My Perfect Lady

The thug stood up, shivering as he looked at Jim"s back, and hobbled out of the house as fast as his limp body could carry him. She still couldn"t make sense of it all.

A series of gruesome events flashed through her brain, almost splitting her head apart. And a b.l.o.o.d.y face waltzed before her eyes. Kas –

No.

Not again.

She could not let it happen all over again!

She recoiled at her memories, immediately focussing her attention to the situation at hand. The torch from Jimmy"s mobile had died out, so she took out her own phone. She had earlier retrieved it from her apartment before coming down that pipeline. When she unlocked it, she was surprised to see Jimmy"s face on her screen.

It must have been from earlier in the morning, when she had been reading about him. The same man that had been seated on her garbage bin then. He was lying on the floor now, bleeding.

She pushed the thought away, and quickly switched on the torch. Then, she ran towards him.

"Mr. Hunter!" she cried out, her voice almost choked.

Jimmy was crouching in a corner, shuddering from the attack. Blood flew down his left arm as he pressed the wound. His entire body felt numb, and he staggered when he tried to get up. Miya was immediately by his side.

And her face went pale with horror as she tried to help him stand. She hadn"t been able to notice before, but the man had been crouching over Ben.

He had been shot while shielding her son!

Her eyes glinted with murder. Ben wrapped his arms around her waist, shivering hysterically now. Miya regained some of her cool, and almost collapsed in relief when she saw that the bullet had only hit Jim"s hand. She forcefully pulled his uninjured arm over her shoulders and let him try and stand.

Jimmy"s legs were shaking, and he was shocked. But then he saw the boy stuck to his mother. He was immediately concerned.

"Hey, kid," he asked weakly, "Are you alright?"

Miya"s heart screamed murder. Manny, that evil son of a b*tch!

Ben nodded, then inquired, "You?"

Jim smiled feebly and staggered again. Thankfully, Miya wrapped an arm around his waist and held him stable.

"We need to take you to the hospital," she said.

Jim nodded in agreement.

"Get me my mobile, please, I"ll –"

Before Jim could complete his statement, Ben rushed to his aid. He hurried over to another corner, picked up the slightly broken phone and quickly handed it over to his saviour. Jim looked at the boy amusedly.

Well, at least the kid wasn"t glaring now.

Jim speed dialled Park, and when the call was received, he whispered tiredly, "Emergency, Park. T-Track me."

He had begun to fall again. He was dizzy and light headed. He somehow wanted to lie down. And the only thing he saw before closing his eyes was Miya"s worried face as she said something to her son.

The next half hour was a blur of strange, quick events.

A limousine had, within no time, rushed to the shack where Jim lay. Several burly men had come tromping into the house and had picked Jimmy up. Someone had told her to follow. She was shoved into a luxurious car that sped through the night. Throughout, Miya was part of the incidents, but was only remotely aware of what was going on. Her eyes were fixed on Jimmy for most of the time. His face looked pale, and blood was still dripping down his arm.

Even though two huge men sat on either side of him, none seemed to be making the effort to stop the bleeding. Someone was sitting beside her too, but she didn"t take any notice of him. Almost in irritation, she ripped off one of the sleeves of her shirt and leaned over to wrap the wound.

One of the men caught her arm.

Miya breathed, and gave him such a filthy look, the guy almost dropped her hand. However, he didn"t. Miya would have hit his face in anger, but the person beside her spoke.

"Let her."

She hurriedly wrapped the cloth around Jim"s arm. The young master winced a little, and almost gave her a smile. But he seemed to be too out of his senses to say any further.

He was taken to the emergency ward.

Miya roamed around in the corridor of the hospital wing like a haunted woman. This shouldn"t have happened.

She had told him to stay away!

What the h.e.l.l was it with guys? When she had said she could deal with the problem, she meant she could deal with it. Why would they never, ever listen?! Always trying to be the hero they weren"t! Look at what had happened now.

And she almost hit her head.

"He took that shot to save your son, woman," a quiet voice within her scolded, "He saved your life twice. You"d be dead by now, if it weren"t for him."

Miya held her head.

Why did this have to happen?

She recalled her first meeting with Jim. Maybe, she was the only woman in the country who had hit the C.E.O. of Hunter Corporation. This man, who owned cars longer than three of her apartments put together. Her mind flew back to his ridiculous offer, his threat to sue her, and how even though she had hurt him, he had still been thoughtful enough to protect her head when they had fallen. The way he was repulsed when she swore before Ben. How he had called her an "equal" even if he hadn"t meant it.

He might be an idiot sometimes, obsessed with money for sure, but he wasn"t a bad guy.

He didn"t deserve this.

She recalled him sliding down the pipeline, and a warm smile nearly spread on her lips. And then she remembered the incident when she had covered his mouth, and he had… Her face automatically turned red.

Her head was a flutter of memories, each one making her feel more guilty, more aware of the fact that this was just one person in a very wrong place, at a very wrong time. He should not have been involved.

He had just come to her with an offer, was all!

His offer though, in itself, was a pretty unique deal. The way the man was uncomprehending on why she couldn"t accept his proposal. Who was troubling this big, rich guy with such a contract anyway?

Miya looked around at the hospital. It was aristocratic, of course. Because for one, a lot of the doctors and nurses looked at her with disdain, some even with contempt. But they didn"t dare say a word. She had come along with the Hunters, after all.

It must have been a very powerful man, she concluded, who could drive Jimmy Hunter to the point that he would marry someone off the street. She wondered what was wrong with this man. Why the h.e.l.l did he care if Mr. Hunter was married or not?

She didn"t know much about the law, but even she was aware that it was a fundamental right –

"Are you alright?"

Miya immediately stopped walking, and looked at the figure of a rather smart looking man standing before her. He somewhat resembled the guy who had been with her in the car. Maybe it was the same person.

She stared at him blankly, unable to register his words.

"I"m asking, are you alright?" He repeated kindly.

Miya nodded.

"Your name is Miya?"

She nodded again.

"The young master just woke up. He is asking for you."

Relief spread through every inch of her skin, and she almost sagged from the feeling. The old man held her hand, giving her a worried look. She returned a weak smile.

She was lead to Jimmy"s room. And when she entered, she could hear the young master"s revolting voice.

"I will not have apples! I hate apples!"

Her eyes almost welled up at the sound.

She could have cried.