In It For The Long Run Ch. 02

CHAPTER 2: ALICE

*SLAM* The door slammed shut behind me as I ran to the bed with tears in my eyes. I gripped the pillows, the sheets, and blankets in my arms and up to my face as I tried to muffle my cries. The sheets still smelled faintly like him, which only brought him up to my mind again, and it made me cry even harder than before. I hugged a pillow into my chest, curling slowly into the fetal position as my tear ducts ran dry.

The following morning, my eyelids fluttered open; streaks of makeup painting my face and reddened eyes displaying my night of crying. I flexed my muscles, still in the fetal position, like a caterpillar trying to break free of its cocoon. Eventually I had unfurled my limp carcass of a body into a spread-eagle position on the bed. The memories of last night flooded back to me, however, and my lip began to quiver.

No, Alice. No. I thought to myself, steeling my facial expression as best as I could. He doesn't deserve your tears. That's what I said to Amber when she came to me in tears after her high school sweetheart of five years broke up with her over some 'no-name bleach-blonde vixen' as she put it.

I picked up my phone and turned on the front-facing camera to assess the damage. As soon as I saw my face in the frame, I started to chuckle to myself softly. Your mascara is running, Alice. And your hair is a mess. You look like you just finished eating a hurricane. The laugh, however, quickly transitioned back into a sob.

After calming down, I swung my feet out of bed and placed my shaky legs onto the floor. I could swear that the floor fell out from under me with the way I collapsed onto the ground. It wasn't the prettiest sight, but I was in pain so it was justifiable.

I can't go into work like this; I have to text Amber and let her know I can't come in today. I scrape my hand along the bed to find the place where I dropped my phone during my sobbing fit. My nails made a familiar clacking noise as they tapped the material of the smartphone's surface.

[Alice] -- Can't come in today, srry.

[Amber] -- What happened?

[Alice] -- Just sick, I think. I look like a mess.

[Amber] -- Send pics ;P jkjk

[Amber] -- But seriously, I hope you feel better later because the regional manager is coming in to make a report on our store.

[Alice] -- fuck me, of course she is. I'll be there. >:(

[Amber] -- Sorry babe <3

Well there goes that plan. Why did Monica choose now of all times? I audibly groaned and started making my way towards the bathroom to clean up.

Hours later...

Showered, shaved, and clean of all traces of the emotional breakdown I had last night, I sat down at my vanity to do my makeup. Working in a salon, you naturally pick up a sort of love for the art of painting one's face, but this time I wasn't doing the fun kind of makeup, I was covering up my emotional wounds.

I closely inspected my face, looking carefully for any signs that I had spent the last night in the fetal position bawling my eyes out. A deep sigh released from my light pink lips as I was finally satisfied with the look. It was cute and subtle for the most part, but my liner and fake lashes still gave off that same 'Alice' flair that I was famous for. I posed playfully in the mirror, making a duck-face and admiring my handiwork as I stepped back to give myself a final once-over.

Hair and makeup? Fierce and fresh. Clothes? Stylish and slick. Emotional stability? I went through my mental checklist, frowning at the last one. Well, Alice, you can't win them all.

I grabbed my purse, making sure that my extra tampons, makeup, keys, and the rest were all safe in their place. After slinging my purse over my shoulder, I clicked through the hallways' hardwood floors in my heels and looked around cautiously for any sign of Chris. It was still too early to see him, and if I had seen him right then I would've broken down emotionally again and had to miss out on Monica's workplace inspection.

You fucking bastard, I thought as I looked over his sleeping figure. Dead drunk, as always, lying on the couch with a bottle of wine. I watched his restless nap for a moment as he turned over multiple times struggling to get comfortable. I don't have time for this. I'll deal with this piece of shit later.

A loud ding signaled my entrance into the salon. Amber, upon seeing me, motioned for me to go into the backroom so she could finish up with her last customer for the day.

I sat down at the break room coffee table and sighed deeply. With all this craziness going on in my life I hardly had time to catch my breath, so I relished the moment.

"Just closed up," Amber said to me. She narrows her eyes, looking at my exhausted state. "It's just Monica's yearly inspection, hon. I know you've been looking for a promotion, but you really shouldn't worry about this so much."

I smiled at her, "No, it's not that. Well, part of it, I guess, but I'll tell you later. For now, though —"

My sentence got cut off by the sound of the door's loud ding, indicating that Monica had likely just arrived. "Do I look okay?" I asked, and then I quickly adjusted my hair behind my ears.

Amber smiled softly, "You look stunning, and don't worry your pretty little head about this one. I'll handle Monica's shenanigans this time around since you're still sick, but you do need to attend to the other tasks I would've been doing."

"Roger that," I mockingly saluted. "But there are no customers, how am I supposed to waste time with customers for hours on end?"

Amber grinned and gave me a playful jab in the arm. "I mean it, Monica's a real hardass. There's a couple of inventory statements that you need to double-check for me, and the makeup brushes are in dire need of a cleanse before she comes in to check. I'll fluff her up in the meanwhile." She moved quickly towards the door and disappeared to go and greet Monica.

Many menial and administrative tasks later, I looked up from the salon office's desk with a face full of triumph. All done, but now what do I do? Let's go see what Amber is up to with Monica, see if she needs any help. Anything to distract me from last night.

I walked over to the salon's storefront and waved to Amber as a signal that I'd be joining her. "It's good to see you again, Monica, I assume Amber has been doing a wonderful job showing you how efficiently our branch is operating?" I stuck out my hand for a handshake, and Monica obliged. A dead fish handshake, no less.

"It's always a pleasure, Alice," Monica said, looking up and around the storefront. Her frizzy ginger hair was tied up so tightly in her bun that when she turned around it didn't budge an inch. Not to mention her amateurish makeup look, just simple mascara along with a garish red lip, I sometimes wondered how she even got that position in the first place. She walked over to one of the salon chairs and slowly dragged a finger across the bottom of the chair. With a quick huff, she blew off the small pile of dust she had picked up with her finger. "I see that your hygiene standards in this place are just as shoddy as always. How unfortunate, I'll have to dock you a couple points there." Her face adopted a tight-lipped smile which looked just as fake as it absolutely was.

I could see Amber in the background rubbing her temples and trying not to lose her shit. After all, Monica pulled this stunt every year. She would come in and berate our store as much as possible, trying her best to get our store shut down.

30 minutes of critique later, we ushered Monica out of the store. "Thank you for coming again Monica, we appreciate your honesty and we'll take your suggestions to heart," I said, my corporate communication training coming in to piss her off as much as possible.

Monica opened her mouth one last time, pointing at the sign outside, only for Amber to cut her off. "We sincerely hope you have safe travels, Monica. But if you'll excuse us, it's getting fairly late so we really must be closing up the shop." Amber's smile was blinding with how wide and forced it was. Monica once again started to protest, but Amber jumped right back in to stop her. "Company regulations, sorry, nothing I can really do about it. Have a good one!" She slammed the door shut in Monica's face.

Amber turned away from the door and looked at me in the eyes, then sighed, exhausted. "Jesus Christ, that woman is always a handful." She and I started to make our way back to the backroom to relax for a while like the usual after closing time. It usually involved a lot of wine and girl talk, something my life was sorely missing a lot of the time. There were even moments where I could have sworn that she was coming onto me sexually, but nothing ever came to fruition, especially not after my relationship with Chris started progressing seriously.

The door swung open and Amber flopped onto one of the dingy couches that the company provided for us plebes, stretching her legs and arms out in the process. I gave her a sassy smile before lifting up her legs to sit down on the couch, then replacing her stockinged legs on my lap. She sighed again, only louder than before and likely for comedic effect. Or, she just wanted some attention from me.

"Yes, darling?" I asked, as mockingly polite a tone as possible.

Amber wiggled her feet, her pumps dangling from her toes. "Massage me, please, my dear. My feet have been killing me today!"

I chuckled, knowing the feeling all too well. My own legs would be in the same situation if I had had to work that entire shift with her instead of just coming in for Monica's inspection, so I started to gently caress her legs and worked my way down towards her feet.

Amber threw her head back as I massaged her sore soles, and she let out a soft moan. "Alice, honey, you should really do this more often." I chuckled in response and kept massaging, making sure to work out all the stress she accumulated in her feet.

The room was quiet, and even though Amber was literally in my hands, it was like I finally had a moment to myself. I found myself getting lost in the monotonous motions, putting pressure on Amber's feet in the way I knew best, but also being left to my own thoughts as she enjoyed my massage in silence.

"Alice?" Amber said, concerned, and sat up quickly. She positioned herself beside me and placed her hand on my arm. "What's wrong?" She said, and reached her hand to my face to wipe away the tears that I had started to unknowingly let out.

"Oh," I said, reaching up to try and hide my tears. "I'm sorry, I must've—," I started to get up. "I should get back home."

Amber looked confused for a moment, but then quickly steeled her expression after figuring out the gist of the situation. She gripped my arm tightly to make sure I stayed on that couch, and then turned my now tear-ridden face to meet hers. Amber's eyes were big and brown, and in this moment they were filled to the brim with her empathy and understanding, almost to the point where she was tearing up alongside me.

"It'll be okay," she said, pulling me into her warm embrace. "Whatever it is, I'll get you through this."

And with that, my façade broke down. I started sobbing, ugly crying, into her shoulder. She didn't let me out of the hug until the tears and sobs had long since ended and she could feel me calming down.

"Did you get it all out? Are you okay now?" She asked. I nodded, not looking her in the eye. "Good. Now I'm going to go over to the mini-fridge and get us a couple of drinks, and then you can tell me what this is all about, okay? Are you gonna be fine while I'm gone?" Her tone was almost matronly, but it was exactly what I needed at that moment. Again, I nodded, and wiped away the snot that had come out during my crying.

Amber returned only moments later with a bottle of red wine and a couple of glasses. This backroom truly was our own personal safe haven, and it was coming in handy right about now. "Okay," she said, and poured me a glass. "Tell me."

I started to tear up again, but bit my lip to prevent it from quivering. I started to tell her the story from the other night, how Chris lied to me about cheating and how I believed him until he slipped up this time.

"Bambi was her name, I think he said. Some bimbo stripper, probably. Though, he only said it because I surprised him while he was off guard." My tears were starting to dry on my face, and my grief was beginning to morph into something other than just sadness.

"Are you thinking of filing for divorce, then?" Amber looked concerned. "Whatever your decision is, I'll support you, and I want you to know that. I'm here to help."

"No, no, I couldn't. I won't." My feelings had solidified into more anger than sadness, and it was visible in the grimace covering my face. "That bastard deserves to pay, but..." the grimace faded away, the sadness once again making its presence known.

"But what, Alice? He's a piece of shit that would rather screw other women, so he doesn't deserve you. Dump him!" Amber definitely had a point there, but I just... I couldn't. I thought back to all the good times we had, the movie dates and buying the house, all the times he helped me stand back up on my feet when my parents died. I couldn't just abandon him. But I also couldn't just forgive him.

"I still love him, Amber." I brought my knees to my head and hid my face. Amber brought me in for another hug.

"I know, honey. I know. But hey, at least he's only done it once, right? Remember Steve? It could be worse," Amber joked.

Her joke fell flat, though, and the tears fell from my face once again. This time, however, I had it under control. "It's worse than that," I said through my tears, "I think he's been doing this for years but I never had the guts to ask him about it. I thought- I thought that if he really," I gulped, "really loved me he would have told me."

"Oh now he's done it. I'm gonna go ream his ass right this second." Amber started to get up and storm off with righteous fury, but I stopped her.

"No, Amber, this is my problem to deal with. I just- I don't know what I should do." My face fell, and I looked up at Amber in hopes that she could save the day.

"Well, it's not like we can change his behavior, can we? He's a man, and men cheat." Amber sounded bitter, likely due to her multiple failed relationships that all involved her significant other being unfaithful.

I took a big swig of my wine, and we both looked over at the bottle. The next couple of scenes were a bit blurry memory-wise, honestly, but the next thing we knew, we were both on the ground in a giggling fit, the bottle completely empty.

I grabbed my phone, still a bit drunk, and it read 3:00 a.m. Wait, 3:00 a.m.? Where's Amber? I looked around for Amber and spotted her in the corner with another empty bottle of wine, slumped over and sleeping her pretty little head off. Oh, I thought after taking in what she was (or wasn't, in this situation) wearing. Quite the little minx, aren't you, Amber? Those are some racy panties you've got there. Lacy and black, with a white lace trim and a heart-shaped lacy hole in the front for ease of access, it was as if the panties themselves were purely decorative. I can't believe she wears that stuff to work.

"Amber," I shook her awake, "Amber!"

"Huh?" She slowly comes to, "Go back to sleep, Alice, you look tired..." and she nodded off back to sleep. I shook her again, but she was sleeping like a rock this time.

I stood up to find my heels and hopefully grab an Uber to get both of us home, but I noticed Amber's laptop sitting on the coffee table wide-open. That's curious, wonder what we were doing? God, my head hurts. I walked over to the table, still scanning the ground for my heels.

"What is this?" I made a confused face. "Professional hypnosis services, blah blah blah, only $100 a month to blah blah blah," and I quickly dismissed the idea from my mind. Closing the laptop, I sat for a second to seriously consider my situation. Can I even fix things between us? I do care about him, but it's not like I'm ready to forgive what he's done, either. Not to mention, I still think he's done this more than one time. I looked back at the laptop, a smile starting to creep onto my face. Change his behavior, huh? The laptop's bright light flashed in my face, the professional hypnotist site causing the gears in my head to start turning.

You like bimbo sluts, huh, Chris? My mouse hovered over the 'complete order' button. You like their big tits, their big cocksucking lips, their skimpy outfits and slutty makeup? You like their insatiable desire to submit to you, you fucking 'alpha male'? We'll see how much you like them when you are one. And with that, I completed my order. It was time to wake up Amber and get my plan into motion.