She’s evil, Brenda told herself for the tenth time as she stared at the picture of her boyfriend, whose face she had scratched white with a pin. She put the picture back into her drawer and turned to the file she was working on.
“Hey, Brenda,” Walter from the adjacent cubicle said, “Where you going for the holidays?”
“Nowhere special. I think I will stay back in the city. Lots more stuff for me to do here.”
“Why not come join us? We’re going camping.”
“No, thanks. That’s a little too close to mother nature for me.”
Walter shrugged and turned back to his computer.
Anyway, she had to get back to Ivy, else she’d nag and nag till everyone went insane. She tried her best to keep that pest out of Robert’s body, but Robert was weak and he couldn’t fight off her advances. Just under a month of him moving in with her, Ivy had taken over their home.
The phone rang. “This is Brenda. How may I help you?” she said into the receiver.
Robert’s voice filtered through, “Hi, honey. Would you rather go to the movies or the theater tonight?”
“I thought we were going to rent a video.”
“We’ve been doing that for the past month. I figured that you might want to go out once in a while.”
“Whatever,” she sighed into the phone.
The other end went silent for a while then Robert said, “Alright. Which movie would you like to rent?”
“It’s up to you. You’ve always decided for us anyway.”
“I only do it because you won’t.” He took a deep breath and lowered his tone. “Maybe we can do something else. Eat out?”
“I’m working. I’m not in the mood for anything.”
“Okay,” he said and the line went dead.
Brenda turned back to her computer screen and opened a sales presentation. She scrolled through it as slowly as she could as she thought through her problem. She must get rid of Ivy, once and for all but she knew from experience that Robert would try to fight his way out of it. They always do. She must think of a way to control him. Sleeping pills? She still had some from her prescription. Life had become so stressful with Robert that she had to see a doctor about her insomnia.
Robert was not in when she got back to the apartment, which was good because it gave her time to make a spaghetti dinner. She also heat up two cupcakes in the oven toaster and beat together sugar, egg white, milk, a squeeze of lemon and two pounded sleeping pills to make a cream. When Robert walked in through the door, he was greeted with the smell of cooking food.
“Does this mean I’m forgiven?” he said to her back.
She turned from the stove to give him a sideway smile. “Maybe.”
He walked up to her and hugged her from behind, immersing his face into her hair. “I love you, Brenda.”
Her shoulders stiffened. Then she relaxed and leaned back on him. “Wait till you’ve had dinner.”
Dinner was pleasant and when it was time for dessert, Brenda nibbled at the sides of the cupcake, careful not to take the cream. Robert teased her about it, as he gulped down his and took a large mouthful of hers. Then he poured them each a glass of wine. By the time they finished their meal, he was beginning to feel dizzy from trying to keep his eyes open.
Brenda led him to the bathroom and sat him down on an iron chair that she had brought in from the balcony. “What is this?” he asked.
“I thought you might like to try something different.”
“Oh,” he said and gave her a loopy grin.
She began to tie his feet to the chair legs on either side with a nylon rope. Then she went behind him and tied his hands. He wiggled a little as he stifled back a yawn. “God, I am really tired today.”
She went out for a moment, then came back with a knife, the tip of which she ran across his throat. He stiffened. His eyes widened and he said with a chuckle. “What kind of game are we playing, baby?”
“The kind I always play. Stop pretending you don’t know anything, Ivy.”
He began to struggle with his bonds. Then he turned back to look into her eyes and begged, “Come on Brenda, this is not funny anymore.”
She giggled. “I know, Ivy. You’ve never liked it. But we can’t have you going all over the place now, can we?”
His expression relaxed and he leaned back. “A kiss then, for old time’s sake.”
Brenda leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Then she took a step back and raised the knife over her head. She arched it down towards Robert but the knife plunged into her abdomen. She stared and pulled it out. Again she tried to slash Robert, and again the knife struck her, this time her lung.
Robert began to scream. He threw himself again and again in an effort to free himself but the harder he struggled, the tighter the bonds became. Brenda continued to stab herself, and soon he and the bathroom was covered in her blood. Finally she stabbed her own heart and fell back onto the tiled floors.
He was still screaming when the police broke into their apartment and found him tied to the chair. The paramedics had to give him a depressant to calm him down long enough to tell the police what had happened.
“She called me Ivy, then she wouldn’t stop hurting herself.”
“Who is Ivy?”
He looked confused for a moment then he said, “It’s a little bush I got her for April Fool.”
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