Her Heart of Henbane

  She stood under the harsh, artificial glare of the streetlamp, adjusting the tattered denim skirt she wore around her hips. She ran crimson nailed hands through her lank tangerine hair, shivering faintly against the biting cold of the night. When the hush of the store lined street was broken by the growl of a car engine, she stood to attention, creeping forward to the edge of the sidewalk and tugging down at her low cut sleeveless shirt.   

  As the car neared the woman's place on the cracked path it slowed, illuminating her with its headlights as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and stood montionless in wait.

  “Hey darling, what are you doing out here so late?”

  She giggled, leaning down through the open window to draw closer to the grinning man inside.

  “Just lookin’ for a bit of fun,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “you up for a bit of fun?”

  The man’s grin grew wider, “Chester’s always up for a bit of fun.”

  She withdrew from the open window, a moment later opening the passenger door and sliding into the interior of the sleek vehicle. Chester pulled the car into drive and continued on, sparing the woman a sideways glance.

  “So, does this fun loving little girl have a name?”

  “Jeanie-Mae,” she smiled, “this fun lovin' little girl is called Jeanie-Mae.”

  “Well Jeanie-Mae, how about we go back to−“

  Jeanie laid a hand on Chester’s veined arm, staring into the man’s sharp blue eyes.

  “How 'bout we go to some place more interestin',” she said, rubbing at his arm, “how 'bout you drive us to the river lookout, how does that sound?”

  She removed her hand from Chester’s arm, watching as he shook his head distractedly and returned his eyes to the deserted road,

  “yeah, that, that sounds good.”

  She turned her scarlet lips up in a satisfied smile, “good.”

  It took the two ten minutes to reach the river lookout, the view a wall of darkness by the light of the crescent moon that hung above them.

  “So, how do you want to do this?” Chester turned to face Jeanie-Mae when he pulled the car’s gear into park. She stared at the older man in the gloom of the interior, studying his features. His almost ebony hair was slicked back from his wide forehead, salted stubble running along his defined jawline.

  “Do what?” She asked, blinking rapidly as she spoke, as if she had only just heard him.

  “Well…”

  “Oh, of course,” Jeanie let out a small laugh, grasping Chester’s thigh, smiling as she felt him stiffen under her touch.

  “Well I thought that maybe we could step outside for a moment, just to get a breathe of fresh air.”

  “Yeah, okay…”

  The two opened their respective doors simultaneously, Jeanie closing her eyes against the chill of the dark.

  “Isn’t it lovely?” She asked, joining him at the lookout’s rail, the river meandering slowly far below.

  Chester only nodded, staring up at the moon that stood solitary in the stygian sky.

  Jeanie threaded thin arms around Chester’s slim waist, pressing up against his back.

  “You know what else is lovely?” She asked, a pencilled eyebrow arching as she spun Chester around in her firm grip.

  He grinned, leading her over to the hood of his car and placing her in a sitting position atop it.

  “I’m going to do so many naughty things to you,” he rasped into her ear as he pressed kisses into her pale neck, causing her to hum with pleasure. Chester’s hands travelled down the contours of Jeanie’s figure until they reached her denim skirt. He began to tug down on it but stopped when the brown-eyed girl laid a hand on his chest, lightly pushing him back.

  “Before we go any further,” she said with wide eyes, “I need you to write somethin', you have a pen and paper don’t you?”

  Chester nodded fervently, disentangling himself from Jeanie to rush around to one of the car doors, reaching inside and collecting up the requested items.

  She smiled at him and grasped his free hand before speaking again.

  “I just need you to write ‘I’m sorry’, and leave the notepad open on the car seat, then we can get back to business.”

 It took Chester less than a minute to do everything that was requested, and in a matter of moments he was back pressed up against Jeanie, rubbing in between the girl’s thighs with calloused hands.

  “Chester,” she murmured, breath hot against the man’s neck, “I need a kiss.”

  Chester’s lips went to meet Jeanie’s own but before he could close the distance between them she pushed him back, taking a step forward as he stumbled, stopped from falling off the edge of the lookout by only the guardrail that acted as a frail barrier between gravel and open air.

  “Chester,” she repeated, growling this time, “I need a kiss.”

  The night seemed to grow darker as Jeanie traced a finger down the suited man’s chest, a grin playing at her lips and powdered features.

  “Chester, I need a kiss.”  

  With Chester leaning against the guardrail Jeanie carefully pressed against his lips with her own, keeping the kiss brief and chaste. Breaking away, she stared at the man for a few moments, enjoying the puzzled look he wore on his face.

  “Thank you Chester,” she whispered.

  With a shout of surprise Chester was forced backwards, Jeanie pushing him over the guardrail. His hands struggled for purchase as his weight sent him over. In an instant he was gone, vanishing from sight as he was lost to the dark depths of empty space and eventually the river that ambled lazily far below, his screams resounding faintly throughout the dark of the early morning.

  “Thank you Chester.” She repeated, flicking her ruffled hair over her left shoulder. Gravel crunched beneath Jeanie’s heels as she wandered past the car, glancing at the open notepad that lay on the driver’s seat.

I’m sorry.

  The night was abnormally warm as she stood under the streetlight, waiting patiently. She tugged on her denim skirt as a beaten car turned onto the deserted road. She smiled as the car slowed down when its headlights fell on her figure, tucking stray strands of orange hair behind pierced ears as it neared. The car’s engine was almost silent as it came to a complete stop before her, its tinted window rolling down to reveal the face of a young man, a smile on his face that exposed sparkling white teeth.

  “What you doing out here girly?” He asked, looking her up and down.

  The woman giggled, leaning into the window to reply to the man.

  “Lookin’ for my price charmin', might be that it’s you?”

  “Just might be,” he answered with a grin, “just might be. Why don’t you come on and hop in and find out?”

  “I’d love to,” she answered with a smirk, “but you have to promise me somethin'.”

  “Anything baby, just say the word.”

  She laid a crimson nailed hand on the man’s arm.

  “A kiss,” she whispered, leaning in close to speak into his ear, “promise me a kiss.”