Ulterior Motives All Round

“You are not listening to me Miri.”

I briefly flickered my gaze to my manager, Mr. Si, before analysing my social profile again. It was missing something.

“This is bad. We need to come up with something to counteract the damage you have done.”

What was it? Lack of colour? interaction?

“GODDAMIT MIRI!”

I heard a loud bang, shattering glass and the sound of screeching tires. I was thrust sideways. Now I could see! It was the angles! Problem solved, I righted myself and put down my phone.

My eyes met a red-faced Si whose bloody fist was still hovering in the place the window used to be.

He fought to get himself under control, chest heaving under the weight of his anger.

I recoiled slightly not ready for the headache I was about to develop.

“You need to start taking this more seriously,” he hissed, “You were filmed pushing over a child. A literal child!”

I rolled my eyes “He was in the way”.

He grabbed and shook me with his good hand, “I DON'T CARE IF HE WAS TAP DANCING ON YOUR HEAD IN CLEATS!” He fell back into his chair and cradled his head “You are an idol,” he sighed, “Your image must be squeaky clean.”

“It will die down. You worry too much.”

“Not enough! This is a big deal! People are starting to call you the child smiter online.” A wild look came over his eyes and I realised that each of his words were like lumps of coal being thrust into a soon to combust engine. “I have single handily crafted you the perfect, ‘butter wouldn't melt in his mouth’ persona, lathered you in innocence and purity, like some sort of puffed-up pageant participant and you’ve undone it all by behaving like a common thug!” He made another leap for me, but I moved to the side testing the full elasticity of the seatbelt.

“That’s a bit harsh Si,” I started, but he wasn’t listening. Si was starting to ramble. I could see his eyes darting around searching for a solution.

“We just need to cancel it out…A good deed... But what? Something like… yes that’s it! Miri get out of the car.”

“What?!”

“See that old lady there?”

My eyes followed his gaze to an elderly heart shaped woman carrying or rather dragging her plumage of shopping bags.

“Go and help her carry her bags and I’ll record it!” Si’s eyes were wild, he was practically salivating.

“But its pouring!”

“Even better…oh the fans are going to love this!” Rubbing his hands so aggressively smoke was starting to rise.

Grimacing, I looked unenthusiastically at the tableaux I was soon to join. I started to caress the fabric of my suit. Cotton and silk were weak to water. God knows the damage that would be done.

But This was for the fans. I could see their faces now, rosy cheeked and teary eyed over my wondrous works. They wouldn’t be able to contain themselves when they saw me. ‘Miri the hero’. That’s what they would call me. I grinned warmed by the picture. Those sweet bouncing balls of love and dedication. I smirked. But of course, a god must grant his peoples' wishes.

“Should I go through the door or take the exit you crafted,” I said smugly, gesturing to the broken window.

“Just…just get out,”

I slid smoothly out the door, mentally preparing for the role I was about to play. A good photo op. There are so many things one must consider. But looking good and looking natural are most important.

I stitched on my nice guy smile, ushering my brows together to form the perfect soft peak of concern. I started to jog over slightly swaying my head so that the rain droplets were dispelled from my white hair creating a dynamic effect for the camera to lap up.

I was conscious of my shoes; the suede would be unsalvageable. I could feel the water starting to overwhelm the material and breech the interior. I almost turned back. But I would suffer this sacrifice for them.

I approached the woman and lowered my voice to a soft but cheerful tone “A lovely lady such as yourself shouldn't have to carry such heavy bags. Please let me help you.”

She turned and beamed at me “What a lovely young man! All dressed in white too! You’re like an angel!”

I laughed tunefully and reached out a hand, clasping the shopping bags, then turned my head to the perfect 45 degrees to get the money shot.

Then my world went dark. All I could feel was a burning pain in my chest and in my hand. The pain was white hot and all consuming. I felt sick. Then the cold and inhospitable ground came to meet be in a rough, one-sided embrace.

Panic was rife. What the hell happened? Did I pass out? Where am I?

Slowly, I start to pick up voices. Two female voices. They were speaking in hushed tones I could only pick up random words such as “marriage”. What was going on? I was starting to get creeped out.

As my vision returned, I realised that there was actually three women. The youngest of them had her eyes, which were a strange and unnatural shade of pink, firmly focused on a spot on the floor. She seemed perturbed (maybe due to the fact that my beautiful, kidnapped body was lying crumpled on the floor) her fluorescent yellow hair falling onto her face breaking free from the elaborate hairdo it was forced into.

Her presence was reassuring for some reason.

I shifted my focus to the other two women. One was the heart shaped lady from before, the other woman was like an older version of the youngest except her eyes were purple and her hair was cut short and lacked the same iridescent quality.

The heart shaped lady’s eyes fell upon me. She smiled warmly (a reaction I was not expecting) It seems our groom to be is finally awake!”

If I could, I would have looked around because surely, they didn’t mean me.

All three women were now staring at me. Each with a very different expression.

“Let me get a better look at him” The woman with the short hair said.

I started to rise from the ground. It was like being pulled upwards by set of strings.

“Oh yes, he is very pretty”.

“Only the finest for your daughter madam.”

“Our reputation rests on him being the best”.

“I assure you that he is. In fact, in his world, he was an Idol.”

“An Idol you say?” The mother moved closer. Close enough for me to see the powder blush resting precariously on her hollowed cheeks. She smiled showing off a set of luminescent white teeth. Her hand took hold of my face. It felt like being dowsed in cold water. I squirmed. But her grip was vice tight. “An idol,” she laughed humorously. “Well, my dutiful son in law, you will be the only one doing any worshiping around here.”