Midnight Angel [Jenlisa FF]

~'~'~ Chapter 21 ~'~'~

"His name is Ry?" Who named their kid Ry? Jennie wondered.

"It's Charlie Ryan, actually, but everyone calls him Ry except for my sister."

"So, you like him?" Jennie pressed further, finding herself intensely curious about Lisa, her life, and the people in it.

"Yeah, he's a good guy. I hope he and Rosé stay together." Lisa glanced down at her watch and winced. "I better go, Joo Won is...," she trailed off, realizing she'd said her father's name.

"It's okay," she assured her. "You don't have to avoid the subject of my dad."

"Well, I um...we have a meeting this morning, so I need to get going," she finished her previous statement.

"Okay."

"You'll be fine here today?" she worried about leaving her alone. With the way things went in this town, Lisa didn't want anything else to happen to Jennie. But she needed to go to work.

"Yeah. I think I'll watch some TV, or maybe read a book," Jennie answered casually. She really had no idea what she would spend her day doing. But surely, she could find something. Again, the restlessness rose. She couldn't go anywhere, not even to a convenience store to get a soda or a sandwich. She was stuck here.

"All right," Lisa said with a nod and started to walk away. "I should be back by five."

"Okay. Tell my..." Jennie stopped, unable to voice what had popped into her head. "Never mind."

"I'll tell him your fine," Lisa filled in comfortingly, sensing what she'd been about to say.

"Thanks."

~'~'~

The day was half gone before Lisa the chance to sit back and take a breath. she'd been on the go since the moment she'd walked into the door. And she certainly couldn't forget the meeting she'd had with Mr. Kim. Uncomfortable wasn't exactly the word she would use to describe it. They'd been wary and tense, circling each other like a pair of warring buzzards after a piece of roadkill. Only, in this case, Jennie was the ultimate prize. Mr. Kim still believed they were doing the wrong thing. But Lisa hadn't backed down.

Checking the time on the corner of her computer screen, she saw that it was two-thirty. she still had a few hours to go before she could leave. The urge to call Jennie, to make sure she was okay, to hear her voice, rose within her, but she ignored it. She probably wouldn't like her checking up on her. She needed some freedom. Plus, she couldn't take the chance of someone overhearing her. If she slipped up and called her by name, all hell could break loose. So she looked back at her computer and her current project.

Several minutes later, the phone on her desk rang. her first thought was that Jennie was calling her. But then she told himself that was stupid. She wouldn't call, and besides, she didn't even have her work number.

"Hello?" Lisa said after picking up the receiver.

"Lisa? What's going on?" her sister asked immediately.

Lisa winced. she should have expected this. Still, she played dumb. "What do you mean?"

"Charles told me you called at the crack of dawn this morning, and that you asked him to look at something, newspaper clippings, and some other papers," she explained hurriedly.

"It's nothing, just something I came across," Lisa lied. she didn't want to worry her sister, though she knew she would anyway.

"Lisa..."

"Really, Rosé. It's just something I wanted Ry's thoughts on." Another lie. God, she hated lying to Rosé, but the less people who knew the situation at the moment, the better. she'd make it up to her.