Lisa
I feel like I'm being pulled in every direction at work. I have meeting upon meeting, most of which I can't concentrate on because my thoughts are swarming with Jennie. I still haven't talked to her since last night and, to be honest, I'm a little worried.
I have a meeting at eleven. I'm hoping to take lunch when it's over and call her again, though I'm not sure she'll even answer since she's at work. But it's worth a shot.
And hopefully, she'll agree to see me tonight. Hopefully, I'll be able to tell her everything that's been plaguing me these past two weeks.
And hopefully, she won't immediately cast me aside as the bad guy.
I'm walking down the hallway and conversing with one of my partners, Mr. Lee, when I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I peek at it briefly and see Jennie's name.
"Excuse me, Mr. Lee," I say, interrupting him mid-sentence. "This is an important call. I really need to take it."
He nods knowingly. "All right then, Ms. Manoban. Perhaps we can talk more over lunch?"
I give him a tight-lipped smile in agreement and then slip inside an empty conference room. The lights are off, but the grey light from the windows spills across the floor.
I answer quickly. "Hello?"
I hear Jennie exhale. "Hey, Lisa. It's Jennie."
It's staggering how relieved I am to hear her voice. She sounds much better today.
"Hey, Jennie. How are you? How's your headache?" I quickly ask.
"Oh... it's better. Much better," she assures me.
"That's great. I was kind of worried."
"Oh, no need," she says. "The Advil helped a lot. But I feel bad about cutting our evening short and wanted to see if maybe I could come to your house tonight?"
I'm surprised she's asking instead of just stopping by again. It doesn't matter either way - I'd love to see her and, honestly, I'm relieved it's her asking instead of me.
But is it really such a good idea to tell her everything at my house? Then she'd be able to run away, whereas if I was at her apartment she'd be forced to kick me out. And I could always stall if it meant gaining more time to explain myself.
"Are you sure?" I ask. "I don't mind coming to Seoul again tonight."
I'll have to come there Saturday morning for the wedding, after all. I could always just spend the night at my house in Seoul tonight.
"No, no," she hastily protests, and I'm caught off guard by her sudden passion. "I mean, I just really want to get out of my apartment for a little while. It's too small. And there's cat hair everywhere..." her voice trails.
"You can meet me at my house in Seoul," I suggest. "I don't think you've seen it yet."
She hesitates a moment, then agrees. "Yeah, I guess that would be fine."
I'm simultaneously pleased and anxious at the thought of our night. But mostly anxious. Dreadfully, painfully anxious.
"Great. Do you want me to come pick you up?" I offer.
"No, that's okay. I'll just meet you there. What's the address?"
I rattle it off to her and assume she writes it down. Suddenly, there's a yowling in the background. I frown, confused.
"Is that the cat?" I ask. Jennie pauses.
"Yeah. Damn thing never shuts up."
"Are you at home? I thought you had to work."
"I did. But, um... my head still hurt pretty bad this morning. I had to take another Advil. And I overslept, so I just decided to go ahead and call out. Got to use my sick days sometime."
Her words sound awkward. Something just isn't right about them, and that same feeling of unease settles in again.
"Oh. But you feel better now, though. Right?"
"Yes, much better," she assures again. "But I guess I'll let you go. I didn't mean to disturb you at work."
"No, it's fine. I was just about to take my lunch break anyway."
"What time will you be home tonight?"
"Around six-thirty," I say.
"Okay. I'll see you then."
"Right. Bye, Jennie," I say, and we both hang up the phone. I lean back against a table located in the centre of the room, nearly sick with apprehension at the thought of tonight.
