Perfect Imperfections Read Online Free PDF Page A

enjoy all of that, but it’s the smaller things, the everyday things that make me happy.”
    Kim walked to the window of the room and peeked through the curtains. “You know, Beth, it feels so nice not to be in charge of everything all the time? That is really what makes me want to be with him more and more. I can just let go and be in the moment and enjoy without worrying about details.”
    “You deserve to be taken care of, given everything that’s happening.” Beth felt happy for her friend but somewhere deep down, she also knew her friend. Kim may enjoy this change of not being in-charge for now, but she knew that when one is wired to be a certain way, a change is refreshing only for a small amount of time. Yet, knowing her friend, if she dared to point that out to her now, it would only incite Kim further and she didn’t want to be on the receiving side of the brunt that would follow. She also knew that she needed to be by Kim’s side when the difficult time came, and she knew it would. Was she an evil person to think that her friend would have a failed relationship? No, she was being practical. She loved Kim to bits to see her get hurt.
    “Oh, that must be Bill.” said Beth as the doorbell rang, and she started walking towards the door. “Kim, don’t be mad at me, okay?”
    “I am not. I can’t afford to be mad at you. We’ll talk later?”
    “Yes. Take care, okay?”
    “You too. Say hello to Bill.”
    “Yes, I will.”
    Kim clicked the phone off and placed it at the table by the window, and continued to look out. Dave is the best thing that could happen to me and I am not going to let anyone take that away from me.
     
    “You are awfully quiet today? Is everything okay?” said Dave as he watched Kim read the menu card in perfect silence as if it had some secrets codes written all over it.
    “No, why do you say that?” asked Kim, still not looking up from the menu.
    “It’s just that usually you are all excited to see what a restaurant has to offer and don’t really restrain your opinions about their menu, their interiors, their music. But today…” he gestured towards her, “…quiet.”
    “Yes, I am trying this new thing out,” she said, finally placing the menu down and looking up straight into Dave’s eyes. She knew that was something he just loved about her, the confidence that just radiated out of her. “Today, I am trying to be all sophisticated…” she said and then paused, sat up straight in the chair as if to prove a point, “…like you.”
    “Nah, you should go back to the previous version of yourself.” Dave picked up the menu trying hard to mask his amusement. He had fought the attraction he felt towards Kim from the get-go. He couldn’t have allowed himself to be distracted by a relationship and that too with someone much younger to him. But all his restraints went out the window every time she was in front of him.
    She clearly had issues but in many ways, she appeared to be an extension of himself. He could not bring out his inner self that often, but when he was with her, it happened naturally. He loved her confidence even though she didn’t know about things. Her determination to figure things out herself and her resistance to ask for help, everything about her made him ache for her when she was not around. Kim was a difficult person to be with at times and that was made clear to him in their very first meeting when they were out sightseeing in Athens. But don’t the imperfections of a person give them depth, make them who they truly are, good and bad — a whole?
    She could easily make a simple situation into a difficult one. But in all the mess that she tended to create, she seemed like a lost little kid struggling to find her way and determined to find it on her own. That energy in her was magnetic. It drew him to her every time she was in his presence. He often thought of asking Bill what the deal with Kim was, but for some reason he never did. He wanted to