Money, Booze and Pills.
Karen Walker started drinking from the age of 16. Not heavily, only socially, like at parties. She couldn't stand strong drinks, like a glass of wine, or straight spirits. She always had to have it mixed with a sweet drink. Her favourite was orange juice and vodka. She swore she would never take drugs, except for the occasional painkiller for a headache or period pain. Sixteen year old Karen Delaney believed that one day she would meet Mr. Right, fall madly in love, settle down, have kids, and live the perfect life. She would have friends aplenty, and host fabulous dinner parties. She would be a writer at a stylish magazine. She would live in a modest house with her husband, two kids and the family dog. She would be living like any other normal American woman, with all aspects of her life perfect. Thirty years later, Karen Walker realized how stupid sixteen-year-olds dreams were.
When Karen met Stan, she just knew he was the one for her. Despite two previous marriages, she just felt that Stanley Walker was the one she was meant to be with. And she was certain that Stan felt the same way about her as she did about him. A month after meeting, Stanley proposed to Karen. She said yes straight away. Stan was the decent, hard-working guy of her dreams. He wasn't a rich man, but she loved him all the same. He and a friend were in a mattress company together. Her marriage to Stanley Walker was the happiest day of her life. She had her dream life, the perfect life. Or so she thought.
Nine months into their marriage, Stan hit the jackpot. He decided to expand from the mattress company, and it resulted in Stan making $300 million. Karen couldn't believe it. Immediately, they moved into a penthouse mansion. They hired a staff of thirty, and Karen's long-time friend Rosario became her personal assistant. Karen had never been happier in life, and she thought she deserved it, after a hell of a childhood. She and Stan were as happy as clams, enjoying their new found lifestyle. Karen wanted this to last forever, but she was Karen Walker; things never went the way she wanted them to.
Two years into her marriage, Karen noticed changes in Stanley. Changes that she didn't want to notice. He was becoming distant. He was always at work, only coming home late at night or in the early hours of the morning. He never had time for their relationship; he was always busy closing another deal. Karen had wanted a family, but Stan was never around; the chances of Karen falling pregnant were slim to none. Karen was bored. She had nothing to do. She wanted to spend time with Stan, like the family she had always dreamt of. "Hello, Stanley Walker's office." Anna said politely into the phone.
"Hi. Can I talk to Stan?" Karen sounded exhausted. She was exhausted; she was sick and tired of being "Mrs. Stanley Walker," the trophy wife he only wheeled out at social affairs.
"Just a moment please, Mrs. Walker." Anna replied. Karen tapped her fingers impatiently against the marble countertop.
"Karen, what do you want?" Stan barked into the phone.
"What's wrong? You sound angry." Karen asked, a little sad at her husband's snappish tone.
"Karen. I am busy. I have work to do. I would be a lot easier if you didn't call every two hours!" he yelled.
"I'm bored Stan! I am going stir crazy. I want you to retire and come and spend time with me. Like a real family." Karen said.
"For Christ's sake Karen! Go shopping! Get a job! Get the fuck out of the fucking house!" Karen was taken back by his language; he hardly ever swore. "We've had this conversation a thousand bloody times! I am not going to stop working. This is our family, like it or not babe- you're Mrs. Stanley Walker. Stop fucking calling me!" he screamed, and then hung up. Karen hung up the phone, and then let the tears roll down her face. She couldn't believe Stan. Where was the sweet, kind man she had married? And she knew from that day forward, her life and marriage as she knew it was over.
It was two weeks after the screaming match, and things had gone from bad to worse. Stan hadn't even tried to apologise to her. He carried on as though things were normal. Whenever she tried to bring it up, he would throw money at her. "Buy a new coat", or "Buy a new watch.".
"Buy yourself some diet pills; I don't like fucking fatties." Stan said, chucking a wad of 100's at her.
Karen snapped. "Fucking fatties?! I'm the one whose doing that!" she screamed. "You're 600 bloody pounds! It's a fucking miracle I'm still alive! Do you think I like it? No, I hate it Stanley, I fucking hate it! I hate having sex with my 600 pound loveless husband!" Karen spat at him. Stanley's eyes filled with rage.
"Hate fucking him, hey?" he said, making a move to his belt.
Karen's eyes filled with fear. "Oh, shit." She muttered under her breath. She knew what was coming next. She ran to the door, but Stan was too quick for her. He stuck out his arm, pulling her into him, then pinned her to the floor.
"Stan, get off. You're hurting me." She whimpered, but she knew there was nothing she could do to stop her husband raping her. She just closed her eyes and prayed for it to be over.
Karen awoke with a start, cold water surrounding her. She realized she was in a cold bath, and got up out of it. She got dressed, and made her way downstairs. "Miss Karen, where did you get those bruises?" Rosario asked, eyeing off the bruises on Karen's arms.
"I…I walked into a cupboard." Karen answered.
"Oh,"
"Rosario, bring me a scotch on the rocks, and I want the rocks made out of pills." Karen instructed.
"Right away, Miss Karen." This was the third day this week that Karen had ordered it. Rosario knew that something must have happened; Karen hardly ever drank, and she certainly didn't take pills recreationally. 'But what can I do?' Rosario thought about it long and hard, but decided it was best to leave it.
"Karen, are you feeling alright?" Grace asked.
"Yeah honey. Why do you ask?" Karen replied.
"It's just, you're a lot thinner than you were a month ago. Well, on your arms and legs anyway." Grace explained, concern in her voice.
"Oh honey. You need to get your eyes checked!" Karen laughed it off. 'She noticed' Karen though. Jack hadn't, he just told her she looked fabulous as always. And Will…well, was Will. 'Maybe I can tell Grace all about it. The verbal and physical abuse, the rapes- all the horrors of my marriage. How I'm no longer Stanley Walker's wife; rather his whore. How I want to kill-' Karen's train of thought was interrupted by a sharp, shooting pain in her stomach.
"Ow." Karen said as she clenched her stomach, bent over in pain in her seat.
"Karen? Karen! Are you okay? What's wrong?" Grace screamed, panicking.
"Nothings wrong, honey." Karen said relived the pain was slowly fading. 'Shit.' Karen thought. 'This can't be happening. I can't be pregnant. Not now, not to Stan.' She was hoping the test she took last night was wrong; but she knew it wasn't.
"Karen, you're scaring me." Grace said.
"Honey, I'm fine. It's just this goddamn baby…" as soon as the words left her lips, she regretted it.
"Baby? Oh my God Karen…you're pregnant?" Grace asked, smiling.
"Yeah…" Karen whispered.
"Have you told Stan yet? He must be so happy! He's always wanted a baby with you! Congratulations!" Grace said. 'Maybe she's right.' Karen thought. 'Maybe Stan will be pleased. This baby could change everything.'
"I'm gonna go tell him. Hell, I'm gonna go home and tell him now!" Karen said, excitedly. She was convinced that Stanley would go back to normal, and they would finally be a happy family.
"Stanley? Stan, where are you?" Karen called out, closing the front door behind her. Stan appeared in the doorway of their bedroom upstairs.
"What are you doing here?" he barked down at her.
"I have news; I couldn't wait to tell you!" Karen said, running up the stairs to meet him. 'Wow, she must be really hammered.' Thought Stan. 'I've never seen her so happy.' "Well, what is it? I have important business to get back to." Stan said, irritated.
"Like what Sweetheart?" Karen asked, seeming genuinely interested.
"Like me." A blonde woman appeared next to Stan in the doorway. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were askew.
"Here you go. You know where the door is." Stan said, handing her a roll of notes and pointing her to the door. Karen waited until the door shut behind her, then exploded.
"You bastard. That was low, even for you." Karen spat, her voice filled with hate and rage.
"I'm surprised you even noticed, you're buzzed 24/7. Like now, you're hammered." Stan replied.
Karen shook her head. "No Stanley, I'm not hammered now. I haven't been for the past month and a half. Do you want to know why?" Karen asked her voice barely above a whisper.
"No Karen. And I don't care. I've got news for you too- get out of my face!" Stan snapped, turning around to go into their bedroom.
"I'm pregnant Stan." Those words stopped him in his tracks.
"What." He said, turning around to face his wife.
"I'm pregnant Stanley. We're going to have a baby!" Karen said, clasping her husband's hands. Stan thought fast. He didn't want anymore kids; he already had two, and they were a pain in the ass.
"Oh Karen, that's fantastic!" he said, a wide smile lighting up his enormous face. Karen leapt into his arms, placing an arm around his neck and the other on her stomach. 'I knew this would work!' she thought. 'Grace was right! We're going to be a proper family, no more abuse or anything! I'll have the Stanley Walker I married back again.' Karen returned his smile.
"I can't believe it Stan! I'm pregnant!" she said, smiling. Stan let out a small laugh. He walked to the top of the staircase, Karen still in his arms. Karen wriggled her feet, watching her stilettos move.
"Let's go get something to eat sweetheart. Baby is hungry." She let out a little giggle.
"I'm pregnant!" she squealed. She noticed the look on Stan's face. It was a mix of anger and confusion. It was the look he got before he did something bad. Karen knew that look all too well.
"Sta-" she started, the panic rising in her voice. Before she could say anything further, he dropped her, letting his arms fall loosely to his side. Stanley Walker watched as his pregnant wife tumbled down the staircase in front of him. Karen landed with a sickening thud at the bottom of the staircase. There was a deadly silence, until Stan broke it. "Not anymore, you're not."
When Stanley Walker was sent to prison, Karen Walker felt many things. Joy, happiness, anger, loneliness, sadness until they all combined to make one overall feeling- numbness. The pills and the booze also helped to add to this feeling. The icing on the cake-money. Money, money, money. Karen had millions upon millions to spend. She drank and spent and took pills until she couldn't feel the pain anymore. The pain of her bruises, the pain of her abusive husband, the pain of her miscarriages, the pain that was her life. Anyone looking in on her life would think it was perfect. Looks can be deceiving, Karen Walker mused.
Halloween Day, and Jack made Karen go to Stanley, to confess that she had an affair. She didn't want to go, and she knew that Stan wouldn't give a toss. When she opened those doors to find some other woman on top of him, she wasn't shocked or surprised. She put on a face, just for Jack and said
"Stanley, that had better be me you're having sex with." If anything, she was happy that Jack has seen him, so now she could leave him, with the excuse "he cheated on me." She was leaving the abuse, and the violence along with Stan, making a step forward in life.
The day she learnt Stan died, Karen didn't know what to feel. Sadness? Anger? Joy? Loneliness? He was gone, for good. He could never touch her again. She was genuinely worried that he would leave everything to the British whore and leave her nothing. Luckily, Karen got the $985 million. "The true love of my life." Is what he dedicated the money to. More like he gave her the money so she wouldn't speak up about the real Stanley Walker. But Karen Walker was fine with this arrangement; Stan was dead and she had $985 million.
As Karen Walker sips on her martini, she reflects on her life. Now 46, what did she have? Millions of dollars. No one to love her, like her first husband, or her second husband, or her third husband. Or, in fact her latest husband. Yes, Karen Walker was alone in this world. Yes, she had a staff of thirty. She always had her poodle Jackie, her little girl Gracie and…Will, but no kids of her own to speak of. When she was 16, she had her perfect life dreamt up. She never in a million years would have thought she'd have millions of dollars, 4 ex-husbands, no kids and her true love came in liquid and tablet form. 'Thank God I have Jack, Grace and Will. Hell, thank God I have Rosario.' Karen snorted. 'Sixteen year olds have stupid dreams.' She thought, downing the contents of her martini. She hated her life, but she would never let anyone in on that little secret. That would be emotion, and Karen Walker doesn't do emotions. She lets the drink and pills do that for her.