FIXING MR PERFECT

CHAPTER FIVE

     *Smiles like a crazy person*Yeah it's me again. Sorry I just love good advice,can you give me some concerning these clothes? And no it's not me in the pic,please. Uhm,so which is it gonna be? left or right?
                   ....................
 
   I resisted the urge to kiss the ground as I stepped out of the car. Could this day get any weirder?
    "You live here?" The woman asked,surprised. I nodded and pointed at my house next door. Her eyes widened in amazement but she said nothing.
    I watched her take out the grocery bags and I helped her with some. Expecting her to walk over to the house in the next neighbourhood,she inserted the key into the lock next door and swung the door open.
    "Follow me into the kitchen and lay them on the counter". She instructed. I did as I was told and followed her into a well equipped and spacious kitchen.
    "Thank goodness you're back mom". An all too familiar voice bellowed in relief. Marcus was leaning wholly on the door post, with his hand in his pocket and a sly smile splayed on his lips. His hair was moist,indicating that he just had a bath. Immediately his eyes settled on me,his lips dipped into a frown.
    "What the heck is she doing here?"
     I held back a snort. Even if he hated me couldn't he at least pretend in front of his mom?
      Mrs Ross shot him a serious look. "That's no way to address a visitor". She scolded then furrowed her brows together. "Wait have you two met before?"
    Marcus huffed out loud. "She's kinda my classmate and she lives next door".
    "Well that's great. You both would catch up well then".
     I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. And I'd thought this day couldn't get any weirder than it already was. Was the universe against me or something?
    "Why did you bring her in?" He questioned and gingerly met my gaze with disgust written all over his face. "If you needed a nanny you could have done a better job of choosing one".
     Geez,the guts of this guy! Who the hell did he think he was?
    "Now don't be rude Marcus. This young girl helped me a lot at the grocery store while you were home the whole time". She sucked in a deep breath.
    "She deserves an apology".
     I second that; I strongly do.
     His eyes wondered over to me then back at his mom. "Is that really necessary? We could just kick her out of the house and forget anything ever happened".
     Mrs Ross folded her arms over her chest. "Or you could simply apologise".
     I waited patiently for the apology. "I'm sorry for calling you a retarded chicken".
     Wait what? That wasn't how it was supposed to go! Follow the scripts man! Try to keep up!
     My lips twitched unconsciously. "You never did".
    "Well I just did!". He replied with an evil smirk and breezed out of the kitchen before Mrs Ross could call him back.
    "Is he always like that?" I turned around to ask his mom who was already sorting out the things she brought on the counter.
     She let out a tired sigh. "I'm afraid this in fact, is one of his good sides. Wait till you see him get mad".
     Well,I wasn't gonna wait for that. I was happy with my life thanks for asking.
     "He's so reserved to the extent that he scribbles down his most annoying,happy and deepest thoughts in a book. Up till now,I haven't read it".
     She was talking about the 'secret book' he always wrote in everyday at school with so much focus.
    "Do you talk to him often at school?"
    I half shrugged my shoulders. "That's if I ever get the chance to. He hardly talks to anyone and simply behaves like a shadow of himself!"
    "You can fix that right?"
     I thought I hadn't heard well until she repeated herself. Was this some kind of joke? Even if it was,it wasn't funny.
    "I - I don't understand what you mean Mrs Ross". I confessed.
     She smiled knowingly. "I know what you're probably thinking. You just met a hysterical woman in a grocery store only to find out that she was the mother of your cold classmate who lives next door and to top it all,she asked for the most unthinkable thing on Earth;to fix her son!"
     I don't know what got me surprised. The fact that she knew what she was demanding was unthinkable or the fact that she read my mind absolutely.
    "Amanda". She began softly this time. "All I ask of you is to make him feel special again. I know how it is to feel uncared for. His father left us on his tenth birthday. He waited desperately for his dad,putting on his birthday outfit but he never came back...till today.
   She sniffed,obviously affected too by his sudden French leave. "Although he's getting over it little by little, he can't seem to be himself outside. Always putting up cold,bossy and arrogant attitudes to scare off anyone willing to ask how he's feeling".
     I stood rooted to the ground, trying to picture how ten year old Marcus would have felt being ditched by his own father on his big day. It was impossible for me to feel any hatred towards him now,having heard of his past.
     Mrs Ross placed her hand on mine as we stood in front of the counter. "Can you do this for me Amanda? Believe me, I've tried".
    "But why me?" I couldn't help asking.
     She smiled. "You're young,smart,sweet,pretty,easy to talk to and something about you makes me smile".
     I couldn't hide my wide grin. These reasons were good enough for me.
    "I can't believe I'm saying this but I'll do my best".
     Mrs Ross beamed like I'd taken a load of burden away from her. Well literally speaking,I had.
    "So we have a deal?"
     Keeping it all business like weren't we? I looked at her outstretched hands for a while before taking it.
    "Yes we do".
    At that moment,it dawned on me that I'd taken up the most ridiculous task ever....fixing Mr Perfect!

   A/N:  May I say how gingered up I am by this chapter. I enjoyed writing it and sincerely hoped you enjoyed reading it! Sorry it's a bit short. I didn't wanna spoil the moment with more drama. I really wanna give you a big hug for reading this right now. I'm not sure how good this chapter is but I'm willing to improve. As usual,feedbacks are welcome.
     Pick up lines for the day:
     *Do you have sunburn or are you always this hot?
     *Your clothes are making me uncomfortable. Please take them off!
     Chao! See you around.