Teal Heels

The teal heels knew they were not intended for a closet life ... after all, stunning is what stunning does. A toe peeped out of the limo, the slim ankle swiveling to get a feel for the city sidewalk ... and a long sleek leg followed it into the spotlight. Spotlight, kleig lights, there were paparazzi all over the place ... the way it goes when legends make comebacks ... in teal heels, no less. Hell, the heels WERE the freaking legend and had been from the first moment they sashayed past the threshold, generating a gasp heard round the world. Teal heels, you see, are not run-of-the-mill or standard fare, but always are quite, quite rare ... cobbled more so by the diamonds glitter edged into the here and there on the heels savoir faire. The spats mused with disdain as the glamour girl smiled and waved ... diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but these heels had damn well MADE this girl.

An Absolutely*Kate/Tess Collaboration ~ Originally published at 6S

Today

Ten years ago, he fastened a strand of pearls around my neck and ran his thumb along the line of my jaw as he promised me forever.

Last year, he told me I was the center of his world, that he couldn’t imagine life without the feel of my skin beneath his hand as he slept.

Last month, he woke me with the scent of fresh coffee and rose petals before he slid back between the quilts, making me want more and more and more.

Last week, he took me to the ocean and slipped the fabric from my shoulders, drawing me ever closer as we moved to the rhythm of the waves.

Last night, he wrapped me in his arms while he asked me to promise that I would never leave, never make him live a day he didn’t share with me.

Today, he packed his bags and said goodbye.

(Fiction for Six Sentences)

Lies

Lies hurt, heal, destroy, rebuild, hide, reveal. They are sturdy things built of fear and love and uncertainty and resolve. Heavy burdens to carry… but sometimes even heavier to lay down. A well-made body of lies can clothe the pain, construct a suit of armor or destroy a soul. With each added block the narrow rift between truth and falsehood becomes less definable, less clearly discerned, less clearly marked… and the way back to the start becomes more maze than path.

This is how it is, you see, that a lie becomes a person … and a person becomes a lie.

Check Please

He walked into the room without so much as a rap at the closed door and without pause or invitation. Slouching into the soft leather upholstery, he claimed a seat of prominence at the long gleaming table. An assistant quickly and quietly moved to close the door left standing ajar in his wake. Sparing not so much as a glance at the folder silently slipped in front of him, he reached past several faces to the carafe of coffee. Unconcerned with the disruption created by his entrance, his presence or his usurping of position, he noisily selected a cup from the tray, the clatter of spoon on china deafening to all but himself. Cup finally to his liking, he reached into his carefully tailored jacket and slipped out the cel phone, fingers beginning to fly across the tiny keyboard as the attorney across the table continued to outline the demise of an empire cherished by his father ... now too long regarded as an amusement by the son.

With a sigh of exasperation, he slammed the phone to the table, looked up, lifted a hand to stop the flow of information and spoke.

"Right. Thousands of jobs lost, bankruptcy, doom and gloom, blah, blah, blah. Where's the check?"

The Absence of Fear

She sat quietly, wondering at the absence of fear as they drove through the darkened countryside, she and this stranger…this love who would soon be lover. His scent … pure, crisp, warmly enveloping … had first been inhaled mere hours before and yet he had carried her heart for innumerable ages. For months their thoughts and dreams had knit together across the miles. Now he would possess not only her heart, but her soul… the deepest secrets of a woman strong and fierce… yet now conquered by a mere glance. The shadowy landscape sailed pass the window as she opened her hand in unconscious surrender to this unknown … this stranger ... this man who was the other part of her. Who would she be when it was finished? It mattered not.