Prose500 2015 Longlist, Prachi Percy Sharma

Femme Fatale

Sonia lay sprawled on the large four poster bed, surrounded by the comforting darkness. A darkness broken only by the streetlight coming in from the open window, falling on and highlighting her naked beauty in all its natural glory- her ample bosom, her flat stomach and long, shapely legs, her slender but strongly built physique of a cop skilled in judo and ju-jitsu. Her long, slightly graying hair falling in curls around her lovely, sharp-featured face, her strong personality and her deadly skills got her the moniker of the Femme Fatale in the Spring Harbor Police Department.

She smoked her cigar in silence, watching the rings of smoke rise above in the air and then vanish, just like that, into nothingness.It reminded her of something else that, more often than not, vanished into nothingness. Like love, for instance.

“Jay?” she suddenly spoke to the naked hunk lying beside her, on his tummy.
“Hmmm?” her husband mumbled.
“Feeling sleepy?” she asked, running her free hand through his hair.
“Not really. Just watching you smoke, babe,” Jay replied, in his velvety baritone, gazing at his beautiful wife, reliving moments from their fantastic love-making ten minutes ago.
“Can I ask you something?” she spoke, putting back her cigar on the nightstand.
“Of course. I hope the question is whether you want to go at it again?” Jay asked, grinning, and rolled his sleek-as-a-bullet body on top of his wife.

“Yeah…that too. But first, there is something else I would like to know,” Sonia replied, cupping her husband’s face with both hands, her eyes searching his blue ones.
“Okay.”
“Did you sleep with Tonya again last night?”
The effect of the sudden question made Jay’s sculpted face contort in shock, his eyes going wide, his mouth hanging open.
“Answer me, honey.”
“N…No. No. That isn’t true. I broke things off with Tonya years ago. You know that, babe,” Jay finally managed to reply.

“Are you sure? Because I have pictures of you two rolling around in heat, in a suite at The Le Grand Motel- taken by my confidential informant. When did she come back into your life? How long have you been cheating on me, with her, yet again?” Sonia inquired, using the same tactic she employed in her interrogations, making most criminals piss their pants and confess their misdeeds.

But Jay was too shocked to reply to any of his wife’s questions.
Before he knew it, Jay felt something sharp piercing the nape of his neck.

Sonia quietly plunged the dagger deeper into his flesh, severing the jugular, the blade passing through into his throat. As Jay’s eyes bulged further in horror, Sonia continued to thrust the long dagger inside Jay till it came out the front of his throat, covered in his blood.

“I love you, Jay,” she whispered in his ear.
Jay opened his mouth to say something…then fell dead on top of his wife.