Mask of A Legend

by Stephen Andrew Salamon

  “Go get ’em,” Stephen said. He gave Legend a kiss on the right cheek, causing jealousy to set in once again in Dina’s eyes.

  Legend walked up to the podium, and turned around for a moment to see the crowd of people that were there for her only. She smiled and cried, but she didn’t know the reason why she was here yet. She cried because of the words the man spoke about her, the words made her cringe inside, and feel happy. She walked up to the microphone, drying her tears, and said, “Um, well, I thank you for saying those kind words, and for everyone who’s here, I thank you for coming.” The audience applauded vigorously as the white sheet came down slowly. The white sheet came off completely, and revealed a statue of Legend’s name in big letters made of stone. Below her name were smaller words that read, ‘Outer Beauty Doesn’t Last Forever, But Inner Does!’ Legend wept more and knew that was a quote that she said in one of her speeches.

  The man came back up to the podium, while staring at Legend, and said into the microphone, “This statue is going to be placed up by the big Hollywood sign, and is going to be shown to all of LA.” The audience applauded again and Legend cried more. “The reason for this is because we want everyone to remember a legend that helped people, not for her own pleasure or luxury, but because she wanted to. We want everyone to remember a legend that’s called Legend!” The audience began screaming out her name, chanting it like a rhythmic song, a chorus whose echoes could be heard for miles.

  Legend watched the audience, it was like she was looking at time going by slowly, lagging as if motion was no longer relevant. As she looked, everything to her sight was moving in slow motion, her eyes making it seem like that. She stared beyond the audience, and looked up at the stars above. She stared heavily, trying to see some stars, because of the light pollution that was caused by the spotlights placed on her silhouette. She then looked out at the crowd again, and felt peaceful and, most of all, beyond content.

  Perhaps, this was her moment to seize. “Um, thank you, everyone. . . . Many people, many people do not know my true, my true image,” she announced, smiling, fighting to get around her words. “But you all know my true character, and for that, I am happy tonight to say that I’m proud to be Legend Conaway, and I’ll always be here for all of you.” She then looked down at Stephen. “And this Sunday, at the Styling Awards, I’ll look forward to seeing all of you again,” she added, still keeping her sight on Stephen’s. “I care for you a lot, and maybe I love you all. Nevertheless, I will stand by my views, and always have anger and arguments with those who I feel are wrong with theirs. . . . Thank you, and goodnight!”

  Dina saw her staring at Stephen. It was as if Legend was speaking to Stephen, but maybe she wasn’t. Dina then looked at one side of Stephen’s face and saw his left eye glowing with happiness. She put her head out more and saw his white face, and discovered that he was in a trance of what looked to be love. The jealousy was ready to rupture in Dina’s mind, while Legend walked off the stage, and Stephen still stared at her beauty.

  “I have to find Mark, where is he?” Legend asked Stephen. She picked up her white purse from her chair.

  “I think he’s back at his place, why?” Stephen asked. They all walked back down the red carpet, and fans were screaming out Legend’s name.

  “Because I’m so incredibly happy right now. I want to share it with him!”

  They all entered the limousine.

  “Yeah, she wants to share her happiness with Mark, who is her boyfriend,” Dina stated.

  “Well, I just thought that you were going to come with us to that dinner at ANTHONY’S SEAFOOD, you know, to celebrate,” Stephen whined.

  “I can’t, I have to see Mark.”

  The limo drove off past the structure of her name, and brought a smile to her face once again. The limo drove up to Stephen’s mansion, with him saying, “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” He watched Legend leave the limo, and she slowly tilted her head around to face him. Stephen didn’t want Legend to go, didn’t want her to see Mark: he needed her eyes to be placed on his face only. He felt saddened: he didn’t want Legend’s beauty to vanish from his sight once more, he craved it to stay there and allow his happiness to be fulfilled.

  “Yeah, I’m positive, just go you two, and have fun,” Legend said. She ran across the street and headed toward Mark’s house. Legend then stopped, turned around, and faced her beauty toward Stephen again. They both were silent, no words came out, or even expressions on their faces. They stared at each other heavily, as Legend’s definition of her stare toward him was something that she knew only. Stephen’s definition of his stare toward her was something that involved love and uncertainty. Last, but not least, Dina’s stare toward Stephen showed jealousy as she followed his sight to where Legend was standing. Dina saw the way he stared at her, and then turned to Legend, and saw the way she was staring at him. The silver spoon didn’t feel so silver anymore.

  Dina tried to figure out what Stephen’s stare meant, what was its definition.

  Why is he staring at her like that?

  Dina then turned to Legend’s sight, and discovered that Legend was still staring at him without any movements in her eyes or face, and without any words coming from her mouth.

  Legend turned to face Mark’s mansion, and then looked back at Stephen again. She suddenly started to walk toward Stephen’s limo, in a lasting motion, her mind trying to find some words, some explanation for her coming back and seeing Stephen once more. As Legend walked, her mind showed happiness, prosperity; her dream of beauty was finally realized and true to reality, while her mask of beauty was still surreal to her mind. She then walked faster toward Stephen’s stare, she wanted to run up to him, and kiss him, but suddenly she saw Dina in her view, and the thought of showing her true feelings toward Stephen went away from her mind.

  She stopped, once she reached the limo, gazed at Stephen heavily again, and said, “Um, I just want to thank you, Stephen, for everything you’ve done for me. Tonight was probably the best night of my life, and I owe it all to you. I just wanted to say that, and let you know how I felt, instead of just going to see Mark, and giving you no explanation for the way I feel tonight.”

  Stephen looked up at her mask of beauty, and said, “Well, you’re welcome, Legend, and I’m glad to see that you’re happy tonight.” He paused, turned to Dina and saw her jealous eyes, and then turned to the girl he loved the most. He realized his love for Legend was stronger than he ever thought: he knew she was his soulmate. But, because of Dina’s presence, and the fact that she was, and still is, his girlfriend, it caused his mind to not allow his vocal cords to admit his love for Legend. It caused him to feel that this is the way it had to be, and for that, Legend’s happiness with Mark is what the outcome will be, and that was it. He sought after Legend to be happy, her to show her beauty, and, at the same time, show happiness within it.

  He turned to Dina once more, and then back to Legend, realizing he was caught between feelings. His feelings toward Dina were nothing compared to his feelings toward Legend. But he knew deep inside that he was not allowed in Legend’s life, intimately and love-wise. He saw that she was not his to care for physically; she was only a friend, and that’s the way it shall be. He was not invited into her heart, and for that, he knew he had to let her go from his mind, his heart, and his soul. As they stared at each other more, it was like Stephen finally realized the true definition of her stare, as Legend finally realized his. They both knew the definition of each other’s eyes, as they stared at one another without saying a word. “Well, go on, I’m sure Mark will be excited to see you,” Stephen said.

  “Goodbye.” Legend then faced Mark’s mansion again, and proceeded to run toward it. She wasn’t just running to it, she was running away from the only thing that was real up to now besides her inner beauty; her love for the guy she thought was a pig.

  As she ran, Dina saw Stephen’s eyes locked on Legend’s figure. The limo drove off once again and Dina said, “Stephen
, we have to talk seriously when we get to that restaurant.”

  Dina knew she had to finally take off her mental mask toward Stephen, and show him the real her. But also she had to show the true bitch inside of her soul, and for that, she was nervous as they drove faster toward the restaurant. Stephen knew Dina was going to say something about him and Legend’s relationship as friends, and how she believes that there’s something more to it than just a friendly bond. He turned to face her and she said, while her mental mask was beginning to tear off, “I mean, I have something that I have to tell you. . . .”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Faster 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.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Dina 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 smi
le 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!”

  Chapter Thirty

  Stephen 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.”