Before It Stains by Bradshaw R. E

Author:Bradshaw, R. E. [Bradshaw, R. E.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: FICTION / Lesbian
ISBN: 9780983572053
Publisher: R. E. Bradshaw Books, LLC
Published: 2011-12-08T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Stephanie said goodbye to her mother and PJ in the driveway, before entering the quiet of her home. Dragging up the stairs, she passed the happy family photos on the walls and barely looked. In the bedroom, she changed her clothes. She opened the closet door to put her dirty tee shirt and shorts in the hamper. The walk-in was as organized as her life. Mo’s shirts, trousers, and the one obligatory black dress hung on the left, with some of Stephanie’s jackets toward the back of the row. Stephanie’s dresses, blouses, slacks, and business suits hung to the right, according to season. Mo had a few pairs of shoes. Stephanie had many more. It was only right. Stephanie was expected to dress for work in a much different environment than that of Mo’s casual academia.

Stephanie turned on the overhead light in the walk-in closet. She stared at her wardrobe. Randy’s assessment had been correct. Her tastes had gone from colorful to bland over the years, as witnessed by the neat row of conservative suits in muted colors, with matching shoes. She started pulling the out-of-date jackets off hangers first, finding a box in the back of the closet to put them in. Soon Stephanie had to go to the garage for more boxes, which she found neatly folded and stacked, where she placed them after their move into this house five years ago. At least, that particular hoarding practice had paid off in the end.

With packing tape, boxes, and garbage bags in hand, she climbed the stairs intent on removing the color beige from her wardrobe. As she passed the grease stains on the dining room wall, Stephanie chuckled. Losing her temper and melting into a puddle in the corner were so out of character for her; looking back, it felt like an out of body experience. She remembered it all, but from a distance. Her mind wouldn’t let her world spin that far out of control again. Back in the bedroom, she called George, a handyman that worked for her company, and made arrangements for him to come over in the morning to repaint the dining room. At least, that stain wouldn’t last forever.

Stephanie started packing away everything she thought looked as if it belonged to a sixty-something Texas librarian, albeit a smartly dressed one. When the hangers were nearly bare, she culled the contents of the built-in closet drawers, and then attacked the six-drawer dresser in the bedroom. Old undergarments went in the trash, worn nightgowns followed. Her favorite tattered housecoat met the same fate. For two hours, Stephanie purged her wardrobe of anything remotely old and too familiar. The cleansing did her good, if for no other reason than she didn’t think about Mo’s betrayal, not once.

The flashing images of Mo in bed with Michaela, though imagined, had haunted her for days, always catching her off guard. Sometimes she couldn’t shut the images down and the movie played on in her mind, too long, too intimate for Stephanie to watch.

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