<h4>Chapter 13:DRUNK!</h4>


    I filled therge tub with lukewarm water and I sighed contentedly when I dipped my fingers into the rxing warmth.? The tension that made my body stiff faded and I could feel my worries began to subside. When the tub was almost full,? I poured the moisturizing milk bath into the tub and poured the petals of red roses I found inside the caddy.


    The calming scent of milk,? roses, and honey permeated my nostrils. For the first time since that day,? my lips stretched into a soft smile as I faced the mirror and saw my thin reflection.


    "You''re not ugly Phoenix," I told myself as I captured the gleam of my left green eyes and right brown eyes—a rare condition called Heterochromia iridium which almost blinded my sight when I was ten years old.


    I used to hate my eyes since I was bullied as a child for having them. But one day I woke up seeing ck nothingness making me experience the horrifying truth about blindness. From that moment my perspective changed and there''s not a single day I wasn''t thankful for having a pair of rare eyes that allowed me to see the beauty of the world.


    "You''re not ugly Phoenix," I repeated smiling alone like an escaped mental patient. "You just don''t know how to take good care of yourself. Your life revolved? entirely on him that you almost forgot you have a life of your own too." I added,? slowly the smile faded on my lips.


    Tears of sadness clouded my vision as I stripped naked in front of the mirror and my clothes little by little fell into a heap on the floor. My eyes never once look away from my reflection as I sum up the reason why Ace couldn''t love me.


    The woman I was seeing in front of the mirror was thin and tall,? she wasn''t the type a? man will ever want to brag to his male friends during a boy''s talk. Her beauty was in and her skin was baster white nearly resembling a ghost with her small pale lips.


    The girl opposite her was never the sexy type unlike Ang who was naturally blessed with a body to die forposing ofrge breasts every man would die to hold,? a narrow waist that could be enclosed by a man''srge fingers by how slim they look, and arge booty to die for that could add additional spice to sex life.


    Finally, I sighed,? tired ofparing myself to someone cheap enough to be a married man''s lover.? My fingers untied the string on my midnight ck hair and it tumbled past my waists as it glowed with a satiny sheen from the reflection of the light from the ceiling.


    Now,? I looked like Sadako,? an unappealing ghost straight from the well. I shook my head and turned my gaze away from the mirror. I don''t want to look at my reflection anymore. I am who I am and it won''t change anything even if I stared at the mirror for too long.


    I returned to the room stark nude with my naked glory all exposed. My straight long hair tumbled behind my back like a tail as I made my way across the room to pick up the slice of cake and the bottle of wine from the table.


    I swallowed hard as the heavy feeling of a stare descended on my shoulders, when I turned around there was no one inside the room except me.? Must be my imagination that some prying eyes were watching me. I shrugged my shoulders and returned to the bathroom.


    My fingers took the wine with eagerness,? after opening the lid it immediately met my thirsty lips and I took a series of gulps as if I was drinking water not liquor. My toes curled from the pleasure as the addictive bittersweet taste of wine traveled down my throat.


    "This is heaven!" I mumbled after I let go of the half-consumed bottle of vintage wine on the floor and continued attacking the cakes until the icing was the only thing left on the te.


    "I swear you''ll taste the venom of my sweetest revenge one day," I muttered in between my slurred speech andughed hysterically. "I''m gonna own a hotel someday and I will hire the same women you toyed with just to hurt me! I''ll use them to destroy you, Ace!? Just like the way you destroyed my life!"


    Iughed hysterically once more and drank the wine up to thest drop with abundant tears as warm as my breath streaming down my cheeks.


    Your mama


    Your mama says I''m a fool


    And yeah, maybe that''s true ''cause I can''t stop thinkin'' ''bout you


    I''m tryin''


    I''m tryin'' not to forget my words


    ''Cause when I''m around you, I tend to keep changin'' my mind


    The influence of the strong wine kept me singing the out-of-tune lyrics at the top of my lungs. When I finally emerged from the tub,? I was intoxicated.? The sweet scent of milk,? roses, and honey lingered on my skin and I nearly closed my eyes.


    I carefully crawled out of the tub the way I imagined Sadako climbing out of the well epically. I crawled all the way to the bedroom with a scanty towel wrapped around my nakedness. I was too drunk to even get dressed,? so I sat on the bed,? brushed my hair, and waited for it to dry after I hung the towel on the nearby rack.


    The bedroom was doing circr motions.? I suddenly wondered if there was an earthquake.? My eyelids grew heavy as the minute passed by.