“I just want you to be happy, Kayla. If this makes you happy, I will have nothing against it,” he said in a calm voice.
“Yeah, isn’t it your dream to have me wed to someone?” I said, kidding.
“Is it?” he playfully asked, lightening up the mood.
“Yes, it has been that way for years,” I answered. A smile brightened up in his face and I replied back with one as well. Then he straightened his face again and he was back to how he had always been.
“Do you love the lucky man?” asked Dad, meeting my gaze.
My eyes instantly went sideways as I lied, “Yes, I do.”
I knew that he wasn’t convinced. But like always, I was certain that he would let me off the hook. Just this time. And he said, “I trust you, Kayla. I know that you are making the right choice. But if anything goes wrong, just give us a call, okay?”
“I will,” I said, though I really hoped that nothing would go wrong.
“So... you’re really married?”
“I guess,” I skeptically said, shrugging off my shoulders. “But enough about this. Let’s head out and join everyone.”
Thankfully, he agreed.
I led Dad outside, dragging him along to prevent him from asking anymore questions. But as soon as we got out of the door, John appeared in front of us and asked, “How do you do, sir? Can I talk to Kayla for a while?”
“Talk?” I echoed.
“You may, young man. But after that, can you have a word with me?”
“Of course,” John nervously replied.
He was up for some unnecessary talks.
I pulled John along before Dad would change his mind and give him the lecture for like right now. When we were in a safe distance, he said, “This doesn’t sound good.”
“What?”
“My grandma and your mom, they’re talking about...” I saw that he was having a hard time saying the words.
“About?” I asked.
“Ho... Ho...” he stumbled. Frustrations crept up on his face as he was struggling to let it out.
Was he in a festive mood right now? December was way off to the other side of the calendar for him to be saying ho ho ho. I narrowed my eyes as he was trying to get the words out of his mouth. In another moment, which I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to happen, he finally said it.
And trust me, it wasn’t such a pleasant thing to hear.
Chapter 11
“Honeymoon!” I exclaimed and John instantly covered my mouth. I tried struggling but he held his hand firmly. Unpleasant things flooded my mind and I was horrified by what I was thinking.
John and I in a honeymoon?
“Is there anything wrong out there?” I heard my mom’s voice from afar, worried and prying at the same time.
“No problem around here, Mrs. Wilson,” John instantly replied, saving me all the trouble of creating another snag.
I struggled and freed myself from his grip. This time around, I lowered down my voice and hissed, “What are you saying? There's no honeymoon in the contract!”
“I know. I know. But your mother keeps on asking where we are going for the honeymoon. And my grandma...” he faltered, shaking his head in disbelief. “She...”
“Just what did your grandmother do yet again?”
“She told your mom that we're going to Lorkandas Mountains.”
I blinked twice, thinking if I heard him right. Mountains. Why was I included in something that involved a mountain? It didn’t seem to fit at all.
I faltered, “Uhmm... Lorka... what?”
“Lorkandas Mountains,” he clarified.
Oh I was doomed!
It was mountains indeed. My perfect ears heard them right. I was bound to be sent to the mountains by those people who wanted to do me nothing but absolute harm. Were they planning on abandoning me there or something?
“Why are we going to mountains?” I sneered. “And first of all, why are we going to a honeymoon?”
“Your mom and Grandma. Can't you see the connection between the two?” he emphasized.
Mom and his grandma planning our 'romantic' getaway meant danger and harm followed by a total disaster. Why was my luck still bad? I already did everything I could to gain his forgiveness.
And so I exclaimed, “We have to do something!”
He nodded and we both walked, more like ran, towards the table where my mother and Dorothy were happily sipping their cup of tea while looking at a wedding magazine. And to my horror, the two were blissfully looking at the pages while chit chatting about our upcoming ‘honeymoon’. Giggles and laughter filled the fuzzy air.
“Oh, and look here. Kayla's fond of these horoscopes. Let's see hers for today,” said my mother as she scanned the page and read out loud, “It's a great time for festivities and celebration. Don't forget to see the end of everything you do. No happy times should be taken for granted.”
“Is she?” added Dorothy. “Then I guess her horoscope fits her perfectly. This is such a festive time indeed.”
Shortly after, they noticed us standing a little farther away from the table. And instantly, they all looked very worried. Well, let me rephrase that by saying that my mom and Dad were sincerely worried and Dorothy, well, she was, I was certain, only acting worried. If they saw us both turned into something white as corpse, that would explain everything.
“Are you two okay?” asked my mom.
I instantly thought of an answer because I knew that prolonging it would not do us any good. The honeymoon part hadn't fully sunk in yet but I reminded myself that this was all an act. I caught a deep breath and answered, “We're okay, just a little bit... excited... yeah, the honeymoon and stuff!”
“Your voice is shaking, you must be thrilled,” the 'evil' Dorothy teased. I was positive that she added that part to let the situation liven up a little more and make me a lot miserable than how I was now. I threw her a meaningful glance and she smiled back at me, as if telling me to play my part well.
“I'm quite thrilled with us going to...” I was trying to sound as excited as I could possibly be, only to be taken back by my sudden lapse of memory of the name of the place. I was certain that it was because I had no interest with it from the start. Uninteresting things had their own way of escaping my mind with no effort at all.
“Lorkandas Mountains,” John finished for me.
“Oh yes, Lorkandas Mountains it is,” I said with a forced smile. I tried my hardest to sound genuinely happy, but it was like I only added a little bit of squeakiness to my normal voice.
“It's also the first time that I've heard about it. But Dorothy seems to know a lot about that place. She also has some beautiful pictures here,” said Mom as she was looking at some photos that were scattered on the table, besides the magazines.
“Pictures?” I asked, blinking twice. Did she plan this from the start? I shook my head in skepticism. I couldn’t believe that she had prepared everything—including the honeymoon!
“Yes, see it for yourself. She said that it was a surprise for both of you,” said my mother.
I sarcastically replied, “It is. It really is. We’re surprised! Look at us!”
I heard a soft laugh escaped Dorothy's mouth. She must be amused with us playing on her charade. For the most part, she had done a fine job in making us go along with her plans. And for that sole reason, I hated her even more.
My mom handed me the photos, and I looked into it. It was pretty. If only everything was real, this set up was perfect. “The place looks nice.”
“It sure is. I haven't been there for a while. We own that resort up on that mountain,” she told us. “And you got the place for yourself for a week or even months if you wanted to.”
“A day will do,” I carelessly replied, only to be met by judgmental eyes the next moment. “I mean, weeks... or months sound even better. Why don’t we stay there for a year? What about our whole lives?”
I wanted to barf.
“Sounds like a great plan!” answ
ered Dorothy.
Then instantly, the guy who was still frozen in place beside me came into mind. I locked my arms with his and told my parents, “But Johnny here still got a lot of work to do. He owns a hotel after all. So we can't really stay that long.”
“But I'm sure we can work it out. I can take his place for a while or someone else could,” Dorothy offered. I narrowed my eyes in dismay. Of course, she would do everything to make me miserable.
Then as if coming to my rescue, John said, “Grandma, we can enjoy ourselves for a couple of days and head back home. I still have a lot of work to finish. And you should just rest at home and leave all that to me.”
“The boy makes sense,” added Dad, taking in consideration the importance of not abandoning your job. My dad had a thing for that kind of stuff.
“Alright, a couple of days it is,” said Dorothy, but that plastered smile on her face bothered me to the core. It was as if she had agreed to what John said but at the same time implying that she had another plan in mind.
“Oh, that's good to hear. Just enjoy yourselves out there and you'll have a pleasant memory to remember by when you get older,” said my mother.
Get older? Who would get older with who?
The feeling that you wanted to correct the wrong assumptions that other had on you surged up on my chest. But I forced myself to calm down and faked a smile on my face instead. Calm down. Now.
“I think we should take our leave,” my dad finally said.
I exhaled. Oh for goodness sake, they had decided to head home. “That's a good idea,” I encouraged.
“Don't you want to stay for dinner?” offered Dorothy, again, she and her 'evil' plans.
“It was nice of you to offer all that but I'm afraid we have to go home now. We kind of left things in a hurry,” said Mom.
“We're hoping that you two will pay us a visit when you get back from your trip,” said Dad, still looking at us doubtfully.
“Of course, sir,” replied John.
“And we'd love to hear your stories from your honeymoon,” added Mom. But there would be no stories. If there would be one, it might, perchance, involve me killing John out of sheer displeasure.
In another while, they were finally out of sight. Mom and Dad were taken back by one of Dorothy's limousine. And with that, I was finally relieved. At last, I could stop pretending. I was waiting for that moment for like forever.
I pulled my arms from John's and exasperatingly said, “Stop touching me!”
He seemed baffled and said back, “You were the one who linked your arms with mine.”
“I did not!” I argued, although I fully recalled that he was right. But still, I just couldn’t let myself admit it.
“You two can stop arguing and head upstairs and put on some new clothes,” said Dorothy before saying another ‘evil’ word again to her sidekick—men-in-black Nate.
“What for?” asked John.
Dorothy looked up to both of us and said in a manner-of-fact-way, “Your honeymoon.”
“Excuse me?” I said. “Do you think we'll go on with that honeymoon plan of yours?”
“You won't?” she asked, raising one her eyebrows. I shook my head firmly. Then she added, “Nate, the phone please.”
“Who are you gonna call?” I asked her.
“Your mother,” she answered and started dialing some numbers.
“Wait!” I said, grabbing the phone from her. “Okay, so we're going to change our clothes and head off for some vacation.”
She was good at all this blackmailing of hers and definitely a pro in torturing me. I said to myself to just endure it for a while. Everything would be through and I would soon walk away as the luckiest girl in the world.
And so, with Dorothy still looking at us and waiting for the two of us to get moving, I dragged John upstairs, only to let him lead the way as soon we arrived at the second floor. As much as I wanted to be all knowing and such, sometimes, an unfamiliar household would still get in the way.
“Where's the room that she was talking about earlier?” I asked him.
John sighed before leading the way and stopping at the room beside the humongous window. “Here's my room.”
He opened the door and I followed him in. The inside was... extravagant. Okay, so really, I had to remind myself to expect that much every time I was about to see something new in their place. It would do me so much good like keeping my mouth closed instead of let it hung in the air. All their things were grand, expensive, or just plain jaw dropping awesome.
And as Dorothy said earlier, there were two single beds that were placed a little closer than what I expected. The moment I noticed it, I said, “John, don't you think the beds are placed a little closer than the usual?”
“Now that you've mentioned it,” he said, examining the small gap even closely. “You’re right.”
I tried walking in between. Then with my most intelligent, kind of obvious deduction, I said, “Only a single person can fit in here.”
“Grandma's doing. No wonder,” he replied. “But don't worry, there's the other side of the bed for that.”
I nodded and replied, “Maybe we should be thankful that she didn't place huge closets on the outer side of the beds.”
Then we heard a knock coming from the door. In a while, Nate said, “Ms. Brooks is waiting for the two of you. She said that she's giving you five minutes to get change and head downstairs.”
“Five minutes?” I blurted out. “Do I even have clothes in this room?”
“Fortunately, you do,” said John as he was examining the contents of one of the closets at the far side of the room. “Even I don't have any idea where all this came from.”
“Are you sure you don’t know a thing about this? For all I know, this could be your plan all along,” I said, searching his eyes for my answer.
He got that look like he couldn’t believe I was saying all that. Then he said, “Don’t you think you already know the answer?”
I shrugged my shoulders and went to his side and saw the vast amount of ladies clothes in the closet. “Are you sure this is mine?”
“If not yours, then who else will it belong to? It can’t be mine,” said John as he opened the other closet and grabbed a set of clothes.
I gulped.
I never had such expensive brands being named as mine. This was surreal, like I was living in a dream. “Are you sure?”
He didn't answer.
But instead it was Nate's voice who echoed from across the hall outside, “Two more minutes.”
I snapped back to reality and mentally slapped myself for fantasizing about all this. Then I instantly grabbed the first pair of clothes I had set my eyes on and headed towards the bathroom. Two more minutes and I would be up to no good again.
Chapter 12
“Just how long do they plan to follow us?” I asked John, looking back to the car that was trailing us behind. It was still moving in that slow yet quirky and infuriating way.
He answered, “I have no idea. Maybe you want to go down and ask them instead.”
I rolled my eyes in disbelief and continued sulking as I sunk even lower in my seat. We had been driving for several hours by now, and Dorothy and his men were still escorting us all this while.
Why couldn't they just leave us alone? Didn't they know the meaning of the word freedom? Oh right, Dorothy-wise, she hadn't even learned the meaning of the word privacy. So definitely, she had no clue what freedom or free will was all about.
Since yesterday, all we did was follow her orders like some programmed robot obeying their master without a complaint. And this was the first time that a thing like this ever happened to me. Kayla Wilson was now obeying someone against her will. Good heavens, I must be gifted with such a pure heart for me to do so.
Cha Ching. Cha Ching.
No, it was not the money I was after. All I did was try to lift of the curse that was ruthlessly imparted to me by this nerd. And the money involved was just a bonus sin
ce I had succeeded in asking John’s forgiveness and undoubtedly got my luck back and everything.
I tapped my fingers impatiently on my arms, forcing the previous thoughts out of my mind. I was preventing my comely mind from being corrupted with material thoughts and things that somehow pointed out that I was a dreadful person.
Which clearly I wasn’t.
After another long minute, I asked John again, “Are we there yet?”
“No clue. I don't even know where we're heading. It's also my first time going to that place,” he said, holding the wheel firmly. And even though he was trying to hide it, my perfect eyes saw the yawn that he let out.
“Don't fall asleep while driving,” I reminded him, looking at him intently.
He widened his eyes before rubbing it twice. “I'm not sleeping.”
“And lower your speed,” I reminded him again. Ever since he held that wheel, all he did was speed up whenever I wasn’t looking.
“We're already as slow as those cows out there. Even if I doze off for several minutes, we still won't hit the car in front,” he said, pointing outside to the innocent cows to which our decent speed was compared to.
“It is better safe than sorry,” I murmured. “And we're not as slow as them.”
He let out a long sigh, finally giving up the fight. I looked outside and watched the grazing cows. And really, they were slower than us. Johnny here was just exaggerating. Our speed was fine.
“Can we go a little faster?” he tried asking again, almost pleading.
“Not a chance. Just drive,” I replied, closing my eyes and telling myself to understand the situation. John really had a thing for driving fast, which of course, never failed to scare me from way back then. He should thank me for my utmost concern.
I was just keeping us safe from danger.
A loud screech of the brakes disrupted my thoughts. Forcing my eyes shut, I held on tightly to my seat. Were we going to die? Did we hit a meteorite? Or rather, a meteorite hit us? I let my thoughts calm down first before I opened my eyes again and saw that we, like what I was telling him over and over again to be careful with, almost hit the car in front of us. And he said that we couldn't possibly hit the car in front!
My Kind of Perfect Page 11