Kiss – Because I’m A Girl

Author’s Note: This story was written to fill up the loopholes in the music video (mv) so that whoever watches the mv may understand it better. The characters’ names were not in the mv, I made them up myself. For the sake of knowing the main and sub-main characters before reading, here are the credits. 

Characters:

Tom                 as            Photographer

Claire               as            Hairdresser

Emily                as            Claire’s colleague

Miss Kathy       as            Manager

Mark                as            Tom’s assistant

It was an autumn afternoon, Claire was on her way to work. While walking, she was dreaming about whether she could become a model as it was her childhood dream. While she was thinking, she carried on walking. 

So absorbed in her thoughts, Claire did not notice that she was in between a photographer shooting his model. Just as the photographer pressed the shutter, Claire turned around as she suddenly realized that she was in the way but it was too late. The camera had captured her facial expression. 

Immediately, she walked up to the photographer and apologized dearly for the mistake. Knowing that she did not mean it, the photographer told her that it was all right and Claire quickly made her way to her workplace – a hair salon. 

Just as that day ended, the photographer went into his studio’s developing room and developed the photos. As they were developed, he saw the picture that was accidentally taken, the picture of Claire. He then realized that Claire was quite photogenic. 

Soon, days passed and Claire did not see the photographer again. She continued with life and dreamt of her childhood dream. 

Then one day, while Claire was tending to one of the customers in the salon, a man wearing a bonnet came in. Her colleague, Emily, welcomed the man in. Claire looked up and into the mirror. She saw the reflection of the man in the mirror. It was the photographer. Apparently, he wanted to wash his hair. 

Emily led the man to the sink where he took of his bonnet and laid his head there. Just then, Claire had just finished tending to her customer, walked towards Emily. 

“Emily,” Claire asked, “Will you let me tend to him?” 

Emily gave a queer but gave in to Claire’s request. Claire then began to wash his hair. Thinking in her mind, how great it would be if this man would be able to take her photos when she is a model. As Claire began to trail away in her thoughts, she accidentally rubbed some shampoo onto his eye. The photographer then made a reaction that caused Claire to be jerked back into reality. Claire looked apologetic as the man took a towel to wipe away the shampoo that was on his eye and the manager, Miss Kathy, apologizing to him. 

“Why couldn’t you be more careful in your work?” Miss Kathy reprimanded Claire. 

“I’m sorry Miss, it won’t happen again.” Claire apologized. 

“It’s alright. It’s not her fault.” The photographer tried to help Claire. 

After reprimanding Claire, Miss Kathy left. Claire then apologized to the photographer and continued to wash his hair. After that, the man left, leaving his bonnet behind. 

Time past and Claire had just finished her work. When she was about to leave, she realized that the photographer left his bonnet there and decided to go to his studio but she did not know how to get there. With a little help from strangers, she found the place. 

In the studio, the photographer was taking photos of the latest motorbike while his assistant stood behind him. Claire slowly made her way up the stairs and saw the photographer taking photos. 

She peered in and said, “Excuse me.” 

The photographer’s assistant, Mark, noticed Claire. 

“Do you need any help?” Mark asked. 

“Erm… Not really, I came to return this only.” Claire replied. 

Upon hearing a female voice, the photographer turned and saw Claire. He walked towards Claire and Mark began to explain things. 

“Hi, I’m Tom.” The photographer began to introduce himself. 

“I’m Claire and I came to return this to you.” Giving the bonnet to Tom after clutching it tightly for a few seconds. 

“Gee… Thanks a lot, sorry to trouble you.” 

“It wasn’t a bother…” 

They both then smiled at each other. Tom turned around and was about to make his way back into taking the pictures, he remembered that Claire was photogenic. He turned back, asked Mark to remove the motorbike and asked Claire to stand where the motorbike was and pose like a model. Claire did not know what was going on. 

“What’s going on?” She asked. 

“Just stand there, you look great.” Tom told her. 

He then began to take photos of her posing and giving her directions on where and how to pose, Claire posed and he took the photos. Once, Claire even playfully changed her pose when Tom pressed the shutter. Claire laughed out loud and Tom too, laughed. 

After taking the photos, both of them went into the developing room where they developed the photos that they had taken earlier. They laughed and talked about the photos. 

From then on, Claire has been constantly going to the studio to take photos like a model. She wore different kinds of clothes and make different kind of poses which suited her. Tom and her had a lot of fun taking the photos. 

Soon, as their relationship developed, they became close friends. There was once where Claire and Tom sat on the same motorbike and raced against Mark. Obviously Tom and Claire won the race. Tom popped open a bottle of champagne and playfully splashed the champagne at Claire and Mark. The 3 of them burst out into fits of laughter. They had a great time. 

That night, Tom was developing photos. He took a bottle of chemical from the top shelf, unscrewed the cap and poured it into a tray. While pouring, his cell phone rang. It was Claire who called. 

“Hello?” Tom answered 

“Hello, Tom? Do you mind bringing me an umbrella as it’s raining over here?” Claire asked. 

“Sure no problem.” 

With that, Tom put the bottle back onto the top self and left to fetch Claire but in his haste, he forgot to screw the cap back onto the bottle. 

Claire stood at the doorstep of the hair salon, waiting for Tom. 

“Claire.” Emily tapped Claire’s shoulder. 

Claire turned and saw Emily with her boyfriend. “Yes?” She asked. 

“We’ll be making a move first. Bye.” 

“Bye.” 

With that, both Emily and her boyfriend left. After awhile, Claire spotted Tom and made her way towards him. Tom gave her the umbrella. Claire took it and was about to move off with Tom when she saw Tom taking out another umbrella from his pocket. Feeling disappointed, Claire put the umbrella aside and walked off in the rain just as Tom opened the other umbrella. Shocked, he chased after Claire. 

“Claire, wait up.” Tom grabbed her arm. 

“Let go.” Claire pushed his hand away. 

“All right. No more tantrums.” With that, he put his arm around Claire’s shoulder and both of them walked off together in the rain, under the same umbrella. 

Soon, months passed and their feelings for each other grew in their heart. Neither of them knew about each other’s feelings as none of them dare to say. 

One day, Claire went up to the studio and found no one there as Tom was in the developing room. She walked towards the table and saw 2 photos. One was Claire at a kissing posture and the other was Tom standing in the middle of the street. She took both the photos and smiled as an idea ran through her head. She took a scissors and cut out her photo, stuck it to Tom’s photo. She smiled at the photos before sticking them onto the wall. After sticking the photos, she accidentally knocked over a glass of juice as she withdrew her hand. The juice then spilt onto her jacket. So she took it off. Before taking it off, she made sure no one saw her. She then took Tom’s coat and put it on. Just then, Tom came out of the developing room and saw Claire. He thought that she looked great in that so he decided to take a picture of her. He held up his camera and was about to press the shutter, he realize that Claire’s hair was out of place so he stretched out his hand and combed it back for her. 

“Hey, Tom.” Mark called Tom as he was making his way up the stairs. When he went in, he saw Tom combing Claire’s hair. Tom and Claire turned to look at Mark. Just then, Mark’s expression changed. He turned around and left without a word. Thinking that it was nothing important, Tom turned back and looked at Claire. He smiled at her and she returned the smile. Tom then picked up the camera and pressed the shutter. Then a sound was heard. The film in the camera had finished. 

“Huh? There’s no more film?” Tom took the camera down and frowned. 

“It’s all right. I’ll go get more film.” Claire said as she went to the developing room. 

Claire looked around in the room and found a box of film on the top shelf. So she stretched her hand out to take it but she could not reach it. Tipping toe, she managed to grab the box of film and took it down but in the process of doing that, she accidentally knocked over a bottle of chemical. The toppled bottle spilt its contents all over Claire’s face and some went into her eyes. Feeling a burning sensation in her eyes, Claire used her hands can covered her face. Claire then collapsed onto the ground, screaming in pain, pulling down the line of photographs that were hung to dry with her. Upon hearing Claire’s scream, Tom rushed into the room and saw Claire on the ground screaming in pain. 

“Claire! Are you all right?” Tom held her in his arms. 

“My eyes! It hurts so much!” Claire screamed. 

“Ok, hold on Claire.” With that, Tom took out his cell phone and dialed for the ambulance. 

“Hello, hello! Is this the hospital? I’ve got an emergency here…” Tom shouted over the phone the details and told them to hurry. He then hugged Claire tightly and assured Claire that she would be all right. 

After a long while, the ambulance came. The paramedic went into the studio, got Claire onto the stretcher and immediately whisked her into the ambulance. Tom followed them into the ambulance. When they reached the hospital, Claire was screaming in pain as the paramedics pushed the stretcher into the operating theater. The doctors held Tom back from going into the theater and told him to wait outside. Tom sat outside the theater waiting for the doctor to come out. Mark, who got the call from Tom that something had happened to Claire, rushed to the hospital. When he got there, he saw Tom sitting outside looking depressed. He asked what had happened and Tom explained everything to him. Just then, the doctor came out. 

“Doctor, how is she?” Tom asked. 

“I’m afraid that she’ll be blind for the rest of her life. I’m sorry. There’s nothing we can do about it.” The doctor said with a resigned look on his face. 

At this point, Tom collapsed onto the chair with a helpless look on his face while Mark begged the doctor to do something. He begged until the point that he was on his knees and the doctor had to force him to get up. 

“There’s one thing we can do to help.” The doctor finally gave in. 

“What is it? Please tell me. I’ll do anything. If it’s expensive, it’s all right. I’ll pay every single amount.” Mark told the doctor desperately. 

“It’s not the money. We have to find a donor to donate his or her cornea to Claire. The chances of finding a donor who is willing to donate his or her cornea is very slim. I suggest it’s better if you accept that she’s blind for the rest of her life.” With that, the doctor left. Mark knelt on the floor totally crushed and devastated. Tom, who had overheard this, stood up and left. He was returning back to his studio. Thoughts then were beginning to swirl in his mind. 

Back in his studio, Tom sat besides his table, holding up the photo that Claire had pasted on the wall. The photo of her in her kissing posture stuck to his. He felt guilty and dejected as he was the one who caused this to happen to Claire as he had forgotten to screw the cap of the bottle back on. He held up the empty bottle of chemical and looked at it. Feeling frustrated, he threw the bottle against the wall and buried his head in his arms. Slowly, he drifted to sleep. 

A few days later, he decided to go to the racing track to race once more. There were a handful of people racing on the racing track. Tom changed into his racing suit, took his helmet and got onto his bike. 

The race had started and Tom’s bike took the lead. After a few laps, memories started to fill his mind. Memories of that day when Claire and him were riding the same bike. Memories of the time when he wanted to take Claire’s photo in his jacket. Feeling frustrated, Tom increased the speed of his bike and sped to the finish line. When he had completed the race, he took off his helmet, took out his key and walked towards his mechanic. Without saying a word, he passed the key to the mechanic and walked off… 

Later that day, he went to his studio and started packing up his stuffs. While packing, he saw his favourite motorbike model. He held it for a while before wrapping it in his bonnet and closing his suitcase. He then took the picture that Claire had stuck on the wall, separated his photo from Claire’s and stuck Claire’s photo back onto the wall. 

“Mark, take care of this place before I’m gone.” Tom told Mark before he left and put his hand on Mark’s face. 

“Go away. Don’t touch me.” Mark pushed Tom’s hand away from him and stared at the floor. He was angry with Tom for what had happened to Claire. 

With that, Tom left the studio, never to return again. 

A few months later, someone had donated his cornea to Claire so that she could see again. The operation was a success and Claire was able to see again. Upon hearing that, Mark and Claire were overjoyed. The doctor told Claire that she would have to wait for a while more before the bandage could be removed. 

Soon it was time that the bandage could be removed from her eyes. Claire sat up and wait patiently as the nurse slowly removed the bandage. Claire opened her eyes. Her vision was blur at first but after a while, she was able to see clearly. Mark had bought her a cake to celebrate her recovery and the doctor and nurses were happy for her. Claire asked for the donor’s name but the doctor refused to give it to her as it was the donor’s request. Claire gave up asking as she knew she would not get it out of the doctor and Mark did not know who it was. She silently thanked God for the kind soul. 

A few days later after Claire’s eyes had fully recovered, she went back to the studio with Mark behind her. The studio was empty. She continued to walk in and she saw the photo on the wall. There was only her in her kissing posture, the other photo of Tom was gone. She ran her finger down the photo’s outline, feeling a little bit sad. 

Later that night, she sat in front of her television and watched “Stuart Little”. After a while, she got up and went into her kitchen and took out a tub of peppermint ice cream, a spoon and sat in front of the television again. She ate spoonfuls of the ice cream as she watched the show. With each bite, she felt really hurt, really sad. She was venting her sadness by eating ice cream. However, after a while, the sadness was to big for her to let out by eating ice cream… She cried her heart out. Tears were streaming down her face as she cried. She cried till she fell asleep. To Claire, that night was the worse night in her life. 

Several days later, she went back to the hair salon to work. While she was wiping the mirror, she was thinking of Tom. While she was thinking about Tom, someone walked into the hair salon. Claire saw the reflection. It was Tom’s and she turned around as she thought it was Tom but it was not. It was Mark. He smiled at her. She returned the smile. 

“I’ve got something for you.” Mark took out a brown envelope and handed to Claire. 

“What is it?” Claire asked. 

“Just open it.” 

Claire then opened the envelope and inside was a magazine and she was on the cover page. She realized that she was famous because of the photos that Tom had taken for her. Her childhood dream of becoming a model was beginning to be fulfilled. She thanked Mark and carried on working. 

After her work, Claire went to the racing track. As she slowly approached the racetrack, bittersweet memories began to fill her mind once more. She walked around the track and when she was about to leave, she turned back to see it once more. She was about to make her way home when she thought she saw a familiar figure so she turned back. She then made her way to the figure. It was a blind man playing fetch with his dog. The man threw a tennis ball and the dog ran to fetch it. Claire walked closer to the man and then there was a gust of wind. A photograph that was beside the man got blown away. The photograph flew to the ground next to Claire. She bent down and picked it up. It was the very first photo of her that was taken. The photo where she had accidentally walked in between Tom and his model. Claire realized that the blind man was Tom. 

Since Tom could not see, he thought that the photo was beside him so he used his hand and wanted to pick up the photo but it was not there. Feeling that the photo was not there, he got anxious. Claire covered her mouth so that Tom could not hear her sniffle. Claire had realized how she got her sight back. 

It was Tom who had donated his cornea to her. Tom felt guilty for causing Claire to lose her sight and in order to make up for that, he had donated his cornea to her. The day when Tom left the studio and never returned was the day where he had donated his cornea to her. The doctors asked him if he was willing to give up his sight so that Claire could see again. Tom readily agreed. Claire was wheeling into the operating theater first and was asleep due to anesthesia. Tom was then wheeled into the theater. Before Tom was on anesthesia, he reached for Claire’s hand. After a while, the doctor told him to take his hand back as the operation was about to begin. Tom was shifted further away from Claire and put on anesthesia. The operation was a success. The cornea was successfully transplanted from Tom to Claire. The nurses guided both of them out of the operating theater. They walked passed each other without knowing because they could not see. Claire then realized why the donor made a request not for her to know his identity because it was Tom. 

Claire walked towards Tom and gave the photo back to him. As she returned the photo, Tom’s dog returned. Tom took the photo, stood up. He thanked Claire for returning the photo and left Claire standing there, with tears on her face, crying. As he walked a certain distance from her, Claire turned back to see Tom just once more… Once more before they parted ways and lived their own individual lives… 

The End

Forever-ff

Adapted frm: Kiss – Because I’m A Girl mv