My Perfect Lady

Her eyes remained fixed on Jimmy"s face as she leant across and ruffled his hair lightly. It was soft, almost like silk under her skin. She smiled to herself, landing a kiss on Ben"s forehead at the same time as she tousled Jim"s hair. It awed her once more, how pretty the two boys were.

She almost felt like humming a song in delight. She was however afraid to wake them up, so she reluctantly moved away and lay down on her side of the bed again.

Her heart was still beating in a low drum.

"Move on." The words still lingered in her head.

How, Jimmy? She wanted to ask him now.

She was not as wonderful as him. Or as understanding. Or as foolish, she might say.

Only he could take a shot for her son when she was fighting on a road like an insane hoodlum. Only he could learn that she had set fire to a man, and stop investigating on her, choosing to wait for her version of the story instead. Only he could disregard something severe like a child"s lineage and play father to an enemy"s grandson.

He could do it all, for "her" alone. And – she?

Move on? She didn"t know how.

How do you move on from someone you look at every day?

How do you move on from what never left you?

She took in a deep breath. The satisfaction in her dwindled, and her mood slowly turned sombre. After a few minutes, her thoughts became a burden. Everyone, from Jimmy to Park to Chairman Hunter danced in her mind. And hauntingly, her mind even went back to Senior Hunter"s dubious words.

"Our history is entangled," he had said, "I"m not a good man, but I"m good to you because I owe you two lives."

She exhaled harshly.

Springing up from the bed in a haste, she pulled out of the sheets and stepped down. She walked across the room, and to one of the windows. Tonight, Jimmy had insisted on staying in the room that had been arranged previously as her own. She flung open the window pane and looked outside.

Last time she had looked from it, she had seen that creepy man with the slingshot from here. Tonight, though, she saw the green trees that looked dark in the night, and the faint moonlight that shredded the darkness. It sent her immediate relief.

After a very long time, she glanced at the moon.

It stared back at her too, in all its glory, gloom and exuberance. A small sigh escaped from her mouth.

"You know," she mumbled to it, "I"ve never been more confused."

The moon lingered on silently.

Miya took in a deep breath and spoke her heart out to it. When her thoughts grew darker, she climbed on to the window sill and seated herself on it. It made her feel closer to the celestial body, and she continued to murmur endlessly, her heart slowly dropping to the pit of her stomach.

"I"m afraid Sheng would hurt him," her voice was low, "And there"s so much s.h.i.t in the past. It will keep coming up, again and again. Why should he fight? It"s my lot. You understand, right? Tao is still in a coma with barely signs of recovery. But the worst part is I don"t want to leave."

The intensity of the words. .h.i.t her once she said them out loud. Her heart beat rose again and her chest twisted inside. She continued to speak.

"But… if I stay, will it be alright?"

"Yes."

A low voice whispered close to her ears. Miya didn"t realize it was human, she simply continued to talk.

"And I use my own power to fight back… could I stay?"

She could feel hot breath on the skin of her neck. She froze in her place, ready to turn around and jump off the window sill when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind.

Jimmy put one large hand around her torso, the other all the way across her chest till he was holding her left shoulder. Lightly, he pulled her behind, so that the small of her back leaned against his hard chest. Jimmy kissed her neck.

His familiar presence surrounded her completely. Miya closed her eyes, biting her lower lip.

"Stay," Jimmy said huskily.

It was that tantalizing word from his mouth that brought her back to her senses. Miya"s eyes flew open, but she didn"t pull away. She leaned closer into him, embracing his warmth as she rested her own hand over his around her stomach.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked softly.

"I wanted to hold your hand," Jim"s voice sent goose b.u.mps down her skin, "You weren"t there."

Cold air brushed past, blowing lightly across their skin. Miya trembled.

"How much did you hear?" she asked.

Jim kissed her neck again.

"Don"t go."

It was only when Miya shivered again, that Jim"s grasp tightened on her body. He realized it was cold outside, and his missus was sitting on a window. He was ready to pull her off and carry her back to bed again, when his own hand froze.

Jim had moved his right hand, with which he was grabbing her shoulder. He had wanted to pick her up, when her breast poked at his hand through the flimsy material of her shirt. Jim"s breath wedged in his throat. Before him, Miya froze too.

S-She…

Jim swallowed. His words almost came out in a choke, "Y-You"re not –"

Miya shook her head, "No."

She wasn"t wearing a bra!

His heart stopped beating altogether and then ricocheted to the speed of a flying drone. Albeit Miya was properly dressed. She wore an oversize black shirt and white shorts, but his body took no time to react. Miya gulped too. Very slowly, she could feel something hard pressing into her back.

They both blushed.

Before the situation could turn any more awkward, Miya quickly removed her hand from over his other one and whispered, "I – I"m coming in. L-Let go."

Jim left her shoulder and body and stomach and shirt in panic, stepping back immediately. Miya turned around swiftly, and was about to jump down when her eyes matched Jimmy"s. He was wearing black pyjamas on a loose black tee, his hair dishevelled and his face pink. He was nervously running a hand through his already tousled hair, somehow looking vulnerable in that state.

Miya couldn"t help but admire how cute he seemed right then.

Like a woman who had aged another fifty years, she sighed again.

That was Jim"s queue to increment his panic.

"What?" he immediately said, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing," she said plainly.

"No, tell me!"

Miya couldn"t resist that extremely nervous, guilty face. Letting out another deep sigh, she said, "Jimmy… why the h.e.l.l are you so adorable? You really make me doubt you"re a C.E.O. Why can"t you be like one of those tyrannical bosses who live to make their spouse"s life h.e.l.l? It would be so much easier for me then."

Huh?

Jimmy frowned now, not understanding a single sentence. He looked defiant too, almost as if she had hurt his pride.

"Excuse me?" he said, crossing his arms placidly over his chest.

"I only mean it would be easier to deal with you then," she sighed.

Jim was so confused, he practically couldn"t trace the wife"s brain process. Giving her a dirty look, he asked, "Deal with me how?"

"I"d fear you more if you were an evil jerk."

"Is this about you leaving?"

"Again, how much did you hear?"

"Is it?"

"No. It"s about how cute I find you right now."

Jimmy was ready in his mind with a thousand retorts, when he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it shut again. A furious blush spread on his flawless face.

"Y-You want me to be an evil boss so you wouldn"t find me attractive?"

"Ah ha!"

Jimmy thought his heart would rip out of his chest. It hammered so brutally against him, he thought he could hear it echo off the walls in the room. He didn"t even know when his legs moved on their own and closed in on the girl.

Jim grabbed her by both her forearms. Almost instantly, his eyes had turned intense, burning with the deepest of his emotion. He smirked, playfully, teasingly. His mouth was too close to her lips when he said,

"In another life, Miya, I"d be an a.s.sh*le husband. And you"d still fall for me irreversibly."

Miya gave him a cheeky smile.

"You wish."

That was all the invitation he needed.

Jim pressed his lips into hers, putting an arm across the small of her back so she wouldn"t fall off the window. With the other, he still held her forearm, that he twisted ever so slightly when she grabbed his neck. He dove into her mouth, breathing heavily when he pulled back after ages.

"Evil enough?" he panted.

Miya grinned back, her eyes naughty.

"Try harder," she teased.

Jim was quick to kiss her again. This time, he didn"t let go till he had ravished her mouth and the missus was moaning from his touch. Jim let her forearm go, expertly flipping open the topmost b.u.t.ton of her shirt as he left a trail of kisses down her neck. Miya clutched at his collar in daze.

Jim flipped open another b.u.t.ton, able to see the curve of her chest. His breath came harder, and he bit at her collarbone. He would have gone further south, when something interrupted them again.

The moon behind them shone brighter than ever, and through its light, glistened the thin U-shaped scar on Miya"s left shoulder. It startled Jim for an instant, almost seeming out of place. He froze, too close to the deep, red wound.

It took Miya a few more seconds to realize what was going on too.

Immediately, she let go of Jimmy"s collar. Flushed, but coming back to her senses, she tried to push him back, but Jim didn"t let go.

He stared at her scar, at that wolf mark in wonderment. His face was grim, but his eyes held awe.

Miya grew weak in her legs.

"M-Move," she told him meekly, trying to push him off again.

Jim frowned. Finally, he stood up straight, but his eyes never left her scar.

Miya closed her eyes and breathed.

"Stop staring." Her words weren"t calm.

It was the hint of defeat in her voice that distracted Jim. He quickly moved his eyes away, and directed his gaze on Miya"s face instead. And he almost immediately panicked when he saw the look in her eyes. They seemed like the eyes of a cornered beast.

"I"m sorry," Jimmy quickly said, "I didn"t mean to stare. It just – I mean, I"ve seen the scar before��� but it"s so different in real life. It"s so cool."

Miya"s brows twitched. She thought she heard wrong.

"What?"

"Oh, no!" Jim jumped on to defence again, "I don"t mean to be insulting in any way! It"s just… I really think it"s beautiful."

This time Miya couldn"t help the outburst. She hissed under her breath, "What?"

Jim flinched at the low, dangerous voice, but he didn"t stir. Meanwhile Miya grabbed the collar of her shirt and quickly covered the scar. She b.u.t.toned up her shirt with extreme ferocity too, when she jumped down the window.

Jim realized she was offended somehow.

"No, wait!" he began again, "I just think the way it"s carved is dangerous – it looks strangely cool. I do not in any way think that what happened to you was cool!"

Miya snapped. "I got that Jimmy, shut up."

And she would have walked off, but then she realized something. Jim"s exact words dawned on her, and she took a sharp turn around and folded her arms.

"And when the h.e.l.l did you see the scar before?"

Jim wasn"t sure he should have brought up the camera again, but somehow his stupid, h.o.r.n.y self wasn"t thinking straight. He gulped, wary when he said, "Remember the bug? When you went to meet Rebecca…"

Albeit the news hadn"t effected her before, but somehow, it angered her now. Of course she remembered! She herself had torn apart her dress to prove her ident.i.ty to Becky. And this man had been watching on a screen!

Jim didn"t know how, but somehow, he had really, really screwed the glorious night.

He really should have left her alone, talking to the moon.

Another thought then crossed in his mind, all of a sudden.

Was this it?

The infamous first fight – as husband and wife?

Oh boy.

He wasn"t sure he would survive it.