Status: Indefinite Hiatus

Perfectly Imperfect

Spencer Brennan

"I think this would be best done at my house," I said suddenly, making Frost freeze with his cup of coffee mid-air.

"Why?" he asked.

I gestured to his sitting room. "This doesn't emulate a formal function. As much as I'm sure you are proud of your little home, it barely touches upon your status or that of the function you are to attend. If I am to transform you by Wednesday, I need to show you and I simply can't do that here."

"What about your parents?"

"They're both out and should be for a few more hours. It'll be fine."

"If we must." He sullenly finished his coffee while I rolled my eyes and stood up to get ready to leave. It didn't take long for him to finish and dump his cup in the kitchen, and once he had grabbed his jacket we left his house.

It wasn't a long walk back home but it was long enough that after a while I struck up a conversation. "Is that girl you were with yesterday a friend of yours?" I asked.

He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I don't actually know her. She wanted to sit by me and we got talking."

"Well, in case you didn't know, that's Mirimi Jacko. I know of her through various functions, but her parents' company is one of my father's company's closest associates. You could perhaps benefit from a friendship with her."

He let out a groan. "Not everything has to be about improving my image, you know. Do you not think about anything else?"

"No," I said curtly.

"So when you think of me, you just think about what you promised my mother and not that we're friends or whatever?"

I shot a look at him. "I've never really thought about it," I admitted. "I will fulfil what I promised but I wasn't aware you wanted to become friends."

"It sounds like you don't have many friends," he teased, but I didn't respond. I saw him look at my frown and his featured changed to surprise. "You don't have friends?"

"Maybe those who I meet through functions. I lost many when I went away but I don't dwell on them. It's best that they were shed then rather than now."

We remained silent for the rest of the journey. I was grateful when my house came into sight and we approached the door. I unlocked the door and motioned for him to enter before closing the door behind us. Before he headed any further, I told him to remove his shoes and jacket and he complied before we headed into the lounge.

"And I thought my parents' house was big," Frost muttered as he looked around. "How are you able to touch anything? Everything looks too expensive."

"That's because they are," I said, taking a seat on the sofa. He sat on the one that was opposite me and ran his hand over the material. "My mother takes pride in this furniture."

"Mine chose nice sofas but also ones that don't make me feel too concious about the price," he commented, directing his attention back to me. "I hate to think what these cost."

I gave a laugh. "Too bad that's not what we're here for. Now, what I want to do is have a structured conversation with you. On Wednesday we want you to impress your mother with your ability to engage in talks for more time than you normally would. What's your average?"

"Um, well, I don't actually talk to a lot of people."

I gave a nod. "That's fine. We're going to get you talking to people. The more you engage and become friendly towards people, the more they will associate you with the Hillarys, and the more beneficial that will be for your parents."

He looked reluctant but nevertheless I begun to question him. I probed for personal questions, such as his plans for the future, and for business questions, including asking him about his father's company. Those questions were what he faltered on the most. "I've never been interested in it," was his excuse, but I knew we would have to rectify that.

After I had asked him more questions than he would have liked, I rose to my feet and motioned for him to copy. "I regret not bringing your new suit with us," I said, leading him out of the lounge. "Had I thought ahead, I would have realised it might have given you more practice because you don't have to just wear the suit for it to work. You have to wear it the right way, and if I'm honest with you, Frost, you do slouch a bit. It might not matter when it comes to your casual clothing, but you do not want to crease a suit at the beginning of a function."

This time he rolled his eyes. "You make it sound like a suit has a mind of its own," he said. "While I appreciate this, I think our mock conversation hit the spot."

I shook my head as we approached the stairs. "Don't you want to prove to your parents that you're responsible? This function is going to be more important than you might think. Your mother wants it to signal a new leaf for you, where you finally realise the path they want for you isn't all that unreasonable."

"It is, though," he protested. "Why do we have to take over their companies? I know they work hard and are proud of what they've built, but what about what we want to do with our lives?"

His words felt familiar, and on some level I could relate to them, but that was in the past. I knew better now and realised that the best thing for me is to fulfil what my parents want for me, rather than blindly following an aspiration that might ultimately fail.

We reached my room and I let him in, making sure to shut the door behind us. I then went over to my wardrobe and opened the door. "We're not the same size but I want you to put one on so that I can show you how your posture affects it," I said flippantly.

"You didn't answer my question," he huffed, making me glance over my shoulder. "Didn't you ever want to do something other than take over your family's company?"

I looked back at my suits. "When I was younger, maybe. Don't we all? But the difference is I came to my sense and understood that my father doesn't want to pass the company on to someone who isn't family, and as I'm the only child my parents have, that leaves me to take the reins when his time comes to an end."

"I get that, I do, but what about any cousins you have? Or any other extended family, someone who is actually interested in the business? My parents are adamant that it has to be me and I don't get that."

I pulled one of my oldest suits out before turning around and handing it to him. "Are your parents very close to your extended family? To the same extent as they are to you?" He shook his head. "There's yours answer then. Now, I'm going to wait outside while you get changed then we will stand in front of the mirror."

He didn't look pleased as I slipped out of the room but it didn't matter to me. I was beginning to see that changing him might not be one hundred percent doable, but I was sure I would be able to convince him to create a façade, one that he could emit at any function and social event. Having him do that would be best because then he might slip into it in his everyday life on occasions and the change might become his own doing.

After standing out in the hall for a few minutes, I heard him call my name so I re-entered my bedroom. He was stood in the middle of the room in the suit and I could automatically see how his shoulders were hunched and the creases were showing. I guided him to my wardrobe and opened the other door, revealing a long mirror.

I put my hands on his shoulders. "It might be subtle but you're hunching. Let's straight them up," I said, pulling his shoulders backwards. The creases straightened out and I ran my hand over the blazer. "See? They're gone. I'm fully prepared to accept that you will slouch and mumble in your everyday life, but these functions don't happen everyday and learning behaviour restricted to just these and social events is doable. Let the clothes help. How does the jacket feel?"

"A bit stiff."

"Keep it stiff," I commanded. "Don't roll your shoulders forward to try and loosen it up. A straight posture can give you an air of confidence, one that is necessary when it comes to business. It's no use retreating into yourself and avoiding people because then you undermine the Hillary name."

He looked at himself in the mirror with a frown. "I don't even realise I slouch," he said. "Will it matter if I follow everything else and not that?"

This time I frowned. "Of course it will matter, but I guess it won't be too detrimental. Don't intentionally slouch. But if you engage with your father's business associates and learn the necessary information from him about the company, then the slouching can be overlooked."

"Good," he muttered, his shoulders rolling forward. "Can I get out of this now? I'd rather not wear one when I don't have to."

Once again I waited outside for him but instead of heading back in once he was done, I guided him out and we headed downstairs. We went back into the lounge but this time instead of sitting down, Frost decided to look at the pictures that sat on the mantelpiece.

I sat on the settee and leaned back, hopeful that Wednesday wouldn't end up being a complete disaster. A part of me was afraid that if he ended up disregarding everything I had been attempting to teach him, his parents would think I wasn't helping and that he needed more guidance. I wanted to keep them from reaching that decision but everything was down to Frost, as much as that pained me. If he decided to be difficult and blatantly refuse to even try to emulate his status, then there as nothing I could do.

His voice brought me from my thoughts. "I haven't seen you smile like this," he said, making me look over to him. He pointed to a picture where I was a lot younger than I am now. It wasn't a family portrait but my mother was in the picture with me too. "In fact, you don't really smile all that much."

I gave a shrug. "Maybe I just grew out of it."

"You don't just grow out of smiling," he scoffed, looking at the other pictures. "I have a question, though. Were you always so proper? I mean, you can't have been like this as a child. Did you have someone like I have to teach you how to behaviour, or what?"

"I'd rather not talk about this," I said curtly.

He persisted. "Your room is spotless and just so smart. You can't have lived your life entirely like this. That just doesn't seem doable."

I had to stay calm. He was only asking questions and they were questions that I should have expected to be asked at least once, but I could feel my chest tighten slightly. It felt as if any mention or thought of what I was doing when I was away made me like this, and that was worrisome. I didn't want to go back. I had to stop this.

"Well believe it," I snapped suddenly. "We don't all have the luxury of your freedom, Frost. Some of us have to learn the hard way, and I am trying so hard to stop you from being one of them because it is not pleasant. So stop asking me personal questions because I just can't answer them."

He looked surprised at my outburst. "I didn't mean to--" he began.

I cut him off. "I think it's time you went," I said, standing from the settee and heading to the front door. He slunk out the house without saying anything and the moment I closed the door, I rested my head against it. I hoped Wednesday turned out better than today did.