My Perfect Lady

Everything was quiet in the room, including the three people in it. Jimmy"s expression was coal black, Ben was with him and Miya wanted to die. She didn"t understand this strange turn of events.

The young master had been fine ten minutes ago!

Not to mention, he had even looked so worried and helpless like a baby. And he had hugged her. Then, she had been about to console him, when his face had suddenly turned furious. Without uttering another word, he had simply picked her up, hung her over his shoulder like a bag, put her onto his motorcycle and had come roaring back to palace Jade.

Now, somehow, they were all in the same room.

Jimmy Hunter"s room.

And the young master still looked furious.

She didn"t know how, but she was sure he knew what had pa.s.sed in the car.

Well… it wasn"t really her fault, but, she most certainly could explain.

Clearing her throat, as she sat at the corner of the bed, Miya began to say, "Um… I –"

She wasn"t even cut off.

The young master, who had been standing near the refrigerator, banged the door shut. Then stomping in her direction, with the most threatening expression on his face, he simply glared.

Miya nearly jumped out of her skin.

Then staring into Jim"s angry eyes, she swallowed, suddenly afraid.

Okay… she was very, very sorry.

And she would have said it, had her thoughts been coherent in that moment. However, they were in a muddle and she was simply terrified.

Jimmy gave Miya his filthiest possible glare without being a total beast. His eyes moved from her forehead to her cheek, her nose, and then to her parted lips. It had instantly p.i.s.sed him off, of course, when she had cleared his throat, possibly to give an explanation. Now, she had forgotten to shut her mouth.

The thought almost made the young master smile.

But he hardened his face some more, satisfied that she looked scared.

Then shoving a pill into her mouth before she could figure it out, he silently handed over a bottle of water to the missus and moved back to the refrigerator.

Miya"s eyes widened.

She stared at the young master"s back, blinking repeatedly in surprise, and then swallowed the pill. It was a pain killer most probably…

Beside Jimmy, Ben was stomping about the room as well, giving Miya very indignant glances. The older boy was in all likelihood not going to talk to her anytime soon, but her younger one, seemed pretty mad too.

Why, the mommy wondered.

But… At least him, she could handle.

Or so she thought.

The little boy noticed his mommy eye him, and he hmphed. He was not happy with mommy, Jimmy had explained the entire situation to him. So now, he was feeling betrayed. However, he did want to talk to her, because he couldn"t remain too unhappy with mommy.

He didn"t like it.

So Ben looked at Jimmy, who gave him a small nod.

Ben nodded back at Jimmy with determined eyes, then trotted to the couch. He had prepared a huge picture book, which he picked up and brought over to Miya.

The girl was actually confused.

Also, it didn"t escape her notice when the silent looks pa.s.sed between both her boys.

Ben rushed back to his mother, and then kept the book in her lap.

Miya frowned.

The t.i.tle read, "Manners h.e.l.lo".

It made the girl"s brows raise, and she gave her son a questioning look. Ben"s gaze, however, was fixed on her lap, and he was swiftly turning pages. He found the page he was looking for. Then pulling mommy slightly by her dress, Ben pointed at the page.

The left side of the open book had the picture of a tall man and a small child printed on it. They were both cartoon figures. The right side had a paragraph written in huge letters, t.i.tled: Listen to your elders.

Miya looked at Ben.

The child was ready with the lesson.

"Mommy," Ben said very seriously, "It is good manners to listen to your elders. Jimmy is elder to you. You should listen to him. Then you will not hurt your hand."

The boy looked very hurtfully at her wound.

Miya"s heart clenched at the boy"s face, and she shot the young master a quick look.

This man… he had resorted to using her son!

It was… dumb. But somehow, worked like a charm.

When Miya saw Ben"s face drop further, almost as if he was about to cry, she realized she had not spoken to him yet. Quickly holding her boy"s hands, she mumbled, "Oh, baby. Don"t look sad. Mommy won"t be so thoughtless again!"

"But you promised last time too!" The baby was indignant.

Miya swallowed.

"Yes, Ben dear. But this time, I swear! I won"t land into trouble. Double promise!"

Ben fixed his gaze on his mother"s face. Then he clenched his little fists resolutely.

"And you will listen to Jimmy? He is elder to all of us!"

Albeit Jim"s eyes twitched at the statement, he felt like he was being given the status of a grandpa, but as long as it worked, he could deal with it.

The missus" lips thinned. Then she nodded silently, after noticing the young master"s still stiff back and her son"s determined eyes.

"Yes," she said grudgingly, "I"ll listen to him."

Only then, did the boy let go.

Jim immediately sprung into action after that . He walked over to the little boy, swept off the book from Miya"s lap and then picked up the child.

And for the first time after glaring at her for quite a while, the brooding man smiled.

Miya was caught off guard, when she saw that smile.

It was charming. But of course, he was grinning at Benny boy.

"That would be fine, champ," Jim said with satisfaction, "I"m sure mommy understands. Good job! Now go, get changed. It"s time to sleep."

He ruffled the boy"s hair and the child smiled back.

That took Miya by surprise.

When exactly had this happened?

That her two boys had teamed up to bully her together?

When Ben ran away happily, after a near perfect execution of their plan, Jim looked sharply at the missus again. Contrary to her emotions, Miya still almost jumped.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" he asked sternly.

Miya looked back, not understanding.

Jim rolled his eyes.

"Go, get changed," he repeated, "It"s time to sleep."

Miya pressed her lips, her first instinct to argue. Because honestly, what was that about her not listening to Jimmy? She had all intention to carry out the plan. It wasn"t her fault that Thad Carver had abducted her! In that kind of scenario, it was necessary to improvise!

What was wrong with that?!

Also, Jimmy didn"t know, but she had promised to meet the Chairman. She still hadn"t done that!

A number of replies shot through her head, but when faced with Jimmy Hunter"s steel eyes, she could only nod fervently and rush to the bathroom.

Ben was the first to arrive. And the fastest to fall asleep.

Miya was a few minutes after, and she was finally dressed in the same brown pyjamas again.

She looked at Jim nervously, when she realized that Ben had fallen asleep. Also, this was Jim"s own room, so there was only one bed.

That made her very, very uncomfortable.

Jim noticed her staring peculiarly at the bed, and he rolled his eyes yet again.

Then walking over to her, he simply made her sit and dressed the wound on her hand. All the while, the woman watched him quietly.

She wanted to say a lot of things, but all words were lost to her, when she saw the young master tend to her injury.

And a single thought flashed through her brain.

Why did he care so much?

And almost in response, she recalled the kiss.

Her reaction was a reflex.

The missus" entire body froze suddenly, and Jim couldn"t help but look up at her in worry. When he noticed the blush that crept across her face though, his heart pounded a little, but he kept it under his control.

Tonight, he was just going to be angry.

So he tightened his hold on the girl"s hand, wrapped up the wound and went back to put the first aid box. He looked back, and Miya had still not lied down.

She was staring very doubtfully at the bed.

Jim crossed his arms again.

"Do I need to write out an invitation?" he asked sternly.

That didn"t go down well with Miya. Somehow, she didn"t like it when he was mad at her. She didn"t believe in prolonging her agony, though, so she began to get up and move over to the couch.

Jim held her hand again.

"Don"t p.i.s.s me off, dear."

Albeit the words meant no harm, they had the desired effect. Miya felt like she was facing a storm, and she immediately wanted to cry. Running back to the bed, she had laid and under the sheet within seconds.

Jimmy sighed.

He pulled over a chair to her side of the bed, and switched on the lamp. Then picking up a book, he quietly began to read.

He could feel the missus" eyes on him. After some time, she couldn"t contain herself.

"Jimmy?"

Her voice was soft, and it felt like a welcome song.

"Yes." He kept his tone in check.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

He didn"t reply. Miya was troubled.

"Why are you not sleeping?" she asked.

"I don"t feel like it."

"Aren"t you tired?"

"No."

"Will you forgive me?"

"No."

"I don"t know what I did though."

Jim"s face steeled at that, and he shot her an angry glare.

Miya shut up. Not for long.

"Jimmy?"

"Yes?"

"I"m sorry."

Quiet again.

"Jimmy?"

"Yes?"

"What did you tell Ben?"

"Nothing. He saw you being taken away by Carver"s men. He told me."

Oh…

Miya fell silent. She watched the young master, her face half hidden among the sheets. She didn"t like it that he was sitting beside her with a book, when it was clearly past midnight. He had been working so hard these past few days. He should have been tired…

"Jimmy?" She said again.

"Yes?" Jim"s voice was still calm.

"Won"t you sleep?"

"I told you. I"m not sleepy."

"Please?"

"No."

"Then I won"t –"

"Miya."

That put the conversation to an end.

Feeling guilty to no end, the girl was about to spring up from the bed, when Jim finally gave in. He told her to shift aside, and he climbed to the bed, though he didn"t lie down. He sat against the headboard, his legs spread out and focussed on his book.

It felt much more peaceful to Miya, now that he was beside her.

Involuntarily, she kept staring at him.

When Jim couldn"t take it anymore, he gave her another sharp glare. That made her go under the sheets again, but she looked at him anyway.

Jim rolled his eyes, losing patience now.

But then he noticed her injured arm. Wordlessly, he held her hand, and placed it in his own lap. His voice was meant to be a threat.

"I"ll let go only if you stop staring and sleep."

Somehow, she didn"t.

She didn"t stop staring at him, but within moments, she did fall asleep.

And even when she did, she didn"t let go of his hand.