D.E.B.S (Chaelisa)

03| Rendezvous

 Evil Lair,  Same Time

Meanwhile, within the Evil Lair at an undisclosed location in the USA, the Reclusive Mastermind Lisa Diamond was sitting in her chair behind her desk in front of a holographic screen with schematics and information pulled up.

This was the Diamond Data Retrieval— Global Informational Database Online, also known as the DDR—GIDO, also known as the DDR, also known simply as Computer by Lisa, which had Kook outraged.

Directly above the DDR, crackling with electricity and brimming with power, hung suspended the letters LD in bold font within a glowing diamond—the symbol Lisa used to announce her presence, if she was feeling cheeky, by shining it into the night sky like the Bat Signal.

But right now, she was feeling decidedly un-cheeky as she continued to browse despondently.

Lisa fiddled with her fingers as she looked over Chou Tzuyu's profile again, mulling over the photo of the admittedly striking blonde.

A loud clang resounded throughout the warehouse followed by a bang and the sound of something crashing, then several voices calling out apologies. Renovations were on in full swing after Lisa had come back to open one of her old safehouses when she returned stateside.

She didn't really mind the noises and sounds of her men working and hammering to get the place back in working order. It took her mind off the anxiety building in her stomach.

"Hey I found your old sign and dusted it, wanna hang it up? It's a cracker, your Dad loved it so much," she heard Kook chuckle. She glanced over her shoulder. He held up a metal sign that read:

A GOOD D.E.B

IS A

☠ DEAD D.E.B ☠

"Sure," Lisa shrugged before she turned her attention back to Tzuyu again. Kook noticed her apprehension and set aside the sign before he walked up behind her.

"Your scheduled meet: 2000 hours."

Lisa chewed her lip. "Where'd you find her?"

"Zeta tipped us. Said she's available. She's in from Korea, relocating stateside."

"Assassin?" Lisa asked, doubtful.

"Check," Kook confirmed.

Lisa frowned some more and folded her arms. "Where's the meet?"

Kook leaned forward and tapped one of the tabs he had opened earlier. The image of a restaurant brochure popped up.

"Les Deux Amour. Trendy, but discreet," he read off the brochure. "It's got four stars too, see? Michelin-rated, just so you know. Almost out of reservations when I booked. You gotta try out the truffles and let me know how they are."

Lisa pondered some more before she came to a decision. "Cancel it."

She got off the chair and strode away from her dumbstruck friend.

"Why?! It's all set up!" Kook cried out as he hurried after her.

"I don't do blind dates," Lisa stated as they climbed up the stairs to the second floor.

"Yeah well it's not a blind date if you know what they look like, okay?" Kook insisted as he followed her, weaving around men busy dragging furniture and bunk beds to convert the whole area into a more liveable space with better conditions. 

"Hey hey hey careful with those, they're priceless!" Kook called out to two men huffing and puffing under the weight of a couple of wooden lion statuettes.

"Look, just tell her I'm not coming. Say I came down with something," Lisa reasoned.

"Come on Lisa it's been two years, you have to get out there—"

"I am out there!" Lisa protested, stopping to sign a form for one of the construction guys remodelling her quarters. "The drummer, the girl from the band that talked really loud? I went out with her!"

"No you didn't go out with her, we all went out together. And then you lied and said you had food poisoning, and you went home early."

Lisa huffed, unable to argue back. "Yeah well, she talked really loud, like even when you were right next to her," she sulked as she turned on her heels and marched off again.

"Okay..."

He followed Lisa into her quarters that were being painted turquoise and decorated with bright, colourful drapes and chic furniture, since they were going for a bohemian theme to brighten the place up because according to Kook, Lisa darkened any space she was in with her gloomy vibes and head to toe black clothes.

"You look like the grim reaper," he had told her once and Lisa proceeded to drop-kick him mercilessly at their next sparring training. He hadn't been able to sit properly for days afterwards.

"Look I know what you're trying to do," Kook said now as they passed by a sizeable globe that had the continent of Australia crossed out with a red marker. "You're trying to drown yourself in your little schemes to destroy the world. But you need to get over it already, okay? You were dumped. Own it."

"I was not dumped," Lisa scoffed but her hasty movements as she started clearing clothes off the furniture didn't slow down.

"Oh you were dumped hard. Seulgi dumped you like a pelican dumps its shit," Kook returned. "She ran off to that Irene chick like Irene was the last breadstick at Olive Garden."

Lisa paused what she was doing to raise an eyebrow at Kook. "Those...are some interesting analogies."

"I know, I'm a genius—stop trying to sneak out of this! So you got dumped because homegirl ran back to her ex." His voice softened. "And that sucks. And you took your time off to go to Antarctica or wherever—"

"Reykjavik, it's in Iceland," Lisa corrected as she marched away to put her clothes in the closet. "You should visit, Rocker Boy, it's the perfect place for emos. Cold and gets really dark in winter."

"Bet you were right at home then. Listen!" Kook caught Lisa from her shoulders, making her face him. "You were hurt. I get that. But now it's time to get back in the game, Lisa. You've got a date tonight, with a beautiful Russian assassin. And you're gonna show up."

When Lisa didn't reply, Kook eyed her sternly, knowing full well she was plotting how to get out of the date.

"Lisa."

"Fine," Lisa relented, very unwillingly. "Okay, I'l go, I'll be there."

"That's my girl." Satisfied, Kook released her and Lisa turned to put her jacket back in the closet behind her.

"Just promise me you'll be open," he added.

"Open what?" Lisa frowned, looking over her shoulder.

Kook's eyes went all dreamy as he clasped his hands to his heart. "Open to love."

Lisa gave him a deadpan look and rolled her eyes once he left as she started to assemble her outfit for the date.

It was soon done—just a plain black V-neck thin sweater with a plain nondescript black leather trench coat and plain black pants and plain black shoes.

Lisa sighed and flopped listlessly on her bed, knowing with absolute certainty that the date wasn't going to end well, if her streak of disastrous nights organised by Kook were any indication.

She hated blind dates; all the awkwardness and forced conversation made her incredibly fidgety and itchy. Even if she did know the face, she had no clue about this Chou Tzuyu chick.

In principle, she went along with the dates her friend set up because Kook had good intentions. He merely wanted to help his best friend move on and fall in love again after that dumpster fire that was Kang Seulgi happened and robbed Lisa of any will to seek out love again.

But being a washed up former rockstar wannabe and a budding lesbian matchmaker did not, apparently, go hand in hand.