So perhaps I needed to put some thought to it. She seemed convinced that I dumped someone during that time. I felt sorry for her eyes, too. So that would be ten years ago. I was eighteen back then.
Did I dump anyone at that time?
I thought hard about it, wondering who my boyfriend was during that time. I was with... what was his name again? Jonathan! Yes, Jonathan. He was my second boyfriend and we met in college. But we did break up a year after so I guessed he wouldn’t count.
“I don’t really know what you’re talking about,” I told her. Honestly, I was with a guy at that time, so how could I possibly dump anyone? I wasn’t a cheater, mind you. I was the one who was getting cheated out here.
“There was this guy, one whom heart you disregarded. Fate is getting back at you and if he will not forgive you right away, your bad luck will continue,” she told me.
“Okay, I have no idea what you are talking about. That’s creepy. Here’s my pay. I’m leaving,” I said as I put down some bills and coins on her table and walked away, annoyed.
“You must definitely ask his forgiveness, young lady,” she continued saying as I headed out of the door.
“If I know who you are talking about! And as if there’s one!” I closed the door shut from the outside. I held it steady because it almost fell down on me. This place needed more renovation than what I thought. What a creepy old lady. I couldn’t believe that she accused me of something that I didn’t do. What was she talking about anyway?
Sure, I hurt a soul.
I suddenly wanted to laugh.
“Hey! Are you getting yourself killed?” I was startled by the voice of a taxi driver who angrily ranted at my direction as I was walking back to my apartment.
I turned to him and realized that I was standing at the middle of the pedestrian lane instead of crossing it. Honks resounded from all side. Given everyone who seemed to notice, me right in the middle of the lane and all, I hurriedly crossed it. Gosh, I almost got killed again. Was I getting addicted to getting hit by a car?
And then I stopped.
No, that couldn’t be. My luck was still that bad? I shook my head. This was just a total coincidence. I shouldn’t believe those words that the old lady said.
I continued walking back to my apartment. But all of a sudden, out of nowhere or perhaps shrill thin air, a pot almost fell on my head. And I barely missed it. Staring at the shattered pot near my feet, my eyes widened in shock.
What if that thing hit my head? I’d be so dead by now.
I looked up and saw a lady, stunned, looking straight at me. “Are you okay, dear?”
“I’m... fine,” I stuttered.
Although I wasn’t cock sure about that.
I assured myself that this was just another coincidence. Feeling light-headed and uncertain, I started walking again and looked around me. There was nothing that could possibly harm me here. Everyone seemed pretty harmless anyway. There were kids playing on one side and some old ladies chattering while having a cup of tea. Okay, the coast was clear. I officially declared that what had happened earlier was only a coincidence.
However, as I walked around the block, a motorbike came running fast towards me. The screech of its tire echoed right in front of me, hard. I barely managed to dodge it in time and it almost hit me head on. And so in turn, rationally, I shrieked in horror.
Where did that come from?
With the uneven beating of my heart, I shook my head wildly in denial, still. You were not actually telling me that what that old lady said was true?
I hurriedly went back home and grabbed my bag. I had to find out what she was talking about. Or else I would probably be dead tomorrow morning. I was only twenty-eight and I hadn’t done much just to die out of the blue.
I locked the door of my apartment and waited for a bus. Good thing that buses were quite common at this hour. The hour-long bus ride almost killed me, if not everything else that had happened yesterday and today. And the moment that I got off the bus, I sprinted my way to our house.
“Mom? Are you there?” I asked as I pounded on the door.
My mother opened it up a minute later, surprised to see me, of course. “Is everything okay, dear? Are you feeling unwell?”
Oh right, I had just recently put down her offer of taking care of me here at home. I had to fake some kind of pain so she wouldn’t be suspicious. I dramatically pointed to my right arm, “Mom, I’m not feeling well. I kind of have a pain... uhmm... here…”
“But the doctor said that you don’t have a broken bone,” she said as she looked worriedly at my right arm. I should have rubbed it a little before for it to look a bit reddish.
“Uhmm... muscle pain! Yes, that one. Not that bad but can I stay over for a while?” I asked, still pretending that my arm was painful.
“It’s okay, dear. You can stay here anytime,” my mom assured me.
“Is Dad home?” I asked her, looking inside.
“He will be around at six,” she answered.
Even now, my dad still worked late though he wasn’t that young anymore. He was a college professor in a university nearby and it was his life-long passion. Well, aside from his other passions to which I was undoubtedly included, like for example, getting me married or something.
I sighed.
And with my dad being that way, it would be the same old thing again. For a moment, I wished that Dad wouldn’t be coming home today. I was certain that he would give me a long sermon the moment he’d see me. I should have brought one of my rings and maybe tell him that I was going to be married soon. Or perhaps the cleverest thing to do was to grab my things and head off as soon as I got what I wanted. Yeah, the latter was definitely a good idea. It sounded so much better than hearing Dad’s sermon.
Trust me, it wasn’t a good one.
“Do you want something to eat?” asked Mom as she closed the door when I entered in.
“I’ll come down later. I’ll go get something from my room first,” I said to her and then headed upstairs to where my old room was.
It was the same old path I’d taken to and fro for years and it surely brought back warm memories. I opened the door and removed the white cloth that covered my bookcase. I coughed a little as I inhaled some of the dust that fell off. I guessed that it couldn’t be help because my room hadn’t been used for years. Same old place where my bed was positioned. The same old things I’d kept before. It was only I who somewhat had changed.
I traced the desk with my fingers, reminiscing the times when I used to sit here all day and write things out in my diary. That was my answer—my diary. I hadn’t used it since I was in my fourth year in the university. But it did keep record of the previous years, which I was certain included that certain person that fortune teller was talking about.
And after all those years of writing from way back then, it became kind of piled up by now. I had a dozen of journals in my room. I grabbed one from the bookcase and looked carefully at the date, making something from the smudged writings.
Nope, not this one.
I put it back and grabbed the next one beside it.
High school.
Okay, maybe I’d start with this.
I pulled the rest of my high school journals up to the one that touched my first days in college and put everything in my bag. I would read it later and bring it with me back to my apartment. I thought that maybe I would be in need of some reference as I pressed on my journey of finding out the culprit for my bad luck.
When I went downstairs, I saw my dad looking straight at me. And he was like the last person on earth I wanted to see right now. Not after the break-up with Aaron.
“So you’ve actually found some time to visit us,” he said.
I hurried to his side and planted a kiss on his cheek. There, that would do the trick. I was the youngest of four and my daddy’s favorite since I was the only girl. And yes, he was worried because of all that. All my brothers were happily married by now and already had a fami
ly of their own. I was the only one who had been left behind. No child to carry around. It was not as if I had chosen this kind of life myself. If it wasn’t for that stupid luck, I should be the happiest person on earth by now.
Hello? Valentine’s Day proposal?
“What’s with the bag? I thought you were staying for dinner?” asked Mom as she eyed the bag that I was carrying. I looked at myself and realized that I looked like I was about to knock off any moment soon.
Well, I was planning not to stay. But since it turned out this way, I guessed I couldn’t help it. Dad would start the sermon anytime now. I put down my bag and told them, “I’m going to sleep here. It’s kind of dusty upstairs.”
“I haven’t known that you’ll be coming over so I haven’t cleaned your room for long,” said Mom as she got dinner ready.
“I’m okay on the sofa,” I assured her, smiling wildly as I patted the soft cushion.
“What about your arm?” she asked worriedly. “Will you be all right? You can sleep in our room or we can clean your bed if you want.”
“Oh, my arm’s okay now,” I said as I raised my right arm. “See? All better.”
My mom nodded silently for a while, unconvinced. “If you say so, honey.”
She disappeared to the kitchen and I followed her. Between Dad and Mom with regards to the situation, I’d definitely choose Mom in a heartbeat. I helped her get the dishes and put it on the table. After getting everything ready, Mom called my dad to join us. Then we said a prayer and started eating.
The silence persisted longer than expected. It had been two minutes and my dad wasn’t still saying a word. I tapped my foot under the table as I awaited my dad’s long speech. And then after a count of twenty, it began, “Kayla, when are you going to settle down with Aaron?”
And I was so glad that I already prepared an answer for that. I managed to devise something while I got the table ready a while ago. I gulped some water and cleared my throat before I answered, “Actually Dad, I broke up with him a year ago.”
My Dad choked on his food.
“But I got engaged to some good guy out there. We’re planning to get married this year if everything goes well,” I hurriedly told him the rest of my story as my mom patted him on the back.
He choked again on his food.
Was my story that bad?
“Aren’t you happy for me and...” I needed back-up.
Names, Kayla. Think.
“His name is John and he’s a...” I paused. Seriously? Did I have to run out of stories now? I never thought my dad would actually find my story so untruthful and surprising. But gladly, after minutes of fiddling with my fingers, a thought came into mind. “He’s a hotelier. Yes, and he’s single, of course. Why will I marry a married man, right? And then... he’ll be... married... yes, married to me this year.”
I had no clue where that hotelier came from. But it sounded nice so I might as well use that. Actually, I had this fancy thought of marrying a rich man who owned a hotel. And then I’d be walking down the halls of that prestigious hotel in my heels and ordering people around since I’d technically be the wife of Mr. Hotelier or something. If not, then I guessed I’d be into marrying the next president. Wait, then he would be kind of old. Or maybe a future president who had a telecommunication company as of the moment?
Or just Aaron. I mean he had a nice job and I loved him so much.
My mom passed a glass of water to Dad. My dad hurriedly gulped it all. He then cleared his throat and asked bluntly, “Are you making up a story?”
Shoot! He saw through it all.
Okay, so my Dad could easily read me off. That was a given. There was no point in lying. I grew up to be a daddy’s girl after all. And thus, after so much effort in putting up a story, I finally admitted, “Uhmm... yes?”
“Is everything alright, dear?” asked Mom. “What happened to Aaron?”
“We broke up last night,” I said and instantly sunk lower in my seat. Did we really have to talk about it right now? As far as I knew, I was still in the process of getting over the guy. And it had only been a day or so.
Mom hurried to my side and brushed my hair. “Are you okay?”
Okay, so I hated it when she did that. I always felt like bawling my eyes out whenever my mom softly caressed my hair to comfort me. But I disliked crying in front of anyone and detested showing off my weakness.
Those were unnecessary.
“Of course, I’m okay. Pfft... I’m fine!” Yeah, it was no big deal. Aaron and I had only been together for two years. And I was already twenty-eight. He also cheated on me to top all that. Oh, did I mention that he was getting married or rather already married by now? Not a big deal indeed. I would be fine.
Totally.
Yeah, that must be so but things would change once I got my hand on the freak who put this curse on me. I would soon get pass through all this mess and Aaron would be coming back. I believed that he ran off his wedding and would soon decide to look for me instead. And then I would get all my money back. And if everything would go really well, I would find a new job, too.
Perfect!
I convinced myself full well about my fated happy life. But suddenly, I felt the corner of my eyes moistened as my mom hugged me from behind.
Why the hug, Mom?
And so I had to make an excuse before I’d bawl my eyes out here. I hurriedly grabbed my phone out of my pocket. The two could think that I had a telepathic ringing tone that was why they didn’t hear it. Then I started to fake a conversation, “Hello? Yes, Kayla here. What? You haven’t finished it yet?”
Mom pulled back for a moment as I excused myself out of the table and talked on the phone like I was some angry boss who just found out that the presentation for tomorrow wasn’t finished yet. Then after a minute of nautical nonsense, I angrily put down the phone and impatiently tapped my head with my forefinger like the way my boss did yesterday. If there was one thing I learned from her, this was it. She was so good on being a ‘boss’.
“Is there anything wrong?” asked Dad as he watched my oblivious display of pretensions.
Hey, I could be a pretty good actress at times. This act sounded believable to them, I think. I mean, Dad didn’t say it in such manner as the one he used a moment ago.
I looked at him, still annoyed supposedly, and answered, “Yes, there are some problems at the office. I’m afraid I have to get back tonight.”
“Are you really leaving now?” asked Mom as she looked outside.
If there were owls in that big tree out in our front yard, then the owls would be doing owl sounds outside our house. And she must be worried about everything that I had gone through. But nevertheless they could rest assure that when I got my hands on whoever that was, I would atone for my sin and ask him to cast off his curse on me. It would be as simple as that and my luck would just flow back to me naturally.
I hugged both of them and said, “I’ll be visiting you guys some other time. I just got some more work to finish.”
Dad’s eyes grew sterner. Oops! Let me take that best actress award. It appeared that he wasn’t convinced. But he did let me go nevertheless. My mom was still worried about my ‘painful’ arm but I told her that it already got better when I saw her. She had a soft spot for that. I said goodbye once again and hurried outside towards the bus station. Good thing I managed to get on the last trip.
When I got on the bus, I hurriedly look into the first journal. I had this feeling like I’d be dead in the streets if I wouldn’t be able to find out the identity of that person. This person had to have a valid excuse for making my life this miserable. Or else, I’d hunt him down and make him pay. And then in turn he’d use his super magical powers and make me pay again.
Fine. I would just ask for forgiveness if that would all it takes for me to have my perfect life back. It was going well as planned until the curse came.
I started scanning the pages, looking intently for any guy’s name. There wasn’t many. I mean, I was
a pretty faithful girl so my relationships lasted longer than a few weeks. Then finally, after a long and seemingly futile search, I came across the first name—Carter Ross.
Chapter 4
September 21, 1997
Dear Diary,
Carter Ross smiled at me this morning. I was like whoa! I mean he’s the cutest and the most popular guy in school and he noticed me! I can’t stop giggling... oh my gosh, what if he asks me out? Should I say yes right away? I think I will. Whatever they say, I think I will. I don’t what to do and I can’t even sleep a wink.
Yours forever,
Kayla
Carter Ross.
A dark aura dampened my not-so-good mood even more as I recalled his name again. How could I ever forget him? He was the jock who dumped me for a not-so-hot cheerleader who was also my ‘friend’. And even now I couldn’t find the heart to forgive him. I let out a sigh as the events of the past came back. This was the kind of time when I actually wished that my memories of him were erased permanently. If there was such a thing like that, tell me, for I would trade anything for it.
I detested that guy to the core.
Momentarily pulling me out of my surging hatred, the bus came to its final stop. I found my way down across the group of people who hovered around. And like me, they were all trying to get out of the bus right away. I kind of squeezed myself out, which of course, annoyed most of them. But I was kind of in a hurry so they had to understand. I was certain they didn’t have this life and death situation like I did. And after what it felt like a long time, I was finally out of the crammed bus.
My feet reached the pavement of the streets of New Waulds and I breathed in for air. I opened the diary that I’d been holding for quite some time now. Then I flipped on the pages some more as I trod down the pavement back to my apartment.
All the other entries were about that jerk. I couldn’t believe that I had spent so much time and effort on him. He was not totally worth it.
My Kind of Perfect Page 4