Free Perfect Imperfections by Unknown Page A

keys on the counter by the entrance, and had found Judith pacing the room frantically.
    “Kim is not at home,” said Judith, worried. “Her phone is in her room. She hasn’t been at home all day, Sam.”
    “Have you called Dave or Bill, Cheryl, Beth, anyone?” Sam began to rummage in her bag for her phone.
    “All of them, but not Dave, but I asked Bill to check if at all she was with him. He told me Dave has been in office all day and Kim hasn’t come by.”
    The moment Sam got her phone, it started to ring. It was her friend, Sharon. She took the call and spoke quickly, “Hi Sharon… cannot come tonight. Sorry, but I’ll have to cancel on you guys. Kim hasn’t been at home all day and we have no idea where she is.”
    “Aha, bad timing,” Sharon said at the other end. Then she added after a moment, “Heard Jake bumped into her this evening. I’ll check with him and let you know.”
    “Ah, great!” Sam said as the line got disconnected. She told her mother, “Ma, Jake saw her today. Maybe he knows where she might have gone.”
    And just then, they heard the jingling of keys. The door swung open and Kim walked right in, closing the door behind her.
    “You people are home early,” she said in a low uninterested voice.
    “Kim!” Judith greeted her with an angry yell as she walked towards her. “Don’t you dare pull off this kind of a stunt ever again! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through? I called everyone who even remotely knows you. Probably they are all still looking for you somewhere.”
    Kim just stared at her mother, speechless for a moment. A spate of fury arose within her. What was mom thinking? — she thought. After everything, she goes and makes another spectacle of me? Everyone will now look at me liked I am a deranged nutcase that needs to be looked after.
    She wanted to yell at her mother too, but she was just not in the mood to get into an argument. She reminded herself that living with a parent meant letting them know your whereabouts at all times no matter how old you got.
    Sam understood the tension and cut in, “Where were you all day, anyway?”
    “Just went to the museum and then was at the deli and then at the Marina,” Kim said. She went and sat on the sofa. “By the way, I bumped into Jake. Don’t know is he your friend or your business acquaintance?” Kim tried to behave as though everything was all right. However, her mom, who was still steaming, huffed away into her room and closed the door to make sure she didn’t say anything to make matters worse.
    Sam got into the kitchen and began heating some milk. “Want some hot chocolate? Making some for myself,” she said. Then she realized Kim was still awaiting a reply. So she added, “Jake… he is the guy I introduced to you people… that night…” The mere mention of the night was painful for Kim, whose expression began to rapidly change, so Sam went on, “I met him through Sharon. He is new to this town. Setting up his gallery, and I am helping him with that. It’s just an exhibition at the Mall to advertise his upcoming art exhibition, and the big launch of the gallery. Beyond that, I don’t know much about him. But, he is cute, isn’t he?” She ended with a wink.
    “He invited me to a party tonight,” said Kim, taking her mug of hot chocolate.
    “Interesting!” said Sam in a singsong voice. “So, are you going?”
    “I might. Though I won’t know anyone there.” And that is the only reason why I am considering going.
    “Let me know if you are planning to drink. I will come pick you up if you want.”
    “Why? Don’t you have any plans for tonight?”
    “I have, but I am not planning to drink. So, you can call me once you are done and want to be picked up.”
    “Sam…”
    “Yeah?”
    “In all this that happened, I haven’t thanked you or mom. So, thanks.”
    Sam looked up from the hot chocolate she was blowing at. She said, “We may not understand your reasons, Kim, but nobody hates