Feet running away

Olivia, the female heroine, spends too much time in front of the mirror and is dupmed by her boyfriend. She tries to win him back with the help of another man, using unconventional methods, but in the end things go horribly wrong.

Beautiful Olivia is standing in front of the mirror, applying make-up. Her delicate, slender hand is holding the little brush she is using to apply blue eye shadow to her eyelids. Her peroxide blonde hair is not genuine, but very beautiful. She has turned it into a very artistic hairstyle, looking like a fountain on top of her head. There are two tiny curls at both sides of her face. This looks exactly the way she has planned. Full of content, she smiles at her reflection.

Suddenly a loud, deep voice calls, "Olivia! Now Ive had enough! I finally want us to get going!"

Olivia jumps at this loud, rude statement, and the brush slips out of her hand. It leaves a narrow trace of eye shadow alongside her nose.

"Oh, sweetie pie!", she calls out incredulously, "now you have ruined my labour of the last half hour! I must apply my eye shadow all afresh! This way we will never be ready at all and what's most it is you who have caused the delay with your impatience!" She is so upset that her voice is becoming high-pitched.

"Which half hour? You have been standing in front of this damned mirror for at least two hours now!" Jack, Olivias boyfriend, is losing his composure slowly but steadily.

"So what", Olivia retorts. "You just don't understand me! It simply takes some time for a woman to make herself up! I have already hurried up for your benefit, but, being a man, you obviously don't know the first thing about beauty. There is no such thing as natural beauty. A woman must..."

"Olivia!" Jack interrupts in a thunderous voice. "Do hurry up now! I am dead serious. We are already half an hour late. It will make a lousy impression if I turn up late at Olivers party. You know that I am hoping to take over his position when he retires! Ollie is a good pal. He likes me. But there is no joking around with such people. Do you understand this, Olivia? There are certain social rules one must abide by!"

"You toady!: Olivia attacks him, irritated. :All you are thinking of is your career! You dont give a toss about my feelings!"

Jack acknowledges this statement with a mere enervated snort. "Olivia, I am running out of patience. Either you come along with me this minute, or I will go to that party without you!" he threatens.

Olivia's lips are quivering with indignation. "How dare you talk to me in such a tone of voice? I can't possibly leave the house like this, don't you see? My eye shadow..."

"I am tired of this!" Jack yells so loudly that the house almost vibrates. "I am leaving! And not only for today, do you understand? It is over! I never want to see you again, Olivia!" He storms out of the house, slamming the door.

Bewildered, Olivia stands in front of the mirror. At a loss, she opens and closes her mouth for a few times. Only slowly is she about to understand what has just happened. Jack is going to leave her! Oh no, this is not possible. This man is the big love of her life.

Hastily, she picks up a cotton-wool and wipes the eye shadow away from her nose. Then she runs out of the house in a panic. Her high, pointed heels are clip-clopping loudly.

Desperately, she is trying to hold her balance with her hands. Her long, red painted fingernails stick out horizontally. A cloud of perfume is following her.

Downstairs, right outside the front door, her left heel comes off. It gets stuck in a groove of the pavement.

"Oh, no!" Olivia cries, being forced to stop. "That's all I need now!" Big tears are rolling down her face, smudging her powder as well as her eye shadow and mascara. Thin blue and black stripes are developing across her cheeks. Indecisive, she stands there. What should she do? Without Jack's wallet, her future will look rather gloomy.

She decides to go on following Jack. From where she is standing, she can still make out his silhouette. She knows that she can still catch up with him if she runs fast enough.

But her streak of bad luck hasn't ended. After three steps, her second heel comes off, too. She loses her balance, falls down and her bottom almost hits a big puddle roughly. For in the last moment, two strong male hands reach out for her slender hips and lift her up on her feet again.

"Can I help you, beautiful lady?" asks the young gentleman who owns the hands.

"Yes!" Olivia screams gratefully. "Carry me on your shoulders! And run after that man over there! As quickly as possible!" She points into Jack's direction with the crimson nail of her index finger.

In a flash, her saviour ducks and Olivia hops onto his shoulders. As soon as she has adjusted herself, her riding animal runs off at a breathtaking pace.

Olivia is impressed by his velocity. "Great!" she comments enthusiastically. "You are really extraordinarily fast!"

"No problem," he replies casually. "Running is my hobby. I once wanted to be a professional athlete, but then I decided to study economics instead." He is not even running out of breath while he gives this long explanation.

Olivia is not interested in economics. "What's your name? she asks him instead.

"Christopher." her knight in shining armour introduces himself.

"What a beautiful name," she flatters him. "I am elegant Olivia."

"I do like that," he comments enthusiastically.

The distance between the team and Jack is reducing. Jack has already noticed that he is being chased, and has started to run himself. But he stands no chance, Christopher is faster.

"By the way, what has this man done to you?" Christopher asks full of concern. "Has he stolen something, or was it something even worse he did?" There are both compassion and indignation in his voice.

"No!" Olivia screams indignantly. "He hasn't done anything. I mean, he isn't a thief or anything. But he wants to leave me! Even though he is the man of my dreams, my prince out of a fairy tale! I will make him change his mind! We have almost reached him!" Excitedly, she drives her noble steed with her heels in order to increase speed even further.

They are almost there. Olivia can't wait any longer and thrusts herself forward in order to put her arms around her sweetie pie.

However, at this moment Christopher realizes what he is being used for. He stops abruptly, and Olivia is hurled off his shoulders. She misses Jack by a hairs breath.

Now both men are running away from her into different directions. Olivia is sitting on the cold street all by herself.

"Please, what should I do? What have I done wrong?" she cries. But the only answer she gets is the receding sound of feet running away.