Warm On a Cold Night ★ JENLISA

Chapter 6

Chaeyoung leans forward every so often to whisper in her ear, receives subtle nods. The investigator taps Lisa on the shoulder once or twice in the days that Jennie observes. Hands over notes when possible.

Nothing seems to shake her, rattle her cage.

She is charismatic. But, it's an understated charisma that she exudes.

Easy.

The kind that draws you in, but is not showy.

And Jennie is.

Completely and wholly drawn to her.

When she looks around the room she can see how many of her peers are drawn in too.

It's only in the here and now that Jennie can realize it. Feel it. Understands it in her being.

More than well acquainted with the Lisa that exists outside the courtroom.

With the way she oozes charm and swagger and confidence.

Here, surveying Lisa in her kingdom, in her domain, she gets the full picture. The one not offered to her in any other way, in any other fashion.

The one that can be fully absorbed because Jennie does not have to worry about pivoting her arguments or attack.

Lisa is full of easy confidence, nodding her head and listening to the witness answer her questions on cross. She stops and turns, studies him, lips pursed in dismay, dislike.

She asks another and Ron shoots out of his seat, fumbling over an objection. The judge doesn't seem impressed and Lisa quickly offers her own reasoning. Ron is overruled and Lisa continues.

Jennie shakes her head. He had the right idea, but the wrong rule of law.

She can't help but smirk a little at how Lisa got away with that one.

It's impressive.

Everything about her is impressive.

Xx

Jennie makes it to the courtroom just in time to see Lisa's closing argument.

She's not surprised that Liam tapped her for it and again she's not surprised by how eloquent and beautiful Lisa is when she speaks. Jennie is entranced by her and so is the jury.

She isn't angry. She isn't pushy. She isn't cold or hard.

She is stunning.

And when she concludes, she catches Jennie's eyes all the way back to her seat.

"Fuck, she's good." Hyeri leans over and whispers.

Jennie swallows and nods, "Yeah. Try having to deal with that on a case." She still hasn't looked away from where Lisa sits and rearranges her notes.

"Shit, you're right." There is so much awe that tinges Hyeri's words.

"Why do you think I prep so hard?"

"Because you're a perfectionist. But, she makes it look easy."

"That she does."

Xx

Lisa gets her verdict.

After a grueling thirteen days of testimony and two and a half days of deliberations, the jurors have decided. The foreman reads it out with clear conviction.

Lisa gets her verdict and the courtroom jumps with activity. There's a press forward and murmurs erupt around the room and the judge has to bang her gavel.