Caramel | A Short Story Collection ✓

5. Beautiful Liar

Susan learns that Timothy is not to be trusted in a short story based off the song by Beyoncé and Shakira.

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Susan could remember the moment she first met Timothy just like yesterday.

Tall, dark, handsome, he was too much of a handsome cliché for Susan to let pass by. He was one ahead of her in the line for coffee, and stared at the back of his head, mesmerised, longing for the moment where he turned around and she could see his eyes. He collected his coffee, and Susan could feel the opportunity melting away as he headed straight for the door. Skidding across the newly polished tiles, she tried to catch up with him, but instead careened straight into him, knocking his coffee all over her pretty blue blouse.

"Oh my gosh!" A splattered Susan exclaimed, feeling the hot coffee burn its way through to her skin. "I'm so sorry-"

"Please, don't worry about it." His voice was smooth, like caramel - the voice of a well-toned liar, although Susan was too besotted to realise it at the time. His eyes darted down to her blouse, and then up again to her perfectly set blonde curls, examining her tanned skin courtesy of a salon. "I'm Timothy."

"Susan," She smiled, flashing the pure white teeth she'd used various treatments on. "Maybe we could meet up sometime?"

"Nine o' clock tonight, at the bar?" He offered, and Susan felt a sense of extreme victory.

She turned up wearing her trusty little black dress, that exaggerated her breast implants to the full. Heads turned as she strolled up to the bar, and she was quickly flooded with dozens of offers for drinks, but she only accepted one.

"You look ravishing," Timothy complimented her as they both sipped their cocktails.

"So, tell me a little bit about yourself." Susan invited, hoping to learn more about his status. He certainly gave off the air of a rich businessman, but she needed confirmation.

"I own an insurance company." He began. "I come from a wealthy family, I'm an only child, I'm thirty-eight, and..."

He trailed off, and Susan prompted him to continue with her eyes. He sounded perfect - he was rich, handsome, and over fifteen years older. He was everything she looked for in an guy, and she was determined that he would be the one.

"And I'm married."

Then everything came crashing down.

Susan stood up, embarrassed. How could she get involved with a married man? But he put his hand over hers and pulled her back down.

"What am I supposed to be, then, your dirty little mistress?" She asked, her voice getting even more high-picture than usual. She was mollified when he slid a small box across the table a second later, and with curiosity, she opened it to find a stunning diamond necklace.

"Turn around," he commanded, and she brushed her hair aside to allow him to fasten the necklace. Her breathing quickened as she tried to contemplate the value of the necklace. He beckoned her to follow him, and, in a daze, she obeyed, until they were both sitting in his personal limousine outside the bar. Somehow, a glass of champagne had ended up in her hand.

"My wife and I are separated," he explained as the limo began to move. "She even has a boyfriend. Due to a harsh prenuptial agreement, neither of us can get afford a divorce. Dating me would be like dating anyone else. We'd still do all the normal things; wecould just never get married. And, of course, you would get a lot of expensive presents to make up for that."

Timothy looked at her expectantly with his big, brown eyes, and she nodded slowly.

Two years later, she was living in her chambers at his massive mansion, and she barely saw him due to his long business trips. Susan was beginning to feel rather bored, so one night she headed out into the party district, to find Timothy emerging from the bar they first met with a Latino woman on his arm.

She followed them. They went to a house, and she watched in her car, shaded sunglasses on, as they slow danced in a living room, their heads bent close together. She watched them kiss. She watched them giggle as they closed the blinds. She felt her heart sink.

She dozed off in the car until she heard a limo driving along the street in the early hours of the morning. Susan waited until Timothy was gone before storming up to the house, determined to destroy this woman. She pressed down on the bell, once, twice, three times, anger giving her the adrenaline she needed for a big confrontation. As the tired looking woman finally opened the door, a silk kimono pulled tight around her, Susan barged into her house uninvited.

"Hey!" The woman exclaimed, her face contorted with confusion and anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"The question is, who the hell do you think you're doing?" Susan hissed, rounding on the woman. "I'm Timothy's girlfriend, not you."

The woman's dawned in understanding. "He warned me you might be like this," she sighed.

"I - what?"

"Well, you're Susan, aren't you? I'm Lola." The woman introduced herself, trying her best to sound sympathetic. "I know you still love him, but you have to let him go."

"Let what go?" Susan snapped.

"I know you're Timothy's ex-wife. He told me everything." Lola continued. "He told me you went a little crazy after the divorce, and that you deluded yourself into thinking that you're still together. He's so sweet about it, too - he refuses to get married again in case he hurts you, which is why we're carrying on the way we are. But you have to understand we've been together nearly two years, and you're not married anymore."

The colour drained from Susan's face. She might have enhanced her appearance in every way possible, she might be a good-digger, but she was not downright dumb. She could quite clearly see what was going on. "Well that's interesting," she mused, "because Timothy told me that he couldn't ever marry me because he was already married to a woman he had a prenuptial agreement with, and he couldn't divorce her but that they lived separately."

Understanding began to dawn on Lola's face. "So he lied to us both-"

"So that he didn't have to commit to either relationship." Susan finished. "And god knows how many other girls he has on the side."

There was a moment's silence as both women digested the sudden influx of information. "God, how naive have I been?" Lola laughed bitterly. "I was so obsessed with the beautiful things he got me that I couldn't realise I was being massively scammed. I wasted two years of my life on him! God, I'm going to kill him."

"He's not worth the drama." Susan shook her head. "Look, I'm just... sorry about this. I feel so ashamed..."

"Me too." Lola admitted. "Guess I'll never trust a rich, handsome man again."

"Yeah," Susan mused. "What can I say? He fooled us both. After all, he was a rather beautiful liar."