AUTHOR POV-
Last part of FLASHBACK- 2years ago-
–
Days passed, and Trinity avoided Lisa altogether.
She made sure Hardy was aware by making it explicit. She had told him, rather erroneously, that she had contracted a flu that might potentially be fatal for a pregnant woman. Even though Lisa tried to convince herself that she couldn’t get sick from her sickness. As per her request, Hardy put Trinity in charge of the loo while assigning other maids to take care of Lisa.
To genuinely keep Lisa at bay, Trinity had installed a new lock on her door. And when Lisa found out what Trinity had actually done to genuinely keep her at bay. She also stayed away.
Under the Bensimon roof, they both became strangers, and even when Trinity’s alleged sickness was cured
She and Lisa never spoke to each other properly again.
–
For what seemed like an eternity, Trinity languished in a bottomless pit of remorse. Until one fateful night, when she stumbled upon a scene that made her heart stop.
There, in the once-forbidden smoking room, Lisa stood, a cigarette dangling precariously between her fingers. Without hesitation, Trinity rushed forward, determined to pluck the dangerous object from Lisa’s grasp, panic and alarm coursing through her veins.
“Are you crazy?” Was the only thing Trinity asked before Lisa’s eyes started to water.
“Am I crazy? I think I’ll be more crazier if I continue this darn marriage with Hardy.”
“Careful. Someone might hear you” Trinity shushed.
“I don’t care” Lisa sighed. “I really want to leave this place, the women at the Ale-o house wants to throw this darn party. A celebration for me because I’m pregnant. And we all know we hate our freaking guts so why would they go that stupid length for me. And I don’t tell anyone this. But I don’t feel safe. Not here, not anywhere ,”
“What do you mean you don’t feel safe?” Trinity took a step forward.
“I don’t know. I just feel it, the feeling you get when you’re being watched?” Lisa looked disheveled.
“I don’t know what’s that-
“That’s why I have to leave this place” Lisa interrupted.
“Enough about leaving. You’re safe, you’re fine. It’s probably the pregnancy talking but you’re okay. You’ll give birth and you’ll fine” Trinity assured.
Tears dropped from Lisa’s eyes and she sighed, and a murmur followed.
“You’ll never understand,”
“Come on now. Do not take stuffs like this again. You’ll ruin yourself” Trinity folded the cigarette in her hand.
“What was I supposed to do? You didn’t want to have anything to do with me. Everyday, I wake up feeling like shit. Hardy is always on his business trips, I have no one. What was I supposed to do? Tell me!”
Lisa looked different. She looked tired.
And Trinity could see it.
“You’re not alone. Come on, let me walk you back to your room.” Trinity gently offered.
Lisa got on her feet and took Trinity by the hand.
“How long have you been smoking?”
Trinity asked.
“Don’t worry. Just tonight” Lisa scoffed.
“I have every right to be worried. You’re pregnant.”
“Ugh. I hate the sound of that word.” Lisa snarled.
“You are, aren’t you?” Trinity added.
“I am. Reality check, I’m going for my first sonogram next week” Lisa sighed as they both walked down the hallway.
“Imagine getting surprised by twins.” Trinity’s voice was loud and clear.
“God no. The horror!”
“What horror?” Trinity laughed.
Lisa found herself smiling too and when they got to the door of she and Hardy’s room. She gave Trinity’s arm a squeeze.
“I miss you Trï”. Her voice was low and edgy.
Trinity took a step back.
“I thought we killed that.”
“Nothing was supposed to die” Lisa retorted.
“I can’t believe you. Honest-
Lisa’s hug shut Trinity up and a she let out a low random breath on Trinity’s neck. And In a low tone she started to speak.
“I really love that I was here. I loved that I met you. I love that you were here to take care of me like no one has ever done to me. Even my bad days, you made it feel okay. And I’ve dreamed of leaving this place, not leaving alone but leaving with you. I love you so much Trinity”
Trinity gently let go of her and shook her head.
“You belong to Hardy” She nodded.
*
It had rained the day Lisa died.
A rain that started 5-am in the morning.
The sound of feet scurrying around, and the sound of heavy things breaking had taken over the mansion becoming heavier than the rain.
The sound of mayhem had drawn Trinity like a moth to a flame, beckoning her to a scene that she would have given anything to avoid.
When she entered the room, it was like a war zone-furniture overturned, wine bottles smashed, cushions ripped to shreds. And there, in the center of this maelstrom, stood Hardy, his hands dripping with blood, his face contorted with rage. It was clear he had been the architect of this destruction.
Trinity froze, her breath catching in her throat as she took in the full extent of the destruction.
The implications of this scene crashed down upon her like a hammer, forcing her mind into overdrive, racing to make sense of the chaos before her. Hardy’s bloodied hands, the dismantled room, the deafening silence that hung in the air like a noose-all of it coalesced into a singular realization.
something had gone terribly wrong.
And in that moment, Trinity knew that, once again, she had failed to intervene, to prevent tragedy from unfolding before her very eyes.
Her legs, seemingly disconnected from her body, wavered beneath her like reeds in a gale, as her gaze locked onto the harrowing spectacle that had materialized before her. The world around her slowed to a crawl, each breath drawn by her lungs feeling impossibly heavy, as if she had been plunged into the murky depths of a nightmare.
The seconds stretched into eons, the dark whisper of terror echoing in Trinity’s mind, driving home the grim truth of Lisa’s demise with each muted thud of her heartbeat.
Lisa’s lifeless body hung in the air like a macabre centerpiece, her nightgown clinging to her form, her hair cascading around her in a spectral halo.
The blonde strands of her hair, so full of life and vibrancy, were now bedfellows with death, their beauty a cruel closeness to the rope that tightened around her neck.
She appeared as a marble statue, the pallor of her skin and the lifelessness in her eyes adding to the horror of the scene.
It was as if even in death, she was still, somehow, frozen in time.
Trinity fell to her feet and horror swept across her face.
She wanted to speak but she couldn’t feel her face needless to say her voice.
Her body felt numb and her heart felt like it had dropped into her stomach.
She stared at Lisa’s hanging body and all of a sudden she forgot how to cry.
Hardy was yelling. Making a scene, Walking around the house but somehow Trinity couldn’t hear a sound, only the obnoxious ringing sound in her ears.
How could Lisa kill herself?
Why?
Trinity’s chest constricted with a tidal wave of regret, her heart splintering under the weight of culpability. Lisa had risked baring her soul, seeking a listening ear and a sympathetic heart, only to be met with the crushing reminder that her place was by Hardy’s side.
Amid the cacophony of conflicting emotions, Trinity’s mind was paralyzed, like a deer caught in the headlights of indecision. Her mind reeled, caught in a tangled web of possibilities that refused to coalesce into a clear course of action.
Trinity’s guilt was like a heavy burden, weighing her down and keeping her from telling Lisa the truth. She knew that she could have saved Lisa, but she was too scared to say anything. Lisa’s death was her fault, and she was filled with sadness and regret. Her grief exploded in a powerful wail that came from the depths of her heart.
Trinity’s chest felt like it was gonna burst. Lisa was gone, and there was nothing that could bring her back.
It ate at her that if she had known what was gonna happen, she would have let Lisa leave or even left with her.
But now, Lisa was gone, and there was no way to reach her.
-*