Being a Common Woman

"Could this be the end of it?" Ryan wondered and looked at the reflection on the mirror, expecting it to provide him an answer. But the reflection merely stared back at him. Ryan had tried his best to wriggle out the problem. But the problem managed to cling harder on to his legs, making it impossible for him to escape. He thought about his wife, Jennifer, the woman he married one year ago. The beaming face of the then bride was still fresh in his mind. Thinking about her, Ryan closed his eyes and sat on the brim of the bed.

                          Ryan Stiles was a career-oriented young man who worked at a big company with an attractive salary and a well to do life. The job came with a lot of perks. One of the perks was the fact that he get to meet a lot of women. He was a womanizer and somehow, almost all the women fell under his charm. They were attracted to him like the flies that are drawn towards the flame. His colleagues believed that he must have charmed Jennifer with that action. He met his colleague Meredith during one such moment

                        Meredith Elliott was his colleague for almost two years but they haven't met until now. It was after his marriage that he actually talked to her. "Life is just a party. One has got to enjoy it before you die" was her view on life. Because they had a mutual interest on life, they were drawn towards each other. It didn't take much longer for them to sleep together. They hooked up at their convenience; not once or twice. Ryan didn't even mind to lie to his wife just to have a rendezvous with Meredith. He started arriving late at home. Jennifer tried to ask him the reason, but he managed to keep a distance with her.

                        "You are a cheat. How can you talk about morals when you are cheating on your wife?" Meredith blasted the question to his face. They were having a fight about Meredith sleeping with their boss, Ericsson. "Just because we are sleeping together, it doesn't mean that we are in love. It doesn't mean that you get to control my life." There ended their brief hiatus as sex-only friends. But she was in no mood to relent. Meredith was a smart and conniving individual. Ryan worried that Meredith will rat him out to his wife. The mornings were spend wondering whether Meredith had approached Jennifer and the nights were sleepless for Ryan. Constant worry regarding this affected his work. He was regularly seen at his home. Jennifer started to get worried for the plight of her husband. "What is wrong, Ryan? You seem out of sorts. Are you okay?", wrapping her hands around Ryan, she asked. Ryan had his head lowered to the table. He suddenly sat up and removed the hands. Shaking his head in denial and smiling wryly he said, "Nothing, hon. Just work." He stood up and walked towards the bed room. As soon as he reached the room, he cursed himself for sleeping with Meredith and all those other women. He continued having affairs with a lot of women even after getting hitched. He didn't understand why he was feeling sick of it now. He wondered how his love for his wife diminished and reached a point where he slept with other women. He stared long at his reflection on his mirror and slapped hard across his face. His face turned bright red. He decided to let Jennifer know of his double life. Secrets kept longer have a way of destroying one's life. He wanted his life back. He didn't want Jennifer to leave him.

                        When Jennifer came into the room, she saw her husband on the bed, still on his work dress. She figured that he must be sleeping. She calmly turned back and closed the door behind her. While walking to her cupboard, she had a glimpse of Ryan. The face that made her forget her assignment. The face that made her fight with her boss. Letting out a huge sigh, she continued her task. She opened the cupboard and took out a brown satchel. The satchel contained a wide array of weapons and she took out a pistol and a small knife. She arranged both on the bed. She looked at Ryan once again and tapped at his elbow to wake him up. With a yawn, Ryan opened his eyes and saw Jennifer standing next to him. He swallowed his yawn and looked at her apologetically. "Jenny...uh...thanks for waking me up...uh...I want to tell you something." Ryan talked to her while looking at the nearby wall, trying to avoid her gaze and occasionally throwing glances at her. She looked at him without any emotions. Seeing that she was listening to him, he continued. "You know Meredith...I...slept with her...I didn't want to...she forced me to.... I didn't want to hurt you. I'm sorry. It...just...happened."

                        "It happened how many times?" Jennifer sneered at him. He looked at her in shock. She knew about this. Then why didn't she say anything. He stood from the bed. That's when he saw the satchel and its contents. He was mortified. "My job was to eliminate you. Not to fall in love with you. Which I did." Jennifer talked in a soft husky voice. Her cold look made Ryan shudder with fear. "I want to undo all I did with you." She took the pistol and walked towards him. He took some steps behind and reached the door. He tried to open the door but it was firmly locked. He looked at her and saw a fire in her eyes, fire that was flamed by him. He tried to open his mouth but nothing came out of it. He was covered in fear. "Your boss wanted to terminate you because you were too intelligent to work at the company. You were planning to got to the press regarding a scam. Yeah, your boss was the one behind that one. He was embezzling from the company., you fool." Ryan had his mouth wide agape. "He assigned me to kill you. I was pissed at him for offering me a soft target. I could have killed you the moment I saw you first. But then you talked and I was melted. You made me feel like a woman when you kissed me. I didn't know then that you were a womanizer. I was even ready to let go of my killing career just to be with you." She looked like she was ashamed of that part of her life. She shook her head and ran towards Ryan. "But of course, you weren't ready to settle down. You went for green pastures wherever it was offered. You believed I would never find that." She had a crooked smile on her lips. "I confronted Meredith the day I saw her dirty messages for you. Don't worry, you won't see her anymore." She told him while caressing her pistol. Ryan was dumbfounded. Meredith is dead? She killed her? He was petrified to utter any kind of sound. She still had her cold eyes on him. "Oh, one more thing, my name is not Jennifer. It's just a name that I created to carry on my act. Just so you know I was even planning to make it official." She laughed sarcastically as if she was bemused at herself for taking such drastic steps.

                            Ryan realized that it was his guilt that made him remain motionless. He realized that deep inside him, he believed that he ought to be punished. He felt somewhat relieved to let go of this secret. Jennifer moved closer to him and place her pistol at close range, aiming his head. "I'm sorry. Don't kill me." He somehow managed to let the words out of his tightly locked mouth. He felt the hot tears rolling down his eyes. "Too late." Jennifer murmured as she fired a bullet into his skull. She checked his pulse and confirmed he was dead. Walking out of the house with her backpack which contained her personal belongings, she took out her cell and dialed in some digits. "Sorry it took so long, but it's done. the job is over." She disconnected the call and closed the door behind her. The sour taste of her tears reached her lips. She let it invade her mouth. She realized that her life as a common woman has ended. She cannot be one. She is not supposed to be one.