My Perfect Lady

He walked along the corridor and to his room, his coat draped on his arm, as he was lost in thought.

What was it? What was it that father wanted?

Simon Hunter was not a simple man. And he had taken the liberty to apologize. And not just apologize, he had held Miya"s hands. And he had sat on his knees.

That was a lot of bombs exploding together.

And a lot of cards laid out, all at once.

Jim knew it in his heart, that something was horribly wrong. And yet, he couldn"t place his finger on it.

Think, Jimmy, think! Why the f*** had Simon Hunter approached Miya?

What did he actually want?

Wait…

Mochi. That rat. He had talked about Miya"s pet to her, casually, and how he had only found out about it late enough to not be able to immediately buy one. And Miya had reacted to it perfectly normally.

Was it common understanding between them, that Simon Hunter knew about the girl"s history?

A cold chill suddenly ran down Jim"s spine, and he faltered in his steps.

If the Chairman had indeed investigated, then he would have gone all the way. He wouldn"t have stopped, unlike Jimmy who had ordered the investigation to be dropped. And Heaven knew Miya"s history was twisted.

If Charlie had told him about it, considering she was on his side, then furious should have been the emotion for the old man. Why was there kindness instead?

What was this man playing at?

Jimmy was uncomfortable, concluding that his father probably had more, and more accurate information on the wife. He, on the other hand, did not want to investigate her.

If anything, maybe he wanted to hear about the truth from her herself.

She had voluntarily called them "friends" for the first time, after all.

But then… it was a frail hope.

And Simon Hunter was too dangerous for Jim to hold on to it.

Jim had reached the room now, and he took out his key card. He inserted it, and somehow, the door didn"t unlock. He frowned and removed it, and inserted it again. To his surprise, the door didn"t unlock again.

What?

Suddenly though, the k.n.o.b on the door turned and the door swung open.

Jim"s brows furrowed into a deeper frown as he looked at the entrance, and saw that no one was standing there. He stepped in, alerted by the darkness that ensued. Why were the lights switched off?

He reached out for the switchboard, stumbling because of the dark, when a loud voice called out,

"Surprise!"

And the lights came back on.

Jimmy stepped back, almost jumping out of his skin as his heart skipped a beat. He looked into the room wide eyed, blinded momentarily by the lights that came on suddenly. His vision cleared though, and after a few seconds, he could see the beaming face of Miya.

And when he gazed lower, he also saw the grinning child.

Oh.

So, it had been the brat who had opened the door. And because he was so short, Jimmy hadn"t been able to see anyone at the entrance.

Jim then looked into the room.

He was leaning in from the door itself, and the missus was too excited to wait. So she caught him by the arm and pulled him inside, and then walked him to the dining hall. Jim was utterly confused, as he saw the entire room lighted with blue, yellow and white coloured ferry lights. And the walls…

F***ing h.e.l.l.

Jim looked back at Miya in shock, while the girl"s smile broadened.

"Surprise," she said gleefully again, this time in a lower voice.

Jimmy looked at the walls again, and couldn"t believe his eyes.

The walls were draped with life size posters, only they weren"t exactly pictures. Instead, they were posters containing newspaper cuttings, magazine articles and information on a few award ceremonies along with a few zoomed out top ten lists.

And it was all related to him.

Jimmy knew the articles, the information displayed like the back of his hand. He obviously read everything important, and these were all posts related to his achievements, from the very beginning of his career, to his latest deal.

Basically, all praising him for the man he was.

There was even a cutting laid out, that was back from when Jim had only been fifteen, and had won some lousy "Young achiever" award.

The surroundings had the young master thoroughly confused now. Surprised, of course, but confused. They also made him chuckle in confusion.

What was going on?

He looked at Miya questioningly, and she held his hand and walked him to the dining table now. There were at least twenty dishes laid out on it, all covered, and yet smelling delicious. Jim was now positively confused, and amused.

"Surprise," the missus had said.

So… why?

He quietly put his coat on a chair, and then folded his arms across his chest. A faint smile spread on his lips, and he fixed his gaze on his wife. She looked back at him, slightly red in the face.

Jim sighed.

"Miya," he said softly, "This would be the moment when you explain all of this to me."

Miya fidgeted in her place, twiddling with her thumbs. Somehow she was nervous now.

Her boy, however, was perfectly at ease.

"It"s a thank you party, Jimmy," he said informatively, standing beside his mother, "Mum said we have to say thank you to you properly. And it has to be special, so this."

Miya"s mouth fell open, and she was almost ready to put her palm on Ben"s mouth, just so he would stop talking.

Now, Jimmy was positively amused.

He gave the room another glance, looking at all the little details displayed out, that traced his journey from the very start. The chosen articles somehow, glorified him into some sort of unparalleled prodigy.

Which he was, of course.

His gaze also fixed on the only picture of him that had been draped on one wall. It was the one that Park had taken back at his apartment, when he and Ben had accidentally worn the same pyjamas. Now that Jim looked at it closely, the picture indeed made him and the little boy look related.

Jimmy also glanced at the food, once the aroma flared into his nostrils.

Altogether, it was the most lousy set up he had ever seen.

There were ferry lights: blue, white and yellow, obviously hinting at trying to chose dark colours, the sort he liked. Then, there were pictures of articles pulled off the internet all over the walls, worshiping him. And, there was food, which he was almost sure would be an odd combination of everything his wife could find out was his favourite.

Had it been an employee who had organized this, Jim would have rolled his eyes, and well, felt really stupid in a place like that. And yet, when he saw the wife gaze nervously at him as he eyed everything around, he wanted to laugh merrily.

He kept his emotions in check though.

When Miya saw the young master stare at the room for a long time, without saying a single word, her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. She followed his gaze too, and instantly felt like the stupidest girl on earth.

It was pathetic!

What had she been thinking, trying to surprise Jimmy Hunter with something as frivolous as this? Of course he would dislike it!

Did he hate it though…?

Miya saw Jim look at the picture of him and Ben, and the quiet was deafening to her, so she spoke hesitantly, "Um… that was the only picture of you in my phone. And – And I didn"t like the ones on the internet, they were all… I wanted to put your pictures over all the walls initially! But then Ben insisted you won"t like them and we came up with this… Do you hate it?"

Jimmy listened to the wife quietly, silently tapping one of his foot on the floor.

Truth was, he was barely holding himself put. He wanted to die from the laughter he was controlling.

G.o.d bless the little boy though.

For had it been pictures of his own face on all the walls, Jim would have been creeped out to no end. Even he didn"t feel that intensity of self love for himself.

But the wife…

She was hilarious!

She was looking miserable by now, positively on the verge of tears now that Jim was maintaining his poker face. When she looked distressed to the point of trembling, the young master stopped enjoying himself and decided to put her out of her misery.

"Miya," he called out, clearing his throat.

Miya looked up alertly.

"Yes?"

She looked ready to be slaughtered.

Oh boy. Oh boy.

She was so cute.

Jim, however, was having too much fun. So with the serenest expression he could pull, he said, "What is all of this for?"

The girl swallowed.

"I-It"s a thank you, thing. Um, when you went away, I just… I realized you"ve been so nice to us since we met, and I"ve never really thanked you. It was just an idea… but then er, Ben and I just got carried away. You saved both our lives, and then you took us to the beach, and you always take care of Ben, and you keep helping me out too, and you let me drive your Hayabusa, and then… Um, Mr. Hunter. Do you hate it?"

Miya was red in the face now, and Jim couldn"t handle it. So, when she looked up at him with those big, beautiful eyes, he was floored.

His next words were an instinct.

"Call me Jim," he said softly.

Miya flinched.

"Er –"

"My name Miya. Call me by name."

"By name?"

��By name."

Miya looked at him, and time stood still in that moment. Jimmy Hunter"s eyes were so intense, and he looked at her so deeply, an odd feeling crawled up her skin and spread through her entire body. She missed a breath, and her lips parted slightly.

Too powerful.

The young master"s gaze was too powerful. He had never looked at her like that before.

Her words too, were simply a reaction.

"Jimmy," she said.

Jim"s heart stopped beating, and Miya"s face went scarlet.

Whatever she was feeling in that moment… she wasn"t ready for this.

Neither was he.