Imperfect Desires

Xiu woke up to the sound of her ringtone blaring in her ear. With her eyes closed, she looked around on the bed for her phone and attended the call.

"Hello! Who is it?" Her voice came out groggy and tired.

"Dad," came the reply.

"Dad," Xiu frowned in her half-sleeping state.

"My sweet daughter, why don't you try calling me dad again," came a very amused voice from the other end.

Xiu squinted her eyes as she looked at the phone screen to see the caller id while she said, "Dad? How is that possible? In both lives, I had never had a father." As she finally managed to see the caller id, she screamed, "Uncle Dylan, that was a sick joke!"

Dylan's laughter was the only reply she heard which spoiled her mood. "Oi! Ms. Bai, why are you still sleeping? Don't you know your boss is in the office? It's already 11 o'clock and you're still sleeping?"

"What?!" Xiu exclaimed as she sat up while the sleep flew away from her eyes completely. Because of the thick drapes in her room, the only thing she saw was darkness. "I'm late? Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"Neither am I your boyfriend nor your personal alarm clock," replied Dylan proudly with a satisfied grin plastered on his face.

"I wish you were," said Xiu as she got up from the bed and looked through her closet for clothes.

"What? Boyfriend?" He straightened up to inquire curiously.

"Haha! Boyfriend? Check your face in the mirror first. I have high standards," Xiu's taunting was about to make him threw some curses towards her but she beat him to it as she said, "I said, I wish you're my alarm clock. At least, I'd have had a chance to slap you every morning just to shut your annoying mouth."

Dylan's whole body trembled in a rage because of her but just as he picked up his freshly squeezed vegetable juice, he smiled again and said, "Ms. Bai, it's better to speed your pace rather than speeding your stupid mouth. Don't you dare be any late than you already are."

"Yes, yes, as you say, Uncle Dylan!" With that, she hung up the call and throwing her phone on the bed, she rushed inside the bathroom. 

Within fifteen minutes, Xiu managed to look presentable as she ran out the door. As she opened the main door to leave, she bumped into Nora who was just about to enter as well.

"Woah, what's the rush?" Nora asked looking at Xiu.

"I'll talk to you later, I'm getting late," said Xiu and tried to walk past Nora.

However, Nora's next words halted her in her track, "Late? But Baby Xiu it's only 7:15 am, how can you be late?"

Xiu looked back at Nora and asked for reconfirmation, "What did you say?"

"It's 7:15 am," repeated Nora.

Xiu pulled out her phone from her purse and looked at the time. Indeed, Nora was right which meant Dylan had lied to her. And because she was disoriented and distracted, she didn't even bother checking the time. In the summer, the morning sun was already so high up that it was hard to tell what time it was. Another reason was that she never expected someone to play this kind of a joke on her. At least, she never expected that person to be her own boss!

But where there was Dylan Qiu, anything was possible.

Note to self: Never believe Uncle Dylan's words again. After that mental note to herself, Xiu walked back inside the apartment and dropped down on the couch like a zombie.

Nora followed her inside and after bringing water from the kitchen, she passed a bottle to Xiu as she inquired, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"My stupid and childish boss pranked me," snorted Xiu. Following that, she laughed out to herself like a fool and said, "Oh, Uncle Dylan... You're messing with the wrong person. I won't forget this. I'll definitely collect this debt. It's a promise."

The sinister expression on Xiu's face made Nora look heavenwards as she mumbled, "God bless the soul that caught her attention now. May he rest in peace! Amen!"

"What are you doing?" asked Xiu as she saw Nora making the cross sign.

"Oh... I'm just praying for the departing soul," replied Nora with a smile. "If you're not getting late, can you make scrambled eggs for Jackie? I'll get him ready for school."

Xiu nodded while giving her a thumbs-up as she said, "Leave it to me. I have got a lot of time now."

After preparing the breakfast, she was setting up the table when Nora and Jackson joined her. Jackson didn't forget to give Xiu her morning kiss before he sat on the chair closest to her.

"Here's my little Jackie's scrambled eggs with lox and cream cheese. Just the way he likes it," said Xiu as she ruffled his hair lightly.

"Thank you," replied Jackson with his toothy grin before he dug in his favorite breakfast. 

In the next five minutes, the number of times Nora's phone beeped annoyed Xiu as she said, "Nora darling, did you start dating someone again?" Nora bobbed her head up and down while her eyes stayed glued on the screen. "Why don't you ever learn? We should never do the same mistake twice. Didn't you learn that?"

Nora looked at Xiu and said, "Honey, once or twice, it's always worthwhile as long as the mistake is spelled 'H.O.T' and makes you feel like it was worth your while."

Xiu shook her head at Nora's words before gulping down her glass of milk. "Can I ask a question?" the voice belonged to Jackie who had been listening to them in silence all this while.

"Don't be so polite, little brother. Just ask away. Your beautiful sisters are here to answer," said Nora.

"There are hundreds and millions of manholes in the world, right?" His childish voice was soft but clear. Both Nora and Xiu didn't know where he was going with this but they nodded in sync and he continued, "If there are so many manholes in the worlds, why do people still choose to fall in love instead?"