My Kind of Perfect

by Lockheart, Freesia

  Who wouldn't be scared of that?

  “A thousand for one touch.”

  “A thousand for a touch?” he echoed.

  “Yes, a thousand,” I repeated.

  “For one touch?”

  I nodded.

  Contrary to the scared face that I expected, a grin formed on his face. “What about a hug?”

  Hug? I already felt shivers down my skin just thinking about Johnny here giving me a hug. And so I blurted, “A hundred thousand.”

  He narrowed his eyes a bit as he moved up close. I felt a flush creeping down my face. Seeing him from this distance, I was forced to take in how he was scrupulously handsome. I moved back a little as I started to have some funny thoughts of him kissing me out of nowhere.

  And as if reading my thoughts, he teased me even more when he said, “How about the price for a kiss?”

  I pushed him hard, making him lose his balance for a while. It was also kind of funny that after pushing him, I suddenly felt the need to prevent him from falling. Talk about feeling your conscience speaking directly to you.

  After he regained his balance, I shouted, “Stop doing that!”

  He laughed. “Doing what?”

  “That!” I said.

  Whoever was this man, he sounded a lot different that the Johnny I once knew. He turned into someone else. Johnny never teased me like that and Johnny never made my heart beat like that.

  “So it's true that girls freak out when you do something like that,” he said, as if he was stating that his experiment was an utter success.

  “Who freaked out? I'm not freaking out,” I defended.

  “Hmm... looks like you do,” he said, examining me from head to toe.

  “Stop staring! Stop doing anything!” I said, feeling even more crimson by the minute.

  “And the price for the kiss, I'm waiting for that,” he said out of the blue, making the situation more awkward than before.

  “It's a million!” I exclaimed.

  “Okay, you said it, right?” he asked me again. Then before I could even answer, he said, “Then, it's a deal.”

  I blinked twice before realizing the meaning of the hint of laughter in his eyes. Oh, crap! I totally forgot that he was the General Manager of Burchett Hotel. And those kind of guys could afford prices like that.

  Why all this trouble?

  “About that... let's double or triple the price!” But instead of answering me, he started to go down. I hurriedly followed him down as I said, “John, listen...”

  I stopped midway because I was trying to land my foot on the next branch, only to realize that there wasn't any. The branch was broken, probably when John went down a while ago. I looked down and saw that I was still some feet away from the ground. Thinking that I would get a sprain if I would jump from where I was, I pondered for a while on what to do. Johnny seemed to notice that I was not talking anymore, so he looked back.

  “What are you doing? Jump,” he said as soon as he saw me.

  “I'll get a sprain if I do that,” I said back to him.

  He closed his eyes, as if containing himself, then exhaled before he walked back towards where I was. If you translate it, it looked as if he said, ‘Can this girl be any more annoying than she already is?’

  Well, I didn’t want to get a sprain.

  I bent down, trying to step on the broken branch and see if I could still make use of it. So really, I was determined to do everything within my capability to get down by...

  Myself?

  I took that back as John carried me by the waist and placed me on the ground. I instantly froze in place, not being able to do or say anything. He carried me. Johnny carried me by the waist. I asked myself why I was feeling this way. I was supposed to be mad. But I wasn't. Instead, my heart was going wild beyond my consent.

  “Kayla?” he asked, waving a hand in front of me.

  I snapped back and needlessly said, “That's a thousand.”

  “Huh?”

  “You touched me. Pay me a thousand,” I said to him. I was still confused why I was acting this way but somehow I managed to say something. At least, he wouldn't notice that I was struggling with my thoughts.

  “Seriously?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I replied, still dozed off in space. Then I moved towards the tree and grabbed some sharp stone from the ground. I carved the deal together with the prices I said earlier and signed at the bottom. Handing the stone to him, I told him, “Now, sign here.”

  “That's the deal?” he asked again, just making sure of my sanity.

  “Yes, that's the proof that we signed a deal. If you ever do anything funny again...” I warned.

  “You mean if I don't pay you, you'll sue me with this tree?” he questioned.

  “Yeah, I will sue you using this tree,” I echoed back, pointing to the tree. “Don't worry. I'll bring a lawyer over to make everything legal.”

  “That sounds interesting,” he said, nodding his head. I watched as he laughed for a while. Nevertheless he placed his signature beneath the 'deal'. Now this would make a good headline: General of Burchett Hotel Signed a Deal with a Tree.

  But that was enough for me to believe that I somehow had something that I could make use of in preventing him from doing anything funny to me. Or so I supposed.

  I turned back and saw his laughing face as he shook his head while looking at the funny deal that was inscribed on the tree. The tender look in his gray eyes became more familiar by the minute, together with the sound of his laughter. It reminded me of everything we once were, of things that I'd rather wished had stayed and never changed.

  Then after looking at it for quite some time, he turned back, catching me off guard. “What?”

  But I knew that he hadn't got a clue on what I was thinking. For with another friendly gesture, he gently tapped my shoulder as he passed by me and said, “Let's get going, Kaye. It's getting dark.”

  “That's two thousand now,” I let the words slip my mouth, covering up my messed up thoughts.

  “Two thousand it is. Are you coming?”

  I exhaled. “Yes, I'm... coming.”

  Chapter 14

  “What happened to the two of you?” exclaimed Dorothy as soon as we came in sight, ditching the book that she was reading.

  Worry was evident in her eyes, as well as some kind of pity with our destitute state. But I wasn't sure about all that knowing how good an actress she was. However, she certainly appeared to be even more surprised than what I had imagined her to look. For a moment, as we were desperately trying to find our way up here, I also thought that she would be pleased more than surprised. Well, she should blame it on the fact that seeing me in any form of helpless state amused her.

  “Hi, Grandma,” muttered John half-heartedly.

  “Why are you covered in mud? And what's with the torn clothes?” she disbelievingly asked as her eyes went from him to me.

  “Hi, Dorothy,” I exhaled. Couldn't she just let it go and act as if she saw us with fine clothes and decent appearance? I wasn't fond of elaborating the exhausting events that had happened to our supposed to be honeymoon.

  “What happened? And where's the car?” she uttered again as she cut in between us and tried to find the missing car. If she would go all the way down the mountain and across those deadly trees and pass that mountain boar, she would find that ‘missing’ car.

  I let out a long sigh which in turn resounded by the worn-out man beside me. We walked away, leaving the confused Dorothy behind. I bet she was still trying to figure out what had happened.

  Pleasant good mornings were echoed from the staff of the hotel as we trod our way in. I found it kind of mirthful that even though I was certain that John was also as dead-tired as I was, he still greeted them back. If he was running for office, that would explain all that. But since he wasn't, was that for some kind of good deed that he used to do from way back then? He owned the place so he didn't need to act all that polite and courteous. He was paying everyone, an
d that alone should be enough.

  “Good morning. You're doing a great job,” I echoed what he was saying to each of the workers.

  I looked around and saw that I had been given disapproving looks by everyone. It seemed like they have had heard my supposed to be soundless mumbles.

  I shrugged. “I was just trying to be funny.”

  Then I saw one bratty girl rolled her eyes. And the others, well, they just kind of shook their heads in disagreement. And trying to make the funny situation worse was John who reproached what I did when he whispered to my ears, “I can still hear you from this distance. Can't you try to act a little nicer to everyone?”

  “I was just trying—” I said but he held me by the mouth and dragged me along.

  “My wife is just having a bad day, as you can all see. Tired and exhausted from all the...” he paused, giving it a thought, “...walking with mud all over.”

  I tried defending myself but his hold was firm and unmovable. I struggled but he hadn't given me a chance to say or do anything. He flinched with my acts but nonetheless continued his act of goodwill to all. Hastening his footsteps and dragging me along in a pace, we arrived in our room another second later. That was an exaggeration but we did arrive fast. As soon as we were inside the room, he let go of me.

  “What do you suppose you're doing?”

  “Why do you have to drag me that way? I have a set of feet of my own. I can walk. And you don't have the rights to hinder what I will do or what I will say,” I stated, holding my hands on my waist.

  “Just because you have those rights doesn't mean that you can just use it and disregard the rest of the world. You have to be nicer and treat other people with respect. Don't you know the saying that if you don't have anything nice to say, just zip it?”

  “As I said, I was just trying to be funny. It was not meant to be an insult,” I answered.

  “Then I guess you should know the meaning of the word ‘funny’. Cause from what I'd seen, no one, not even the birds in the sky, found it funny,” he said before heading off to the bathroom and shutting the door behind him in utter frustration.

  “What's got the birds in the sky got to do with me being funny?” I shouted back to him, making sure that he heard the last part of the argument.

  First the cows and then the birds, did he taken a liking to animals now? Tsk. And then I added, “Now that's three thousand, in case you forgot.”

  If he would continue doing all this, then I would certainly become an instant millionaire by the end of this stupid three-month contract. It was now all about the money and that foolish deal of Dorothy's.

  Oh yeah. Cha ching. Cha ching.

  I collapsed on the floor, feeling the exhaustion taking over. A moment later, as I was staring tiredly at my surroundings, there came a knock on the door. Not wanting to get up, I just let it slip by for a moment. Whoever that was could assume that the two people inside the room were in deep slumber.

  Nevertheless, impatience became evident as the knock was then accompanied by a voice. “John, Kayla, you two in there?”

  ‘No,’ I wanted to say. But really, how hard must it be for her to ask the ones outside and confirm that we were really in this room. I mean she already did a background check on me. So knowing that we were inside wouldn't be that hard for her.

  I lazily forced myself up and headed towards the door. The last thing in my list right now, after the long day we had since yesterday and John's bickering a while ago, was to hear another word from Dorothy.

  “Coming,” I said half-heartedly.

  In a while, I opened the door and saw, of course, Dorothy who was holding a piece of paper in her hands. Another paper. Seriously?

  “Hi dear, you haven't taken a bath yet?” she asked as her eyes scanned my mud-filled appearance.

  “Your grandson is not yet through. Can I use another bathroom?” I asked, hoping to get away from her this instant.

  “No, you guys will be sharing the same room for three months, remember?” she said to me as she welcomed herself in and sat on the sofa.

  “Can't we have at least different bathrooms?” I said again.

  “No, it's all about sharing things like some good old married couples,” she said back to me.

  “What's with the papers?” I curiously asked, realizing that I couldn't force her into anything.

  “Oh this? It's the contract. I'm carrying it with me today to remind you that you need to work on a little more on your pretending skills,” she uttered.

  “What about them?”

  “Well, you two seemed to be uhmm... how can I say this? More like sworn enemies than endearing couple. So as to avoid giving any buzz to the media, I'm here to remind the two of you to work on it,” she stated.

  “O-kay?” I murmured. We were not sworn enemies but that was a good point. We could use that term from now on. Because from the looks of it, we might end up being one.

  “Speaking of the media, John promised to give a statement concerning his sudden wedding, if you know what I mean. And you also have to make an appearance there, of course, as the wife,” she continued saying.

  I silently nodded.

  There was nothing much I could do anyway. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't go on and be frantic about all this. I had a contract that tied me to whatever the contents maybe. And that was not just the worst part because I still had Dorothy here, who was with us all the time, to ensure that her contract was being implemented the way she wanted to.

  “And for the first training with regards of you being his wife, we need to work on your social skills,” she said, listing down some things on another piece of paper.

  “Is this included in the contract?” I disbelievingly asked her.

  “Oh yes, if you go to page three...” she said, scanning the pages. “Oh, here it is.”

  She handed me the contract and like she said, something was written in there: I promise to do all that I can to be a proper wife of John in front of everyone. Proper? Was I not proper enough in her eyes?

  “I think all these trainings are unnecessary. I mean, I am proper enough for him, if you ask me,” I told her.

  “Well, that's why I'm not asking you. From what I’ve heard of a while ago, you acted a little hateful,” she said, holding my eyes.

  “Are you also here to lecture me to be a little nicer to everyone?”

  “Exactly,” she said. “That's the first and foremost quality of a notable person's wife.”

  “And I should be that way too?”

  “Of course, you know the deal,” she said to me, fanning the paper in front of her face.

  “But really, I think I'm nice enough.”

  “No, trust me. You're far from the word nice,” she blandly said.

  She must be blind. I was nice.

  As we were talking, the bathroom door opened and emerged a freshly showered John. He was wearing a robe but I felt my cheeks getting flushed. And the most disbelieving thing that had happened was that I nervously took my eyes off him—with heart seriously pounding wildly. This contract was driving me insane. It just made me lose half of my mind. And in turn, here I was, being flared up with a nerd.

  “What's wrong, dear? The bathroom's free. Don't you want to get rid of all that dirt?” suggested Dorothy.

  With the reminder—and John’s toweled body—I nodded and dashed off towards the bathroom. And the last thing I heard before the door was shut closed was John asking Dorothy what was wrong with me.

  He had no idea that for me, everything was going wrong.

  Later, after a long hour clearing of my head, Dorothy was, as she had been from the moment the contract had been finalized, right behind me again. Talking. Endlessly blabbering nonsense.

  “Slow down, don't forget your manners,” Dorothy reminded for the nth time already.

  “I am,” I hissed and flashed a smile to one of the staff who seemed to be preoccupied with watching us.

  “Keep that smile,” Dorothy whispered to me befo
re putting the piece of steak in her mouth. She never failed to make my life more miserable as it could possibly be. Everything about the so called norms of this society, which she stated that I failed to have, she lectured it to me one by one. And well, as for John, he found it yet again amusing that I was having a hard time with all this.

  At the end of the night, after a few more lectures, John and I were finally led to our room. And to my relief, in that place secured from peering eyes, I could be myself once more. I instantly collapsed on the bed as soon as we got in.

  “Are you that tired?” John asked, as he placed his suit on the rack.

  “Hmm...” I said as I burrowed my face on the pillow.

  He had no idea how hard it was to listen to Dorothy all day long. And right now, it felt like her words were still being echoed continuously in my head. Trust me, it wasn't pleasant at all.

  Kayla, your walk.

  “And it’s just starting,” said John.

  Kayla, keep your mouth shut.

  “There’s still...” he paused.

  Kayla, don’t roll your eyes.

  “A lot... a whole lot...”

  Kayla! Kayla! Kayla!

  “...for you to learn after all,” he uttered.

  I pulled myself up. Even when I closed my eyes, I could still hear Dorothy loud and clear, exactly like the way she was going on all day. I looked at John and threw him a disdain look. He replied with a shrug.

  I said, “I've got nothing to learn. I'm perfect.”

  “Yeah, right,” he said, grabbing some clothes.

  “I do,” I argued as I pulled myself up.

  “If you say so,” he answered before disappearing to the bathroom.

  What was with him and not believing me all the time? I looked around and saw his laptop left open. I opened my email to see if there was some kind of good news coming along now that I had my luck back. And as soon as I opened it, a load of new mails met me.

  Where did all these come from?

  I scanned through everything. Most of it came from Facebook so I opened my account and saw a hundred notifications. I had been away for only a week and it had been this many. And to my dismay, every single one of them contained the word 'marriage'. And they were from people I know to other whom I hadn't known existed but were listed on my friends list.