Bad Decisions

This was absolutely the last time, Honey thought as she eased her body out from under a masculine arm. She inched herself to a standing position and stared down at the man tangled in her sheets. His long, lean body was bare except where the lavender cotton wrapped around his waist. She quietly padded across the room, scooping up her robe on her way to the door.

Easing it open, she slid the soft satin over her body and walked into the bathroom. Flicking on the light, she stared at herself in the mirror.

Her golden hair was a mass of knots and curls. Her cheeks and chin were red from the scrape of Todd's whiskers. Raising a perfectly manicured hand to her swollen lips, she lightly touched them. She blinked back the tears that filled her mascara rimmed eyes.

Her mother hadn't even been in the grave three days and she was already screwing a married man. Again.

She turned on the faucet and splashed her face, the cold water sending a shiver through her body. Toweling herself dry, she contemplated the array of cosmetics neatly lining her vanity. Shrugging away the guilt, she started to put on her mask.

As she smoothed the foundation across her forehead, she thought of Todd. His knock in the middle of the night had startled her. Sitting in the living room, sifting through old photographs and half way through a bottle of vodka, she hadn't expected him or his words, "I've left Carrie," he'd slurred. "I want you."

Honey dipped her fingers into her pot of blush, dabbing it along her cheekbones. She wondered why she didn't feel the triumph she'd always expected when he finally left that little Betty Crocker. She'd welcomed him into her bed, but she paused at the thought of welcoming him back into her life.

She wiped her fingers on the damp cloth and stared at the face in the mirror.

In the unforgiving light, she could see the fine wrinkles around her mouth, the hardness in her eyes. Gone was the dewy-faced girl who'd fallen in love with the star running back on the high school football team. Gone was the romantic teenager who'd grinned all through her senior year. She, Honey McBain, a girl with an absent father and a mother who'd grown old before her time, was going to go somewhere, be someone. With that beautiful boy.

Now she was a cliche. Sleeping with another woman's husband. Working two jobs to pay off hospital bills.

How had this happened?

Honey's mouth tightened. Plucking a tube of mascara out of a cup on the side of the sink, she leaned forward and darkened her lashes. Finished, she swiped Honey Heaven across her lips and puckered, her face complete. Pulling the belt of her robe firmly, she walked back into her bedroom.

She opened the door. Todd sprawled across her bed, one arm flung over his head, the shadow of a beard darkening his cheeks. Asleep, he looked more like the boy than the man. Honey hesitated, staring at him in the early morning light.

He shifted, opening his eyes. He locked on her, confusion clouding his face before being replaced by a slow, heated smiled. "Honey," he drawled, reaching one hand for her.

Honey squared her shoulders and sauntered to the bed. "Isn't it time for you to go home to your wife," she paused meaningfully, "and baby?"

Todd's smile dimmed. He sat up in a fluid motion, the sheets dropping from around his waist. Reaching for her wrist, he gripped her, pulling her towards him. "That's not 'good morning' and it sure as hell isn't sweet."

"Stop it, Todd. We've got to talk about this."

Todd nuzzled her neck. "We don't have to talk about anything." He slipped the robe from her shoulders, nibbling a spot at the base of her neck.

"I'm not going to do this anymore," Honey moaned.

She was wrong.


This post was a continuation of my running storyline. It happens after The Fight and during The Aftermath. If you'd like to read more, click on Fictional Mandyland.

It was inspired by The Red Dress Club prompt: write a post beginning with the words, "This was absolutely the last time" and ending with "She was wrong."