My Kind of Perfect (7 page)

If that was even possible.

I looked at the time and saw that it was now a little after
nine in the evening. If I could actually find his location, I still needed to
wait for tomorrow. Or maybe I could just casually give him a call and ask for
his forgiveness. But then I realized that it will not sound any sincere if I
would do it that way that and that in the end he might just shove me off even
more and my bad luck would surge up to the limit. I didn’t want this whole
building collapsing on me just because I angered him some more. It was like a
verdict. If I wanted my life back, I needed to ask Johnny’s forgiveness.

Actually, if things hadn’t gone wrong, we could still be
friends by now. But somehow things did happen and we couldn’t actually change
any of it. I sighed. Okay, so maybe I actually owed him an apology or at least
a valid explanation. Perchance his high IQ hadn’t comprehended the gravity of
the situation way back then. That could happen, somehow.

But it was plain simple. We couldn’t be a pair because I was
one of the most popular girls in school and he was the least popular guy. So
basically, for starters, we were not on the same page to begin with, just like
I was telling myself all along. And of course, I was right. It was very easy to
understand.

What was his problem anyway?

I kept on ranting him in my mind as I typed his name in
Google. It was not like I really believed that he was now famous. Let’s just
say that something unimaginable like that did happen. Miracles do happen every
now and then after all. Heaven must have had smiled at him. And ola! he was now
famous.

Then suddenly, I remembered that he once told me that he was
the only grandson of an hotelier. It was actually possible that his grandpa
died and passed the business to his father or to him. Okay, so maybe that was a
possibility. I typed down his name and added the word hotel just in case my
hunch was right.

A few John Brooks appeared but one article caught my
attention.

John Brooks Named General Manager of Burchett Hotel.

I hurriedly opened it. The page was nice and it was a pretty
descent hotel. I was surprised when I saw that it was a five-star hotel located
in Creeksburg. And it was said that he was one of the youngest to be given such
a position.

His grandfather died two years ago and handed over
everything to him. Gosh, I should be a psychic. I was right. When did I ever go
wrong anyway? But then why to him? I remembered that his father was still alive
or maybe he also died. Whoa! That was tragic—two deaths in ten years. Anyway,
that wasn’t my problem. I only needed to see him.

I jotted down his contact number in my planner. I thought
that maybe I should call him now. I grabbed my phone and dialed the number.
After a while, a female voice answered. So was I really expecting that he would
be the one to answer the call? Hello? General Manager? Of course, there was a
secretary that would answer the call for him. Five-star hotel thingy was never
a small time business.

“Hello, good evening. This is Rachelle Moore speaking. How
may I help you?” she politely said on the other line.

“Hi, this is Kayla Wilson. I was wondering if I could speak
to Mr. John Brooks?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but he’s out of the office right now,” she
answered. Right, it was already pass nine in the evening. Office hours were way
over eon of minutes ago.

“When will he be back?” I asked her again.

“He’ll be back after a week,” she said.

I paused. Nope, I wasn’t expecting that. I thought she would
say that he’d be back tomorrow. Or later?

“A week?” I asked her again, just in case my perfect ears
hadn’t got it right.

“Yes ma’am, he’s on a leave right now. But we’ll be happy to
assist you in any way we can,” she offered.

“No thanks. I really need to talk to him. Where can I find
him then?” I inquired. Even if I had to track him down to the ends of the
earth, I would do so. I didn’t have that much time. Maybe I would be dead by
next week if I wouldn’t see him right away.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am, but we’re not allowed to disclose any
information,” she apologetically told me.

“Even just this once?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Wilson.”

“Okay, guess you couldn’t help it if that is so. Well,
thanks for answering my call,” I told her.

She said goodbye and I hung up afterwards. So maybe it was
pointless to ask about his location this way. I had no clue where he lived, let
alone what he was up to right now. He could be anywhere. Or worse, he was out
of the country having a grand vacation while I was in the verge of almost
losing my life every single second.

He could have had been a bit nicer to me.

I googled him some more but there was no detail that gave
out his whereabouts. I looked on every recent article there was about him but I
hadn’t been able to get anything. I gave up on searching and just opened up
another horoscope site to find out some encouraging words or maybe some
enlightenment to guide me through.

You reached a new milestone, and you
should find that someone who’s holding the key to your much awaited life. It’s
not time to stop and rest. You’ve got to keep pushing!

Oh gosh, that was right. The horoscope said it all. I was
not that far from getting back my once perfect life. I just needed to devise
something in order to find out where he was. If I would put my mind into
anything, I would definitely be able to locate him.

I got up on my feet and walked back and forth the room.
After needlessly going around my whole apartment, I finally saw the only way
left on how to find him. I looked straight at my reflection in the mirror and
saw an exquisitely made lady with perfect blond hair and undeniable lovely
curves. Her lucent green eyes were subtly reflected in her confident smile. And
every corner of her face showed utmost beauty.

And with that, I knew what I needed to do. I had to make use
of this one. Just wait, John Brooks, I would find you first thing tomorrow
morning.

“Miss, you’re not allowed in here,” said a voice that came
from behind. I didn’t look back so he started tapping me on my shoulders. For
one, I wanted to tell him that I was on a secret mission around here and he had
no right whatsoever to disrupt me.

But it was kind of annoying that he hadn’t refrained from
doing so. After another second, I finally turned back to see who it was. I
wasn’t quite expecting that it was him who was behind me. I thought I was
finally out of his or their sight. Well, I did manage to get pass through
everyone else using my utmost beauty. And here I was still caught red handed by
a guard. Why did he even have to see me for like now? He could have had arrived
a little later.

I looked back and ignored the nosy guard. Looking straight
ahead, I continued staring at the office of the General Manager. I took another
step forward but the guard from before blocked my way the next instant.

“Miss, I’m sorry but visitors are not allowed in this area,”
he said in the most polite yet clearly annoyed way.

All business, eh?

“I just want to find out where John Brooks is,” I told him.

One of his eyebrows rose up in the inquiry of what I was up
to. Great, he must be thinking that I was one crazy stalker of their General
Manager. For crying out loud, who would stalk a nerd? Or probably he might be
speculating that I would kidnap the General Manager and ask for a huge ransom.

“You can inquire using the phone. And I’m sorry to say that
this area is not for visitors. You cannot proceed inside unless you have an
appointment,” he told me.

Then as he continued saying the whole policy book of the
hotel, I saw the secretary got back to the office. Gosh, she was fast. Now my
golden chance of peering through John Brooks’ whereabouts was gone.

I kind of thought that maybe while she was gone, I would
fake an appointment and get pass the receptionists outside. And for that short
span of moment, I could find out something about John Brooks. Just his address
will do me so much good. Even if he was super rich, he couldn’t casually move
his things around in a day or so. I would have at least several days to pester
him until I attained his utter forgiveness.

“I’ll lead you outside,” the guard finally finished as he
motioned the way out to me.

“I’m fine. I can manage to find the exit myself,” I muttered
as I flipped my hair to the other side, feeling a little miffed.

Then I walked straight across the aisle towards the ‘exit’.
He followed me nevertheless. Oh, he could continue on doing that and I might
actually look like a VIP being personally guided by the hotel’s security.

But disapproving looks met me as I was walking down the
lobby. I looked at my outfit. Nothing was wrong with it. What was with all of
them? Then I followed their gaze as it passed through me and moved all the way
to my back. As I turned around, I saw that the guard was still following me.

So maybe his way of ‘following’ wasn’t that much of like the
ones you had seen when celebrities were being guided by securities. It was more
of the way the cops followed their suspects. This was clearly a violation of my
human rights.

“Excuse me, sir. If you don’t stop acting that way, I’ll
file a complaint against you,” I warned him.

I clearly saw that he wanted to let out a shrug but he
shunned from doing so. Instead, he forced a half smile to his lips and told me,
“I’ll just make sure that you will be guided accordingly.”

“I can find my way out. And just to remind you, I know who
your General Manager is. One word from me and you’ll be out of your job,” I
said with a smug. What could he say about that? I knew who Mr. John Brooks was.
And once upon a time, he was once head over heels for me. One word from my mouth
and he would be down on his knees.

“If you say so, miss. But I really need to do my duties
around here,” he said, a hint of annoyance eminent in his voice.

“I’m just reminding you,” I told him as I read the name in
his tag, “Mr. Smith.”

He faked another smile once more as he led the way out.
Argh. He clearly wanted me out of here, didn’t he? But no matter how irritated
I was, I still followed his lead. What else could I do? Run? For a moment, the
thought did occur to me but I was not making myself do anything atypical again.

I had done enough for the day.

We got past the crowd of people flocking around the
conference hall as if they were preparing for something big. Out of curiosity,
I peeked inside. Was it a wedding ceremony? Well, it was kind of obvious actually.
White curtains hanging around, flowers scattered everywhere, and mellow songs
which filled the air. A wedding ceremony indeed.

I suddenly remembered Aaron. That guy must be happily
married by now with that tramp. Or maybe not, since I would be getting my luck
back. And there was this chance that the wedding didn’t happen and he had
already realized that he had been wrong all along. And by now, he desperately
wanted me to get back in his life again. Aaron could be kind of shy once in a
while so perhaps he was kind of hesitant to call me until now. But I guessed I
would be hearing from him any moment soon.

As soon as I’d be able to talk with John Brooks.

I walked out of the hotel, still guided by the vexatious
guard. After realizing that Mr. Smith wouldn’t leave me alone unless I would
get out of this hotel, I yielded to just hailing a cab. Now that Plan A had
failed, I had another one in mind.

Ha! Just wait for a moment and I’d be right back.

“Take me to the nearest mall,” I told the driver, adjusting
my heels in place. This better not fall or I’d flip. I didn’t bring spare shoes
with me. And I also hoped that my luck wasn’t exhausted yet, like the way it
was a few days ago when I reached the limit of being unfortunate. I just needed
some undisturbed time of being normal.

Not lucky. Just normal.

After a while, the cab driver said, “We’re here, Miss.”

“Oh, okay. Let me just get some cash,” I said, unlocking my
bag and counting the exact amount. I wasn’t normally this stingy but having my
job cut-off and all my savings gone, I had to be thrifty with what was left. It
wasn’t many. I’d be out of money pretty soon. And life in this city without
money might as well mean death.

The cab driver didn’t say anything but he looked aloof all
right.

“And here’s the last cent. Okay, done,” I said, getting out
of the cab.

In front of me was a five-storey building covered with
hundred meters tarps. Maybe that was an exaggeration. It wasn’t hundred meters
but it was really huge.

And so was the waiting line outside the mall.

I looked at my watch and saw that it wasn’t even ten
o’clock. That explained a lot about the line. But why today of all days did
these people need to buy whatever they have to buy so early in the morning?

At first, I was patiently waiting as the forty-second person
to enter the mall. But as the clock ticked on, I was getting frantic that if I
wouldn’t get my hands on John Brooks’ whereabouts I’d be so dead and I’d never
be able to get my life back.

Good for them, before I was even able to fake a bomb scare
gossip, the double door of the mall opened. I found my way inside in a hurry.
Thankfully, the mall was large enough to hold forty or so people without having
them to bump shoulders against shoulders.

Going to the beauty section, I hurriedly grabbed a
semi-permanent dye and also some cheap hair dryer. I also picked up a cotton
sweater, tiered skirt and some new shoes.

“Credit or cash, Ma’am?” the lady behind the counter asked
me.

I flashed my credit card and said, “Credit.”

Credit cards were so handy during these dubious times. The
magical credit card rescued an almost penniless girl like me. I’d think of a
way to pay the bills later.