My Perfect Lady

Ben"s little head rested on her chest, and even though he was silent, she knew he was not asleep. As ever, he was careful enough not to disturb his mommy"s rest. Once the thought pa.s.sed through her mind, Miya smiled.

Then with one hand wrapped around the baby"s shoulders, she started to caress his hair with the other. Ben snuggled in closer to her.

The girl sighed.

What a day.

She had just been forced into a shower by Charlie. And even though she had complied only reluctantly, Miya was happy about the decision. She felt much more relaxed now. She had wanted to throw her off initially, but the sweet woman had been so persistent, Miya couldn"t help but agree with her. Not to mention, she had taken care of Bent almost the entire day today, and so Miya couldn"t really deny her anything without feeling severely guilty about it.

What had really surprised her though was Charlie"s reaction while she was in the shower. Or her lack of reaction, to be exact. The old woman had glanced once at the scar on her shoulder, and wordlessly helped her scrub her back. Miya couldn"t read any emotion in her eyes at all. Neither acceptance, nor denial. She didn"t even want an explanation, it seemed.

That was relieving, but also weird.

Afterwards, the nice lady had helped clean up Ben too. But somehow, it had seemed as if Charlie had an ice barrier around herself then. She didn"t seem as warm or welcoming anymore. It had scared Miya somewhat, and she had hurried with the process, very thankful when Charlie had finally left.

It was Miya"s agenda to always like girls, and even though she thought Charlie was beautiful and incredibly nice, something in her gut warned her against the older woman. She felt she was better off in Mr. Park"s company than she was in his wife"s.

Just as Miya lay in her bed, lost in thoughts, she felt a light poke on her chest. She raised her head slightly, and saw Ben looking at her hesitantly, his chin rooted firmly on her ribs. She smiled. Then picking up the little boy, she folded her legs and placed him on her feet.

Even though Ben was five, he was a lean little boy. He was quite handsome for his age, with blue eyes and a bright, albeit rare, smile. He looked underweight, but was quite strong when it came to self defence.

Almost like his mother.

Miya gave her son a wide smile, and then with a mischievous glint in her eyes, said, "Want to swing?"

Ben nodded profusely.

"Then give me that beautiful smile."

As Ben"s lips curled into a helpless beam, Miya held both his hands in hers, and lifted up her feet to bend them towards her chest. The child lay on the lower part of her legs, his bottom supported by her feet, as she repeated the motion again and again. For Ben, it was almost like being on a horizontal swing.

"Here we go, Benny boy!" she sang.

The child cracked with laughter, and Miya chuckled as well.

It was then that someone knocked at the door slightly.

"Please come in!" Miya called out between giggles, still lying on the bed and playing with her child. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a girl enter the room and call her for dinner. Miya humbly refused.

She was too much in the moment, and it had been three days since she had got to spend some alone time with her son. She wasn"t going to sacrifice that and go face up all the Hunters and Parks again.

Besides, Ben had already eaten and she didn"t really care about her own appet.i.te.

When the girl had gone, Ben climbed over from Miya"s feet and onto her torso.

"Mommy," he said, "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything," she nodded.

"Um, momma, last week, I took your phone. Without asking."

"And?"

"It wasn"t to use internet."

Miya almost laughed at how serious the child looked as he confessed to her of his crime. For Ben, she had set the rule that he absolutely could not touch her phone unless he wanted to use the internet. She didn"t want him to be one of those kids who stick to smartphones all day long. And despite being only five, the child was smart. She knew he had more knowledge than most kids of his age, and a very sharp brain. He was an avid reader too, of whatever books he could find and of course, understand. Most of his study was online.

"Mommy?"

"Hm?"

"I saw your "Most Played" songs list."

Miya could hardly control her smile. She pulled on a straight face though.

"And baby, you"re telling this to me now, because?"

"I… I want you to sing "Show Me the Meaning" to me, momma."

That took her by surprise.

She looked into his eyes, that were a sky blue. They reminded her of the sky and sea combined, of a havoc that she"d managed to come through alive. They were the most beautiful eyes in the world.

"Yeah," she said, looking away, and pulled him closer as she lay him on her chest. Her own heart felt heavy. She hadn"t expected to be so emotional about a song. Not after so many years.

Miya began to pat his head, as she sang to him gently.

She was used to listening to the song again and again, simply because it was a reminder to her. But when Ben chose it too, it was as if someone had struck her with a blow.

It was his father"s favourite song, after all.

She had no awareness of how many hours pa.s.sed by, but then she realized that Ben was snoring softly by now. His heartbeat matched hers, and she smiled as she slowly put him beside her. Then kissing his forehead, she got out of the bed and began to go to the washroom. Her throat hurt.

Once again, a slight knock reverberated through the room.

She didn"t have the strength to call out, so she walked towards the door instead and opened it. It was the girl from before again.

Miya was about to tell her that she wasn"t hungry, when the girl bowed to her slightly and handed over a huge basket to her. She then hurriedly left.

Feeling weird, Miya reminded herself that the next time the girl came in, she would tell her to stop bowing. It was so weird! Miya herself had worked as a maid before. Why would she have others start bowing to her now?

It was strange, and unacceptable!

Shutting the door behind her, Miya carried the basket inside, half expecting it to be full of apples or some other food. It was a very big basket after all, pretty and blue in colour and it was covered on the top by a blue towel.

Placing it on the floor, she removed the towel. She gasped.

For inside, lay a tiny ball of fur. It was snow white in colour, with its hair standing on end like thorns. It"s pink nose was half buried in the cushion below it, and it was sleeping soundly.

Miya was almost afraid to touch it.

Her eyes were wide with shock, as she looked at the small possum lying in the basket. She also saw a small note tugged to the side of the carrier.

Careful as to not wake up the baby, she removed the note and read the coa.r.s.e, barely legible handwriting. The contents shocked her to the core. It read:

"Mochi.

I"m sorry. And thank you.

Friends?

P.S.: Please say yes.

~ Simon (father-in-law)."

It was from Mr. Simon Hunter!

As deep as her shock was, Miya couldn"t help but laugh at the "P.S." note and the "father-in-law" written in brackets. It was unbelievable, that the note was from the Chairman of THE Hunter Corporation!

Simon Hunter was being such a sweetheart!

Wait. And all of this just because she had saved him from falling from a tree?

Confused, Miya covered the baby with the towel again, when something struck her. She looked at the note again, and horror spread on her face as she read the first word once more. It said "Mochi".

Mochi!

That was the name of the first and only pet she had ever had. And it was a white possum!

Miya"s heart began to thump in her chest as the meaning of this dawned on her. Simon Hunter had looked into her past. And he had found out enough to know that during the roughest phase of her life, she had with her a rodent that she had thought of as a pet.

What was the meaning of this, then?

Did it mean danger for herself and her child, now that the Chairman was aware of her history?

Or was it simply a gesture, that he knew where she came from and was okay with it anyway?

She read the note again.

It seemed to be indicative of the latter.

But Jimmy Hunter had warned her against his father! He had said he hated people from the lower cla.s.s. And if Simon Hunter did investigate her successfully, then he of course knew that she belonged to the lowest of the lower cla.s.ses. Which was none of their f***ing concerns, honestly, but the man had sent someone with a slingshot when he had only heard of her arrival. Or so Jimmy Hunter had told her.

It was impossible that his emotions now, would take a 360 degree turn just because she had held his hand and saved him from falling off a tree. What about all of the royal blood, and rustic, peasant, dirtying my ground nonsense, that she had heard him spout before?

She and him, friends? Impossible!

He could try and deceive someone else!

Miya got up from the floor, and even though her heart ached at the thought of having to return this little Mochi, she felt determined. Her heart wavered a bit as she took another glance at the note, the words were so sweet, but she walked out of her room.

First off, it was an invasion of her privacy, what he had done! And secondly, her d.a.m.ned past was no business of his! If he dared to harm her or her son again, well, she would show him that she was no simpleton herself. She would kick him in the crotch till his b.a.l.l.s fell off!

As Miya rushed down the stairs to ask about where Senior Hunter lived, to go give him an earful, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She stood at the edge of the stairs, and from there, she had a clear view of the dining hall. There were at least fifteen people sitting at the table, all talking in loud voices. She immediately felt her feet go numb and backed away. It was a gathering of several important looking men, and her courage immediately went down the drain.

Pressing herself into the handrail, she looked at the Chairman as he sat on the head seat. He was smiling politely at someone.

Well, she could let out her anger at him another day.

Deciding against walking into a room full of dominant blokes, she had half a mind to turn around and walk back, when Simon Hunter looked her way. Their eyes met for a brief second, and the older man"s smile fazed.

His gaze pierced through her, almost as if he read her confusion, her anger and her dread – all at once.

He looked at her pointedly, and something about that gaze rooted her to the spot. She pressed herself further into the handrail, scared. She wished she could disappear.

Simon Hunter looked away, and in a loud voice, began:

"If you"re talking about principles, I have only one. If someone saves your life, you owe them forever. Then, nothing you do can ever return that favour. Nothing else will matter too. No matter who they are or where they belong to, the fact is you owe them your every breath. That"s loyalty."

The room fell into silence, and then there was a deep chuckle at another end. Then a loud, thick voice spoke, "Well, Chairman. I guess n.o.body has been lucky enough to save your life, huh?"

Simon smiled politely again, while shooting another look at Miya.

"If there was, I wouldn"t say," he grinned. "Friends?" he then called out again, giving Miya a meaningful stare as the people at the table responded in a "Yes?".

It was as if he had reiterated that question for her, again.

Involuntarily, Miya looked at the huge man and almost teared up. Every instinct of hers told her that he was being sincere. Even if he had looked into her life, he had still reiterated before her one of the nicer parts of her past.

Mochi.

Miya looked at the paper that she still held with both hands. She read the words again, and the P.S. which said, "Please say yes." Her reaction was a reflex.

She looked at the Chairman, clutching the note to her chest, as he stared back at her. Then she nodded slightly. The older man"s eyes brightened, and he beamed.

Then he raised his gla.s.s of wine, and made a toast to the others.

"To friendship," he called.

"To friendship!" the others said.

Miya walked back to her room silently.