Watching Her

Watching Her

Chapter 1

Lucy Gilmartin smiled as stepped back in her new bedroom. The large darkly varnished mahogany dressing table had been taken out of storage by her dad last week. It was finally installed in her new house. It only just fitted in against the wall at the end of the bed.

She had worked bloody hard to get to her position in sales to afford to buy on her own the house, with a little help from her Mum and Dad with the deposit. As such along with the financial help there was also some assistance with furniture for the house. There were things that her Dad had emotionally just not been able to throw out when he cleared his parents' house after his mum had died. A truck load of old brown furniture and memories had been stored in a self-storage container for almost twenty years.

Along with the antique dressing table there was, matching chest of drawers, along with an old pine Welsh dresser which was currently downstairs currently in the middle of the dining room, with a folded over matching dining room table, and of course one of these very items was the full wall length dressing table she was currently looking at. It was rather imposing in the fairly modern house. It could be said that it was almost too big for the room. Lucy did not want to disappoint her dad, seeing as they had given so much money to help with the deposit towards the house, as such she eagerly agreed, without looking at them, that they would come with her.

She stood looking at the three stately large movable mahogany backed, brass lined mirrors. Below the tabletop tens of small drawers with weathered matching brass handles. It looked heavy and carrying up the stairs, it was heavy. Lucy puffed her cheeks out and ran her hands through her long strawberry blonde hair, another trait from her granny Gilmartin, as she peeled the white fluffy hairband off her arm and put the hair up in a long ponytail. She was proud of her long hair, even if it was ginger and all the bullying she got when younger. She had survived school eventually. She loved her hair. She enjoyed it when it swished and tickled her lower back when she walked.

She leaned forward and turned on the cheap little yellow lamp she had got a charity shop last week and glanced and studied the large mirror closely there was some foxings in the corner where the backing had disintegrated, she smiled her white teeth in the mirror as her 'strawberry and cream' complexion on her still young-looking face smiled back.

With that she shrugged her shoulders, turned, took a deep breath for confidence, and headed down the stairs to start rearranging the living room. It currently consisted of four full cardboard boxes and her favourite large tatty cushion from her days at university.

That evening after spending a great deal of time swearing at the thermostat, even she acknowledges that it was her dad in her. It dawned on her that she should have listened about how to work the boiler. She eventually headed to bed, it was dark on the stairs she sprinted up the stairs, one of things on her list was a new lightbulb for the fitting at the top.

She flicked on the lamp again and sat down on the almost ghastly flower-patterned matching stool. Lucy again looked at herself in the mirror, her face was red and puffy from spending all evening head down, bum up, cleaning cupboards, and then emptying boxes of cutlery, pans, vases and a mountain of tea towels into the now spotlessly clean cupboards. Her mum and dad were again coming over tomorrow to help again move some more things around. She looked down between her legs and pulled out the supermarket carrier bag with all her toiletries that she had emptied from her rented flat and pulled out the face wipes.

Lucy studied her face again as she wiped the sweat and tears off her face, she instantly stopped and was taken aback by the triptych of her face reflecting back in the three mirrors, her face was lit from the uncovered energy saving bulb above her head and the lamp beside her but when she wiped her the mirror was ahead of her in time, it predicted where she was going with the cloth, her reflection was ahead of her actions. She was wiping her nose, whilst her reflection had already moved on to her neck, just before she did.

It was as if her mirror knew what she was going to do. It spooked her. She had purposely not drunk anything alcoholic. Lucy shook her head and watched the reflection on three sides as carried on wiping. It sent a shiver down her spine, and then looking around realising she had not got a bin to dump the dirty face wipes in, she did a quick double glance at the mirror and got up and carried the carrier bag to the bathroom to do her teeth.

***

Lucy woke up early, being alone it had been a long night for her learning her new house noises. Every windowpane creak and water pipe groan were amplified in her head, worrying herself rotten. The strange trick the mirror had done had played on her brain all night as well. She could not wait to turn on a light and get up.

She almost jumped out of bed, as she felt an inquisitive magnetism to the dressing table. Lucy pulled the stool out from the wooden cutaway in the middle and sat down she studied the mirror, and her face went in and out nothing strange happened, it acted as if it was a normal mirror.

As the morning sun started to brightly be shine through the thin cheap curtains as if it were midday, the plain white walls looked almost magnolia in colour with the yellow light. Lucy brought her hands together and clicked her knuckles, and out of curiosity started to open the drawers. She had believed that they were empty, at least that is what her dad had told her as she had cleverly and in hindsight correctly suggested taking them out before he had helped her carry it up the stairs yesterday. They had at least taken the mirror part off, as neither of them wanted twenty-one years bad luck.

Lucy tugged at the top left-hand drawer, she had to wiggle it, and it slowly opened, she shook her head. She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked in, there were still a load of old antique brushes, a comb, along with a matching old perfume bottle, all with lovely plated silver handles and tops. Lucy chuckled and cursed under her breath it would have made the whole thing lighter carrying it up the stairs if they had removed the tat from the drawers. She opened the drawer below and smiled it was clean old glass ashtray that she could remember seeing that her granny used to have. She picked it up and instinctively sniffed it, she could remember the old smell of cigarettes hanging around her granny's old house, everyone used to bitterly complain about it.

She could remember the arguments between her mum and dad when granny was coming over to visit. It meant that Granny and her Dad had to have to take frequent walks around their small garden. In winter there much consternation about hats and scarfs before spending five minutes in the garden. As a young child she found it hilarious, and as granny got older the walks got shorter and shorter until an old dining room chair was strategically put in the far corner of the back porch prior to her arrival, after that she didn't come around much, if at all.

Lucy flicked her eyes up at the mirror before pushing the ashtray across the table with the tips of her nails as if it were from a Ouija board, as on the old wooden dressing tabletop, there was an old circular stain in the varnish which fitted the shape of the ashtray perfectly. Lucy giggled to herself as she lined up the marks, it was clearly showing how long it must have been there. She winced, as she determined that she must get the top sanded and polished off, another job for the list.

She looked to her right and pulled open the lowest left-hand drawer, there was again a load of old make up. Why her dad wanted to leave all this in the drawers for years was beyond her. With a bit of grunt from the effort, she opened the top right-hand drawer to find wrapped in an old white handkerchief a weighted gold plated lighter. She sighed and shook her head again. 'What am I going to do with this?' She asked herself as she examined it. The lighter was heavy in the hand, as she looked closely it was engraved neatly Henry Gilmartin 1917, she paused and chewed the inside of her mouth, that was her great grandfathers' name.

She coughed as the dust plumed out of the middle drawer as she ran her hands through the other drawer to find it empty, except for a 1980's Sunday Times Magazine pages which had been used to line the drawer. She pulled out the sheet to study it, on one side was a day in life of some unknown celebrity from the 80's full size advert for Silk Cut cigarettes. Lucy smiled at the dark mysterious purple swirls on the page pondering how silly they were to let people advertise cigarettes.

As she had no time for the celebrity, she didn't know who was famous before her birth, Lucy pushed the paper back into place and straightened them up. She then looked up at herself in the mirror and sighed as after digging in the drawers the mirror was now covered in dust. She focused again and pulled open the other couple of drawers, each full of dust with a copy of the Sunday paper magazine, each with a different cigarette advert, Benson and Hedges with its yellow décor, Marlboro, and its red detailing. She concluded her grandma clearly liked cigarette adverts for cupboard linings.

As the room suddenly dimmed as a cloud crossed the sun outside Lucy looked down on the floor and nodded at her t-shirt from yesterday, she picked it off the floor and wiped the layer of dust off the mirror, only to be shocked at her face in the reflection, she had to have a second look.

Her Reflection now had a long white cylinder between her lips. Lucy looked to the closed drawers and then back to the mirror. The orange filter between her pink lips matching the small freckles on her nose. Lucy's eyes widened and fear, then she shook her head. Both her and Reflection leaned forward as she tried to study what she was looking at.

She put her hand to her mouth and ran her finger across her lips, as was blinding obvious there wasn't a cigarette there. She could see that with her own eyes as she went cross-eyed to look down her nose. As her hand went to her mouth the Reflection used the gold lighter from the table to light the cigarette. Lucy jumped back and shrieked as she panicked and very quickly wiped the mirror with the t shirt again. Finally, she let her breath out as her reflection was back to normal, she realised she had been holding it, and as she sniffed the air, she thought she could smell the faint remnants of cigarette smoke in the room. Looking around at the emptiness. Concluding it must have come from the dust in the drawers.

Lucy got up, her legs shaking from fear. Then crouched down to her suitcase with her still unpacked clothes in and dug to the bottom and smiling got her large fluffy yellow towel out and then with her very white naked frame headed to the shower.

Chapter 2

Lucy hummed to herself as she poured the hot water into the mugs and then gently stirred the contents scared as if she was going to break the delicate porcelain. She very gently squeezed the teabags on the side of the cups and gently carrying each one out separately and dumping them unceremoniously in the sink. Then carefully splashed in the milk in the top. She flicked her now dry long hair over her shoulder and then picked up two of the teacups and matching saucers and placed them in front her parents. They were practically shot glassed for hot fluid, compared to the large tea and coffee mugs she was used to.

"Thank you, mum, dad for helping me unpack and put away!"

The portly greying Graham Gilmartin smiled at his daughter. "It was the least we could do for you, other than cutting the grass at home, I didn't have much planned, and the grass can wait until next week!"

"Graham, it will be sunny on Tuesday; you can do it then Graham." Wendy stated as a matter of fact "Thank you for the tea, Luce!" She smiled and brought the blue dainty 1970's flower print teacup to her mouth "We should take you to John Lewis and you can get some real mugs!" she shook her head and slurped.

"Maybe next weekend mum?" Lucy replied glancing at her dad who had kept them all in storage for all these years and then also took a sip.

"They are perfectly okay for her to get started with!" Graham responded defensively.

Wendy rolled her eyes as she had heard that before "So how was your first few nights in the house been?" she asked.

Lucy smiled at both parents "Oh not too bad, going to have to learn all the noises, which pipe groans, which window rattles, it will be all good fun, the wind blowing the letter box was interesting at three thirty!"

"So, you had a good night then Luce?" Wendy raised a recently died brown eyebrow which matched her recently styled hair.

"Yeah, I did."

"Goody, we popped into town on the way in, as to get a replacement for that bulb at the top of the stairs you mentioned on the phone, we both thought you'd trip over in the night!" Wendy butted in.

Lucy chuckled "I was fine! But thank you.

"I will get up there and put it in shortly!" Graham nodded as he stroked his short moustache.

"Oh, thank you Dad, and I actually have rather random question for you, how much did Granny smoke?" Lucy asked before picking up and gulping her tea.

Wendy instantly turned to her husband "Grey, I told you we should have cleaned and polished all the furniture before delivering; it must all absolutely reek of the god dam smoke!" She snapped glaring at her husband and then sniffed the air.

"Hmmm, it's been away from the smoke for years, I am sure it's just musty Wend."

"Dad how much did she smoke?" Lucy asked holding the mug to her lips.

"Luce, I am sad to say a lot, she never got over dad dying with that surprise heart attack, and then her brother Ollie died a few months later."

"Oh!" Lucy said and then nervously bit her bottom lips and put the cup down on the saucer.

"Yeah, she was never far away from her trusted pack of Silk Cuts, no...that was Uncle Ollie what where they now ...what did she call them...B&H's...that's right...Benson and Hedges Golds, I can never remember even though I was surrounded by them for years, why do you ask?" Graham ran his hand through his greying balding hair.

"Oh, I don't know, I just don't really remember her too much, her dying when I was very young and all. I now have all her stuff and I can't remember her much."

Graham nodded, "She was kind to you, spoiled you rotten, I thought she would love that you have got all her furniture. She was kind, wasn't she Wend. But yes, I am sure there are pictures of you on her lap, now thinking back its awful she was there with her cigarette clamped between her lips or even in her hand. It was the late 80's everyone still smoked, it wasn't frowned upon. Wend, when we get back, we will dig in that cardboard box when we get home."

"Oh, okay, I also just found her ashtray in the dressing table that we carted upstairs yesterday."

Grahams eyes widened "I am so sorry, I thought it was empty as I went through and binned or given all a lot of that crap to a charity shop." He glanced at Wendy as if to grovel as he spoke to say sorry for not binning anything at all.

Lucy chuckled "Its fine dad, I've even got your grandfathers lighter up there. Shall I go and get it?" She asked pushing the chair back.

"Oh, I remember, the gold one, mum showed me once, he got engraved before he went off the war. It was so different back then, everyone smoked."

Wendy tutted "Right enough of this reminiscing about smoking, otherwise we will end up opening a bloody stinking tobacconist, shall we get on? This furniture isn't going to move itself." Declaring tea break over in her rather straightforward way.

Lucy gulped the last of her drink and noisily put the cup down and then corrected the position in the saucer, "Yes mum!" she saluted with a grin and stood up to attention.

Chapter 3

It was early on Monday morning. The dim light of sunrise had started to show through the curtains. Lucy sat in front of the mirror in just her strappy pyjama top brushing her long hair, she had to get up earlier to remove 'bedhead' and then do her makeup. As she worked in sales, looking her best, whilst seen as sexist, was in her head still vitally important.

Lucy kept studying and checking the mirror, nothing untoward was happening, every stroke of the silver handle as it brushed down her long hair matched her own arm. She could not get her head around it. Lucy put her now silky-smooth brushed hair up in a high ponytail and removed the clumps of hair from the brush and for convenience dumped it in the empty ashtray, and then delved into her carrier bag, she pulled out her foundation cream and started to work it into her pale face, she closed her eyes as she massaged her whole face including her eyelids.

She opened her eyes and again studied the mirror, she played with the mirror and shook her head and poked her tongue out at it, nothing.

Lucy glanced down at the bag and brought out the primer and applied it to her face and slowly massaged it into her skin, she again kept checking. Nothing.

She pulled out her long makeup brush and twiddled it between her fingers, whilst watching the mirror with one eye as she dug out her concealer and with the brush, she got to work under the weekend bags under her eyes, as she was busy focusing on her eyes, she suddenly coughed as she rocked back on the stool, she gulped as clocked her Reflection suddenly had a cigarette burning brightly dangled in the corner of her mouth.

Lucy placed her fingers to her lips to double check that there was nothing there. As her fingers touched her reflection did the same put the fingers around cigarette in a large V and clamped them together. It then removed the cigarette from her lips as the smoke drifted out of her lips. Even to Lucy the cloud was sexily almost teasingly as the drift became a flood as the Reflection exhaled from her actual lips.

She was sitting there looking at the mirror open mouthed aghast. As a gentle stream of smoke rising towards the ceiling from the cigarette between her Reflections fingers in the mirror in front of her. Lucy sniffed the air, and looked around there was no smoke in the room, she shook her head in confusion and the Reflection copied.

Lucy pulled out her powder and brush and touched her lips, as she did the reflection dangled the cigarette in the corner of her lips. As she applied her powder, the Reflection, reflected every move. With the cigarette still dangled in the corner of her mouth, smoke rhythmically moved breath for breath with Lucy. It drifted out her reflected nose as she got to work with her eyes, she leaned forward to apply her favourite light blue eye liner. Once finished she again touched her lips, her reflection's cheeks collapsed inwards, and the face relaxed as the tip of the cigarette burnt bright orange as the lungs of her reflection pulled on the cigarette. As her hands rested on the table her image in the mirror both of them tilted their heads slightly as the mirror image exhaled a cone of light grey smoke out of her mouth and up and away.

She glanced behind her at the alarm clock on the bedside table grimaced, it was taking much longer this morning as she was sitting there watching something like herself smoke.

Lucy rummaged in the bag one handed keeping one hand on the desk, for no reason other than her reflection had a burning cigarette between her fingers until she found the black mascara. She had an urge to touch her lips again with her spare hand and the reflection placed the nearly finished cigarette back between her lips.