My Kind of Perfect (2 page)

We had been together for about two years by now. He was my
fifth boyfriend and the moment that I saw him, I knew that he was the one. I
was just waiting for the proposal that I was certain would happen anytime soon.

Oh my gosh! I needed to start practice saying yes starting
tonight.

Valentine’s Day was just around the corner so maybe he would
do it on that day. He was such the romantic guy after all. So before the year would
end, I’d be walking down that aisle as the most beautiful bride in history. And
we would live happily ever after.

My life was a-ok. This was the endpoint of my self-discovery
that I was such a natural when it comes to being perfect. Even my life was
living up the word.

Tell me what I didn’t have. I examined myself carefully and
in the most unbiased way. Looks? Check. Hotness? Check. Charms? Of course, a
big check. Brains? I should check that two times. I was certain that I was the
most beautiful brainiac in history, ever. An upcoming promotion? Yes, check
that also. And an awesome boyfriend? Check. Check. Check.

I was officially and undoubtedly the most perfect specimen
on earth. Others who attained this level of perfection, or maybe close to it,
would succumb if they knew me. I flipped my hair to the other side and that guy
across street dropped his favorite cup of coffee.

See? That was what I was talking about.

With this satisfied grin on my face, I happily walked around
the corner to my favorite coffee shop in this city. I actually met Aaron here
so the place was quite special. It was that cold December night when I was
hurrying to get a cup of coffee to prevent myself from freezing. And as I was
looking at the long line, I saw him. I stared at him for a moment because he
looked so handsome in that brown coat and his hair fell perfectly in place as
he was talking to his friend. He was such a gentleman and let me cut the line.
And after that, he asked for my number. And I knew, at that moment, we were
just meant to be together.

Of course, I was right again.

I opened the double door of the coffee shop and found my way
to the counter. 7:00 in the morning. Yup, I was right on time. I was a regular
here so everyone around knew me by now. The lady behind the counter, Lily,
smiled as soon as she saw me approaching.

“One caramel macchiato?” she asked as I stood in front of
the counter.

“Yes. That’s exactly what I need,” I said as I handed her
the bill.

After ordering, I sat in my favorite spot, the one near the
window and overlooking the busy streets of New Waulds. I grabbed my laptop and
browsed my favorite site. I always read my horoscope for the day during my free
time. I bookmarked every single site in my browser.

And for the first one today:

You need to slow down as much as you can today because you’re
at risk of burnout. Today might not be your most lucky day but a few days of
relaxation should help to get you back on track. Don’t push yourself too hard.
An unexpected turn of events might happen. But always remember that things
happen for a reason.

There were times that you got a good prediction and there
were times when you didn't. It was a relief that I ran after that black cat
this morning. At least I got a portion of my luck back. Today wouldn’t be that
bad, I reassured myself. I was such a genius for knowing things beforehand.

Then in a while, Simon, one of the part-timers, served my
coffee. I said to him an adorable, “You’re quick as ever.”

He smiled back, a little too forced, at me before walking
away. I took a sip and looked at my watch. I quickly drank the rest of it as I
noticed the time. I must have had looked at my not-so-good fortune that I
didn’t realize I was getting a little bit late for work. Not a good habit for
the perfect employee. After I finished the cup, I promptly headed out of the
shop.

Pulling up my skirt a little to run a bit fast, I hailed a
cab. I was supposed to do a presentation today for our VIP clients. I worked hard
for this presentation for a long time. And today was the big day. After this
day, I would surely make it big in this industry. Everyone would know my name.
Fame and success would be coming my way. After all, this was the type of
presentation that would either get you up or bring you down. Which of course,
in my case, I would definitely get the up part for no one could ever bring me
down.

Except for bad luck. Super bad luck. Those falling into the
category of catastrophic. But gladly, that didn’t happen to me yet. And I’d
like for it to stay that way, even if I had to randomly run after black cats.

It was a short trip down to our office so I knew that I was
still early for today. Greeting everyone on my way up to the twelfth floor, I
enjoyed my last moments as one Bridget Woods’ assistants. Tomorrow would be
another story.

“Good morning, Claire,” I happily greeted my coworker as I
put my things down on my table. I arrived just in time, but she was rather
surprised than happy to see me. I wondered why that was so.

“You’re late. Why is your phone off? The meeting is already
starting,” she said, panic eminent in her screeching voice. Claire already got
that squeaky, little voice and the anxiety in her tone added just a little bit
more dramatic effect to it. Sometimes, I even wanted to suggest to her to
audition for cartoon shows. She could definitely fit in the voice acting or
something part.

“Huh? Relax, Claire. It would start at eight thirty.” I said
to her and grabbed my planner from my bag to check the time. And yes, of
course, I was right again.

“The schedule was changed last week. Don’t you remember?”
she retorted, or more like shouted to me.

‘Oh no, Claire dear, you have no
right to shout to me,’
I wanted to warn her. But before I even got the
chance to defend myself, I noticed that yellow piece of paper stuck between
heaps of papers on my table. I turned to my right and saw the post-it that
failed to make its way into my planner.

Reschedule: 7:30.

I realized that I, for the first time in my entire life, was
wrong. Crap! I was late. I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 7:45.
Fifteen minutes late. That was a long time especially if VIPs were waiting for
you.

Doomed!

I hurriedly grabbed my laptop and proceeded to the
conference room in haste. I caught a glimpse of my boss, Bridget, who was
standing in front of the door and tapping her feet in dismay. Seeing how she
aged fifty years in fifteen minutes, I realized that I was so busted. Gosh, she
must have had been really mad at me. Her face flared in anger as soon as she
saw me running towards her.

“Why are you late?” exclaimed Bridget, her eyes twitching in
anger.

“My bad. I’ll get on it,” I replied apologetically.

Or at least I was trying to sound a bit contrite.

“Go inside, they’re waiting for the presentation,” she told
me before she pushed me inside the conference room herself.

I straightened my walk as I went up front. I heard my
audience’s disapproving chatters as I passed by. I ignored it and just headed
my way for I evidently knew that they would be shocked once they see how
perfect my presentation was. I had put so much time and effort on this one to
make sure that nothing could possibly go wrong.

I connected my laptop to the video cable and searched for
the presentation that I made for today. Presentation 01. Open. I cleared my
throat and looked up to face my audience. I was quite surprised that they all
had friendly faces now. A moment ago, they all appeared like they wanted to eat
me alive.

Then suddenly, one started laughing. It was a quiet chortle
but audible enough in a room wherein everyone was keeping their silence in
place. And for some reason, one VIP was followed after another. Soon, the rest
of the attendees were doing the same thing.

What were they laughing about? It couldn’t possibly be me.

“Uhmm... good morning,” I ignored them and started with my
presentation instead. But instead of containing whatever they were laughing
about, everyone continued laughing and disregarded me altogether. Rude people.
And here I was thinking that I was working with a bunch of professionals. I
looked around for my partner, Margaret, at the far side of the room. She
pointed to the white screen behind me.

Huh?

I turned back and my eyes widened in shock as I saw a photo
of myself from years ago. It was actually taken from my ballet recital when I
was young. It was the one where I tripped and was about to hit the floor. Embarrassing
moments in life. Instances when I still hadn’t learned that I was born for
perfection. And I had my mom to thank for that. For convincing me to do her a
presentation on how I grew up through the years so she could show it to her
support group. And she didn’t fail to mention that I should include that
specific photo.

But how did it end up in my presentation?

Maybe it got mixed up with my work. I always named my photos
01, 02, 03 and so on. As well as my presentations. I must have had put it in
the wrong folder. Argh. Talk about the shame when everyone saw the pictured you
wanted to delete or burn to ashes if not for your mother who would be so
disheartened to lose the memory of that moment.

I hurriedly pressed the exit button and started looking for
the one I prepared last night. After frantically searching through all the
files, meaning, opening up some other embarrassing files along the way, I
realized that my presentation was nowhere to be found. That couldn’t be. If not
here, where else would my presentation go?

I gave it a thought. And slowly, as if speaking to me
carefully, the fear that I accidentally erased it crept inside my mind. I
quickly, and anxiously, searched for it in the recycle bin. And that was when I
remembered that I emptied it at the coffee shop this morning.

Oh shoot!

When did I make such a mistake? And why now? This was the
turning point of my life. Mistakes shouldn’t be happening by now. I had been
working on making everything fall into their rightful place for years.

But without the presentation in my stupid empty recycle bin,
I pulled the video cable from my laptop and walked out of the room in total
shame. These people were VIPs. My VIPs. Of all the things to go wrong, why
wasn’t I spared from this one?

I said to them before heading out the door, “I’m sorry.”

And as soon as I got out of the room, I came face to face
with my boss. By now, she must have already heard of everything that had happened
inside. And her face told me that she wasn’t pleased at all. I didn’t blame her
though. Why would she be? I wasn’t pleased with myself either.

But only this time around.

“Come with me,” she said in between clenched teeth.

Okay, so maybe by now I should have had realized that this
wasn’t the grandest idea of all. When Bridget called you to her room in this
kind of mood, it could only mean one thing—trouble. But before that, she called
another assistant and requested for back up. Then she walked towards her office
and I silently followed behind her.

Peering eyes came from all direction as I walked along the
corridor towards her room. I held up my head—proudly—as if I had done no wrong.
Everyone had their fair share of bad moments and it sort of happened to me now.
Big deal. Pfft. I knew that I could easily make it out of this one, knowing how
talented a person I was.

The door slammed closed as I got in. She carefully walked
across the room and faced the glass window overlooking the whole city. She
tapped her temple with her index finger for a while and frustration was notable
all over her wrinkled face. Bridget was in her early forties. And since she
aged like fifty years a moment ago, due to my being late, and another fifty for
my flopped presentation, she looked like a hundred and thirty now. I cut out
ten because she looked gorgeous in forty and could probably be mistaken to be
in her mid-thirties.

I nervously swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and
offered her, “Do you want me to grab you some water?”

She had been asking me for water, coffee, and tea all her
life.

“No, just stay there for a while,” she said to me instead,
holding back her anger. I wasn’t blind to see that she was riled.

I nodded.

Okay, Bridget had to calm down. This was the first time that
I made such a mistake. She didn’t have to take it too hard. I mean, I never got
her coffee wrong before, or misjudged if she wanted some warm water or an
ice-cold one. I was such a sublime employee and she really had to go easy with
me.

I narrowed my eyes and tried to channel my thoughts to her, ‘
Listen to me, Bridget. You won’t be angry at me. And yes,
this is just a petty talk and everything will be solved at the end of the day.’

“Pack your things,” she began.

I was taken back for a moment, thinking that she would still
give me my promotion and my own office. Well, that was actually what I had
thought last night, thinking that today would go on according to plan. I must
have underestimated her all this time. She surely knew a talent when she saw
one.

“Wa... wait, you mean...” I stalled with the words, foolishly
smiling as I came to know that after all this while, Bridget was fond of me.
And even if I messed things up this morning, she’d still give me what I truly
deserved.

“You’re fired,” the words came out of her mouth, abruptly,
which held back my previous thoughts.

“Pardon?” I said. Oh no, I must have had heard it wrong.
There couldn’t possibly be any valid reason why she wanted to do that to me.

“You’re fired,” she said again. This time more calmly but
she clearly imposed every single word.

“I... what?” I asked her again, still smiling. I thought
that maybe she was just kidding. You know, I kind of heard that she was quite a
joker from way back then. Although, the years that passed had done a pretty
good job in erasing it all out.