Reba stood in front of her bathroom mirror, wrapped in a towel, after just stepping out of the shower. She couldn't move. She just stood there, starring back at herself. The real her. With her make-up smeared down her face from the steam in the shower, her hair wet, and her blank stare. She detested herself. To the world she seemed to be the perfect figure of strength and composure. She was the ideal mother and the wonderful wife until her daughter got pregnant and her husband left her for his dental hygienist.
She hated that she let it all slip away. Her faultless life--gone.
She gave the face starring back at her a look of disgust. She knew, leaving that exact spot meant putting back on that fake smile, and using that false laugh, proving to the world that she is perfectly ok. The truth was that she wasn't.
"I hate you," she whispered to herself. "I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!" she screamed, throwing her fist into the mirror. She watched the shattered pieces fall.
Standing there, breathing heavily, she wasn't ready to pretend. She didn't want to make believe anymore. She stormed into her bedroom, taking her and Brock's wedding picture off of her dresser and throwing it across the room, hearing it smash felt so exhilarating.
She wasn't ready to stop yet. She tore all the pictures off the wall and let them crash to the ground. She stripped the sheets off her bed, not wanting to lie where Brock had once before. She quickly ran her arm across her night-stand, knocking everything off and onto the floor.
She then stumbled her way to her dresser, now trying to fumble with the drawers through hot, salty tears. She found more pictures, pictures she had kept hidden. She grabbed them and looked through them all, every last one, all of her and Brock happily together, taken random places like vacations, some even in their own home.
Then, she started to tear them apart, laughing as she ripped her memories to shreds. She sat there, surrounded by the pieces. She took a look around her wreck of a room, and felt relieved.
For once, she was happy.
No more perfect Reba—she smiled at the thought.