The Little Red Dress

Our marriage wasn’t supposed to end this quickly. We had over a decade together but it wasn’t enough. It’s harder than I thought it would be to sit in this kitchen without him. The yellow paint seems dimmer now. The white cabinets dirty. Maybe I should renovate. Bring some new life into these old bones.

I sip coffee from the black-and-white mug I gave him, which makes me miss him more. Even though he had been distant for a while and stopped paying attention to me. I still don’t know what I did wrong.

In the beginning, it was electrifying. The lust was palpable. My heart would race every time I brought him his coffee. “Two creams and three sugars. I like them creamy and sweet,” he’d say with a wink and his eyes would travel down my body. I did my best to look graceful gliding across his office in my high heel shoes. I’d walk behind his desk to place the black mug inscribed with “Best Boss Ever” in white lettering in front of him, bending ever so slightly to reveal my cleavage. His hand would brush past my thigh to grab the coffee cup. Slowly. Deliberately.

My loins would burn and scream out. I would tease him with short skirts and low-cut shirts. I’d fantasize about him taking me on his desk.

I felt invisible before I started working there. I couldn’t believe my luck when Walter Roberts, the president and owner of the company, picked me to be his second assistant. He could have picked anyone. I knew it’d be a short-term assignment so I had to make every moment count. I was so nervous that first day.

“Thank you, Mr. Roberts. It’s an honour,” I said and shook his hand vigorously. I prayed he couldn’t feel the sweat on my palms.

“Call me Wally,” he said and smiled. His white-capped teeth gleamed under the fluorescent light. His salt and pepper hair was styled perfectly and his tailored suit hugged every inch of his fit body.

One day he gave me his credit card and told me to buy some new outfits. “Cami, go with Annie. She knows what I like,” he told me.

“It’s Camille,” I corrected him. “Cami is for kids.”

The office was empty when we got back. He told Annie to go home to her son. Then he told me to show him what I bought. I pulled the scarlet dress out of the bag and held it up to my body.

“How am I supposed to know what it looks like, Camille? I’ll turn around so you can try it on,” he said.

Is tonight the night my fantasy comes true? I undressed slowly. I knew he could see me in the reflection of the window but I kept my face turned. It was exhilarating.

I put on the little red dress. “What do you think?” I asked.

He turned around. His dark blue eyes grew wide. “Sexy,” he said.

“I couldn’t zip it up. Can you help me?” I asked and gathered my long chocolate brown hair up above my neck.

“Of course.”

I held his gaze as he walked across the room. I felt like we were the only two people on earth. He pinched the dress at the bottom of the zipper. I could feel the blood rush to every part of my being. Every zip was a note from a symphony clanging in my ears.

“There,” he breathed into my neck. I couldn’t take it anymore. I pressed into him and he tightened his grip on my shoulder. I knew he was married, but I didn’t care. I wanted him. I needed him.

He picked me up and put me on his desk. He was frantic. He ripped the dress and I yelped in pain before I even knew what was happening. He convulsed a few times and then slumped over on my shoulder breathing heavily. When he stood up and looked down he noticed the blood.

“Oh, Camille, I didn’t know,” he said. “With the way you look and dress, I thought you would have had lots of boyfriends by now. Clean yourself up and I’ll drive you home.”

He was pretty sweet about it. He kept apologizing and telling me he’d make it up to me. He pulled into my driveway and said, “please don’t tell your father. He wouldn’t understand and you’re such a great intern. I’d hate it if you didn’t finish the summer before you go back to school.”

“It’s our little secret,” I said. I felt so powerful. Like I mattered and he cared about me.

The porch light turned on and my dad came out and over to the car.

“Good evening, Sir. I hope she hasn’t been giving you any trouble,” my dad said to Wally through the open window.

“Not at all. I wanted to make sure she got home safely,” said Wally.

“How considerate of you. Betty and I really appreciate how much interest you’ve taken in her.”

“Camille’s a very bright girl. If she wasn’t in high school, I’d hire her permanently,” he said and looked at me with a smile.

“You should come to dinner again. Last time you offered Cami a summer internship. Maybe next time you’ll offer me a promotion,” my dad said chuckling.

“Thank you for driving me home, Mr. Roberts,” I said getting out and closed the car door.

“Cami, I’m proud of you. I can’t believe we’ll be celebrating your Sweet Sixteen soon.”

“It’s Camille now, Dad,” I said with my head held high.

There were only a few weeks left before I had to go back to school. I was dreading it. Wally would tell me how much he loved me and hated his wife. How much she nagged him and stopped cooking, cleaning, and dressing up for him. I promised him I’d be the perfect wife but he insisted I’d fall for the football players. I tried to reassure him that they didn’t compare since they were so immature but he’d get so jealous and angry. I liked it. Sometimes I’d mention the boys and then he’d buy me gifts.

I came home one night to my mother crying and my dad staring at the candle in the window. I thought my grandma died. And then I saw the dress. Ripped with bloodstains.

“Cami, sit down,” said my dad.

“Camille,” I said stubbornly.

“Tell us what happened, Camille,” my dad said without looking at me.

“Nothing. I cut my finger,” I said.

My mom cried harder. My dad looked at me but didn’t say a word.

I swallowed and kept his gaze. “Wally and I are in love,” I said.

“Oh, Cami, no,” my mother wailed. “Not my baby.”

“You’re never to see him again,” my dad said.

“I’m pregnant,” I whispered. I wasn’t really pregnant but I couldn’t bear the thought of being without him. I never did get to wear that dress again, but I kept it anyway.

My dad got a promotion soon after and Wally’s wife filed for divorce. Most of his money went to her and their three daughters but I didn’t care. He was mine now.

The divorce was quick since he agreed to all of her demands. We married at the courthouse. My mom cried a lot but I thought it was romantic. After the honeymoon, I told Wally I lost the baby. He didn’t question it. I was so happy.

Over the years, I would bring him lunch or dinner and a bag full of new clothes, always with a red dress, and we’d recreate our first time together.

Then it stopped. He barely looked at me and told me to stop coming to the office. I did everything I could to stay sexy for him. I stayed slim. I got breast implants. I wore the clothes and perfume he liked. I even had two abortions since he didn’t want any more kids. I didn’t know what more I could do.

I went to his office one morning and then I saw her. Or at least saw the way he looked at her. Molly was a summer intern just like I was. Molly and Wally. Disgusting.

“Mrs. Roberts, so lovely to see you again,” Molly said trying to sound sweet.

“Hello, Molly. I brought my husband a coffee,” I said. I stepped closer with my five-inch heels and glared down at her.

“I hope it has two creams and three sugars,” she said with fake innocent big brown puppy-dog eyes.

“It does. That’s a beautiful red dress you have.”

“Thank you. It was a gift,” she said and glanced towards Wally.

“Cami, what are you doing here?” asked Wally and pursed his lips. He sniffed a few times and wiped his nose.

“Camille,” I corrected him. “I brought you a coffee. Creamy and sweet, just the way you like it,” I said as seductively as I could.

“Molly brought me a coffee already. I’m very busy. I’ll see you at home later.”

I waited for him all night. Divorce wasn’t an option. I didn’t even have my own bank account and I signed a prenup. There needed to be an accident. Something that couldn’t be traced back to me.

He could fall off his boat and drown. He was never a good swimmer. I could hire someone to jack his car and kill him but whom could I trust? A kinky sex act gone wrong? Or I can start bruising myself and say I acted in self-defense.

I studied him for weeks and then it hit me. The cocaine. He used it more frequently trying to compete with the young brokers at his firm. He was growing more insecure every day. It was hard to watch sometimes.

I began lacing his cocaine with rat poison. At first, it brought him back to me since I took care of him. I had his attention again. But then he’d get better and go back to work and come home smelling of cheap teenage perfume.

So I put extra in his stash one night. The next morning, I woke up to him convulsing on the bathroom floor. He was foaming at the mouth and blood was trickling down his nose. He writhed in pain and held his hand out to me. I took it and bent down by his side.

“It’s okay,” I said over and over. He stopped moving after a bit. I flushed the remainder of that coke and placed an untampered batch next to his body. I waited 30 minutes and called 911 and told them I think he overdosed.

At the hospital, the doctor told me there was nothing they could do. I cried. They called my parents and his daughters. The police asked me a few questions but I kept it vague and cried hysterically. They looked at me with pity.

The nurse asked me if I knew what his wishes were. I told him he wanted to be cremated. His daughters came to the hospital and told him the same thing. The coroner ruled it an accidental overdose and since the police weren’t suspicious, he was cremated.

The lawyers confirmed that I was the sole beneficiary and I inherited everything. Even his business. His daughters told me they were going to attest the Will so I offered to give them a quarter of a million each for the next five years. They agreed.

I was lonely in this house with Wally alive but it’s almost unbearable now. I really should renovate and liven it up. I don’t know how I’ll be able to take over as President but I have my dad to help me. Molly will be fired immediately but from what I recall, Annie’s son just started high school and made the football team. I think I’ll offer him a job next summer. I wonder if he looks good in red.