'clock in the morning? Now, that is weird." Malisha replied, closing her eyes as she massaged her temples lightly, if only to relieve the pressure that was building up from the growing headache. It was all its fault. Her conscience's fault. It sounded weird to say so and she knew that, but the one she had was quite faulty. Even now, the thing was cackling in her head, if only to induce more pain as it continued to dredge up memory after memory of that unfortunate morning.

"Anyway, that was embarrassing. You have to admit,right?"

"Fine! I get it! Now shut up! You're giving me a headache!" With that she cleaned up her mess and retired to bed dreading the hours and the confrontation she knew was sure to come.