Negroni – Never Short On Words

The room was dark except for the TV which was on an old version of Sabrina. Clarisse always thought that movie brought out the romantic side of Ken. Ken was quiet, having put down his Negroni a few minutes ago after he has told Clarisse he was getting so tired. She had made it special just for him using the most expensive gin she could find. Ken had asked her what tasted different and she had commented on the love she had added.

Now Clarisse held Ken in her arms as he drifted off. She brushed back the hair from his face. “I remember the day we met,” she said. “It was a beautiful summer day and we were at the beach. I invited you and Mark to have a burger since my brother Chuck had made a few too many and they weren’t going to make it home. You killed me with your ice blue eyes, your jet black hair, and that smile that never seemed to leave your face. I remember wishing I had worn the bikini instead of the one piece, but I didn’t know I was going to meet the man of my dreams. ”

Ken tried to mumble something, but Clarisse put her finger to his lips. “Shhh. It’s okay. You go to sleep.”

Ken seemed to struggle a bit more, but then settled back down. “That’s better,” Clarisse said. “You need to give in and rest. Just like the day we got married. Remember that? Of course you do. We agreed till death do us part. That is quite the commitment. I remember I was nervous about taking such a vow, but you told me how we were perfect for each other. You told me how you were the luckiest man in the world for getting to marry me. You said how you could never wanted to be with anyone else, ever. I had never loved you more than that moment. You made me feel like the luckiest woman in the world.”

Ken shifted again, but this time his mouth hung open and his breathing became slower. “That’s it,” Clarisse said. “Go ahead and rest.” Clarisse kissed Ken on his sweaty forehead. “I remember when you came home from that business trip to Toledo. I decided to surprise you by doing your laundry. I mean, I know how much you preferred to do it yourself. You didn’t want me to waste my time on something you actually enjoyed. But I thought with all the traveling you had been doing that I could ease your burden. You were my provider and I wanted to give something back. That’s why it was such a surprise to find Amanda’s little raunchy love letter in your suitcase, along with a pair of her panties. That wasn’t the Ken I knew and loved, was it Ken?”

Ken didn’t respond except to drool in Clarisse’s cleavage. Clarisse laid his head onto her lap. “And then you decided to come clean about the whole thing. How everything you told me was a lie. How you wanted to touch and kiss and screw Amanda and that you were leaving me to do it on a more regular basis. I reminded you that we said till death do us part. You told me that they were just words. Just words? What do you think now?” She slapped Ken across the face, but he didn’t respond. He kept breathing very slowly and drooling. Clarisse began to cry. “I believed in them then, and I believe in them now,” she said.

With that Clarisse picked up a knife from the tray next to her and stabbed Ken in the chest. She kept stabbing again and again, spraying blood everywhere. Soon Ken stopped breathing, but Clarisse continued until the knife fell out of her tired hand.

Clarisse then picked up the drink Ken had sipped from before becoming sleepy. She held it over Ken’s corpse. “Till death do us part,” she said. She chugged down the rest of the glass and kissed Ken’s blood spattered forehead and tried to get comfortable, waiting for the drugs to take her away. The Negroni left a bitter taste in her mouth, but that was fitting and somewhat comforting.

“I love you, Ken. I do.” were her last words said to nobody.