The Marriage Deal [Jenlisa FF]

Part 9

Monday morning rolled around, and Jennie was awakened by the sound of the front door opening and then shutting at nine-thirty. She groaned when she saw the time. 'I swear, if that's Ella leaving for school this late, she is in *so* much trouble.'

After stretching her tired limbs, she climbed out of bed and threw on a robe on top of her nightgown. Hearing the noise of a vacuum cleaner running downstairs, she headed for the first floor to see who was down there. She half-expected it to be Lisa, but then decided against it, knowing she left earlier for her office to work on Jisoo's case.

The last person she expected to find was a Hispanic woman in her mid-fifties pushing a vacuum cleaner around the living room. "Excuse me!" Jennie called. The lady didn't hear her, so she tapped the woman on the shoulder. "Excuse me!"

The woman turned around and looked at Jennie, then smiled and shut off the vacuum cleaner. "Hola, señora."

"Who are you?" Jennie asked.

"I am Emilia, the housekeeper. Did I wake you, señora?"

'Housekeeper?' "That's okay. I just didn't know you were coming."

Emilia nodded in understanding. "Perhaps señora Manoban forgot. She does that occasionally. You must be the new señora Manoban. Señora told me she had married."

"Yes, that's me. I'm Jennie; you don't have to call me señora. How many days a week do you come by to clean?" she wanted to know. 'I have a housekeeper. I, Jennie Kim, have a housekeeper. This is so cool!'

"Just during the week. I have worked for Señor Bruschweiler for a long time and Señora Manoban kept me on. she es un hombre muy simpatico. Y muy guapo." (she's very nice and very handsome.)

"So, I've noticed," Jennie laughed. 'Thank God I took Spanish in high school.' "Well, I won't keep you any longer, Emilia. I'll stay out of your way."

"You aren't in my way, señora Jennie."

*****

"I had the documents for the Kim case messengered to Judge Wellings' office this morning when I came in," Minnie told Lisa after she had settled into her office at ten in the morning. Even though she had left the house an hour earlier, Lisa usually didn't arrive at the office until later in the morning. Like most mornings, she stopped by the café for a cup of coffee and a bagel.

Lisa nodded. "Thank you. What's on the agenda for today?" she asked.

Minnie saw her boss smile at her and she melted. For as long as she'd worked for her, Lisa Manoban's smile never failed to make her knees weak. But she knew she didn't think of her as anything more than a secretary. "You're free most of the day. I cleared your schedule because I figured you'd want to work on your statements for the preliminary hearing tomorrow morning."

"You know me too well, Minnie. Just hold all my calls until mid-afternoon and if anyone comes by, tell them I'm in a meeting with an important client.

"Does that include Irene?" Minnie teased. She saw the way the female lawyer looked at her boss, and found it amusing the way Irene always threw herself at her. And she couldn't resist teasing Lisa about it once a day.

Lisa smirked at her implication. "*Especially* Irene. I don't care if 'The President' calls, tell him I'm busy."

"Got it."

After Minnie left the room, Lisa swiveled in her chair and stared out the window, looking into downtown Daegu. But her gaze never fixed on any particular object or building; her mind was focused on something else.