Perfect Imperfections Read Online Free PDF Page B

voice brought Kim back to the present. The time she had given herself to prepare for what was to come was over, the in-between was over. Now she had to brace herself for what was to happen next.
    “…If you require deplaning assistance, please remain in your seat until all…..” the sugary voice of the flight attendant went.
    “Are you okay?” Dave rubbed her shoulders gently. “You should have asked for a pillow. Sleeping at that angle…”
    “No, I am fine. I’ll be fine.” Kim rubbed at her sore neck.
    “Okay, let’s get off then.”
     
    Kim felt she was on autopilot ever since they had landed. The drive to the hotel Dave had booked was hazy. While she getting ready, Dave went to his place, changed, and drove back in his car to pick Kim, but she wasn’t yet ready. She was still struggling to put her thoughts together and that frustrated her. When Dave walked into her hotel room, she was sitting at the edge of the bed staring at the corner window.
    “Kim?”
    “Yeah! I know… I’ll be done in a bit. Just… just give me some time,” she managed to finish.
    “Kim.” He walked towards her and got down on his haunches so that he was at eye level with her. “Look at me, Kim.” He turned her face to his. “You trust me, right?” Kim just nodded and looked down at her hands as Dave took them in his. “Okay then… you know what we are doing, right?”
    “No. I mean yes… I mean… I don’t know, Dave. That’s the problem I guess. I don’t know what I am doing.” She wanted to say I don’t know what I am doing with you, but she couldn’t bring herself to say that she didn’t know if that was even true. But that moment made her wonder if that was the problem. She pulled herself up and walked to the window looking out at the skyline of Dubai from the twenty-second floor. The setting sun had splashed a dusky mauve and pale orange hue across the evening sky, a time of the day Kim had disliked ever since she could remember. She pulled down the window blinds and turned the lamp on.
    “What are we going to tell my parents, Dave?” She stood by the lamp and looked at Dave who was still kneeling by the bed.
    He got up and walked to Kim and stood in front of her with his hands in his pocket. He checked the urge to tuck the stray strand of her behind her ear and hug her, as he knew that would only raise her hackles. “We’ll tell them that you and I are in a relationship, which is true, that we are not fooling around which is also true and that we want to see where this goes — true again. We respect them, and don’t want to hide anything from them. I think that should cover the basics. And then…” He shrugged. “…and then, we will just answer whatever questions they have to the best of our ability.” He couldn’t resist any longer and tucked the stray strand of hair behind Kim’s ears and touched her cheeks lightly with his thumb and that instantly calmed her. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
    “Yes, okay, yes.”
    “Kim, you know that they love you, and that’s the only reason they are concerned.” He walked to her and wrapped her in a side hug. “Wouldn’t you react this very way if you heard Sam was dating someone much older than her? Or how would you feel if she was dating at all?”
    “She is too young to date.” The words came out instantly without Kim thinking about it and pause before saying, “No! Well, yes.” She quickly changed her answer as soon as she saw the grin on his face and smiled back. “Yes, I wouldn’t take it too well and that’s only because she is too young.”
    “You are right. You are entitled to react that way just as your parents are entitled to react the way they are. You are also entitled to feel all these emotions that you are feeling right now. It’s nobody’s fault, Kim. People are not all good or all bad.”
    He sat her down on the bed and tilted her face up a little. “You have to stop slotting people as black or white.