Just Perfect

Desiree had the perfect life. Well, perfect by her definition. She was thirty-seven years old, fit and strong, thanks to the boutique gym she attended, with her exorbitant personal training sessions which was well worth every penny. She had a large network of friends, picture perfect husband who ran a successful business which had recently taken off internationally. Both her children attended prestigious schools in their neighbourhood, and she believed she connected well with them. After all, she ensured she stayed up to date with the latest trends through social media. She sat on the day bed, next to the pool at their home, as she sipped on her home-made cocktail. She was quite proud of this concoction, after she followed a recipe on TikTok; a drink that not only provided her with the buzz of alcohol, it also had the health benefits from the carrot, a touch of kale, natural sweeteners, Stevia for taste and a cheeky strawberry, topped with a sparkling water which was zero calorie. As she basked in the sun, she sighed and got even more comfortable on her day bed, as she felt the alcohol calm and reignite her senses all at the same time. She smiled to herself as she thought, this was what she pictured her life to be, just like how it looked like for the rich and famous on Instagram. 

‘Mum! Tahlia has invited me over to her house today. We are working on a new TikTok dance, which I reckon will become viral! Last time we shared one online, it had five hundred thousand views’, her daughter, Emma shouted from the balcony of their second storey home. She looked up and saw that Emma was wearing a short skirt and quite a revealing crop top, which sent subtle alarm bells to her head. She felt a flutter in her gut, disconcerted or perhaps concern? She chided herself for a split second as she did not want to be that overbearing parent. So she took a swig of her drink to dampen that alarm bell, that flutter in her gut. It worked. ‘Of course honey, send it to me once you’re done, I’d love to see it,’ she replied to Emma. ‘Mum, you know I can’t do that, it’s just so not cool, imagine if you commented, I would die!’, Emma said as she chuckled out aloud. 

Emma turned sixteen this year. Desiree knew she was growing up fast and social media made them grow quicker than she ever did, with information just at their fingertips. She knew Emma was responsible, after all she did well enough in school. But sometimes, Desiree felt that niggling feeling. One she could not quite put a finger on. She looked over at Emma as she waved to her when she walked away. There was something not quite right. But Desiree would not go digging. Never. After all, her life was perfect, nearly. 

#

Desiree had booked an appointment for a monthly botox. As she walked into the clinic, she was welcomed with a calming ambience, aesthetic pantone of neutral colours. ‘Welcome Mrs Love, please have a seat. Our aesthetic nurse will be ready for you shortly, would you like some tea, your usual?’, said the receptionist as Desiree sat on one of the plush single sofas. ‘Yes please,’ she replied. When the receptionist returned with her tea, she sat next to Desiree and held out a pamphlet to her. ‘Mrs Love, you have been looking fabulous. I wanted to show you a promotion that we have, only for this month, it’s called glamourous hourglass, at only five hundred dollars. Usually, it is one thousand five hundred dollars, but this month, with summer nearly finished, we want to make sure our customers were still summer fit during the winter months. I will leave this with you and your nurse can provide you with more information during your appointment’. Desiree simply nodded and thanked the receptionist. She looked down at the pamphlet. A picture of a young lady, who looked like she was in her late twenties, slim, with a small waist complemented by her perky bosom, the promised hourglass waist was symmetrical, young and perfect. She peeked down at her body, she had been working out and her personal trainer had been working with her to achieve the hourglass body, which was all the rage now on social media. She thought she looked great but now, seeing this pamphlet, she wondered perhaps she could do with an extra pump in the right areas, she wanted to have the perfect shape in winter. She put the pamphlet into her bag as she heard her name being called out. She had made the decision; she will sign up for the treatment.

After her Botox treatment, she looked into the mirror. Her face looked taut, slightly inflamed but smoothed, the lines had disappeared from her forehead and her lips were a little bit red and plump from the lip filler, which she decided to throw in at the last minute. She touched her face and felt the smooth skin and thanked her nurse as she signed up for the hourglass treatment. As she walked out of the clinic, she thought about how far she had come with her looks. She had never been the good-looking girl at school, she was just the average, plain jane. Always trying to fit in but never did, she had worked so hard to get to where she was today. Her phone began to beep as she saw a text message from one of the ladies from the country club. They were holding a Charity Gala in a month. These Charity Galas raised funds to provide money for research on the current trend in health. Really, it usually was a night to have a few drinks, eat canapes and talk about how much money they were contributing to research. She began to smile but realised she just had work done, so she kept her face straight as she replied to the message. Suddenly as she was walking, she tripped over a cup and water spilt over her heels. She looked down angrily and saw a homeless person sitting on the side of the pavement. The water had slowly seeped into her new velvet shoes! ‘Damn it, watch where you leave your stuff around!!’ she yelled at this person. ‘Miss, I have not eaten for days, please spare…’. ‘No, go get a job’, she retorted back at her, with a look of disgust. 

#

‘Darling, how was your trip to Bangkok?’, Desiree called out as soon as her husband walked in through the door. She walked towards him, grabbed his luggage, reached up on her toes and kissed him. ‘Ah great, as it always is honey, how are you?’ She stood still, puzzled for a moment and she felt a deep gut ache rose inside her. She was sure she smelt a whiff of floral perfume, intwined with his musky cologne. Perhaps she had one too many to drink and she was simply overthinking. She shook off the suspicion which crept in fleetingly and smiled brightly as she replied, ‘Perfect, as always’. 

Later that evening after dinner, as she got ready for bed, Desiree reached out to her phone and scrolled through social media. ‘Get fit in 30 days’ ‘This is my skincare routine that keeps me looking ten years younger’ ‘Why you should be eating only protein’ ‘3 ways to skip the gym and achieve the hourglass shape’, one after another Desiree was bombarded with all these messages. She started to get bored of the scrolling when a video caught her attention. She looked at it carefully and there it was, her daughter in the background, with her friend Tahlia. They were doing the latest ‘reveal a piece of yourself trend’. Desiree felt her heart rate quickened and that same gut ache rose inside her, she started to feel nauseous. Emma was only a sixteen and watching this video sickened her. She jolted back to reality when her husband came out of the shower. ‘What’s up, you look like you’ve seen a ghost’, he said. ‘Oh nothing really, just social media,’ she replied as she put her phone back onto the table next to her. She looked up at her husband and saw that he was pulling on a jumper over a shirt, putting on casual smart jeans. ‘Sorry babe, I have a late meeting with a client tonight. You know what it’s like; you have to wine and dine them’, he said. ‘But you only just got home tonight, I’ve missed you’, she replied feeling upset. ‘Look I’m sorry I know, I’ve missed you too. But this is an important deal, I am nearly at the finish line, remember the contract I told you about, with Mr Carey’, he replied as he sat next to her in bed, putting her hands in his. ‘We’ll go to the cottage on our farm again soon ok, I’ll arrange it to make it up to you, thanks for understanding’. With that, he kissed her on her forehead, rubbed her hands quickly and stood up. As he turned and walked out, he missed the big drops of tears that fell from her face…

#

            ‘Ahhhh…ouch!’, Desiree screamed out as she clutched her stomach. She felt a sharp pain. She reached out to the kitchen table to steady herself, but missed it, stumbling face first to the floor. She called out to Emma, but heard nothing. Emma must have her air pods in again, who the hell wears air pods indoors. The pain came back again, this time sharper than before which caused Desiree to vomit all over herself. She pulled herself up slowly, as she grabbed the drawer and cabinet handles and when she finally reached the table, she grabbed her phone. The shooting pain now had gotten worst so she pushed her back against the wall and slid herself down to the floor. Seeing her vomit made her dry retch. She clenched her teeth together as she dialled the emergency phone number. The paramedics arrived quickly, she was thankful for this. Once in hospital, they provided her with some medication, took some blood test and she was sent for X-rays. Her phone beeped. It was her husband, Dan. He could only come in an hour as he was stuck in a meeting. Emma sat next to her, air pods in and engrossed in social media. Desiree looked up at the white ceiling, the fluorescent light bright and sterile. She knew she had to say something to Emma, no matter how imperfect her life would then become, she needed to. As she was started speak, the doctors came in. In fact, two doctors came into her room, they both looked official in their white coats but there was kindness in their eyes. ‘Hi Mrs Love, I am the Consultant, Dr Issac and this is my colleague, Dr Lim. There is something serious we need to discuss with you. Did you want your daughter present here?’ Dr Issac asked as he looked over at Emma. Emma looked up quizzically as she took one of her air pod out. Desiree waved her out and told her to wait outside. Emma shrugged her shoulders as she walked out, mouthed that she was grabbing a drink. Little did Desiree know the message given to her would change her life forever…

#

            ‘Desiree, Dan, welcome to our Charity Gala, I am so glad you could make it!’, Isabella, the host for the Gala said as she gave Desiree and Dan a hug. Dan gave Desiree a kiss and then wandered off to greet other people. Desiree was surprised she made it to the charity gala. After the news two weeks ago, she disregarded the doctors advise and carried on with her day to day. She did not want to change or shatter her perfect life which took her twenty years to curate! ‘Oh, you look like you have put on some weight, are you still getting personal training with Jack?’, Desiree was jolted back to the present moment as she came across, Gilda. Gilda and her squinty, judgemental eyes. ‘Well, I’ve had a break from it, you know, rest is just as important, if you kept up to date! Anyway, I have to say hello to the others, nice seeing you’. Desiree walked away as quickly as she could. She bumped into Harriet, as she rushed towards to the drinks table. ‘Desiree, did you hear about the TikTok videos these young girls are posting, apparently it’s gotten into a scandal! Everyone is talking about it, how irresponsible their parents are, I think Tahlia was recorded them! Hang on, was Emma involved too?’, Harriet asked. Desiree suddenly felt her world spinning, her stomach pain was coming on again, she thought she had taken enough painkillers for the night. She looked at Harriet and said, ‘I don’t think so, she’s a responsible kid, Emma, anyway I have to get going to the toilet, speak later’. Desiree sauntered off, finally reached the drink table, hastily ordered a champagne, guzzled it down and she asked for another one. The waiter looked at her oddly, but she didn’t care. She looked up around her, at all these people with their perfect lives, niceties, all of it, so damn superficial. Her stomach pain mildly settled as she scanned the room for her husband, when she noticed him leaning just a little closely, into a young lady. She placed her champagne glass on the table and picked up a bottle of wine. ‘I am sick to death of these fake nonsense, perfect lives, none of them exist you hear me, oh and I paid for this wine, so I am taking it. Thank you,’ she whispered to the waiter, his bewildered expression frustrating her even further. She headed straight for the door, car keys in hand, she decided she was going to take herself home. She could hear people asking after her, but she was so sick of this fallacy, all that she had held back because she had tried to build this perfect life and everyone is just out to ruin it for her. She got into her Mercedes as soon as the valet drove it up next to her, pressed on the accelerator she sped off. As she drove down the windy road, she remembered she had grabbed a bottle of wine on her way out. She downed a swig of it, spilt it all over her leather seat. ‘I don’t care anymore!’ she yelled as she drove out onto the main road. It was pitch black, the Gala was at a country club nestled in the forest, so the lighting out here was scarce. She squinted and felt exhilarated as she drove just over 90km/h on the straight road. Suddenly a kangaroo jumped out of nowhere, Desiree turned her steering wheel to the left, everything felt like slow motion for a moment, before she hit the giant tree on the side of the road. Everything went blank. 

#

She looked around her. ‘Where am I?’ she asked aloud. 

‘Desiree, you are in the afterlife’, a deep voice echoed in the emptiness before a man dressed in white appeared.

‘Afterlife? But it’s too early for me, like why the hell did you put a kangaroo in the road, at night in the first place…I am only thirty seven, like give me a break, I have been getting bad news, seeing all these people ruining it for me, my life was just getting better before it took a turn for the worst and it’s because of you… you!’, she pointed her finger at him, upset, confused and enraged all at the same time.

‘Desiree, we have been sending you multiple messages, with the most prominent one, at the hospital…but you chose to ignore them’, he replied.

‘What do you mean, that was just the one!’ she exclaimed angrily, this time tears running down her face.

‘No Desiree, your intuition, your gut, everything that you have felt within you, you chose to ignore. And that health diagnosis was supposed to be a wake up call but again you chose not to act on it!’.

‘Things wouldn’t have been different anyway!’.

‘Oh yes it would…’, he said as he pointed towards a screen which magically appeared in front of her. Desiree watched her life change before her eyes, with each gut feeling, her internal instinct, each message she received, she acted on. There was Emma, hugging her in the hospital as the doctor read out the diagnosis, as she held her hand through each of the treatment she received. She had a house which overlooked a valley, and she saw herself sitting on a couch, sip on a coffee when a man approached her, it was not Dan. He came and sat next to her, arm around her shoulder as they intertwined their fingers together. She looked frail, but her face, was different, there were lines, freckles, her smile exuded happiness, she had dimples, and she looked genuinely pleased…And beautiful. It did not look social media perfect, but this image before her looked perfectly contented. She felt a tug of longing in her heart.

The man in the white broke her train of thoughts as he said, ‘Because you didn’t take the final message seriously, you changed your life, unfortunately to demise’.        

THE END