SNAKES AND LADDERS
Alaina's POV
"Women are snakes! Fucking snakes!" I was at a bar that has a hotel, and I wanted to drink my sorrows away.
I dragged the tenth shot of whiskey and drank it all in one gulp. It gave me this feeling—a feeling of dread, misery, and damn, my heart ached. I looked at the shot in my hand; I couldn't make out the colour—was it black, blue, or white? It could be red, crimson as blood.
I tossed back the whiskey, feeling it burn down my throat like a fiery inferno. I winced, my eyes watering from the intense heat. This stuff was like liquid fire, but I couldn't stop myself from taking another sip. I needed the numbness to escape that women were snakes.
Except me. Yes, except me. I wasn't a snake; I was a woman who just found her friend in bed with her husband.
"You okay, babe?"
The whiskey still burned, but the voice too streamed into my ears, and I looked up at the man, or boy; he looked young, too young.
"What did you say?" I asked below my throat. The whiskey was doing more harm than freaking good to my throat. I shouldn't be doing this; I should be taking coffee and lounging in my room. Oh fuck, I don't have a room anymore.
"You are drinking too much." The man had said. He shouldn't be more than twenty. Even if I wanted to give him more years to his age, it'd be two years. I looked away from him.
I focused on the whiskey; it was a harsh reminder of my failures, but it was also my solace. I savoured the bitter taste, feeling it spread through my veins like a slow-moving poison. It was a cruel comfort, but it was all I had right now. I took another swig, feeling the alcohol coursing through my system.
"How many of these have you had?" The man asked. I saw him out of the corner of my eyes; he was touching my shot of whiskey, rubbing the rim like he's adding something, but everything was a blur. I couldn't make out a lot.
"E.L.E.V.E.N." I spelled it out and laughed. The alcohol made me belch, and I looked at the man and asked, "How many of these have you had?"
"None. But you've had a lot. Where do you stay?"
I drew a wry smile and touched my fingers. It was then I realised I was still wearing it—my wedding band. Oh yes, I am married. No, yes, I WAS married. As of now, at exactly 9 PM today, I became divorced without signing any papers. I wondered if the man knew me. Oh shit. I don't deal with 'small' guys. Even on set, I don't.
"Have you seen a snake before?"
"What?" The man must have looked at me like I just uttered Spanish. He had this look in his eyes, similar to the one I saw in the eyes of the 'snake' I called a friend.
"I saw a snake today."
The man chuckled. "I'm Taylor."
"Alaina Green. No home. No money. No husband." I said with a small smile that didn't reach my eyes.
"And that's a plus." He said it with a chuckle. I felt the man, Taylor, immediately beside me. Oh perverts. He was one, but how I want him bedside me. How I wanted to drink in his scent and cry on his shoulder and tell him how much my heart bleeds. No, this isn't any random story I am about to tell; this is one that would get any reader hooked till the end. I meant hook, line, and sinker.
"You want company?" Taylor asked. I wasn't sure if he was concerned or just wanted to get into my pants and then toss me away like unwanted rubbish. But I wanted to tell him my story. My life might end today. I never really did what I wanted, but today I wanted to, and it aches my heart.
"I want you to listen." I was saying. I knew I sounded pathetic and I looked pathetic. What was I wearing? A sorry excuse for a trouser and a low-budget top I stitched up myself. I had money, but where is it?
"It's with the snake."
"The what?"
"She has daughters. She has two kids for him, and she is my friend. I am nothing but an actress, a washed-up doll, and as I worked, he gave it all to her. I've been with him for years. He lives in my house, spent my money, and ate my food. And I found them."
I found my friend in bed with my husband! had entered, and they were talking about moving with my own money with their two kids. Come to think of it, Leslie and Thea are my goddaughters. So I was nursing my husband's kids from another woman?
"I am such a fool." I said out loud and sniffed. The ache came again, shredding my heart into uncountable pieces. This was pure heartache.
"You are strong to leave him. Fill in for a divorce, and you are free."
"We aren't even married." We had our 'wedding' in the sitting room because he couldn't afford a hall. I got his suit, my dress, and food and drinks for the fifty people that came. And I even went bankrupt. "Men are snakes!"
"Sorry about that, love. Life goes on."
Life does go on. Except for the fact that my life was ruined. I had lost everything. I had lost my husband of five years, my house (because he sold it), all my money, and a chance for my audition. I was an actress, yeah, not in the spotlight, but I needed money to get to that place I wanted to be, but now I don't even have a penny.
"What do you want now?" Taylor asked, a hint of something I couldn't pinpoint laced on his throat.
"Money." I said that without any hesitation.
"How about twenty thousand dollars?"
I sharply looked at him. "Like 1.2.3.4.5.6–"
Taylor held up his hands and shut me up. "Yes, yes, twenty thousand."
"Will you have sex with me?" It was too blunt, but at this point, I was ready to do anything to get money. I wasn't married again. I can never go back to Nicole. He should be with Hannah now, and they would probably be out of town. I couldn't chase after them; I was too exhausted, and I had no money for court procedures.
"What solution would you suggest?"
I rolled the word in my mouth before making my tongue let it out as a word, "sex." I wasn't married again after all. I can finally do what I want now, with no judgments, with no fear. This was it.
Taylor grinned and touched my bare shoulder. I didn't flinch; I was too tired to do that. He tossed me a key and whispered into my ears. "I like my women naked and in the dark. Go up; I'll come for you."
His words made my skin crawl in a funny way. Like when you have a snail crawling on your face. But it soothed me still. "Room number?"
"319."
And Taylor left me. I wanted to ask him where he was going, but I just shut up. He likes his women naked and loves them in the dark. Nicole was not like that; he loves it with half my clothes on and with full light. He does it anytime, even when I wasn't really in the mood.
I scoffed and pulled myself up. I'll have sex with another man today. For the first time in my life, I'd have another man apart from Nicole. It was exciting; it was magnificent. I've encountered snakes; now it was time to climb the ladder and get twenty thousand dollars. That was a cliché that suited me well—snakes and ladders.
Snakes…Ladders… Snakes….Ladders. I staggered through the hotel lobby, my feet feeling like lead weights. The whiskey had done its job, and I was numb, and my coordination had abandoned me like every other thing I own.
"Snakes and ladders, snakes and ladders…" I suddenly stopped and squinted at the room numbers, trying to focus. 316... that was the room, right? I wasn't sure, so I staggered down the hall, and the numbers started to blur together. I stopped in front of a room; I saw a 9 or a 6, I wasn't sure. My vision was spinning. It looked familiar, didn't it?
I swayed for a moment, trying to remember. But my brain was a jumbled mess, and I couldn't think straight. I shrugged, deciding it didn't matter. I pushed open the door without using any key and stumbled inside, not bothering to turn on the light (he liked it in the dark). I just wanted to collapse. I kicked off my shoes and peeled off my clothes, leaving them where they fell.
"Michelle? Is that you?"
Michelle? I giggled. I told him I was Alaina, Alaina fucking Green.
The next I saw was a large figure, very large, not like the small one I had seen at the bar. But I don't care; I just wanted money and sex. So, I stood up and walked towards him.
"Are you there, Michelle?" I heard him say.
"I am Alaina, silly. Make love with me."
"You bet I would. Lie down, will you?"
I didn't listen; I grabbed his head down for a wet kiss, and he responded slowly at first, then it became intense.
I had escaped the snakes; now it was time for the ladder. Slow and steady wins the race, but I might fall, but I don't care.