No Strings Attached

Chapter Seventeen

Jisoo waved at Yeri and the latter understood Jisoo’s signal for her to pack and lock up the café by herself later on.

“Sure,” Jennie replied. She sensed that the conversation was probably had something to do with Lisa. She was worried that something may have happened to Lisa and she was likely the cause of it.

Jisoo and Jennie met at a nearby coffee house. They had a heart-to-heart chat until the wee hours of the morning.

~ End of Flashback ~

To celebrate the successful completion of the project, Jennie’s client threw a huge party at a popular club in downtown Los Angeles a day later. It was a masquerade party and everyone had to wear a mask to hide their faces when they went to the venue.

As Jennie was dressing up for the party, her mind wandered off to Lisa again. She remembered going to a club once with Lisa during their stay in Tokyo and both of them were out in less than fifteen minutes because they couldn’t stand the loud pulsating music. They laughed it off as an age thing, joking that old people were unable to withstand loud music and it was meant for younger people only. In the end, they went to a quiet wine bar to chill.

Jennie wasn’t a person who took the initiative in a relationship especially if she liked the person, unlike her dominant personality at work. Her pride stopped her from taking the first step and she was also worried about being hurt badly again. Therefore, she would rather distance herself from Lisa if she wasn’t confident of committing herself fully into the relationship. In a way, she was a perfectionist, both at work and at home.

However, Lisa had always been on her mind since she left for Los Angeles. Every other thing Jennie did reminded her of Lisa. That was then she realised that her mind had the perfect answer for her aching and lonely heart.

It was a heady mixture of house music and dazzling lights when Jennie stepped into the club with her colleagues. She wore a simple black long dress that revealed a hint of her voluptuous figure and bronze stilettos. Heads were turned as Jennie sashayed her way to the bar. Some men standing near the bar were openly ogling at her. Jennie was used to getting such unwanted attention and she completely ignored them as she ordered her drinks.

The whole club had been booked by her client and there were a lot of people who were invited to the post-party celebrations. There were people showing off their moves on the dance floor and others were just networking with each other at the tables. She couldn’t see the faces of the crowd since everyone had a mask on.

After an hour, Jennie got bored of sitting at the table with her colleagues and decided to take a breather on the second floor balcony. She excused herself and headed to the balcony on the second level for some fresh air. Opening the door, a rush of cold air welcomed her as she stepped out onto the second level.

Jennie walked to the end of the long corridor so that people would not notice her. She took off her mask and held it in her hand. The club was situated at the taller end of a slope, therefore it commanded a rather good view of the city. The city lights were twinkling like stars in the sky, reminding Jennie of someone close at heart.

After ten minutes, Jennie decided to head back down to the club to join her colleagues. It wasn’t nice to disappear for a long time since it was a company event. Her colleagues were waving to her at the dance floor, asking her to join them. The dance floor was packed with people wearing various masks. The DJ turned up the volume and chose songs with strong beats to get everyone’s mood up. To break the ice, the DJ asked everyone to shake the hand of the person on their right and make new friends. After two songs, he would make everyone switch around again in order to make more friends.