Mask of A Legend (27 page)

F
aster and faster she ran. Legend’s feet were beginning to hurt, but she continued and entered Mark’s front yard. She ran up to the front door, found his key under a ‘Welcome’ mat, and opened it. She ran into Mark’s dark mansion, yelling with happiness, “Mark, Mark are you here?”

As she ran up his staircase, her happiness was fulfilled. She had everything she wanted, even things she didn’t know she coveted. Even though she still cared intensely for Stephen, she felt that Mark was good enough for the role of a boyfriend. She had it all. She had Mark, who is rich, famous, handsome, and who cares for Legend’s inner beauty more than her outer. She had it all, riches and fame that were brought to her by what she thought was her inner beauty, but really it was her mask. She had it all, fame and luxuries, love and honor, and she knew this all, racing up the staircase, tripping on her dress at times and finally reaching the top.

Her confusion went away: she felt that even if this was a mask of beauty, she still showed her inner self to the world, and that was enough to be satisfied. She ran briskly through the enormous hallway, as her pink, satin dress flew heavenly-like with her speed, wind flushing against it. She came up to Mark’s room, opened it up with a smile of prosperity on her beautiful mask, and with the perfect moment, she saw Mark with another woman in his bed. Her happiness sweated away and Mark jumped out of the bed, with his nakedness, and said, “Legend, I could explain!”

Shock came to her mind and caused her perplexity to begin all over again. “What’s going on here?” she asked with hesitation. Legend thought she was dreaming, after realizing her happiness, and confusion finally settled, she thought that this evil sight was something made up in her mind. “Mark, what’s going on?”

Mark stared at her, and then stared at the girl in the bed, and knew his mental mask was torn away from him, and his true colors were shown by accident to Legend. So Mark felt that he should show all of his true self to her, that trying to explain this position he was in would be too much for his small mind to handle. “Well, what did you expect, Legend? You wouldn’t have laid me to begin with, so I had to get it from someone else,” he replied. Evil embraced his words, and Legend blinked her eyes twice, thinking this was all a dream still.

“I can’t believe you just said that, so easily. . . . I thought you loved me. . . . I thought, I mean, I thought you really cared for me. Don’t you?”

Mark looked over at the other woman, who was lying naked in his bed, staring at him and Legend with nervousness. He looked back at Legend. “Listen, Legend, I have to be truthful with you now. This has been in me for a while and I’m just going to say it.” He walked with Legend in the hallway. Mark was finally prepared to take his mental mask off fully, and that’s just what he did. “Legend, all I want out of a girl is a good lay, and that’s it. I mean, I have been wearing this front, this mask in front of you . . . a mask of a gentleman and all that other bullshit. When really all I wanted was your ass.” He then walked up closer to her. “I have been very patient with you when it comes to sex, and I just can’t be patient anymore.”

He then paused and Legend said, “But I thought you cared for me, me, me . . . not my beauty. Right? Mark, you do care for me, right?”

Mark blew a big gasp of air and said under his breath, “I knew it, Stephen was right!”

“What was that? Did you say ‘Stephen’? You mean to tell me that Stephen knew about you sleeping around on me?” Lips quivered, eyes glossed and she waited, impatiently, for his answer.

“Listen, Stephen wanted to tell you, I know he did. But the reason why he didn’t was he respected me and you. He’s the guy you belong with, not me, Legend. He loves you, not me.”

Legend felt her eyes and realized she wasn’t crying. She was baffled as to why she wasn’t showing tears.

“He was right about you. But he never told me about you, apart from your character. All he told me was little things that would cause me to think he was jealous of our relationship,” she explained, still feeling near her eyes. “Why am I not crying?”

Tears finally came flushing out from her eyes. “Legend, you are crying.”

“No . . . I’m not crying about you and that girl. It’s something else. . . . Why am I crying?” she asked again. She suddenly ran back down the hallway and away from Mark’s figure. As she ran back down the staircase, her mind was filled with melancholy; she didn’t have it all. Turning into a pleasant silver spoon, she was tarnished now, foolishly believing Mark accepted her for her inner self, when all along he accepted her only for her beauty. She didn’t have it all, she realized that maybe her riches and fame were caused because of her outer beauty only. She passed by a mirror in the foyer, and looked at her ugly image. “Who the hell are you?” she cried out to her reflection. “This world is only accepting you for this mask. But is that why you’re upset? Or is it because of something else?”

She turned away from it and looked at Stephen’s mansion across the street. “Maybe that something else is something you already realized,” she whispered to Stephen’s mansion. She left Mark’s place, ran for Stephen’s mansion, and entered onto the front lawn.

D
ina and Stephen sat inside of the limo as it stopped in front of the restaurant. Before the chauffeur opened up Stephen’s door, Dina said, “Alright, Stephen, I’m just going to tell you now, to avoid embarrassment in the restaurant.” Dina was prepared to take off her mental mask, and that’s just what she did. “Legend’s a bitch, she’s ugly and that’s that!”

Stephen looked at her in shock.

“What did you say?” he asked. The chauffeur opened his door, but suddenly Stephen pulled it shut again.

Dina commenced crying, the pain of taking off her mask was too much for her tears to stay in. “I’m sorry, but I have to show you my true feelings. Stephen, I love you, but I can’t take any more of you and Legend staring at each other, or hanging out and talking. . . . Legend is an ugly whore who was ugly before. She had acne the size of craters, and she’s a bitch. I tried to be like that bitch. I tried to be kind like her, but it’s too fuckin hard. . . . I love you, Stephen, but this is who I am!”

Stephen still stared with misunderstanding in his black eyes.

“You lied to me? I can’t believe this is happening, and after the amount of time we went out, too. Legend is not ugly–”

“She was, damnit. You listen to me, either it’s her or me!” she shouted. Stephen opened the door again. “Legend was an ugly shit, you don’t know her like I do. She was poor, ugly, useless, and now she’s not. You don’t know her like I do, but you still stare at her as if you loved her, or love her. It’s either her or me, Stephen!”

“Well–”

“But first, before you answer that, I would just like you to know that I’m the best thing that ever happened to you. I respected you, and honored you. You know, I could have many other guys.”

Stephen stepped out of the limo. “Screw you, Dina.” He walked away from the limo.

“Did you know that I slept with Mark recently?” she asked. Stephen slowly turned around. Dina knew her mental mask was fully off, and her true, ugly colors were finally shown. So, she figured that she may as well show all of her ugliness within by saying cruel things that she thought would make him jealous. He walked up to her, she sat in the limo motionless, and he looked at her with evil in his pupils. But suddenly a smile came to his face. “Why the hell are you smiling?” she shouted.

“Because I have treated you right for these past months, even though my feelings for Legend were stronger. You’re right, I do care for her. But, even though I do care for her, I was a man about it, because I stood by you, I knew my place. But now I’m happy because Legend told me about you. She said that I didn’t know you at all well, and I never believed that you would be like this. But, as I stand here and stare at your face, I realize that I should have followed Legend’s warning about you, even though she never explained to me what she meant by that. She never said anything about your character, but she said that I would have to find out on my own. And guess what?”

“What?”

“I did. Thank you, Dina!” He went on walking fast away from the limo, and turned it into running.

Dina jumped out of the limo and saw him running through the dark streets of LA. That’s when she screamed, “I hope you’re happy with that former acne-faced bitch!” She walked back into the limo and said out loud to herself, “I’ll find out about you, Legend. There has to be something she’s hiding. I’m not going to lose Stephen to her.” She yelled and said to the chauffeur, “Drive already!”

S
tephen sprinted to Mark’s house and discovered no one was there. He ran over to Legend’s house, and discovered the same thing. So he ran into his house and up the staircase. As he ran, a smile on his face full of clarity, his misperception vanished. Racing and racing, he screamed out Legend’s name. He had to confront her about his feelings since he wasn’t upset when Dina took off her mental mask, wasn’t upset because Dina revealed her true self, and for that, it released Stephen’s true self and bond that a boyfriend’s supposed to have, and made him see his true feelings for Legend even more. He ran to Legend’s old room, and found she wasn’t there. So he ran back down the staircase and passed Sylvia. “Sylvia, did Legend come here? I checked over by Mark’s, and her house, but no one was there.”

“Yeah, she’s in the kitchen, just sitting there,” Sylvia replied. He jolted down the staircase and headed for the kitchen. He stopped before he entered and said to himself, “Alright, you’re just going to say your true feelings to her, and that’s all. You have to do this, it’s the only right thing to do!” He walked into the kitchen and saw Legend sitting down in a chair. He moved up to her and said, “Legend, I have to tell you something.”

“You were right about Mark,” she said.

Stephen sat down and looked at her. “About what?”

“I mean, you never told me the way he was, but you told me in other ways. . . . I found Mark cheating on me.” She looked away from him, prevented her guard from coming down and showing her feelings for Stephen. But something allowed her guard, shield, her gate to open up on its own.

“I’m sorry. But, if it makes you feel any better, you were right about Dina. I just found out that she was cheating on me with Mark.” He grabbed onto Legend’s hand with love in his grip. “But I wasn’t upset about that.” He then looked at her heavily. “Why?”

“I wasn’t that upset about Mark. Why?” she asked. She finally stared into his eyes. “Stephen, I’m so confused about everything, I don’t know myself anymore. I thought Mark was the one, but he was just wearing this character that wasn’t him.” A tear came down from her left eye. “Do people accept me for my beauty only, or for me?”

Stephen felt her face with his soft hand. “I think this world accepts you for both, but your beauty more,” he said. Legend stared into his eyes heavily. “But if it makes any difference to your confusion, I accept your character more than your beauty.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, Legend, I’m crazy over you.”

She got up and went over to the back door. She turned around and said, “You know, the reason why I wasn’t that upset when I found out about Mark was because – was because of you, Stephen.” She paused, knowing her guard was finally coming down all the way. She felt bias toward her feeling for him, only because she knew she didn’t belong in this lifestyle of riches, fame, luxury.

Her mask caused her to be prejudiced toward this lifestyle, but for some reason she turned away from thinking in that way, and turned toward her feelings for one man. She looked at him, her guard coming down more, and realized that she definitely was in love with a person who she thought accepted outer beauty only, but won her heart in her pursuit to find his true character, and to put his puzzle together.

As she stared at him, no words uttered, she smiled and realized this life, and this position she was in now, was meant to be. Her mask of beauty was still in her thoughts, but her love and happiness for Stephen, shined and covered over her memories of her ugly mask, and finally allowed her to break free from her feelings for Stephen. It allowed her to break down her guard, and confess to the man she loves that she really, truly, is in love with him. “This whole time, I knew your real character, and for that, I respected you,” she said. “But, even though I hated the way you only liked girls for their beauty, I still, somehow, in some way–”

“Go on,” he said, approaching her more and gazing deeply into her eyes. No breathing, but yet they were breathing, and no sound, yet there was sound. They immersed themselves into the lingering moment and stopped thinking, rather following their emotions.

“I still, somehow, some odd way, for some apparent reason, fell in love with you,” she said. A shield of tears formed in her eyes. “And now, even though I’m sad for reasons that you can’t know, I still feel happy in my confusion of loving you, only because you . . . make me feel beautiful.”

He began stroking her hair.

“Legend, you are beautiful.”

The bun in her hair fell, and with it came her beautiful, blonde strands.

“You see, you don’t know that, and I can’t tell you the reason why I deny that term for me, ‘beauty.’ Nevertheless–”

“Shh, don’t explain if you don’t want to tell me.” His guard was finally coming down all the way, as her guard fell at the same speed. “Legend Conaway, I admit . . . I did fall in love with you when I saw your beauty. But now I fell for all of you.” She closed her eyes to his soothing tone. “And for what it’s worth, I love you, because of you.” Suddenly, the phone rang. “Shit, I’ll be right back,” he said. He ran to the other room and picked up the phone.

While he talked over the phone, Legend heard the sound of thunder in the November night. She followed the sound, walked outside to the backyard and stared at the heavens above. Suddenly, it began pouring down rain, and Legend still stared at the stars. But while she was staring at the raindrops falling, Stephen was on the phone saying, “Alright, Father, Legend will be there for the dress rehearsal tomorrow!”

“Alright, Stephen, but make sure she isn’t late. The Styling Awards are a big ceremony, and Legend needs to practice her lines. After all, she is going to be handing out the award for the best designer of the year,” William said. He sat in his private jet, smoking a cigarette.

“Goodbye,” said Stephen. He left the phone off the hook and followed his intimate emotions back to the kitchen. He looked around the room, and finally discovered Legend was outside in the darkness.

Out of his kitchen window, he saw the lights in his backyard as they covered the silhouette of an angel called ‘Legend’. Stephen went to the open doorway and looked at Legend, it seemed like she was dancing in the rain. He looked more closely at her and saw a smile on her face, though she was dancing in the cold wetness that God created. It was like the rain was her creator, and the dance was for it, and not for anyone else. He whispered, “My God. . . .” He slowly walked out toward her and the rain fell on his face also. He approached her and said, “Legend.” She then cut him off by placing her index finger over his mouth. She grabbed his hands and began dancing slowly with him, while the rain fell upon her face, and the sight was too beautiful for Stephen’s eyes. She stepped up to his face, closed her eyes, and allowed the rain to fall on her lips and make it noticeable to him.

“Do you promise you will never hurt me?” she asked.

He still stared at her beauty.

“Yes, forever and ever, I will never hurt you.” He closed his eyes and allowed the rain to fall on his lids. Suddenly, instead of Stephen kissing her, Legend kissed him forcefully. The miracle took place, and with the rain came happiness of a love that was lost, but now was found. They danced till the moon went, and the sun came into sight. They kissed till the rain vanished, and the morning dew set in. To Legend, her confusion on her true self went away, but only for a little bit. To Stephen, his confusion went away, but only for a little bit. They were content for the moment. “I love you,” he whispered into her ear.

She opened her eyes and said, “I love you, too. . . .”

She continued kissing him with her passionate lips, frozen in time, as if dancing on a silver cloud.