Chapter 5:The Red rebellion
1574 Words
“Cooking now, are we?”
Ella flinched. She turned to see Margaret standing in the doorway, arms folded, eyes gleaming with disdain.
“Good morning, Mommy” she said softly.
Margaret’s gaze swept over the kitchen. “Smells like desperation.”
Ella blinked but didn’t say a word.
“Tell me, dear,” Margaret continued, “where is your husband?”
Ella swallowed. “He should be at work” she thought for a while, “He hasn’t said much about his schedule. But it’s the weekend, I thought—”
“Oh, you thought.” Margaret chuckled. “He left early this morning. Took the Mercedes to the airport. Business trip, I heard.”
Ella’s heart sank. “Business trip?”
“Didn’t he tell you?” Margaret raised a brow, feigning surprise. “Well, that’s odd. For a wife, you’re terribly uninformed.”
“I’ll call him,” Ella said, setting the pan aside.
She stepped out of the kitchen and hurried to the hallway, phone trembling in her hand. Her thumb hovered before she tapped his name.
Ring.
Ring.
No answer.
Then a message came in:
In a meeting. I’ll call you back.
Ella typed quickly as though she was trying to catch him as he texted her.
Did you leave town?
He replied minutes later:
Yes. Needed to handle something in person. It won’t be long.
She didn’t even realize her breath had caught until it left her in a shallow exhale.
Just like that. Not even a mention to her. The man she once called her world had become a stranger who slipped out the door without looking back.
Her hand lowered slowly, the phone trembling in her palm. The words blurred as her vision wavered.
The kitchen felt colder when she returned. Anne looked up nervously.
Ella pasted on a smile and waved it off. “I’m fine.”
Margaret was still there, sipping coffee like a queen watching her empire burn.
“You know, it’s really not your fault,” she said casually. “Men like Gabe… they need stimulation. Excitement. And you? Well, you’re like a warm cup of milk. Comforting. Predictable. And easy to forget.”
Anne looked horrified.
Ella didn’t speak. She gathered the plates, set them on the counter, and walked out of the kitchen.
Upstairs, in the bedroom, she sat at the vanity. Her reflection stared back at her—a girl with tired eyes and a fragile smile.
He left without a word.
She opened her drawer and pulled out one of her favorite dresses—a red satin gown. Gabe had loved her in it.
She slipped into it slowly, like armor.
Did her makeup. Wear her perfume and heels.
She looked in the mirror again. Different now. Not invisibly overwhelmed and yearning for love.
She just needed to go out, leave this choking estate and go far, far away where she could breathe.
“Maybe if I’m going to be treated like I don’t exist,” she murmured to herself, “I should act like I don’t.”
She grabbed her purse and keys.
***
The sunlight spilled lazily across the sky as Ella turned the steering wheel and pulled into the lot of the city’s newest luxury shopping mall.
“Ma’am, please. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to bother you. Do you have anything? Anything at all? I haven’t eaten since yesterday.” A homeless girl, barely older than eighteen approached Ella’s window, eyes wide with desperation.
Ella’s hands fumbled as she rolled the window down halfway, startled by the sudden plea. “I… um…I’m sorry. I don’t have cash on me right now.”
The girl gave a small, tight smile and stepped back, clearly used to disappointment. “It’s okay. God bless you anyway.”
Ella stared at her retreating figure through the mirror. For a moment, she considered turning around, getting out, doing something, but her body didn’t move.
She had no plans, no list of things to buy or errands to run. She just needed to be anywhere but home. Her thoughts were tangled, looping through memories and regrets.
Inside the mall, everything glistened. Shimmering glass storefronts, gold-plated fixtures, the scent of luxury perfume hanging in the air. It was a place made for distraction, and for a brief moment, it worked.
She wandered through the aisles of a high-end home decor store, her fingers brushing over hand-painted vases and delicately stitched throw pillows. She stopped in front of a wall-length mirror framed in marble and gold, catching her reflection.
Her red satin dress clung to her curves. Her makeup, though slightly faded, still looked fresh. She looked as if she belonged in this world of beauty and money.
A voice cut into her thoughts.
“Excuse me… I don’t mean to be forward, but you are… breathtaking.”
She turned. A tall man in his mid-thirties stood behind her, holding a shopping bag and a confident smile. His eyes were kind but curious, and there was a glint of boldness behind them.
Ella blinked, startled. “I’m sorry?”
He chuckled softly. “I just had to say something. I saw you earlier at the candle section and… I haven’t seen someone carry red like that in a long time.”
Ella flushed, caught off guard. A small part of her wanted to smile—but it lasted barely a second.
“I’m married,” she said quickly, stepping back.
The man held up his hands. “Of course. I didn’t mean to overstep.”
“Have a nice day.”
She turned and walked away, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor. Her heart raced from guilt. Why had that flattered her? Why had she wanted, to feel seen?
She exited the store and walked straight past the food court, ignoring the smell of pretzels and caramel. Her feet moved without thinking. Back to her car. Back to the only escape she had left.
She drove.
For hours.
Through winding back roads, past cafés and parks, through neighborhoods that were unfamiliar and streets she hadn’t visited in years. The sky turned from blue to blush, then deepened to a rich orange.
She thought of calling someone. But who? Her friends were distant memories. And the mansion, no matter how grand, had never felt more like a cage.
As twilight settled, the neon signs of the city began to flicker awake. The buzz of nightlife started humming through the streets.
Without fully deciding to, Ella turned toward it.
Toward the noise, the chaos.
Toward the club.
She was almost at the club when her car jolted slightly.
A bump.
She slammed the brakes, heart racing, and checked her rearview.
A car had tapped her from behind.
She squinted. The driver of the other car was bent forward, waving apologetically through the windshield. A woman. Or maybe a man. It was difficult to tell.
Ella shook her head. She wasn’t desiring confrontation. With a small wave of dismissal, she drove to where she could park.
The parking lot was already half full. Music throbbed from the entrance like a heartbeat. She parked, touched up her lipstick in the rearview mirror, and stepped out.
The air smelled like perfume and alcohol.
She didn’t belong here.
But she just wanted to feel something.
Minutes later, she pulled into the lot of a lounge she’d never entered before. The bouncer raised an eyebrow at her attire.
She walked in.
Inside, pulsing music and flashing lights coated the air like static. Her red dress caught the light. Heads turned.
She made her way to the bar and ordered whiskey.
One drink turned to two.
Then three.
Her tongue loosened. Her words slurred.
“You ever think,” she asked the bartender, “that… maybe life would be easier if it just… stopped?”
The man was confused.
“I mean… what’s the point of love, right?” she continued. “They love you. Then they leave. Then you cook pancakes for no one.”
A woman beside her frowned. “Are you okay, sweetie?”
Ella turned to her, laughing bitterly. “Do I look okay?”
She pulled a bottle of sleeping pills from her purse, holding it up dramatically. “I could make it all quiet. Just like that.
The music dimmed.
People stared.
A few moved away from her. Some laughed nervously.
“Put that away,” someone said.
“Girl, you’re drunk.”
“I’m serious!” Ella shouted.
Then suddenly a hand touched her shoulder.
Ella flung her head to see.
And froze.
The woman standing behind her looked exactly like her.
Exactly.
From the wide hazel eyes to the shape of her lips.
The woman smiled slightly.
“Hey,” she said gently. “Let’s talk.”
Ella blinked. “Who…?”
“Let’s go outside. It’s too loud in here.”
Still dazed, Ella let the woman guide her out, the bottle slipping from her grasp.
Under the club’s neon glow, she stared at the stranger.
“What the hell is this?”
The woman smiled again, this time more mysteriously.
“Trust me… I do not bite. I just want to help because some people are out there looking for drunk women who are out here on their own, whom they can take advantage of”.
Ella swayed slightly, her head spinning.
And then everything went black.
- Writer
