My Perfect Lady

Quickly pulling away, while she stared indignantly at Jim, Miya asked, "And how long has it been going on?"

Jim saw Miya"s face go red, and couldn"t help the grin that spread on his lips. Smirking, he replied, "The flirting? For quite some time, my dear."

"And when did it start?"

"The morning of my birthday."

"I knew you were lying when you said the peck-on-cheek was practice!"

"Ah, finally, you understand."

Miya was caught between being surprised, wanting to kick him, and laughing out loud. And then, another question struck her. She frowned, stared into his eyes, and asked again, "And what about that?"

"About what?"

The missus bit her lip. She blushed furiously too, and then gave a quick, pointed glance at his belly b.u.t.ton, the below-the-waist area.

"That," she said.

Jim was caught off guard. A faint blush crept up his own skin too, and he looked away.

Sh*t. He hadn"t expected that.

"Oh… that," he mumbled meekly, "Since the first time we kissed. Back in –"

"Thirteen years ago?!" Miya"s jaw had dropped. Jim turned scarlet.

"W-Well," he murmured again, "That"s the first time I… you know. Felt that way."

Okay…

Miya"s own face turned redder than a tomato, and she pressed her palm to her mouth. Despite the surge in her heart beat, she still had to control the strange flutter in her stomach. She pulled back completely, not looking at him at all.

Jim too turned quiet.

When a minute of awkward silence prevailed, Miya told him in a hesitant whisper, "I-I think you should change."

Jim walked away with a quick, "Y-Yeah."

They both had a very quiet dinner.

Miya"s heart was still in a flurry, and every now and then, her gaze landed on the young master. Jim was so resolutely looking at his plate, he could have dug a hole in it by his glare alone. He could feel the missus"s eyes on him, but somehow, he didn"t look up.

Boy. This conversation was going to be hard.

It was well past midnight when finally, they both fell out of things to do. Miya had, in the meanwhile, stalked the young master"s every move with her eyes. She had also cursed herself internally for behaving like an idiot, but her gaze had still followed the young man. And Jim had been too aware of the fact. The atmosphere between them was too awkward, else he could have at least enjoyed the silent attention.

Right now, he was just distressed.

How were they going to start, if this went on?

Frowning, and reminding himself that he was the high and mighty Jimmy Hunter, he decided to call out the missus.

And so, clearing his throat, he said, "Miya."

Miya had finally resorted to drinking water directly out of a bottle in the refrigerator. When she heard Jim"s voice, she turned around reflexively.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Come here, please."

Miya was ready to punch her heart for pounding against her chest so hard. Did it have to do that, every time Jim just looked at her? It was unacceptable!

Grudgingly, she walked towards him.

What they hadn"t expected though, was the one bar of soap that had been messing things up since morning. Miya"s foot fell on it. She would have slipped, but Jim was quick to catch on. With one hurried step, he bridged the distance between them, and managed to grab her hand. Miya almost tumbled face down, but Jim put his other hand on her stomach for support.

"Miya," he was then on alert, immediately asking in worry, "Are you alright?"

She looked up at his face, and couldn"t help an exasperated smile.

"This soap is like Karma," she remarked, and Jim rolled his eyes.

"Why hasn"t the room been cleaned though?" he asked. Miya shrugged.

"I don"t know. It doesn"t matter anyhow."

Jim frowned at her response, and was about to let her go, when he realized his hand was on her torso. Instinctively, the events from sometime before flashed before him, and the image of Miya freezing in his hold fixated in his mind. He looked into her eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

His look confused her.

Miya was about to say "Of course", when she felt the slight tremor of the young master"s hand on her stomach. Oh…

She recalled the incident too.

Her heart suddenly stopped. She nodded her head silently.

Jim breathed.

"Sit."

Miya sat at the edge of the bed obediently. Jim pulled over a chair and sat before her. Then he fixed his gaze on her head, as she stared at her thighs. Miya was afraid.

Jim didn"t say a word, but she could feel his eyes burning through her as well. Steeling her heart, she looked up at him.

She was met with eyes that were kind like a gentle wind, resounding with that emotion she still was afraid to define. Why did he look at her like that?

Miya let go of her breath.

Then barely matching the intensity of his eyes, she whispered, "How much do you know?"

That took Jim by surprise. His expression fazed, but he held her gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you must have investigated."

That was a sucker punch in his gut. Jim"s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach, and his face blackened. A storm rose in his eyes, but he calmed himself down.

"I –"

"Don"t explain. I would be surprised if you hadn"t."

"It"s a breach of your privacy. I"m sor –"

"I married the C.E.O. of Hunter Corporation, Jimmy. Why would you apologize for doing your job? I would have done the same, if I were you."

Her words were sincere, but Jimmy felt like biting his tongue.

"Miya, I –"

"I just want to know how much you know, Jim. It would be easier that way."

Jimmy sighed.

"Just bits and pieces. Nothing that I believe."

"Why?"

"Or refuse to believe."

She nodded.

Miya took in a deep breath, and fixed her gaze on her thighs again. A slight tremble went through her body, but before she could talk, Jim felt obligated to share just one vital piece of information.

"I stopped it though." He said.

Her reaction was instant. Miya looked up at him with wide eyes, her look sharp. Jim nodded in response.

"Whatever I did find out, was on the night we took a ride around the Hunter estate. I stopped the investigation then, and we flew to Country S. You can chose to not believe me. But that is the truth."

Miya"s lips trembled.

"Why?"

"I wanted to know all about you. But from you."

She didn"t know what she felt. Her heart clenched, and she couldn"t breathe. Her throat tightened at his words, and somehow, she felt like crying.

Miya let go of the breath that she had been holding in for too long. Then looking away, she replied, "I believe you."

Jim"s own racing heart calmed down.

"When did you figure it out?" he asked. Her response was simple.

"Before… when I locked myself in the bathroom."

Oh…

So that"s why she had refused to come out.

Silence pervaded amid them again. It wasn"t awkward, but was dense like a looming black cloud. It hung between them threateningly, like a premonition of something ominous.

Miya was ready.

"I was born in a remote village situated in the far east of Country I," she began by way of introduction, "Its name is Lang. I was born on September 26th, 1991. I"ll turn 27 in two months."

Jim nodded. He knew that.

"I-I was a very quiet child."

Jim nodded again.

"M-My childhood…"

Jim saw the darkness spread on her face. Her body had begun to tremble. She had clenched her fists, intertwined them together in a knot. Her voice shook. Instinctively, Jim leaned over and placed his hands on hers.

That calmed her somewhat.

Miya let it go in a single breath.

"It was h.e.l.l," she murmured, "M-My mother was sickly and weak, but a raging alcoholic. Tao… that"s the name of my father. He was unemployed. And a dishonest gambler. For as long as I can remember, they were always fighting."

Miya trembled again.

"You don"t know what it"s like, Jimmy… We were very poor. There was never enough money. Kanashii would work day and night, but she would drink it all away. Tao lost something in a gamble every day. When they returned home, our house was a battlefield."

Jim"s voice was quiet.

"Kanashii?"

"My mother." Miya"s face had blackened.

"They hurt each other in ways you wouldn"t imagine. They –"

"Did they hurt you?"

"Kanashii did."

Jim swore. Miya however, had lost herself in her world again. She heard Jim curse, but didn"t a.s.sociate an emotion with it. She let out a small, bitter laugh instead.

"Tao made up for it later."

Her voice was dark.

"Kanashii would threaten to kill me. There was a different man with her every night, and she would make me guard the door for her most days. Then she would tell me not to breathe a word about it to Tao. She really thought Tao didn"t know.

Tao, my father… he was quieter by nature. I remember him humiliating Kanashii a lot of times, but he wasn"t violent. His abuse was verbal, sarcastic remarks mostly. They got to Kanashii though. She never could get violent with him. So her target was me."

Jim tightened his hold on her hands.

Miya was still staring fixedly at her thighs.

"I still have a slash from when she cut my knee with a knife. I was five."

Jim felt his heart go numb. He was strangely afraid to hear more.

It wasn"t that he hadn"t come across stories like these before, there was always something in the papers, the internet. But the feeling of knowing had always been remote to him. Tonight though, it felt like acknowledgement, a strange understanding that ricocheted through his soul.

When he felt the quiver of her hands beneath his, and saw her lost, dark face – when he heard the events as part of her own life, he couldn"t control the roil of emotions in him. Heaven knew his own history with the Chairman and his mother was twisted. But his own past was quiet – looming and haunting, dark like a silent night.

He couldn"t relate with her on the violence or the hurt.

The pain… that, he understood.

But… if Kanashii was the one hurting Miya, why was her worst memory Tao?

Jim frowned.

"I and Tao never talked," Miya"s voice was blank now, "He ignored me even when Kanashii was violent towards me. I learnt to ignore him too. He was ever present, but his existence was distant to me. Almost as if he was lurking, but was never really real… To me, he was only a shadow.

I hadn"t even turned five when I began to dream of running away. I told you… I wanted to fly to the moon. It seemed quiet, silent… beautiful. It was peaceful to watch.

But then, in around 1999, things began to quiet down. Tao and Kanashii weren"t at each other"s throat anymore. Tao still gambled, and she still slept around, but they just stopped fighting. I was thankful.

But…"

Miya stopped for a breath. Her eyes were still fixed on her legs, and she struggled with the next words.

"One… One night," her expression turned horrified now, ��Kanashii had stood me outside the door again. Tao was away from the house. I don"t know how it happened, it was all too long ago. But I went out for a moment. I remember feeling disgusted and mournful. I bolted the door from outside, and ran out of the house. There was a forest near Lang, and I often used to hide in it. I ran to it that night too.

Things were never the same after that."

Jim"s face steeled. His eyes were blank.

"What did you see?" His voice was vacant too.

"Tao." Miya shuddered.

"He was struggling with a girl... I don"t know who she was, if she lived in our village – I didn"t even see her face. I simply watched as he hit the back of her head, and then carried her someplace. I was scared… But I followed him. L-Lang is two kilometres away from the main city. B-But if you cut through the forest, the distance is halved. The north eastern side of our country is a coast, Jimmy. Tao carried her to some men. They were waiting for him at one end of the forest. I followed them all Jimmy. And in the dead of the night I watched the girl getting shipped away. And I did nothing."

No.

Jim"s heart stopped beating, and his entire body went cold. An unnatural chill ran down his spine, as he imagined a small, lost child like Miya walking into a black forest, following men like those. His words were hoa.r.s.e.

"s.e.x trafficking?"

Miya nodded. Her entire body was shaking now, almost as if she was in shock.

"N-Not just s.e.x trafficking," she croaked, "Human trafficking. For organs, for prost.i.tution… he was involved in everything. And n.o.body ever knew. That night, I couldn"t sleep. After that I could almost never sleep.

Tao noticed something was wrong.

I watched him walk out of the house most nights, and return days later. That"s why the fights had died down between him and Kanashii. He was making good money. He was mostly gone. When he was in Lang, he gambled more and sometimes won. But he found out I knew soon.

I had stopped even looking at him, I was so afraid. I would panic every time he was around. And sometimes when he left for the night, I would try and get Kanashii to stop him. I didn"t know what he was doing back then, but I thought if he didn"t go, he wouldn"t be doing horrible things.

And that way, he found out."

Jim"s entire body froze. He held his breath.

"He had a hunch at first," Miya was gasping for air too, "Then one day he simply held my throat and nearly choked me. I told him everything. Then, he threatened. If I ever said a word to anyone, his next trade would be me.

I never spoke. But I was a danger too big for him. So on my twelfth birthday –"

Jim stood up at her words, his action involuntary. His face held terror, his own body shuddering in shock and horror.

"No." his voice was fearful.

For the first time in quite a while, Miya looked up. She matched his eyes, and the look she gave him was hostile and misplaced – nasty yet cold. Her hand was still between his own.

She bit her lip till there was blood in her mouth. Then she smiled bitterly.

Her words were foul.

"He traded me."