Refuse: A Six Sentence Story

To the casual observer, the two women in the small, outer office could have been having a conversation about the latest fashions, but upon closer look, the observer would see one woman seated behind her secretary desk, leaning back slightly, a half smile upon her lips as she took a deep draw from her cigarette, while the other stood tensely, feet planted, just inside the doorway of the office, her eyes narrowed beneath the brim of her hat, her neatly gloved hands clenching her pocket book.

"No, Lydia," said the seated woman calmly, exhaling as she spoke, the cigarette smoke swirling into a cloud around her as she crossed her legs and let one shoe dangle casually from her toes.

"Just like that, you refuse to stop seeing him?" Lydia asked incredulously.

"I love him, too, so yes, I refuse," said the other woman.

"He doesn't love you," spat Lydia, pulling a gun out of her pocket book and pointing it steadily, and as the other woman threw her head back and laughed, the door beyond the desk opened to a man standing there, his hand on the knob, eyes darting from his secretary to his wife as he processed the scene before him. 

"Refuse THIS, bitch," Lydia said as she fired the gun and watched dispassionately as the man stepped back, mouth open as if to speak, then slowly removed his hand from the doorknob and crumpled into the doorway...