Jennie
My friends refused to leave me alone for the rest of the weekend. Rosé slept at my apartment Saturday night when we got home from the gala, then took me out for breakfast and coffee, then brought me back to a movie and pizza night with the guys. They did their best to make me feel better, to take my mind off of things, and I truly appreciated them for it. But Monday came around before I knew it and I was readying myself for work when there was a knock on my door. I grabbed my briefcase and opened it to find Mino and Hoony shifting back and forth, hands in their pockets.
"Listen, Jennie, we talked to Rosé and if you want to call in sick, she says she'll back you up. You can claim that's why you ran out on the gala and-" Mino started but I held up a hand to stop him.
"I'm a grown woman, Mino. Thank you guys. Really. You've made this weekend bearable. But I have to get back to work. I can't avoid Lisa forever." Before I could think about taking them up on their offer, I squeezed past them and into the hall beyond, making a beeline for my car and trying my best not to think about what awaited me at the office.
Luckily, my plan to arrive earlier than anyone else worked well enough and I took the stairwell to my office without encountering anyone else along the way. Jimin greeted me with a nod and a wave as always and I gave him a fake smile right back before heading into my office and shutting the door behind me for a long day of throwing myself into my work to avoid confronting my own feelings. Healthy, isn't it?
It worked for a while. I made it all the way past lunch remaining in my office alone, making phone calls and discussing my calendar with Jimin. I didn't interact with anyone not on my team until two in the afternoon when there was a knock on my door. Jimin, who had been seated across from me in my office, rose to greet the visitor and backed away to admit him, surprised.
The Head Coach, Yoo Hae-jin, stepped inside, nodding a greeting to the both of us. I was on my feet in an instant. Hae-jin was a legend here at the Los Angeles Chargers, having been a renowned head coach in the NFL for nearly two decades and since the Chargers' own inception. People treated him with respect. What reason did he have for coming all the way to my office?
"Good afternoon, sir," I told him, stunned. "How can I help you?"
He cast a glance in Jimin's direction and my assistant got the hint, excusing himself and telling me he would be just outside if we needed him. I thanked him and waited for him to close the door on his way out before gesturing for the Head Coach to sit. He did, taking the seat across from me as I settled in behind my desk. He looked around for a moment as if seeing this portion of the building for the first time. Perhaps he was.
"Quite the set up you've got here," he mentioned with an appraising nod. I opened my mouth to answer but wasn't sure quite what to say. I highly doubted Hae-jin had ventured all the way to my office just for small talk. "You've got a window and everything. They've got me smack in the centre of this basement on the other side of the locker room. Used to be an equipment room, my office. You'd think a multimillion dollar organization could afford to make it smell like something other than sweaty feet down here."
I smiled. The smell had been something I was acutely aware of myself but, unfortunately, you seemed to get used to it. I crossed my hands upon my desk, feeling admittedly more at ease due to Mr. Yoo's humorous complaints.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Yoo?" I asked with a professional smile. He looked up at me, meeting my eyes for the first time, and I saw how serious he was. It brought me right back to my previous level of discomfort.
"Listen, Miss Kim," he started and I shifted in my seat. "I don't know what's going on between you and my star quarterback but-"
"Oh," I gasped involuntarily, stunned by his knowledge. "Mr. Yoo, I-"
He held up a hand to stop me and I stopped speaking that instant, waiting for him to continue, anticipating the scolding I was about to receive and feeling like a small child being admonished for disobeying a household rule. Yoo Hae-jin had that authoritative aura which demanded respect and, from my own current experience as I sat across from the grizzled old man, fear.
"I know Lisa Manoban like I know my own child," he started and I stared at him, caught off guard by this new direction. "I know when she's happy and I know when she's not. I know her history with women and I know how she can be. She's tough, never lets anything shake her, never takes her personal life onto the field. Until now."
I looked up at him, brows wrinkled in confusion.
"That child never lets anything get to her," he told me. "But you did."
My mouth opened and closed as if I were trying to say something but didn't know how to respond. Coach Yoo just leaned forward onto my desk and kept talking.
"Now, I'm not telling you what to do. I would never do that. And I'm not pretending that I know precisely what's going on between the two of you," he started again. "But I want you to know Lisa isn't the person the tabloids say she is. She doesn't have all the confidence she projects. And she's out there doing her job, throwing touchdowns, but I can see it in her. She's never been more broken. I see the way she looks at you, the way she lights up when you talk to her. And I saw her on Saturday night, when you left."
I closed my eyes then and sighed. So we hadn't been as subtle as we'd hoped. If Coach Yoo saw it, who knew who else had seen us? And it was only a matter of time before word made it back around to Mr. Yang.
"I'm afraid of losing my job," I confessed because, in that moment, I knew that was what was really holding me back from Lisa. Fear. Not because Lisa had honoured a promise to a woman she'd made before she'd ever met me. I'd always believed when Lisa said that there was nothing going on between her and Kendall Jenner. But I'd pushed Lisa away anyway. Because I was afraid of the sacrifices I would have to make to be with Lisa.
"I know," the Coach said and I looked up to find him watching me. Our eyes met and I knew he understood my situation. "But we all have to make choices in life."
I nodded in understanding. He was putting it in the certain terms that I had always known but had been too afraid to face. I could have Lisa, maybe just for the week or maybe for forever, and the risk I took was that I would lose my job, I would start over. Again.
"You're good at your job," he said then, as if reading my mind. "I've got some contacts who might be interested in knowing that." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it to me as he stood. I glanced down at the name on the card and my eyes widened.
"Sir-" I started, stunned, as he reached the door.
"You have to make a choice, Miss Kim," he said then, one hand on the handle. He nodded at the card in my hand before he finished, "I hope that helps you decide."
