The Disclosure
Laura Brasher
Lorraine pulled up outside of the yellow house with the bay window, narrowly
missing the curb, and switched off the ignition. She sighed and ran the heel of her hand
over the back of her head, manually teasing her “boofed” blonde hair. She flicked down
the visor and slid open the small mirror, running her tongue over her teeth to remove
any errant lipstick. The reflection she saw in the small glass rectangle was bleak. Her skin,
once soft and firm, was now wrinkled and tissue paper thin. Her eyes, gray and flat, had
a dullness to them, which was offset by the liberally applied bright indigo eye shadow.
The bags that had formed under her eyes were paunchy and sallow, forming little pillows
that bulged out beneath her heavily mascaraed lower lashes. Her cheeks were artificially
flushed and displayed more blemishes than she cared to acknowledge. She pinched them
hastily, sucking in her breath as she did so. “C’mon now,” she chided herself in the mirror
with her nasal twang. “C’mon. We’re gun-uh focus this time.”
Feeling that her wilting look needed some extra moxie at the end of the workday,
Lorraine snatched her aerosol can of hairspray from the floor of the back seat and closed
her eyes, spraying fervently until she coughed and gagged, opening her car door for fresh
air.
Reeking of hairspray chemicals and cheap perfume, Lorraine marched to the front
door, padfolio under one arm, adjusting her navy blazer as she walked. She felt the blazer
added a professional touch and had adopted it as her signature look along with the silk
neckerchief tied jauntily at the collar. Approaching the heavy lockbox slung around the
doorknob, she successfully punched in the code the seller had given her and extracted the
key. This rarely happened on the first attempt, and Lorraine took it as a good omen.
Surely this time she would have some luck. The housing market had been quiet
for months and prices were low, meaning commissions were smaller and less frequent. In
fact, she had not scored a commission all quarter and her bills were piling up, along with
her daughter’s student loan ̰