My Perfect Lady

No sooner had Jimmy towered over Miya in a display of his smugness, than the girl picked up a pillow kept on the couch and effortlessly flung it at his face. Jimmy blinked for a few fl.u.s.tered seconds, then dodged it equally well, with a slight leap to his left. Miya saw through his move. She was quick to unb.u.t.ton the blazer of her pantsuit. Then holding one corner of it in her fist, she whipped the piece of cloth across the s.p.a.ce between them. The other end of the blazer effectively hit the young master"s nose.

Silence haunted the room.

Miya let go of the blazer and it dropped to Jimmy"s feet.

For a few seconds, Jim didn"t understand what had happened. It was only when his loot – the little boy – hooted and cheered, "Mommy won!" that Jim came back to his senses.

Startled, he looked at the girl standing barely a meter away from him.

She had the most devious grin on her face.

"You…!" the young master"s cry of helplessness and amus.e.m.e.nt rang through the room, and he was ready to pounce on the little mouse. Her grin broadened though, and she took a step back and stood on the couch, her arms folded across her chest.

"Now hand me over my boy, big guy," she sneered, her face the expression of utmost satisfaction.

Jim was slightly annoyed – he hadn"t considered the woman wouldn"t use only her hands to reach out to his nose – but some part of him was relieved as well. She wasn"t crying anymore. In fact, with that haughty grin plastered on her face, she seemed far from that earlier emotion.

He himself wasn"t too happy, but he hmphed and stomped to the girl. Seeing him approach, Miya sat down as airily as she could, beaming now.

Ben was still smiling. He poked at Jimmy"s head, when he asked, "How did you lose so easily Jimmy?"

Jim made a face.

"Because you weren"t really on my side, champ."

Ben stayed silent, then beamed.

"I wasn"t," he admitted truthfully. That made the young master"s lips curl into a smile too, and he patted the boy"s back with one hand, playfully rebuking him, saying,

"Bad boy. Traitor!"

The two laughed.

Miya looked at them with a hawk eye.

For a second, something twitched inside her heart as she watched Jimmy with her son. After a very long time, ages after it seemed, a warm feeling spread throughout her body, one that she did recognize. There was a silent ache accompanying it too, a longing she knew all too well… the image of them together reminded her of her own childhood. And it showed her a glimpse of how things should have been – for both her and Ben.

Fate was so f***ed up.

Even right now, in that moment, when the two boys" happy faces gave her the idea of perfection in her world – she couldn"t get rid of the dread that she felt either way. A sense that it would all slip away, simply because it always did.

Disconcerted, she looked at them both, her eyes wistful.

So when Jim finally approached her, and helped Ben off his shoulders and put him in her arms, she didn"t really register the action. Jim missed the oddity in her eyes too, but he said stubbornly, "Just so you know, that wasn"t a fair fight."

Miya"s reply was automatic.

"Then don"t take on an obligation that you won"t be able to satisfy."

Jim frowned at her response.

What?

Miya shrugged. Forcibly pulling herself out of her sombre mood, she gave Jim a hard look, unable to understand her own feelings. Then, wrapping her arms around Ben, as the boy laughed aloud, she looked at Jim defiantly.

Ben came to their rescue once again.

The boy kissed his mother"s cheek, cheering again, "Mommy is the best!"

Miya"s own reaction was instant and involuntary.

Her lips spread into a brilliant smile, and she hugged Ben with all her might, making the child sit in her lap.

Then she exclaimed delightedly, "My Benny boy is the best too!"

For a second, Jim watched that smile on her face. He liked her to be that way always. He wanted it. For her and the kid both. They both looked good together, especially when they smiled.

Jim himself couldn"t resist the urge that swelled within him. Just as Miya landed a kiss on Ben"s cheek, Jim bent down and kissed her own cheek as well. Miya"s eyes widened, and she turned back to him in shock.

This man…!

Ben was with them right now!

Did he have no sense of place and time?! Well, of course he didn"t!

The young master straightened though, ignoring Miya"s indignant expression, a playful expression on his face. He shoved his hands inside the pocket of his trousers and smiled. The more startled one, however, amongst them all was Ben.

This weird chain of events didn"t escape his notice.

Quickly turning around, so that he was looking at Jimmy and mommy both, Ben was astounded.

Jimmy had just given mommy a kiss!

That had never happened before! They were always fighting. Why, then, was Jimmy suddenly kissing his mommy?!

And there was another single fact. Ben was the only boy who had ever kissed mommy. Now that Jimmy had done it too, Ben felt wronged.

He did not understand!

Why was Jimmy kissing mommy?! And why was mommy not fighting him?!

Something was the matter!

In the morning too, he had seen them lying near the swimming pool, and behaving suspiciously. He had been afraid then, but now when he thought about, it was odd.

This Jimmy…

Was he going behind his back, trying to win over mommy?

And was mommy falling for it too?

This was a crisis!

The more Ben thought about it, the more he knew for sure. This Jimmy was getting mommy to like him more! But the thing was, Ben liked Jimmy too, and he loved mommy. What could he do?

This was a crisis, indeed.

Solemnly counting on his fingers, as he gave an angry look to Jimmy and mommy – the two traitors – Ben huffed. He calculated the odds, and was sure this was the exact situation.

Crisis, yes.

"F***," the small boy muttered, his expression grave as he stared at his fingers.

Jim and Miya froze.

They looked at the counting Ben in horror, and then at each other. Miya gaped, whereas Jim"s eyes were terrified, but full of censure.

He had told this woman a hundred, thousand times to not swear before the child.

Now look what had happened!