Just Perfect! (Persaud Girl) Read online

  “I want you to study and do well!” Samantha said. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I believe you,” Andie replied. “And even if Micah doesn't love you anymore, I still do.”

  “I know. And I love you more! Bye, Andie Capp!"

  Samantha hung up, and got out of bed. Her legs felt a bit wobbly from lack of exercise and nutrition. Her stomach was making feral noises. She wondered whether Leo had any left overs in the fridge downstairs. She pulled on her bed slippers and a robe. She raked her fingers through her matted hair, pulled on her glasses, and tiptoed out into the hall. The apartment was quiet, and Samantha was glad. She did not want anyone in the house to see her. She assumed that the help would be out for the evening, and Phillip had not come home all week so it was unlikely that he would be there then. She would make herself a turkey sandwich and enjoy it in solitude with a glass of soy-milk and some fruits before retreating to her room for a bath and a clean pair of pyjamas.

  Samantha snuck to the kitchen with that thought in mind. She slowly and mechanically removed the bread from the pantry along with all the condiments she could find, and began assembling her sandwich. She was so deep in thought that she did not hear anyone come in, and almost had a coronary when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The scream caught in her throat, and she whirled around and looked into the face of her cousin, Phillip.

  Phillip Javar was a living cliché. Tall, dark and handsome with a head of wavy dark hair, he had a megawatt grin that he inherited from his father and his mother’s coffee complexion and huge, soulful brown eyes. He had graduated from Columbia at the ripe old age of 23, and was currently a Vice President in Investments at Persaud Financials. A couple months before, Phillip had been named number one on New York’s “30 under 30”, the list that detailed the lives and interest of the city’s up and coming movers and shakers. His new status had made him an instant celebrity, and suddenly he was Manhattan’s bachelor of the year, and competing with only the mayor as the most photographed man on the island. Phillip was being followed by newspapers, magazines, TV shows. He was the finance world’s golden boy, and everything out of his mouth was gospel. Much to Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Kyle’s dismay, Phillip had taken to his new celebrity status as a duck to water, and had transformed into some sort of playboy. His escapades had become as chronicled as his business deals and he was quickly earning a reputation of being a ‘man whore’. Phillip insisted that much of what was written about him was fiction, but with his face on the cover of countless gossip rags with a ‘flavour of the week’ decorating his arm, his parents were not inclined to believe him. Grandpa Ravi Persaud did not give Phillip’s behaviour a second thought, so long as he ‘did not kill himself or sully the goodwill of Persaud Enterprises’.

  “Whoa, cuz! You look like someone crapped all over you!” Phillip greeted her.

  “Nice to see you too!” Samantha retorted sarcastically. “What you doing here?”

  “Last time I checked I lived here!” Phillip replied smugly. “And last time I checked you lived in TriBeCa.” He pulled a beer from the fridge. “So I should be asking what are you doing here.”

  “If you truly lived here you would have known I have been here all week,” Samantha said, returning to her sandwich.

  “Yeah. That’s right!” Phillip nodded. “Mom did mention you were here. So you got dumped, huh? Well, chin up!” He chucked her chin. “There are lots more fish in the sea!”

  “Who wants fish?” Samantha mumbled.

  “Yeah!” Phillip grinned. “Kinda slimy to cuddle. Phillip popped the tab of his beer and took a huge swig. “Wanna hang out for a bit?”

  “Nah! I’m still in mourning.”

  Phillip shrugged. “Well, if you change your mind, I’m not working tonight, and I could be convinced to go out. Don’t mourn for too long though. Try to feel better soon!”

  “Bah!”

  “Hey, Sam?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Ugly is not compulsory -- it’s an option. Clean yourself up, please. You really do look like crap!”

  ***

  “Well, look who the cat dragged in!” Bridget Joshi looked up from her laptop as the apartment door opened and Samantha stepped inside.

  “I only came back because Aunt Phoebe said I had to!” Samantha clarified, dumping her overnight bag on the couch. She looked around her apartment. It was her first night back since the night Micah had dumped her. She would always associate her heartbreak with her room in Nikki’s father’s apartment and her blue comforter.

  “I’m glad she sent you back,” Nikki said. “Daddy already started sorting out Tantie’s work permit!”

  Samantha smiled, although the smile did not reach her eyes. She didn’t think she would really smile again until Micah came to his senses and came back to her. How could he break up with her so close to her birthday? It was only five days away. She would be twenty-two, and Micah should have been coming to spend that weekend with her. She was planning to devote every waking moment to him, and that would be her last hurrah before finishing up classes and settling down to study for finals. It was supposed to be the best birthday, but he had to lose his mind and ruin it. Now, she no longer had Micah. His ugly girlfriend had him.

  “We only have a few days left to plan your birthday,” Bridget declared, almost reading her mind. “What do you want to do? Think of all the fun things we can do now that Micah is history. I know quite a few really cute guys who would love to be your birthday present.”

  “Thank you Ms Sensitivity!” Samantha said. “I will have you know that Micah and I may have broken up, but I am not on a man hunt. As a matter of fact, let the record show that from hereinafter, I have no further interest in men.”

  “Oh, so you’re a lesbian now?” Nikki chortled.

  “Whatever, Nikki!” Samantha said, heading to her room. “One thing this crap with Micah has taught me is that men are more trouble than they’re worth. From now on, I’m flying solo -- no man, no crap!”

  “You will change your mind when the right hunk with the right amount of testosterone grabs you and gives you a good you-know-what!” Bridget promised her.

  Samantha rolled her eyes. “Number one, you are vulgar; number two, I’m going to my bed. Don’t bother me!”

  She went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Everything was the same as she had left it. Her bed had not been made in over a week. She stripped the sheets from the bed and plodded to the linen closet for a fresh set. She made the bed, not forgetting the hospital corners, and sat gingerly at the edge. Her eye caught the framed photograph of Micah on her night stand. She picked it up and looked at his smiling profile. She remembered the first time she had seen him in the library at UWI. She wished she had never smiled at him. She wished they had never become friends when Andie started dating Nathan. She wished she had never told him to ask her out. She wished she had never gone back on her word that she would not have a boyfriend before she was 25. How different the week before her 22nd birthday would have been! She certainly would not be in mourning over a stupid halfwit who had lied to her and broken her heart!

  But like she told her friends, and she had told Aunt Phoebe earlier in the day after Aunt Phoebe had confiscated her ‘Wuthering Heights’ DVD that had been on replay for the past week and a half, and then kindly evicted her from the penthouse, she was officially over men. And starting right now, she would be officially over Micah. She would begin by removing all the evidence of him from her room and her life. Ignoring Bridget and Nikki’s curious stares, she marched purposefully to the kitchen, got a huge garbage bag and took it back to her bedroom. The first thing in the bag was the framed photograph. It was followed by the piles of his emails which she had printed, then the T-shirt he had loaned her when they first started going out, then the CDs he had bought her, the memento from his trip to Amsterdam, and the cheesy, fluffy teddy bear that she had named Micah Jr ...

  The bag was full when Samantha realised something. She realised that her room was now
bare. Just like her life. Without Micah, nothing mattered. She did not want to be without him. He was a part of her. A line from ‘Wuthering Heights’ came to her:

  ‘My great thought in living is himself. If all perished and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger... He’s always, always in my mind – not as a pleasure.... but as my own being’.

  She turned over the garbage bag, allowing the contents to fall to the floor. She was in love with him. Now and tomorrow and always. Samantha flung herself on to her neatly made up bed and wept.

  ***

  April 4

  It was Friday, the night before her 22nd birthday, and Samantha sat at the kitchen table in her Aunt’s apartment eating cookie dough ice cream straight from the container. In her opinion, it was going to be the worst birthday of her life, and she was in no mood to celebrate. She had managed to get away from her roommates for the evening, but getting away from the rest of her family was not working out. Aunt Phoebe had proffered a small, intimate dinner at home with Leo making all her favourite dishes-- just her and Uncle Kyle and Phillip if he managed to come home, and not wanting to appear rude, Samantha had accepted. Then, much to her horror, Aunt Elisabeth had gotten involved, and the ‘just the three- or four- of us dinner’ had morphed into an impromptu Persaud family reunion. The party was to be held right there at Aunt Phoebe’s house, and up to an hour ago, the Penthouse was bustling with activity, as Aunt Elisabeth’s assistant, Mara ran around with headphones on, barking orders to caterers and decorators. Aunt Phoebe had told a bewildered Samantha that her entire family, including her Grandparents, Ravi and Sylvia Persaud was going to be there. She could not beg off no matter how hard she tried, and Grandpa Ravi had guilt-tripped her greatly, explaining that it was probably the last year he would have to wish her a happy birthday, because he was an old, old man. Grandpa Ravi was seventy-seven, but did not look in the least as though he would die anytime in the near future. However, Samantha was sufficiently frightened to agree to the party without grumbling.

  Samantha sighed over her ice-cream. Only thing that could make it a happy birthday was having Micah back, and that was not going to happen. He had his new girlfriend. Andie had sent her a picture that she had downloaded from Friendster, and the girl – Ronica Davis -- was nowhere as pretty as she was. Her manner of dress, the way she wore her hair and her outlandish makeup all pointed to the fact that she clearly marched to the beat of her own drummer, and Samantha was beyond flabbergasted. She would never understand how Micah could break up with her for that girl. Her stomach turned whenever she imagined her beloved Micah kissing or making out with her. Samantha frowned. She and Micah had only gone to second base. They were studying one night in his room, when the study session had turned into serious making out, and she had allowed him to put his hand under her shirt. She had a tingling feeling in her stomach just thinking about how his hands had felt on her bare skin. But then she had stopped him before he could get to third. No matter how much she loved Micah, she was serious about being a virgin on her wedding night. Samantha wondered whether that was why Micah had dumped her. Was he having sex with Ronica? Ugly girls tended to be easy, she thought. It was as though they needed some sort of self-gratification. Was it possible that sex was the 20% Micah was not getting from her? Was that the 20% he swapped his 80% for? The thought made Samantha sick to her stomach. The ice cream churned inside her, and she thought she might vomit. She pushed the tub away.

  “Why do you even bother to pay rent?”

  Samantha looked up at her cousin. He was wearing a pair of relaxed fit Izzy Man jeans and no shirt. He had obviously just had a shower, because his hair was still damp. His chest was covered in a thin layer of black hair, and he had a set of firmly packed abs. Samantha wondered when he found the time, between working and womanising, to exercise.

  “I don't pay rent!” She reminded him.

  “Might as well, since you’re always here,” Phillip commented. “Why don’t you just move in?” He took her spoon and had a bite of her ice cream.

  “Ugh, Phillip! I was using that spoon!” Samantha cried. “And I don’t even know where your mouth is coming from!”

  “I would tell you, but you’d be traumatised!” Phillip said, giving her a cheeky wink. “Let’s just say it involved my desk and a spitfire called Michelle!”

  “You are disgusting!” Samantha gave him a dirty look.

  “Don’t worry, Sam, I brushed my teeth after. Even paid special attention to my tongue!”

  Samantha blushed furiously. She scraped the rest of the ice cream down the garbage disposal and flung the spoon in the garbage, making a mental note to only use special utensils at Aunt Phoebe’s house from then on.

  “Isn’t today your birthday?” Phillip asked, hoisting his lean, well-toned body on to the counter.

  “Tomorrow,” she said.

  “And the shebang they’re organising out there is for you, right?” He motioned towards the terrace.

  Samantha nodded.

  “So why do you look like someone pissed in your cereal? Why aren’t you out having a blast to ring in the new year?”

  Samantha looked at her cousin. “Have you met me, Phillip?” She asked. “Have you ever known me to be ‘out having a blast’?”

  “Good point!” Phillip looked at her. “So you wanna?”

  “Wanna do what?”

  “Go out tonight. You need a pre-party party and I know just the place. I’m meeting a couple of the guys from the office at Club Infierno tonight. Come hang out with me!”

  “Why the hell -- pardon the pun -- would I want to hang out at a place called ‘Infierno’?”

  “Because Infierno is only the most exclusive club in Midtown! Because that is where you get the best margaritas and mariachi music this side of the Mexican border. Because if you come with me, you’re bound to get your picture in CelebToday!”

  “Moi? Get my picture in CelebToday? Achieving that lofty goal is so what is keeping me alive right now. Sits right up there with my dream of getting to third base with 50 Cent!”

  Sarcasm is not attractive, Sam!” Phillip reminded her. “So you coming or not.”

  “Not!”

  “C’mon!” Phillip prodded. “You know who hangs out at Infierno? Investment Bankers – well Vice Presidents, cause Associates and Analysts are pretty much glued to their desks -- , Stock Brokers, Lawyers, Hedge Fund Managers -- all sorts of over achievers like you. Who knows? You may even meet someone who’ll help you get over what’s his face who broke your heart.”

  “Who says I want to get over ‘what’s his face who broke my heart’?” Samantha mumbled. She opened a new box of Pepperidge Farm white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies, bit into one and offered the bag to Phillip.

  “Well, you should!” Phillip insisted, taking a cookie and breaking it in two. “I mean, seriously – why are you sitting around moping over some idiot who just up and decided he didn’t love you anymore? I met the dude, and frankly, I wasn't impressed. You were clearly dating down.”

  “You didn’t say that before!” Samantha reminded him.

  “I was being polite before. Now I don’t have to be. Take your totally cool cousin’s advice and move on, Sammy. Micah is nothing more than an insignificant pimple in the butt crack of your life!”

  "With quips like that, no wonder you’re the toast of the town!" Samantha said drily. "And Micah will never be an insignificant butt crack pimple to me. He was the love of my life. He was my perfect person. We were together for two years, and we were supposed to be together for at least 20 more, and twenty more after that."

  "That's just retarded!" Phillip disagreed. "You should just be glad he's some other woman's burden now. You should come with me tonight and celebrate being single again!"

  "It's not retarded. I had a plan, Phillip, and Micah was supposed to be a part of it, and he went and ruined everything. I just don't understand why he b
roke up with me, and going out to some party with you and your stupid friends is not going to help me figure it out!"

  "Well, that’s just bullshit!" Phillip rolled his eyes and slid off the counter. "You know why you got dumped, Sam? I can tell you that right now. You got dumped because you’re so damned stodgy and uptight and don't know how to relax and just have fun. Micah was a part of your life plan? Gimme a break! I mean, who has a life plan at 21? No one loves that level of perfection. Hell, very few people can keep up, and frankly, most people, Micah included, find it annoying. Dude probably hated being poked every day by that stick lodged up in your ass."

  Samantha glared at her cousin. "Just leave me alone, Phillip!"

  "Fine!" Phillip surrendered. "Don’t come with me. Sit here all night like some little punk idiot and mourn the loss of your beloved Micah. But you can trust me on this one Samantha --Micah isn't sitting at home getting worry lines over you. He’s probably out celebrating the fact that he has released the burdensome albatross that was his girlfriend from his neck, and now he can go out and have a good time and be a young dude for the first time since he met you and got spider-webbed into your stupid life plan of perfection. If you ever hope to a have another boyfriend one day, and if you want to have a shot in hell of keeping him, I suggest you learn to chill."

  Phillip took another cookie and turned to leave the kitchen. "You were rude to call me and my friends stupid, but if you change your mind about coming out tonight the offer still stands. Do as you please."

  Samantha watched her cousin leave the kitchen. Certainly he had touched a nerve. She recalled one of the rare arguments she and Micah had. It was almost the end of her second and Micah's third year at UWI. In fact, final exams would be starting in one week and the guild of students had put on the annual final fete at the Students’ Union. It was called ‘Last Lap ‘Round the Boundary’ and it was supposed to be the final party before the serious studying began. Micah had wanted them to go, but Samantha could not imagine what part of that plan was a good idea with final exams just around the corner. She thought Micah was suffering from temporary insanity brought on by the fact that he was only one week away from completing his undergraduate education. She had to be the voice of reason and explain to him why ‘Last Lap ‘Round the Boundary’ was a bad idea. He would be better served spending his Saturday night studying, and after exams, they could go to watch the National Dance Theatre Company perform at The Little Theatre. She had even already bought the tickets. Besides, after almost five months of dating, he should know jolly well that she would not enjoy being at any production called ‘Last Lap ‘Round the Boundary’ and worse, spending her Saturday night at the tacky students union being served cheap alcohol in copious quantities and being groped by strange, idiotic boys who would later post on their Friendster page that they had touched Samantha Persaud's boob. Micah had told her that he had no desire to watch grown men in see-through tights jumping up and down on stage and clutching each other. He further told her that she had a stick up her butt, and that she did not know what a good time was if it jumped up and slapped her upside her perfectly coiffed head. She had stormed out of his room at Preston Hall and driven home in a huff. Bridget and Nikki, who never missed one on campus party, had phoned and told her that they had seen Micah attempting some dirty dancing moves on some strange girl, and that he was no Patrick Swayze. Samantha had been mortified, and had declared that was the end of their relationship. She changed her mind when he phoned her the next day, hung over and penitent. He apologised for telling her she had a stick up her butt and agreed that the ‘Last Lap ’Round the Boundary’ had indeed been a horrible idea. She had forgiven him because she felt so sorry for him and because she really loved him, and he was a part of her life plan. She had allowed him that one temporary lapse in judgment, but made it clear that he had used his one and only get out of jail free card, and she expected sounder judgment from the father of her future children.