Rouge Coco

“I regret marrying you,” Vienna sighs. This time it’s different, there’s no tears or that high-pitched crying voice. She just says it, how it is. 

She leans back into the chair and crosses her legs from beneath the marble table. Before her is a plate of crispy skinned salmon, cold as the day it was caught. She twirls the beads of black caviar with a spoon. The Chanel rouge lipstick creases as she puckers her lips in thought.

On the opposite end of the table, Harrison shovels another mouthful of fish. The pink flakes glue to the corner of his mouth and he wipes it away with a black napkin. He lays balled fists atop the table and the 18 karat gold cuff links glimmer against the pin-striped suit. For which, a red rose is stuffed into the breast pocket. 

“We’ll discuss this with dessert,” Harrison says. 

Vienna watches him polish off dinner at a steadied pace. His calm demeanor churns her stomach and she is no longer hungry. Not sure of what she expected his reaction to be but not this. She wipes away a tear using her thumb, fast enough for Harrison to not realise. When he finishes eating, Mabel appears in a white apron. She gestures to the plates and Vienna raises her eyebrows for them to be cleared.

Harrison extracts a toothpick from his pocket and fiddles it inside his mouth. All the while, staring at the table. 

“I told you not to get veneers, now you can’t even keep them clean,” Vienna sighs.

His eyes lift. “What would you have me do? Extract them. Maybe that will make you love me.”

Mabel re-appears with her hands folded in-front. It’s nothing she hasn’t heard before, she’s accustomed to the household disputes. Initially it made her jump but now she pretends not to listen. Harrison gestures for her to speak.

“If I can entice you both in dessert, there is strawberry cream pie or a caramel walnut tart,” Mabel says.

“Walnut tart, cheers Mabel,” Harrison replies.

“Are the strawberries fresh?” Vienna asks.

“Yes ma’am, organic. I hand selected them this morning.”

“Just make sure the pie is nut free.”

Harrison rolls his eyes. “Almonds will make you sick but not the thought of a divorce? That goes down smoothly.”

Vienna rubs her temple, the conversation is not going to be smooth this time. 

Furry paws waltz across the top level and down the sandstone staircase. From between the barred railing, the chocolate standard poodle emerges. She greets her owners with an authentic smile.

“Clarice, heel,” Vienna says. 

Clarice looks up from her side and wags her tail when stroked. Out of everything inherited in the three-story mansion, Clarice is the only priceless possession. She has heard the complexities of marriage and witnessed the string of arguments, long after the staff have disappeared.

Harrison forces a smile. “That’s a new lipstick.”

“It’s red, as always.”

“This one is different. Chanel, only Coco can make lipstick so enchanted. Which one is it?”

“Rouge Coco,” Vienna replies. “Harrison, I want to make this as smooth as possible.”

He holds up his finger. “Wait for dessert.”

Vienna closes her eyes to stop them from rolling. She reaches for her hair and unpins the slicked bun. Her hair unravels into brunette locks and hangs along her collarbone. That’s one less headache. 

Mabel appears with two plates of dessert balancing in the crevice of her elbows. She lays the walnut tart before Harrison, who requests a black coffee to accompany. Before Vienna is a strawberry cream pie. Layered like the Eiffel Tower, it sends her back to the memories of Paris. Back to when she first tried the dessert, it melted in her mouth with succulence. Harrison adorned it too and his cheeks blushed. She was smitten by romance and the delicate taste of the French dessert. It was Vienna’s first time travelling overseas, not to mention their honeymoon. Every time she eats the strawberry cream pie, the memory replays. 

Harrison takes a bite of the tart, when sticky caramel falls onto his blazer. He snaps his fingers and Mabel offers him a damp cloth. “So, Vienna, you want a divorce,” he says, wiping away the stain. 

“It’s nothing new,” she replies, staring at the strawberries fanned out along the shortbread crust. 

“I guess we agree that love is one-sided,” Harrison says.

Vienna blinks away the tear from the corner of her eye. “I still love you.”

Harrison steals another bite of dessert, when his black coffee arrives. He nods a thank-you and accepts it from Mabel. 

“Vienna, love is complicated. Just like that Rouge Coco Chanel lipstick you are wearing. It takes certain ingredients to formulate the perfect colour. Crimson, rouge, burgundy, plumb, pink, mulberry are not the same. Each is a different variation of red.”

Vienna wipes a hand over her face. “I love the old version of Harrison. The one I fell in-love with, not this person. I don’t recognise you.”

“Is that why you regret marrying me?”

“Not at the start.”

Harrison knows exactly what she means - the heartless business deals and work trips. Sales are not for the faint of heart and he knows that more than most. Money is at the forefront of any exchange, not the people who suffered from it. Harrison was born into the scheme of business. Unlike Vienna, she was the daughter of a doctor and followed suit until she ceased practice all of three years ago. Her vision is to preserve human life in all forms, not to sell pharmaceutical drugs that only serve the profit of money-making.

“I closed a deal with another pharmacy today, it’s a large client,” Harrison says, sipping the coffee.

“These drugs cause more damage than good.”

“That is for the client to decide. My job is just to offer a solution.”

“My job is to fix your mess when your patients come to visit me in the clinic.”

“Not anymore. That’s what I don’t understand about you. You left medical practice the moment I made enough for us,” he gestures to their home.

Harrison is halfway through dessert, when he picks a walnut off the top and minces it in his mouth. Meanwhile, Vienna stares at the plated strawberry cream pie, untouched. She savours the scent of fresh berries and it calms her nerves.

“I’ve overlooked so much, Vienna. It never had to come to this.”

Harrison licks the spoon, staring her down. From the inside of his jacket, he extracts a handful of letters and lays them on the table. Neatly finished with string ties, the letters are signed and dated. Vienna stares at the handwritten name reflecting off the table; Florence. Her mouth grows dry and her fingers tremble. She feels for her engagement ring and spins it in her hand. 

“Where did you get those?” Vienna asks.

“From your walk-in wardrobe that I’ve spent the last five years fixing to fit all of your prized handbags, diamonds and love letters!”

“It didn’t have to play out like this.”

“The reason you love that strawberry cream pie is not because we honeymooned in Paris but because you fell in-love with a Frenchman.”

“Florence has nothing to do with this. I want a divorce regardless.”

Harrison takes the tart and dips it in his coffee, sucking on the softened pastry. “Since we aren’t keeping secrets anymore, I never liked that strawberry pie, it was too sweet and I hate France. The people are arrogant and talk behind our backs. I did it for you.”

Vienna tucks her hair behind her ears and pats down her fringe. She looks into her husband’s heated stare and contemplates her next move. He is not wrong, Florence is the love of her life. Albeit halfway across the world, she loves him for something other than rich adornments. But the problem didn’t start there. 

“Shall we talk about your love affair with Mabel?” She asks, twirling the dessert spoon against the table.

Harrison spits out his coffee and it sprays against the black marble. He forces a smile and places the coffee cup against the coaster. “You haven’t touched your dessert.”

“A refined pie such as this should be savoured and eaten in the presence of romance. I don’t want to spoil my appetite,” Vienna replies.

“Then why did you ask for it?”

“Customary.”

“Go on, Vienna.”

“You’re having an affair with Mabel. When did you regret marrying me?”

Harrison looks off to the side. “I could never regret a love as beautiful as ours but I now believe that love does not last forever.”

Vienna nods her head. Perhaps that is true, not all love stories are immortal. She stares at Harrison, unsure of when he became a stranger. Their love was powerful and it felt eternal, until it didn’t.

“The secrets are out now. There are two choices - carry on as we have been and turn a blind eye or divorce,” Harrison says.

Vienna peers down at her 5 carat natural pink diamond engagement ring, adorned by bands of pave diamonds. She slips the ring off her petite finger and places it into the dessert. The pink diamond sits atop a cloud of blush whipped cream, now a part of the strawberry cream pie. 

“That was delicious. I’m finished.”