Jimmy kept caressing her shoulder, his action involuntary, his eyes fixed onto the wall ahead. Miya felt the terseness in his arms, and waited for him to relax. Her own mind however, had fallen into a frenzy. A sister?
But hadn"t Jimmy Hunter always been the single child, the proud and only heir of the Hunter Corporation? She had never read up much on him in the papers, but as far as she remembered all information had always claimed the same thing: he was famously the only child of Simon Hunter.
She had never come across any information on his mother too. None that she remembered, of course.
Jimmy felt Miya"s arm go protectively around his waist. He sighed again.
His tone was resigned.
"Zaila is one of the happiest memories this house holds," his voice was toneless now, "She was born on 13th December, 1996. And Christmas came early back then... at least for me. When she was born, she was this scrawny little thing, red in the face and barely able to open her eyes. I was the first one to hold her.
I thought she looked like a baby monkey. Too red."
A slow, bitter smile spread on his lips. His eyes never moved from the wall.
"It was a weird feeling… having a sibling. I was sceptical about it too, in the very beginning. I have been trained hard since I was young – be it business, education or social relations. That was an important phase in my life back then, I had begun to be initiated into the Chairman"s own social and personal gatherings. I was nine, and it was pretty important to me that the Chairman not think of me as a disappointment.
But then…
Zaila became a whole other deal.
The Chairman was always very busy. And my mother… what do I say about her? She was a biologist and a wildlife photographer. Ever since the beginning, no matter how hard I tried, I could not understand the relationship between my mother and the Chairman. I don"t understand it even now."
Miya held her breath.
Wait… did that mean Mrs. Simon Hunter was still alive?
Then why had Miya never even heard of her existence before? Not even by any of the workers of the house?
Jim placed his other hand behind his head.
"She was never there," his voice had now grown cold, "I don"t know what it was between her and father, but she always remained away from home for long spans of time. When I was born, she left home after three months, and only returned back on my first birthday. I couldn"t stand in a crowd and point out who my mother was until I was three.
I"ve tried to understand it. I wanted to ask the Chairman about it a lot of times too. But… he never offered me an explanation. Just once he said to me, "Your mommy loves her job too much, boy. You and I can"t bind her." I"ve held on to that account for long.
From what I can remember, she was too fascinated by the wild. I have a few memories with her, they"re faint but I can still recall them. Incidents of her taking me out to wildlife sanctuaries, describing to me all sorts of plants and animals… I even recall her embracing a lion once. She was fascinating to me… I remember thinking of her as magical, a woman within reach, but someone I could never touch.
Father, I"m guessing, felt the same."
Miya didn"t know how to respond.
A mother who was running away… escaping even her child… somehow, she was reminded of herself. Back of that time when she had hesitated to choose Ben. When Kasu had made the decision for her, and chosen the boy instead.
An involuntary shudder ran down her body.
"I don"t think complicated is the word to define what the Chairman and my mother had," Jimmy continued deeply, "She was never home, I learnt early on not to wait for her. But he… he didn"t say it. But I know he waited, wanting her to return. Maybe the Chairman hoped she would come back, and one day tell us that she was finally home. That she wouldn"t go anymore.
I"ve never known father to be a sentimental man. But for her… he felt different.
Since the very beginning, the Chairman didn"t know how to deal with me too. He would train me, but we were never close. I"ve always admired him, thought he was pretty good at his job. But it"s more of a compet.i.tion between us for as long as I can remember. If I don"t compete with him, I don"t think either of us know how to co-exist. To date I do not understand what he wants from me. He has never bothered to explain either. In short, I gave up on both my parents fast. It was a smart move."
Miya could sense the undertone of impersonality in his voice. And she could hear the beat of his heart, which was rapid and hard.
Jimmy… he was so perfect, always taking care of even the smallest of things… she couldn"t even imagine that behind that solid exterior of his, he held such a vacant past.
She hesitated in her question, but she nevertheless asked.
"What happened to Zaila?"
Jim"s body went taut.
"With a relationship like that," he breathed, his voice tight, "Chairman and mother were incapable of taking care of the new born. Charlie took over the task, but within a year, I took over from her myself.
Almost, at least.
Zaila herself was an excellent girl though. I didn"t have to do much. Her presence was needed in the Hunter house. It was like having a touch of spring on a cold winter night. I still remember her laugh echo in my mind… sometimes. She was so easy to cheer, and she was so cheeky. Growing up with her was a delight, Miya."
For the first time since he had started talking about himself, Jim showed the hint of emotion on his face. It was slight, almost unnoticeable, but there was warmth on his face, one that spoke of reminiscence.
"I and the Chairman could never get along… but it was different for Zaila. In his own messed up way, old Hunter liked her a lot. I might even say he felt more, and till the time she was around, there was peace between him and me as well. He behaved before her… I restrained myself too. She made it easy for all of us to sit together in the same room."
Jimmy"s voice was heavy with emotion now.
Miya"s own was quiet.
"What happened then?"
Jim"s throat clenched.
"I made a mistake," he croaked, "I let her get too close to my mother. And that woman returned."