Free My Kind of Perfect by Freesia Lockheart

thinking as the one who previously led me out of the hotel—Mr. Smith—now
greeted me with a pleasant smile.
    “Good morning,” he said to me.
    I smiled a bit and adjusted my sunglasses. Then I changed my
voice a little to make it sound a little bit low. After which I returned a
cheerful, “Good morning to you, too.”
    If we were always like this, Mr. Smith and I would surely
get along well. I headed for the elevator in a concealed hurry, getting along
with the flow of the people who scrunched themselves inside the elevator. Someone
already pushed the last floor so I didn’t bother pressing any floor button.
After going through several floors, there were only three people left in the
elevator, including me.
    When we stopped at twenty-seventh floor, someone came in. He
was a young man maybe in his late twenties or early thirties with dirty blonde
hair that was kept neatly on one side. His face was angular, the rim of his
glasses decisively placed on the bridge of his nose. He was dressed in formal
clothes that would surely fit in for the affair that will be held in the
conference hall, the one I saw earlier. Maybe he was a guest for that wedding
downstairs.
    He seemed to notice me looking at him and I casually lifted
off my sight away. He also did the same. After a moment, I noticed that he was
looking intently at his watch although that meant that I was still looking at
him. I had this hunch that he looked somewhat familiar aside from the fact that
he kind of belonged to the league of guys who deserved second glances. Curious,
I stole some more glances at him and tried to remember where exactly had I met
this man before. Although the moment ended a bit too soon, that was because as
soon as the door opened for the thirty-fifth floor, that man alighted.
    “Wait!” I shouted as I promptly put my hands in between the
closing doors. It opened up shortly after and I found my way out. As I stared
at his back, for no sensible reason, I suddenly remembered who he was or maybe
who his cousin or brother was.
    I looked around the floor and saw that he was a little way
down the hall. Setting my hesitations aside, I called him at the top of my
voice, “Mr. Brooks!”
    So maybe that wasn’t the most intelligent way to randomly
call people. But then I desperately needed to get his attention. And if my wild
guess was right, he would definitely have a Brooks in his name. Either be it
his middle name or surname or maybe even his first name because he surely did
look like Johnny—only way hotter.
    He turned back slowly and was quite unsure if he heard me
right. At least I had his attention now. And since he halted on his tracks, I
was able to catch up with him. I straightened my skirt and the sweater that I
was wearing. His eyebrows met in confusion and lines found its way to his
forehead, making him age two years at the most.
    “Kayla?” the words came out of his mouth which surely caught
me off guard. “I thought I was only seeing things by thinking that it was you
in the elevator. What are you doing here?”
    “Huh? You know me?” I asked obliviously. Did Johnny tell his
whole clan about me? Wow! I didn’t quite expect that. Maybe if I’d barge in to
their family reunion, everyone would know that I was Kayla Wilson. Sheesh, that
boy was surely head-over-heels for me.
    He shook his head for a while and let out a baffled smile. I
felt my face flushed while staring at him. I must admit that he was kind of
cute when he smiled. I hoped that my blushing didn’t show though. It was kind
of embarrassing, knowing mine and Johnny’s history.
    “Do you happen to know where John Brooks is?” I ardently
asked right away despite his laughing. As much as I wanted to stare at his
comely face all day long, I needed something real quick at this moment.
    His smile turned into a soft laugh. I was confounded by his
untimely reaction. Then after a little more laughing, he finally said, “It’s
me, Kaye.”
    I blinked twice. “Don’t kid