Feisty Repartee

Pandora's Envelope

This week is Take Two Wide Open.

Our first contributor's name is Eric and he is a non-blogging buddy of my friend, That 1 Guy. Both gentlemen are wildly creative.

I delightfully present, Eric's 1000 words:

"Everything just turned white," Bob would admit later. "There was no
car, no street, no envelope, no Janet, no me, just a white blank. Then
like a flickering light, it all started coming back. I saw the
steering wheel, then my hands, and then the blood. I can recall how
frighteningly silent everything was except for Janet's crying. I only
felt relief, until I saw that envelope. Then I fell into a strange
sense of darkness. That's all I remember."

Bob felt his right foot give way. The green Jaguar sped through the
intersection. The front end of the car swept under the young man's
legs, toppling him violently on to the hood. His body slid into the
windshield, cracking it like an egg. The car slammed into a silver
Mercedes parked on the side of the street. The young man's body was
hurled from the windshield, bounced off the parked car, and landed
broken and twisted in the street. Bob lifted his bleeding face from
the steering wheel. Jammed into the windshield was the envelope,
mocking him to the tragic end.

It was all so humiliating. The way they touched each other, and then
separated, only to begin laughing, like they had some naughty secret.
Bob's head pounded, "What am I doing here?" Still, he couldn't take
his eys off them. He watched closely as Janet pulled the envelope out
of her blouse and pressed it into her lover's hand. Then she
passionately kissed him. Bob knew he had to leave at that point. He
was done torturing himself. He left the parking lot, and was stopped
at the stoplight adjacent to the cafe. To Bob's amazement, he found
himself thirty feet away from Janet's lover, who was in the crosswalk
on the other side of the intersection.

He ran down to the parking garage, jumped into his Jaguar, and sped
off after Janet. A block down the road, Bob slowed down when he saw
Janet walking. He didn't want her to notice him following her. She
entered the neighborhood cafe, and Bob pulled into an empty parking
lot acrosse the street. He could see Janet quite well from where he
was positioned, and he was convinced that she hadn't seen him. Janet
sat down at a table next to a young, well-dressed, Hispanic man. It
was Carlos, no doubt about it. Bob felt a heavy pounding in his head.
The alcohol and lack of sleep were beginning to take their toll on
him.

Ten minutes later, Janet came running out of the bathroom and into the
kitchen. Then out of the kitchen and into the living room. "Bob, we're
out of coffee. I'm going to get some, you want any?" Bob shook his
head. Out the door she ran. He went into the kitchen and opened a
cabinet door. The jar of coffee beans was still half full. "That slut.
Who does she think she's fooling? I'm gonna bust her ass right now!"

In the morning, Bob watched Janet run around the apartment. She was in
some kind of a hurry. She said nothing to him, despite him not going
to bed with her the night before, or his nasty demeanor towards her
that morning. He thought he heard her voice, while she was in the
bathroom, getting dressed. He decided to spy on her. He held his ear
up to the door. Sure enough, she was on the cell phone, "... okay,
fifteen minutes. Love you, bye!" He looked down. The envelope was
missing from the vanity. He went back to the couch to sulk.

That night, Janet fell asleep before him. She slept like she didn't
have a care in the world. "That bitch!" Bob was furious. He stayed
awake all night getting drunk on left over wine. For some reason he
didn't want Janet to know that he knew. He was angry, he was scared,
and he was alone. After the wine was gone, he sat in the darkness,
wallowing in misery.

The shower shut off. "Oh my god! Bob are you home?! Bob is that you?!"
He quickly shoved the contents back into the little white envelope,
then ran out of the bedroom, and jumped onto the couch. Janet came
running out seconds later. She was naked and wet, just a towel barely
covering her. "Bob, you're home?" She was alarmed.
"Yeah, I came home early."
"Bad day at work?"
"Yup. It was shitty."
He wouldn't look at her. He picked up the remote, and feverishly
flipped channels. Janet went back into the bedroom, and shut the door.

Bob tip-toed into the master bedroom. He noticed a little white
envelope on Janet's vanity near the shower. It was open, so he picked
it up, and pulled out the contents; a Polaroid of Janet naked and in a
seductive pose. "Maybe Janet has a suprise for me, too!" It was unlike
her to do such a thing. There was a note attached that read:

Just two weeks, and I'll be back in your arms. Here's
something to keep me in your thoughts. My dearest Carlos, I will be
missing you and thinking of you constantly. I love you,
Janet

Coming home early from work that day, Bob could hardly contain
himself. He wanted to tell her about his secret plans. Maybe he could
tell her now, and she would be so overwhelmed by the good news, that
they would end up making love right then and there. She was in the
shower, and had no idea he was home. She would come out all naked and
wet, he would tell her, and she would find him so romantic. It was
perfect.

It was all coming together now. Years and years of working twelve hour
days, it all led up to this very moment. He had never been around
much, but he had given Janet a penthouse apartment, a Jaguar, a maid;
everything money could buy. Now after twenty years, Bob was going to
retire early. It was a suprise to Janet for their twenty-fifth wedding
anniversary. He would spring it on her when they left for their trip
to Acapulco tomorrow. "Tomorrow is the beginning of our best years
together," Bob boasted.

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