Once Loved
CH 2- Princess Tower
The little white house seems so very far away as Justine stands, shaking in the mists of the Chicago crowd. Buildings loom frighteningly around her, seeming almost to close in on her, blocking out the sky. She pauses in front of one building. Princess Tower. It seemed fitting that this would be where she had chosen to live. She cannot bring herself to say the woman's name aloud. It chooses instead to rebel against her refusal to speak by clanging around in her head. Katie. Katie. Katie. Katie. Over and over until that woman is all she can think of.
It used to be once, that Katie was in fact all Justine could think of. The woman that had made her believe in fairy tales, though she would rather die than admit it. She remembered clearly when they first met. Their first kiss and their last kiss shared and every scorching kiss in between.
Memories of the night she sat ridged in the kitchen as Katie's father interrogated her flooded her mind. The fear that awkward, entrancing girl five years her junior felt that night very nearly broke her heart. She vowed then to save her from her hell. It was at that moment that she became her knight in shining armor, as Katie so fondly said.
She recalled with such clarity when they fled, the two of them together, swearing up and down that their love was once and only- completely true. Katie. Katherine Evans. The girl that loved her no matter what she did. That was the woman she loved. The one she pledged her heart to. Never once did she forget it. The good times and the bad were clear as crystal, the memories of love they shared never once leaving her.
There were times. Not a lot of times, but times enough, where Justine would find herself woken from slumber hearing whimpers of fear. Still disoriented she would reach over seeking to hold her love close to her intent on bringing her some small comfort. Time and again she would grasp at air and only then she would remember that her love was no longer there. She missed the feel of a warm body lying next to her at night so she took the first woman she saw when she went out to the bar that night to bed with her. That woman, Ashley, was the exact replica of the type of women Katie abhorred. Perhaps that was why she married her, better to have a negative that reminded her of her love then none at all.
If she dared to admit it to herself, which she never would, she would acknowledge that for a long time now her side of the bed was cold. She would much rather fall asleep on the couch then in the arms of another woman, never mind that she was now her wife.
Shaken from her thoughts by Ashley's grating voice asking which way to go, Justine slowly makes her way to the topmost floor. With feet growing heavier with every step and a heart that beat a frantic tattoo in her chest, she turns a left and a right, followed by another right until she stands in front of the very last door. The door opens seemingly of its own accord, as if it had pinpointed her arrival to the very second and was pleased to let her in. It took her a moment to register that a young African American girl stood at the door waiting in awkward silence for her to cross the threshold.
"The Missus is this way," the girl says speaking with a French lilt. Katie would have called her voice musical, Justine mused as the followed the girl noting her shapely rear. Oh she'd love that as well. She shook her head in amusement.
The girl stops at a door gesturing for them to wait a moment. A few inaudible words are exchanged and the girl called Etoilé stepped aside allowing them to enter.
Justine was sure that what she saw before her was not what she had expected to see. So many times had Katie complained that she was dying with a smile on her face that that image was the first thing that came to mind. This sickly creature lying on the bed, there was no way that was her Katie. The Katherine she knew was strong. This creature was so thin, its skin translucent to the point that it appeared to be blue. She blinked, trying to focus.
"It seems my letter has found you well," The woman lying on the bed speaks, her voice is weak. "You are still living in our house, then?" She does not wait for Justine's acknowledgment as she sneers in contempt, looking at the blond woman that stood behind Justine. "You brought the blow up doll with you."
"Her name is Ashley." Justine tells her, cutting off the blonde's disgruntled cry. Katie nods. "Of course it is." Justine smiles moving to sit next to the woman on the bed. "Justine," Is all she says, her eyes sad. "Katherine." She whispers, voice failing her. She takes her love's fragile hand and finally, she feels complete. Of the trio, Ashley is the only one to feel out of place.
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