Jennie
I followed the directions that Lisa had emailed me earlier, pulling my Honda Civic up to the most exclusive restaurant in Los Angeles. I sighed up at the building as I emerged from my completely out of place mid-size sedan and reluctantly handed my keys over to a waiting valet. I hadn't even had the time to ruminate over how large that parking bill was about to be when a low voice emanated from just behind me.
"Good, you came. I've spent the whole afternoon wondering if you were going to stand me up." I turned to see Lisa Manoban looking down at me with a smile. Her eyes remained firmly on mine despite the fact that mine continued to travel over our surroundings, taking particular care over the amount of people now stopping to whisper and point at us. I adjusted my glasses and squared my shoulders, sticking out a hand as professionally as I could manage.
"Ms. Manoban," I said in greeting and fought to maintain my balance as her slow, crooked smile threatened to knock me right off my feet. I took her in then. The collared shirt unbuttoned at the top, the solid blazer over it, the hip hugging designer jeans. I cleared my throat. "Forgive me, I wasn't aware there was a dress code."
She smiled, placing a hand on my lower back and steering me toward the hostess counter as she said, "I think you look beautiful. As always."
I should have objected, either to the compliment or the physical contact, but I found my lips rather unable to form words when her hands were on me. She moved away briefly to give her name to the hostess and I managed to regain some of my senses in her absence so that, by the time she returned, I had enough confidence to say, "You might have warned me that you'd selected Los Angeles' most exclusive restaurant for our meeting."
"Right," she said with a smile. "Our business meeting. Well, no worries, Miss Kim, I'll be paying this evening."
"No," I blurted before I could think better of it. She cocked an eyebrow but I stood by my denial. "I'll pay for my share, Ms. Manoban, as you know this is not a date."
"Oh, I know it's not," she told me, leaning in to whisper the rest. "If this were a date, we would have already skipped dinner and headed back to my place to make my very vivid daydreams a reality."
My lips parted as I backed away to look up at her in wide eyed surprise. My face flamed as the hostess called out Lisa's name and we began following her to our table. I cursed silently as I took my seat across from her. How was this person always making me blush? We settled in and ordered our drinks, taking the menu from our waitress before she walked away. I looked over the menu for a time, actively trying to keep my eyes from bulging at the prices, before I felt someone staring. I looked up to see Lisa watching me, sipping her scotch and smiling. Before I could ask what she was looking at, the waitress returned to read us the specials. Overwhelmed, I ordered what she recommended, some fish entree with... was it lemons?
As she took our menus, I reached down for my briefcase, setting it in front of me and pulling out a notepad and a planner. Lisa watched with an amused grin which I utterly ignored as I uncapped my pen and looked up expectantly.
"Okay, Ms. Manoban," I began, "now that I'll be your newest representation, I'll need to know a bit about your preferences. Given your status with the team, it's very important to upper management that I keep you happy."
Her lips quirked into a smirk and I realized what I had said. Fighting to control the heat spreading to my cheeks, I rushed on. "Scheduling," I blurted and she raised a brow as she took another sip of her drink. "Previously, Ji-hoon was handling all of your team sanctioned events, correct?"
"That is correct," she answered in a tone somehow both professional and teasing.
"I believe he had set up a shared calendar with your agent so that your team sanctioned events and your personal events did not clash. Is that something that you would like for me to continue? I can get in touch with your agent if-"
