Part I
The walls were painted red and they seemed to have a luminous quality, as the moonlight flippantly caressed their darkened edges. Mercedes sat cross legged on her unmade bed, absent minded she sipped on her cool martini. The icy droplets that formed around her glass fell onto her scarred hand, and the feeling made her shudder.
Mercedes’ mind slipped back to the night when the still fresh scar, was formed on her hand. She remembered the intoxicating smell that surrounded the dismal room, where she had first stepped out of her fear and claimed what was hers, her pride and her independence. A smile flashed across her face, and soon Mercedes was overcome with a laughter that echoed throughout the hotel in Ciudad Jaurez, Mexico.
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“Wake up Mer.” William slowly lifted the covers, and whispered into Mercedes ear. From an uninformed eye, it would seem that this was a picture of two young lovers, who were ready to begin their day in each other’s arms. Mercedes opened her eyes, and immediately started to scramble to her feet, but William grabbed her arm and pulled her across into his ‘embrace’. She knew from past experience that it was useless to fight, and as she lay there soundless tears fell down her bruised cheeks. “Hush Mer, its ok, I’m here.” He slipped his hand between the firmness of her breasts and began to kiss her gently on the neck. Slowly but passionately he pressed his lips onto hers, and as a sign of his passion he slipped his tongue deep into her mouth. Mercedes moaned and William took this as a sign of her enjoyment, taking this as his queue, he began to move more aggressively. As he had done so many times before, he ripped her shirt from her body, and pulled her up towards him. His kisses turned into bites, and his whispers of love turned into vulgar commands.
He slid his hand down from her breasts, over the smoothness of her stomach, he got more aroused as he felt the hairs on her body rise, he slid her underwear down her legs and threw them to the floor. Slowly he kissed the groove of her hips, and the passion grew deep inside him. The heat came over him and he bit hard into her nipple, that felt soft and needing in his open mouth.
Mercedes felt numb, as she lay in the bed, intertwined in the silky dark sheets. William had got out of bed, and lit up his routine cigar. Mercedes watched the smirk on Williams face through the smog of the cigar, and she felt a single tear roll down her cheek, somehow the warmth of that single tear stirred something deep inside her, and she knew at that moment that William would soon pay for his torture. Mercedes had often heard people say that sometimes it took just a small thing to make people snap, and now she finally understood the true depth of that sentence.
Mercedes was awoken from her day dream by Williams rugged voice. “Mer, I have an early lunch meeting, make sure you buy something pretty, we have that dinner party tonight.” With that William threw his credit card at her feet, dumped his cigar and walked out the room. She watched him stride out through the door, his broad shoulders swaying from side to side. She remembered how when she first met William, she use to love to watch his walk, it was so manly, so strong that she use to feel intoxicated just from watching him. He seemed to be the perfect man, rugged yet gentle, full of humour and passion, intelligent yet eager to listen, she wondered now if something had made him change, or if he had been an award winning actor right from the start. Her heart ached as she remembered when she first met William.
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Mercedes was 23, and had just started at her new job as a photographer at a fashion studio. It was her dream, to own her own photographic studio, she had completed a course in fashion photography and then apprenticed under the leadership of one of her idols, a year later, she had now moved into the position of junior photographer, and she loved every minute of it.
It had been a particularly hot summer, and on that particular day, fans had been working overtime in order to keep the residents of Prague from melting away. Mercedes had come to work in a short summer dress, and yet the sweat kept building up around her face as she worked. It was a big day, for the studio as they had secured a major contract, they were doing a full shoot for a new brand. Mercedes had got her first break when she was put onto the project.
Mercedes was fully engrossed in the models, she wanted her lighting, her angles, her exposure to be perfect, she wanted to capture something unique and exciting, she wanted this shoot to elevate her name within the photographic circles. As she worked, the manager of the advertising company watched her, he smiled every time she blew the hair away from her mouth, he was mesmerized by this little woman and the passion she exuded.
“ I think somebody should be taking photographs of you”
Mercedes gulfed down the rest of the water that she was thirstily drinking, and half glanced above her glass to the man that was speaking to her. He was extremely handsome, dark black hair, green eyes, golden skin, and a smile that just seemed to draw her deep into him.
“Oh... um.. no I definitely prefer being behind the camera. Sorry hi, I’m Mercedes. Wow, its hot today, isn’t it?”
Her cheeks seemed to radiate the colour of the sun, as she spoke. A piece of her hair stuck to her forehead, and she irritatingly swept it away.
He was so amused by this young woman, her clumsy ways and somewhat shy manner, made him smile.
“Hi I’m William, pleased to meet you Mercedes”.
Mercedes walked to the shower and soon the steam of the hot water engulfed her bruised body, she scrubbed herself until her body glowed red, and then just allowed the water to run over her. Mercedes allowed the water to wash over her until it turned cold, the sudden change in temperature made her shudder, yet she continued to stand there, feeling the cold, feeling the goose flesh that arose all over her body. A smile came across her face, and she turned off the water. She stepped out of the shower, wiped the droplets that had formed on the bathroom mirror and saw her battered reflection, her eyes glowed with a light that was visible from within. She had devised her plan as the water fell on her body in the shower, she had a few more hours to suffer in this manmade hell.
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Mercedes covered her bruises with her make-up, she had become proficient in this task over the many months, years that William had been putting them there. She put on an elegant black summer dress and red heels, with her clutch bag and Williams credit card she stepped out the door. Her first stop was to a cafe where she bought a box of cigarettes and two strong coffees. William did not like it when she smoked, so Mercedes had to keep her habit away from his eyes and nose. As she sat at the cafe, she went over her plan, making sure that she had covered all angles, the last thing she needed was to be caught. “William can’t know what hit him, I need to be careful.” Mercedes continued to murmur to herself, she was oblivious to her surroundings. Just then her phone rang, Mercedes was not in the frame of mind to answer it, but she saw that it was her best friend Linda, the only person she could bare to talk to now. “Hey Linds!” Mercedes voice sounded normal.
When Mercedes finally got up, there lay 8 cigarette buds in the ash tray, and her mouth felt dry from all the nicotine and caffeine.
Mercedes walked through the busy streets of Prague, numbly floating along the streets filled with shoppers bustling around. At the corner of a slightly less populated street, she found the store she was looking for. It was a small store, that specialised in camping gear, but in which one could find pretty much anything. Mercedes was smart enough to cover her tracks if she had to, but she knew that she had a way of insuring that William would never utter a word to indict her, she had thought of this security blanket while talking to Linda on the phone. With this in mind, she didn’t even try to hide any of her tracks. She walked into the store like any other shopper, and even chatted to the young red head shop attendant. She purchased a tape recorder, a speaker, a bottle of disinfectant, and a butterfly knife.
After her shopping Mercedes was on her way back to the apartment, but before long she remembered that she had forgotten to buy a dress for that evening. William would be furious, if she were to present herself in one of her old dresses. William was a socialite, and he wanted a very beautiful presentable woman at his side at all of his social events. Mercedes turned back and walked into her favourite boutique.
“Mer! Oh, darling how lovely to see you.” A petite woman, with painfully high heels came rushing towards Mercedes. She was the epitome of elegance, as was her boutique, all the most stylish woman in Prague did their shopping there, if they could afford it.
Evana! How are you doing darling?
Evana was the owner of the boutique, Mercedes had come to really enjoy Evana’s company, and over the many times that Mercedes had purchased exquisite dresses from the boutique the ladies had become very fond of each other.
“Come, I have been keeping a dress that is perfect for you, I could not see anyone else in it.”
Mercedes rushed to keep up with her petite friend as she hurried to the back of the boutique. The dress that Evana pulled out, stopped Mercedes in her tracks, it was superb, perfect for the occasion and above all for Mercedes’ “after party”. It was a long skin tight sparkling red dress, that would make everyone turn heads.
“Perfect Evana! I’ll just try it on.” As Mercedes slipped the dress on in the change room, she allowed herself to feel the smoothness of the fabric on her skin, she longed to be touched by a man, to feel his hand caress her, she longed for a man that was not William.
Evana gasped as Mercedes walked out of the change room. The dress was like a new skin on her, never had she seen anyone or anything more beautiful. The red complimented Mercedes tanned skin, and the long open v-line elegantly emphasised the curve of her firm breasts, the skin tight fabric accentuated the perfect curvy figure and the long slit showed the perfect amount of Mercedes long shapely legs.
“Oh it’s perfect! I can’t wait to see the look on Williams face when he sees it.” As Mercedes said his name, the excitement began to flutter in the pit of her stomach.
Mercedes went back to her room, she hung up her dress, and flopped onto her bed. She had a lot to do if she was to go through her with her plan tonight. There was no other way, something had snapped in her, and she knew that she could not go on with her life if she did not take care of this. William needed to be wiped clean from her life, and she had to pay him back in order to do so.
Mercedes placed a tape in the tape recorder, and plugged in the speakers, she hid the speakers behind the bed post and placed the recorder under her pillow, she dipped the butterfly knife in the disinfectant and wiped it dry. As she got all this ready she kept repeating the events for the night in her mind, it all seemed very simple, too simple.
Just then she heard a key in the front door, and she knew William was back, she rushed to place the knife in the bathroom cupboard underneath the neatly stacked white bath towels. She heard the door open, and she flushed the toilet. When she walked out the bathroom, William was standing in the lounge holding a huge bouquet of yellow roses.
“For you my love” he stretched out his hands giving the roses to Mercedes. She smiled and took them from him, and began to walk to the kitchen to get a vase. “Mer! Do I not get any thanks?” he opened his hands and gestured for her to come closer. “Of course darling I was just going to get a vase.” He grabbed hold of her and pulled her into his embrace. “Thank you William.” Mercedes hoped that she would never have to say those words to him ever again.
William lit a cigar and walked to the balcony, he looked like such a normal man, a handsome sophisticated man, only Mercedes knew the real truth, William was a monster, something that was spoilt through the fierceness of life.
“Mer are you ready, it’s time to go.” Mercedes had been in the bathroom for over an hour, she wanted to look her best, she wanted William to remember this night from start to finish.
“Almost done” she looked at herself once more in the mirror, and walked out the room.
“Mer! Wow, you... you look like the most beautiful woman in the world. I am going to be the envy of every man there. Well done, I was afraid you would not look presentable!” this was just like William, he would say or do something that every woman wanted a man to do, and then just like that he would ruin it all.
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William and Mercedes walked into the ballroom and as usual everyone turned to look at them. They made a handsome couple, and were the envy of many people, men and woman alike. Mercedes seemed the picture of happiness as William proudly strutted around the room introducing her to anyone she might not know. She was not only beautiful and elegant but also good natured and polite to the many people that she was introduced to. It had happened before that a man would watch Mercedes the entire night and use any opportunity when William was away from her to talk to her. This night, a Spanish man had been eyeing her from the start of the evening, no matter how hard Mercedes tried to stop looking at his gaze, she was drawn to him and she could not stop the magnetic pull that kept causing her to gravitate towards him.
Lucas felt a sting in his heart when he first saw her walk down the stairs, her red dress seemed to elevate her from a queen to a goddess. Everything about this woman was perfection, except for the man that was standing at her side, that is. Lucas had never been attracted to any one woman the way he felt himself being towards... “I need to find out her name...” as these words escaped Lucas’ lips he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Ashley, what are you doing here?”
“Well is that not a lovely way to greet and old friend darling, I thought you would be pleased to see me.”
“Pleased to see you, you know I am, I was just surprised that’s all.”
“Well you can make up for it, by telling me, whose name you need to find out. Maybe I know her? Come on Lucas, don’t look so surprised, I know you better than anyone, and I know that you won’t leave here without a lovely lady or two hanging on your shoulder, you may as well let me be a part of the fun.”
“It’s not like that Ash, there is just something about this woman... There, there she is, the one in the red dress, you can’t miss her.”
“Ah yes, I should have known, she has every man staring at her, wherever she is. Her name is Mercedes, and I would not get involved, she has a boyfriend and they seem to be a match made in heaven.”
“Seem to be maybe, but I see something else. They are just pretending, something really isn’t right between the two of them, I know it.”
“Wishful thinking darling, don’t do anything stupid. Anyway I’m off, have some people to wow, see you later darling.”
Before Lucas could answer, Ashley had moved on to a group of young men and was making her way into the conversation. Ashley had been Lucas’ best friend since he had first moved from Spain, she was a great woman, a great friend and once even more. He watched his friend for a while, but soon found his gaze back on the beautiful Mercedes.
Mercedes had a dazed look on her face, and William was starting to get annoyed. “What’s wrong with you Mercedes, you’re a thousand miles away!”
William’s voice shook her, she was so drawn to Lucas that the whole night she was unable to think of anything else, not even her plan for the night.
“ I was just thinking William.”
“Well, try and look as if you’re interested in the people around you.”
One of William’s business partners came to greet him at that point, and once they were engrossed in conversation about some business deal, Mercedes slipped away. She walked past the many people she knew and hardly glanced at them as they smiled in her direction, she felt dizzy and uneasy. She walked out onto the balcony and instantly the fresh air made her feel better. Mercedes gazed over the bright lights of Prague, and her mind kept drifting between her plan for the night, and the magnetic stranger she had seen inside.
“I thought I may find you here.”
Mercedes was awakened from her thoughts, but surprisingly she was not startled, the voice was unknown, but it was soothing, comforting and somehow more familiar than any other voice she had ever heard. She knew it was him, before she even turned around, it was crazy but everything about him, his voice, his smell, his presence felt so familiar, it made her feel frightened yet safer than she had ever felt before, and it intrigued her.
She turned around and there he was, the ‘stranger’ from inside.
“You did... I just needed some air.”
“I’m not surprised, you have not had a minute of peace since you arrived. I mean people seem to keep flooding towards you.”
“No, they flood towards William. I hardly know anyone here, William is the socialite.” Just then Mercedes realised that she was talking to this man, as if he was an old friend and she did not even know his name.
“I’m sorry, my name is Mercedes”
Lucas was mesmerised by her beauty. As she smiled at him, her eyes seemed to dance in the moonlight, and yet he could see a patch of sadness hidden behind the sparkle. Her eyes were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, they had such emotion in them, deep and brown with golden speckles. They made him feel even more attracted to her, and he wished he could somehow, take her into his arms and never let her go.
“Pleased to meet you Mercedes. I am Lucas Valauquez.”
He took her hand in his, and Mercedes felt a rush of energy run through her. Lucas looked into her eyes, and it seemed in that moment to Mercedes, that he could see her, all of her.
“Mer, there you are. I was beginning to wonder if you had left.” William had been watching them, from the doorway and he was furious at what he saw. He had seen that look on her face before, that is how Mercedes had looked at him, in the beginning, he had not seen that passion, that fire in a long time, and maybe never as strong as he saw it now.
“William, I just needed fresh air. This is Lucas Valauquez... I guess he needed a break from the party to.”
“A pleasure, I am sure.” Lucas put out his hand, and moved towards William.
“William Blake.” He hesitated for a moment before he took Lucas’ hand in a firm shake.
“Well Mer, we should get back to the party, we would not want to seem rude.”
The rest of the night was a blur to Mercedes, as she tried to maintain a social presence, while her eyes and mind kept following Lucas. I need to stop this, I don’t even know who he is. Finally when she could not stand it anymore, she decided she would leave, no matter what William would think or do.
“William, I am going to head home, I feel a bit light headed. Don’t worry I will call a cab, and you can meet me when you are done.” William felt the anger build up inside him, but next to him was a very important business acquaintance, and he managed to keep his cool.
“Darling, you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” he looked so concerned that Mercedes almost believed his sincerity herself.
“Don’t be silly William, I will be fine. No point in us both missing out on the party.”