Incognito [Allston]

by Aileen Ma

A musky smell follows them into the car. She feels like her cheeks are going to fall off her face, she's been smiling so hard around him. He looks at her face in a profound way as they stop at the stoplight, eyes full, focused, yet…a bit spaced out. She draws back in her flimsy excuse for a jacket. Did he see? This was too close for a mere mortal to be next to a god. He drives safely, keeping his eyes off her and on the road flanked on both sides with whispering lights. Silence, maybe the beginning, maybe the ending hangs over drifts around the two of them. Her hands mentally weave through his tousled hair, every warm chocolate strand yielding sheer magnetism over her. She hesitates, then tucks a wisp of her wavy blond hair behind her ear, and closes her eyes, shrinking back at the thought of possibilities. She runs her fingers over the grooves of her elbow. Cradles her arms and appraises her legs through the eyes of a god.
***
At the sink, icy water stabs at her face. She throws away stacks of tissue as layer after layer of makeup comes off. The fake lashes come off, gently. Blue contact lenses ease out. Freckles like scatters of cinnamon yawn. Her curly hair breaks free. A light breeze sneaks in through the bathroom window. She reaches over to slam it shut. Lowers herself inch by inch into bathwater. Skin breathes, glows tiredly. Her cheeks sting. Submerged, her dark brown eyes, the color of a tall, dark, mocha on Tuesdays stare at the linoleum tiles on the wall. One off-white tile for each layer of pigment that stifles her tall, dark, mocha beauty. Her eyes shut with relief. The window helps itself as the cool breeze streams in, whispering in her ear.


(a revised version of a vignette formerly posted
in the Febuary 2009 archives)