My Kind of Perfect (12 page)

Gosh, shame on me.

“What is she doing?” I hastily asked John, thinking how he
could still have time to fix his shirt and show off. If I were him, I would
have battled it out and grabbed that license from Dorothy.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Maybe in a moment, we’ll find
out.”

“Things got way out of hand. How are you going to make up
for this, Johnny?” I asked him, annoyed.

“I’ll think about that later. For now, we need to get that
from her hands,” he said as he pointed to the envelope in Dorothy’s arm.

“And you’re seriously over me, right?” I asked him again out
of nowhere. Well, the thing that his grandmother said a while ago was
absolutely bothersome.

“Of course, I am. Can’t you see that already?” he said back
to me.

Right. Nice biceps.

I got up from my seat and so did he. As I was approaching
Dorothy, I noticed that he was about to do the same thing I had in mind. We
kind of smiled knowingly at each other, only ending up with me subtly looking
away. Because like I said, he now had a pretty smile and my eyes were not yet
used to it. He was closer to where his grandma was so he took the initiative to
tiptoe and stealthily tried to grab the envelope from that was under her left
arm.

He was so close to it when I saw someone dressed in all
black clothes and having a well-kept hair, showing off huge and much firmer
biceps, grabbed him from behind. Before I could even protest, one person also
held me by the shoulders. I was still stunned as two strong hands pulled me
away back to the living room, with that man holding John doing the same.

“What are you doing?” I said while struggling.

I heard John say, “Let go.”

“Just pull them to the side,” ordered Dorothy as she pointed
to the right then resumed talking on the phone.

A pair of questions came into mind.

Dorothy looked like a mafia boss ordering her goons around
right now. I took back all the thoughts of her having an incurable sickness or
whatsoever. I threw a worried look to John and he replied with the same baffled
look on his face. When she finished talking on the phone, she turned around and
faced us. Then she put her hands to her hips and said, “You think I haven’t
noticed from the start what you two are doing? So how’s my acting?”

I was puzzled for a moment, not fully absorbing what I just
heard. Then she continued, “You think I’m just some hopeless grandma walking
around, going along to the whole drama?”

“Grandma, what are you saying?” asked John, who was just as
confounded as I was.

“Well, I already knew that you had no bride yesterday. And I
was quite surprised when you brought Kayla to me. I also knew that she was the
girl from before, and thought that this was just a scheme. Although, I wasn’t
sure why though. But I fully knew that you two were faking things and that duct
tape did not escape my eyes.”

John and I hadn’t said a thing in response. We were both
stunned and taken back by her declaration. It was as if the whole world had
stopped as she told us her side of the story. So she was only acting all along.
And what if Johnny made up this entire scheme together with her? Screw his
acting, what if I was the only victim in this story?

I started to panic and hastily accused both of them, “You
two planned this all along!”

They both looked at me—skeptically. John sucked at acting
even from before. Although he changed, I wasn’t sure that it was the path he
had taken. With all the hotel things, he couldn’t have had majored in acting as
well.

“We?” repeated John. “Why should I? If I had a better choice
then I wouldn’t ask for your help.”

That was harsh.

“We didn’t,” said Dorothy.

I pulled back my pointing fingers, feeling ashamed. Then
suddenly they both started doing what I hated the most—laughing at me. In the
most uncalled for time, the two were laughing. I thought we were having a
serious thing going on? I crossed my arms against my chest and angrily tapped
my feet.

It was Dorothy who broke the awkward moment when she said,
“Don’t worry, dear. I got a solid proof that this punk was not involved in my
plan.”

“I don’t have such ideas in my mind,” John said. “It never
occurred to me. And since we’re like this, let me ask you straight away, are
you also faking your illness, Grandma?”

“It is part of the plan, my dear. I want you to be married
right away,” she said with a shrug.

“Wait. Why am I included in the plan? This is unfair! If you
guys want Johnny here to be married, then don’t pull me into all this,” I
protested.

“Well, I thought you were the perfect candidate for the
spot. And why did you even agree to be wed to him in the first place?” she
asked me instead.

“It’s just because,” I paused for a moment. Then I
continued, “I wanted to get out of a curse.”

“A curse?” she asked me, quite incredulous. If she had
surprised me a while ago, I managed to do the same to her. I was actually
talking about a curse.

“Yes, I was cursed by your grandson that was why I was
caught up in one misfortune after another,” I explained. But then I realized
that if what the fortune teller said was true, I was supposed to be out of the
curse by now. Why is another mishap happening to me? A greater one compared to
all other.

“I have no idea that he can put a curse,” said Dorothy,
quite doubtful at my declaration and sounded teasing at the same time. Well,
believe it or not, John could and he already did.

Couldn’t she see that I was the living proof of it all?

“I did not do any of that. It’s just that Kayla here is
overly superstitious,” explained John.

I opened my mouth slightly as I was about to defend myself
but refrained from doing so. What did they know anyway? I was the one who
experienced all those crazy misfortunes for me to clearly believe that he had
put a curse on me. But then since I already fulfilled the condition for me to
get out of this one, I realized that I got nothing to worry about from now on.
I was quite certain that I would easily get out of this one, without a single
drop of sweat. That was how it was supposed to go.

All I needed to do was to believe.

“So what are you saying earlier, Grandma?” asked John.

“Oh, and as I was saying, you pulled me into this deceit so
I’d just play along with the two of you,” she began, nodding her head slightly
as if to show how pleased she was with all this.

“And?” I asked relentlessly.

“You two need to stay together,” she continued. “That’s what
I came up with.”

“Stay together? What kind of stay together?” I heard the
shrill in my own voice. “And you think I’ll go on with that plan since you’ve
asked?”

She smiled and lines formed at the corners of her clear
eyes. “Well, you really have no other choice. It’s either you go with my
plan...”

“What plan?” John interrupted. “Why is there a plan?”

Dorothy didn’t answer him, but instead she just said, “Or
you’ll be officially married this instant.”

Then before we can even utter a word of protest, three men
in black suit entered the house. Each of them was carrying a black suitcase and
fully equipped with sunglasses. All of which clearly defined that they meant
serious business. In another tick of the clock, Dorothy handed them the
marriage license that she had been holding for a while by now.

She said, “You boys know what to do.”

The three men silently nodded and both John and I just
stared in total confusion. Then Dorothy cleared her throat and asked us again,
“So what do you two want? A real marriage or a three months contract to be
together?”

“Dorothy, I do not want to be involved in any of your plan,”
I clearly emphasized every word. None of the options sounded good enough to my
ears. It was as if she had said the word torture in such a way that it was now
covered with sprinkles on top.

In such a short span of moment, in between her declaration
of the ultimatum and my fitting response, I already thought about what she just
said a minute ago. She obviously blackmailed us with the marriage license that
unfortunately, we had thoroughly accomplished and was duly signed by the
necessary witnesses in the wedding. It was either we would be married for real
or we would go along with the three month contract that she was talking about.
Whatever that was, there was only one word equivalent to
it—torment-and-pain-which-will-send-you-to-total-agony-and-despair.

“Is that so? My dear, maybe you should also consider your
place in all this. It is either you two get married for real, which of course
will make me more than happy,” she told me, “or let’s get both of you sign a
contract to stay together. Not to say that after three months, it will be as if
no damage has been done.”

I was quite skeptical about what she just said. I asked
myself why I should choose any of that. It wasn’t as if I should actually obey
her just because. And so I tried searching for my phone. I could at least call
some legal help around here. Someone was completely making me do something
against my will.

After looking for it inside my dress, I realized that my
phone was nowhere to be found. “Where is that...”

“Are you looking for your phone?” asked the ‘evil’ Dorothy.
I looked up to her and saw the ‘wicked’ smile on her face. Then after a while,
she added, “Nate, show her the phone she dropped a moment ago.”

I turned my gaze to my side and saw that one of the
men-in-black was the Nate from before. He grabbed something from his coat. And
after a while, my phone magically appeared in his hand. The heart thing slash
annoying pendant of that Aaron gave me as a gift hovered at the bottom of the
pink phone. As clear as daylight, there was no doubt that it was mine.

Then upon Dorothy’s cue, Nate did the most ‘devilish’ thing
he could ever do in this lifetime—to break my unfortunate phone into two. The
sound of which resounded in the uneasy air, finally breaking the string which
held the slightest line between the rest of my sanity and the remains of
history.

“Dorothy! This is too much!” I exclaimed. I was trying my
best to not lose my cool all this while, and clearly my perfect being permitted
me to do so. But now I needed to say goodbye to my flawless attitude and face
the gravity of the given situation with the appropriate action.

I stole a glance at the wordless John who was standing idly beside
me. His right elbow was supported by his left arm as his right hand which was
crumpled into a shape of a fist, rested on his lips. He looked as if he was
lost in thoughts, analyzing the situation. Well, he had to forgive me for being
too much of a chatterbox. I unfortunately had a problem to solve right now.

And with or without his help, I would see through all this!

“I thought that it would be better if you could just focus
on the situation rather than foolishly calling out for help,” Dorothy replied
as she sat in a comfortable chair and sipped her cup of coffee that the
freaking maid delivered to her.

“I will sue you!” I told her, pointing an accusing finger.
It was a threat that was empty on its own. My bank account knew that I could
never afford a lawyer right now.

“Okay then, I guess I’ll see you in court as the
granddaughter who sued her grandma after she married his grandson,” she said.
“Oh my, saying all those ‘grand’ words makes me feel like I’m getting old.”

“You are,” I blandly replied. “But let’s not talk about your
age.”

“I guess I am. Well then, dear, if that is your decision,
there’s no helping it,” she said. “Nate, send those documents back to the clerk
and tell them that they should greet the newlywed couples after they get back
from their honeymoon.”

The men-in-black—Nate—silently nodded and started to head
out of the door. That guy was carrying the license which held the only
remaining thread of me and John finally legalizing everything. Could I let that
happen?

Defeated and without any other choice, I finally said to
Dorothy, “Let me hear your plan first.”

Well, for one, I never wanted to be John’s wife. That much I
was certain of. To be named as Kayla Wilson Brooks was never in
my What I Wanted to be When I Grow Up
list. If Dorothy
would actually send that annoying envelope back to the clerk’s office, I would
officially be regarded as Mrs. Brooks. I quivered in disgust with the words.
Taking the other option might be better.

“Now we’re talking,” she said. Then after which she turned to
the stilled John and continued, “Son, are you okay?”

Dorothy’s words kind of pulled John out of the oblivion that
he was previously in. He blinked twice then answered, “Grandma, why are you
doing all this?”

“That’s a good question. Well, it’s because I want you to be
married. And to top it all, I have your first love here to take the position of
the bride. Isn’t that perfect?” she replied, eyes sparkling which made me hate
the glitters with sheer annoyance.

“It’s not,” I interjected.

“That’s the point, Grandma. It’s not perfect. Who gave you
the permission to meddle with my life? This is my decision to make. You don’t
need to be involved in any of this and neither is this girl,” he icily replied.

Honestly, he kind of threw me off with the last words. It was
as if the words smacked me straight in the face. So I got the point, he wanted
to let me know that I was never wanted in here. So as you could see, I was the
victim in all this. Dorothy was forcing me and John imposed that he didn’t want
me. Just tell me and I would run off the door this instant. Like before, no
strings attached whatsoever.

And no hard feelings even.

“You’re just saying that. That’s what I’m talking about,
Kayla. He’s not yet over you all these years,” Dorothy told me.

“Uhmm... Dorothy, you kind of missed the part where he just
said that he was way over me,” I reminded her, emphasizing the ‘way’ part.
Well, surely, his words resonated in the air as loud as those church bells.