His skin, so smooth and warm, his muscles testament to sweat equity and discipline, his smile bright as nuclear fusion, his demeanor solicitous and addictive. Three years she had been spellbound, three years she had suffered within the confines of tortured passion with a man whose soul was as empty as the vacuum of space.

The day he forgot to close the window on his computer and she found the passionate chat exchange that ended with where and when he’d be meeting with “HotCat69” tonight was the day her sentence ended.

She double-checked the pistol was still loaded before putting it in her purse. Six rounds would be more than enough. The rendezvous was at the juke joint just past the county line. She parked her car behind the building and waited. Sure enough, he showed up a few minutes early, parked his Ford truck in the shadows at the corner of the parking lot, and headed for the side door. Butterflies fluttered in her belly as she watched his fine form walk across the gravel; a form she thought had been only hers. Once he went inside she pulled over near his truck and waited.

Two hours later, he came out – alone. As he walked unsteadily to his vehicle, his pace slowed as he recognized hers and that she was sitting there, waiting for him. He staggered over to her window, which was open. Smiling that lazy grin of his, he drawled,

“What are you doing here, sweetheart?”

“Did you see your slut in there?”

His eyes widened just a moment before resuming their beautiful almond shape.

“Honey, you know there is no one for me but you. C’mon, what’s going on?”

She raised the pistol, barely able to see through her tears.

“Good-bye Richard. It ends here, today. I love you.”

She pulled the trigger over and over, each explosion deafening her.

Richard smiled.

“Honey, you read right. HotCat69 is waiting inside for me. I know you so well and it was so easy to bait you. And to replace your bullets with blanks. Now we have a situation of self-defense.”

Richard raised his 9mm and fired.

Jude Itakali is the host of The Saturday Symphony.  Jude says:

PONDEROUS THOUGHT

MIXED THEMES

Life is never just one thing. This week, we’ll be incorporating one of these two sets of paired themes;

• Romance with horror
• Nature with Fantasy

Choose one of the two pairings. Have fun with the challenge, and watch the magic happen.  Any form of writing, images, photography and art is welcome.