THE BRIDE HE BURIED

The Uber pulled over at the other side of the road to my dorm as the street light lit up. “How much?” I asked, slightly drunk. He told me. I furiously checked my purse then pulled out a bill. The figures seemed to double up in my eyes, but I gave it to him anyway. “That enough?” I asked as I heard the click of the door. “Yes,” he replied calmly. I nodded and tried to open the door, but it didn't budge. “What's up, man? Let me out!” I muttered, sleep making me sway from side to side. He remained calm… not moving a muscle. “I said let me out. I already paid you,” I snapped, the alcohol beginning to give way to reasoning. He sat still, as if he didn't hear me. I looked at the rearview mirror and noticed him staring at me... A cold shiver crawled through my skin, and my heart began to drum noisily in fear. What did he want from me? Who was he? “What do you want?” I asked. The windows were all rolled up, and I couldn't call for help. I wasn't even in the right state to fight him… besides, who knew the weapons he had on him? A sly smile flickered across his face. “A night with you,” he replied. I felt like vomiting. What did he think I was? A w***e? “You must be out of your damn mind, mister. Open the f*****g door and let me out,” I said hotly as anger surged through me. I looked around me furiously… the street was empty and dead silent. My phone had died, so I couldn't call anyone, and this creep seemed to sense my helplessness. “How much?” he asked, his deep blue sea eyes staring right into my soul. His voice had a strong effect that held me down in my seat. I wanted to smack the life out of him, but the urge to hear him speak again was even stronger. Was it the drinks? Was I crazy? I held my head in my hands as it began to spin, and sleep enveloped me even more. “Please let me go,” I begged. He let out a low chuckle… it sounded so good I wanted to lay on his lap and sleep away the night. “I… want you… so bad,” he whispered as he leaned back toward me, his breath hitting my nose. It smelt nice… strawberries. I examined his face under the dim light that lit up the street. He looked… beautiful. His lips screamed “kiss me, please.” He slowly ran his tongue over them, leaving soft, moisturized, plump red lips. My lips quivered as I moved forward… the f**k was I doing? “Just a kiss,” he said… his voice sounding hungry and urgent. I let my lips brush across his, and the effect left me with one choice… chew his lips the f**k up. I put my hand behind his head, and my drunk mind immediately played a face in my head. Eric. I drew back and squeezed my face in disgust and pain. “I can't,” I said. “I have a boyfriend,” I added. He looked at me… those eyes piercing my most private thoughts. “Does he love you?” he asked. I looked at him… unable to answer. Did he love me? He swore he did… swore he couldn't live without me, but he didn't remember to add the fact that he was married with two kids already. That his wife had been the one sending me all those threat mails and letters. He left out the part that each night, after he made love to me… after he kissed me… he would kiss some other woman. Another woman who was worthy enough to be called his wife, and I, the mistress. Me! A mistress? A f*****g bitchy mistress! All our dreams for a family, baby names… vacation plans, they had been all a lie. What if Joe, his friend, hadn’t mistakenly let out the secret? He probably wouldn't have told me yet. And those videos SHE showed me, the pictures… he really was something. Pain snagged at my chest as I recalled him missing my birthday, only to find out this night—through his wife—that it had been their anniversary, and he had taken her out and brought her back home to give her the best time of her life. With those same lips, he had come begging at my dorm, said he’d had an accident, and even made love to me. “In the end, we had been sharing one man,” his wife had said in a rather sadistic voice. Tears streamed down my face. The drink hadn't helped in any way to elevate my sorrows. “He makes you cry… that's all I need to know,” the Uber driver said to me, and with a swift movement, urgency, and possessiveness, he pulled my lips down to his and kissed me with a passion I never knew existed. A tiny moan escaped my lips, and I closed my eyes, ready to be swept off my feet, to forget my sorrows. He slowly worked his way to the back seat and took off my coat slowly. His eyes didn’t leave my face for a second. “Why me?” I asked as he began to rain my neck with kisses. “Why not you?” he replied, not stopping for a moment to catch his breath. His lips were now playing on the hollow of my neck. “You don't even know me,” I said, shivering in excitement as his tongue probed the back of my ear deliciously. “Eve Moore, final year student of Mass Communication, single and possibly in debt,” he replied easily. I stared at him in wonder. “How did you know all this? Have you been stalking me?” He smiled. Even the wind smiled at him. “I have loved you from afar, Eve, but you never saw me… never noticed me,” he explained slowly, dragging my hand down into his unzipped pants. My brain, still flushed, tried to fight what was going on—but my body wasn’t listening. I didn’t know this man…but one night wouldn’t kill me. I needed to let loose. Have some fun too. Eric had his. I wanted to hurt him back as much as he hurt me, and what better way than with a total stranger? One I would never see again, despite his gibberish nonsense about loving me from afar. I knew all he wanted was my body. Letting my hand stroke the hard erection in his pants, I swore to myself never to love again… never. I had been broken so many times, but… this was the last straw. Musical moans escaped his lips as his sticky wetness covered my hand when— I heard a tap on the car window that startled us. It was a woman in black. My life flashed before my eyes as I noted the gun in her hand. It happened so fast. She aimed the gun at the driver first—and squeezed. Blood squirted everywhere inside the car. I knew her. She was… Vivian!