My Kind of Perfect
Read My Kind of Perfect Online
Authors: Freesia Lockheart
My Kind of Perfect
By Freesia Lockheart
Copyright © 2012
Freesia Lockheart
All Rights Reserved
All characters
appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living
or dead, is purely coincidental.
For John and all vain
heroines who deserves a chance
All our lives, we had this one little dirty secret we’d been
keeping enclosed in our hearts. In moments of self-realization, we came to know
that we were suffering from it. The TV ads. Magazines. Everywhere we looked, it
was there. And with that, it was only rational to spread our wings and reach.
Never look down. No room for second best. There was only one way we should live
our lives.
And that was it.
In our subconscious mind, we did it all the time. We tend to
achieve every essence of it, doing everything we could and relentlessly
striving towards that coveted ultimatum. It was a provocation that in itself
was hard to attain. But we had a way. We found a way. Our instinct had dictated
us that it was that, only that and nothing else. Each day, we’d repeatedly want
to get closer and closer to it.
And so we did.
Others had different advances, but everyone used a way. One
or the other, we did it before, was doing it now, and even in our
unconsciousness, we’d to it again. It was imminent. A thing that everyone was
entitled to fear.
Some had chosen to hide it, going behind the curtains while
carrying on the quest, amidst other people’s knowing and ashamed to be judged
for the so-called meaningless vanity. For others, they were running away from
it, in denial that they, too, had been grasped by its claws. But like a voice
in the back of their head, they knew that they could only run but never escape.
Although for a few of us, a tiny portion of this universe’s
entirety, we were the ones who embraced it with open arms. It came to us
naturally. There was no resistance, no futile struggle.
After all, it was our destiny.
It was a sin to be beautiful, a curse to be adored by every
eye, and a sure lot of pain to be the center of the talks. But this was
inevitable. Not everyone was given the gift, had reached the coveted ultimatum,
and was living it like it was something as easy as breathing. I had it—the
thing that everyone coveted—perfection. I was living every moment of my life
for the last ten years in this manner and was one of the few who were entitled
to stand in this envied rightful place.
There it was!
Nope, I wasn’t thinking about perfection again because right
in front of my eyes, walking underneath the lamppost, which someone should have
had switched off by now, I finally saw the black cat lurking around the
neighborhood. Without second thoughts, I perked up and started to run. The cool
winds of the morning were starting to be clashed by the warmth of the sun as
they trickled on my face. Looking straight ahead, my eyes were still fixated on
the moving cat.
Yes, it was a cat. Its jet black fur and dull form shined in
my eyes like diamonds exquisitely placed around the perfect ring. At the end of
the day, I knew that it was nothing but a meaningless cat. However, for now, it
was all I needed.
Perfection was one thing. But having all the stars lined up
in your favor was another. True, I had what every girl, younger or older alike,
wanted—physically, situational, and mentally wise. But fate was another concern
and luck was never constant. It was a matter of chance given to a few fortunate
ones at specific points in time. And in this moment, I had to be one of them.
Either that or I’d find my way to be so.
A good example would be this cat.
And so my heart thumped wildly in my chest as I realized
that the one that could boost my luck for this day was only a few steps away
from me. Moving forward, I only left a reasonable distance and stopped in front
of it. Bending my knees and sitting on the back on my heels, I called it, “Here
little kitty, come to mama.”
The cat looked up to me, appearing to be baffled at what I
was doing. If it could read, I would show it the importance of this matter.
Last night, I read this article in a magazine entitled
How
to Push Your Luck to the Limit
. They said that when a black cat walked
towards you, it would bring you good fortune. And it could also go the other
way around. For if it walked away from you, it would take all your fortune and
then you would have the uttermost bad luck for the rest of the day. Or worse,
for your entire life.
That much I never wanted to happen, ever.
I smiled wildly and extended my right hand to the cat.
Affectionately calling it, I said again, “Come here, kitty. Let me give you a
pat on the head, okay?”
The cat stared at me. “Meow?”
“Meow? Want to talk to me in your language? I can do that.
Meow. Meow,” I ardently said to it. A few more cat talk but still, she didn’t
seem to get me though.
What a cat!
Rather, it appeared very oblivious at what I was doing. Then
after a while, careful steps following another, it turned its back to me and
started walking away. My eyes widened and my mouth hanged wide-open in shock as
I stared at its departing figure.
“Come back here! Don’t go, little cat!” I exclaimed as I
lifted my face and watched it climb up the backstairs of the apartment building
at my left. It shouldn’t. That thing wasn’t supposed to do that.
Or else... or else... he would take away all of my fortunes!
I followed it and climbed upstairs as well. My heels clacked
loudly at each step but I couldn’t care less. Right now what was utterly
important was that I should get my fortune back.
“Hey, stop running around with those heels. We’re still
sleeping out here!” said one grandma from an open window.
“I’ll be through in a minute,” I shouted back without
turning to where the voice came from.
‘Bad cat! Why are
you still climbing? I’m getting tired out here,’
I wanted to say to the
thing that blissfully stepped up the stairs. However, I held my words back. It
wasn’t really that acceptable that one should be talking to a cat. A cat I
didn’t even know and wasn’t even my pet.
But after a little more climbing, it stopped. The cat had
stopped. I took a deep breath and was about to jump in joy. However, instead of
going down like a good old kitty, it turned its head back to me, ever so
slowly, and said with a taunting voice, “Meow?”
I narrowed my eyes in utmost dismay. Vicious. That thing was
plain vicious.
“Come here, kitty,” I called it in the most delicate way
possible with cherries on top, holding all of my dwindling resentments back.
“I’ll give you a treat if you will go down this minute.”
But to my horror, not even heeding a word I said, it
continued to go up. I grunted and followed along. After a few more steps, I
started to wonder how much higher it would go. My feet and legs were already
numb with all the running and climbing in heels. I declared that I was
officially annoyed at that black cat. If it wasn’t for my lost fortune, I
wouldn’t even be here and bothering to call it back.
“Kitty!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, no hint of
endearment whatsoever. It wasn’t my fault that my patience had run out.
The cat stopped moving and stood still on its track. Then it
turned its head back to me, still with that insensible stare. And then, it
licked its fur as if mocking me some more.
“Bad cat!” I shouted.
“Shut up!” said one angry voice from another floor.
“Oh, sorry,” I replied back to the direction where the
annoyed voice came from. “I’m just doing something important. You should
understand.”
I took off one of my shoes and tapped the heel to my open
hand. I lowered my voice down and warned the cat, “Come down here this minute
and no one will get hurt.”
“Meow?” it answered.
I raised an eyebrow in disgust to which the vile thing replied
with another sway of its head to the right. In the next few moments, we just
stood there staring at each other, with me tapping my heel furiously at one
hand, and it, swaying its head side by side.
It took a long while before the ferocious thing had regained
its senses and started to go down. Ugh. Finally, it had decided to go down. The
threatening did its job alright. I placed myself in the perfect position so
that it would be coming straight to me. Pulling my pencil skirt a little
higher, I bent down as the wild thing gladly moved towards where I was.
In a moment, I was already patting it on the head. I felt my
good fortune came back with my every stroke, like I had exhausted all the good
fortunes of this world that surely made me the luckiest person on earth.
Starting from today, I should be known as the lucky Kayla Wilson.
“Okay little kitty, I’m coming down now. Don’t move until
I’m downstairs. You understand that, right?” I told the cat as I put back my
shoe. I had this feeling that we now had this awesome connection.
“Meow,” the cat replied back and stood still on its track.
Okay, now we were talking.
“I’m sorry for the disturbance. Just getting back my
fortune,” I told everyone as I clacked my heels some more against the stairs.
Either that or I had to jump. No one would want that to happen. In this sunny
day, having an unintentional and for good deed accident wasn’t the thing anyone
would have wanted to happen.
“Go away!” they all said in unison. I was stunned at their
fierce reaction. Did they practice that? They were good. And not to mention on
the same pitch.
“Okay, okay, I’m going. Enjoy your sleep or breakfast...
err... I don’t know, your day I guess,” I stuttered. “Whatever you’re planning
to do.”
As I went down, I reasoned out with myself that they didn’t
have to be that angry. Who wouldn’t want to get their fortune back? What I did
was totally understandable. Definitely.
I already smelled my perfect day as I inhaled the fresh air
of New Waulds. Oh yes, if you would look closely, there were sparks flying
everywhere. Oh well, maybe I was just used on seeing things differently since I
was pretty much above average anyway. And because so, I was the one who should
understand.
I flattened my skirt as soon as soon as I got down.
Shrugging off my shoulders and straightening my blouse, I grabbed my phone from
my bag and dialed my boyfriend’s number. The usual morning call before starting
my day.
“Hi babe, Are you getting ready for work?” I asked as soon
as he picked up on the other line.
“Yes, I’m about to head off to the shower,” he replied.
“So when are we going to meet again?” I asked him. I hadn’t
seen him for weeks now. He said that he was caught up with his work nowadays. I
loved how he was being a hardworking man.
“Uhmm... about that... how about we meet really quick
tonight,” he suggested.
Oh good. Surprise visits always worked best. And I
remembered that I didn’t have anything scheduled for the night. I also secretly
laughed to myself as I thought about my upcoming promotion in a few, thinking
that this was just the perfect way to celebrate things.
“Okay, sure. Where are we going to meet?” I asked him,
feeling enthusiastic.
“At the coffee shop near your apartment at about... uhmm...
yes, I’ll be free around 7,” he said.
“Okay then, see you tonight. Take care, okay? I love you,” I
told him sweetly.
If anyone would ask, I was always proud to say that I was
head over heels for this guy. I mean, who wouldn’t? He was hot, charming, and
undeniably perfect. Just like me. It was as if I had found the long-lost match
that Heaven made just for me. We were the star-crossed lovers who found their
way back into each other’s arms after years of hopeless existence.
“See yah,” he quickly added before hanging up.
I was quite annoyed that he didn’t say the magic words
‘I love you too’
. Tsk. He had been so mean nowadays.
He always forgot to tell me how much he loved me. It was a good thing that I
knew. Deep in my heart I was convinced. I assured myself that he was just tired
that was why he forgot. There was no need for me to over-think the situation.