Jisoo and Kai dug into their breakfast with abandon, and Jennie wondered when it was that they'd last eaten. She watched them now, sitting in her kitchen, shoveling mouthfuls of eggs and bacon into their mouths as though they'd been wandering through the desert and at last found an oasis.
"God, this is so good," Kai said, between bites. "What did you put in this?"
"Eggs," Jennie said flatly. She watched them for a moment longer. "I'm sorry, did you guys spend the past week in the jungle?"
Jisoo swallowed half the glass of orange juice before replying. "We, uh, had a long night."
"We were talking," Kai said.
"Talking," Jisoo echoed quickly.
"Right." Jennie could all but see the quotation marks around the word "talking," but she smiled anyway. She leaned against the counter that separated them.
"So," said Jisoo. "What did you call us over for? Not that we don't appreciate the breakfast, because we do."
Jennie cleared her throat. "I'm planning to tell Roseanne the truth. Today." They stopped eating abruptly.
Kai frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
He put down his fork and looked at her, his blue eyes shining with something like concern. "Because what's stopping her from releasing all those emails to the press?"
Jennie almost sighed. "She wouldn't do that."
"You can't know that."
"I do and she wouldn't." Jennie insisted because she was certain it was true. Roseanne would never stoop that low.
"Maybe you should have her sign a non-disclosure agreement before telling her." This from Jisoo.
Jennie hadn't expected this. The months of teasing had only prepared her for more teasing. "Are you guys kidding me?"
"You made me sign one," Jisoo pointed out.
Jennie did sigh then. She grew serious. "Look, I'm telling her. Today. For better or worse I want all of this lying to end. And I need you guys to be onboard with this."
They exchanged concerned glances but finally nodded. "How do you plan to tell her?" Kai picked up his fork again and Jennie relaxed.
"Well," Jennie began, "I have no idea. That's why you guys are here. I figured you could help me rehearse."
"Rehearse," Jisoo repeated, looking doubtful. "Shouldn't it be a little more natural? Shouldn't it come from the heart?"
"Yes, if I want to fall completely apart in front of her."
"Okay," Kai said, "How about ... you kiss her. She'll be so startled that when you go, 'and by the way I'm really Jane' she'll be too distracted to notice."
Jennie resisted the urge to slap him over the head. "Why don't I just flash her as I tell her?"
"That might work too."
Jennie turned to Jisoo. "Any ideas?"
"You could just email her."
Jennie had considered that. "But then I run the risk of her not believing me."
Kai chuckled. "You could attach a picture of yourself holding up a sign that says, 'no really it's true.'"
Jennie grabbed his plate and pulled it away from him, out of reach.
"Hey!" Kai pouted, holding up his fork menacingly. "Give that back."
Jennie ignored him. "I thought I'd just invite her over and ... then ... just tell her."
Kai had come around the island to get his plate back. Jennie let him.
"Then that's what you should do," Jisoo said.
Jennie nodded. That's what she'd do. She'd invite Roseanne over and then confess. But how to confess? How to even begin explaining?
-
Another class day over and Roseanne couldn't have been more glad to have it all behind her. She rode the elevator up to her floor watching the flickering light above her threaten to give out. The elevator groaned with the effort of existing, and Roseanne briefly wondered what it might feel like if it were to suddenly give out and plummet to the ground. But the thought was morbid and she pushed it aside. The doors opened, slowly, noisily, but altogether proudly - as if to say, "And here you thought I wouldn't make it."
The hallway was well-lit, surprisingly. A new light bulb? Roseanne wondered. A neighbor turned the corner, dragging along a toddler who was yelling something Roseanne couldn't make out. Roseanne tried to smile politely, trying to offer something akin to understanding, even sympathy. But what did Roseanne know about having a child? The question was crystal clear on the neighbor's face as she silently passed by, the kid trailing behind, shouting.
Roseanne unlocked the door and stepped inside the apartment. The TV was on which meant Lisa was not at work. "I'm home!" she called. She closed the door and dropped the keys into the pocket of her jacket. She made her way to the living room.
Lisa was lounging on the couch, her feet propped on the coffee table and Roseanne's computer on her lap. When she looked up she was grinning. "Guess who's been cast in the next Jennie Kim movie?"
It took Roseanne a few long seconds to realize that the answer was Lisa. "They called? You got it?"
"About an hour ago. I called to tell you but I got your voicemail."
"I turned off the phone for class." Roseanne was smiling, trying to build up the appropriate level of enthusiasm, but Lisa seemed calm; like she was over it all, which made Roseanne unsure of what to say. Finally, she dropped down on the couch beside her friend and said, "How can you be so nonchalant?"
Lisa turned her head in Roseanne's direction, her straight brown hair in a pony tail. "I yelled and screamed and jumped around so much that one of the neighbors came over to tell me to shut the hell up. And now ... well now I'm just fucking exhausted. You, however, have a lot of screaming and jumping to catch up on."
Roseanne smiled and leaned over to peek at the computer screen. "What are you doing?"
"Research," Lisa said simply. "Or stalking, depending which way you look at it. I've been researching everyone that's in the film. I left Jennie Kim for last though so we could stalk her together."
Roseanne frowned and stood up, shrugging out of her jacket. It was hot in the apartment for a change. "I don't want to stalk Jennie Kim."
"Oh, come on, sure you do," Lisa said in a tone that bordered on whiny. "She's all over the web. We can read up on all the gossip and then we can each take turns finding out what's true. For example, she was seen kissing her co-star from Guardian a few weeks ago at some charity event. Can you find out if they're together? He's pretty hot."
It was the first time Roseanne had thought of Jennie Kim as potentially not single, and a part of her wondered what else the web might reveal about the actress. She sat back down. "I'm not going to ask her if she's dating someone."
"Why not? That's easy enough to slip into a conversation." Lisa turned her attention to the screen. "Did you know Jennie is not her birth name?"
Roseanne wasn't surprised, but she was suddenly curious. "What's her birth name?"
"Er," Lisa said distractedly, looking at something on the screen. "Hang on. I've got her Wikipedia entry bookmarked."
Roseanne waited patiently, her mind still trying to wrap itself around the fact that her best friend had landed a role in a movie. Playing a lesbian. A lesbian who got to have sex with Jennie Kim. Roseanne blinked away any mental images of what that might entail.
"Okay, found it," Lisa said. "'Jennie Kim was born Ruby-Jane Kim on January 16, 19 —'"
"Wait, what?" Roseanne grabbed the laptop somewhat suddenly and violently away from Lisa. She read over the words, their meaning sinking in. That was Jane's name. That was Jane's birth date. What the hell? Roseanne handed the computer back to Lisa and stood, her head spinning with questions.
"What's wrong?" Lisa sounded concerned. "Rosie?"
Roseanne forced a smile. "Ah, nothing. Sorry. I just um ... I need to lie down, I think. Cramps." She started toward her bedroom and shut the door, knowing Lisa would come knocking eventually. She looked around the room, not really seeing anything. Her mind was racing. Jane. Maybe it was a coincidence? Such things happened. Didn't they?
Her phone began to chime, interrupting her thoughts and Roseanne dug it out of her jacket pocket. She tossed the jacket on the bed and looked at the display screen: Jisoo Kim. Frowning, she answered. "Hello?"
"Good afternoon, Ms. Park, it's Jisoo Kim, Jennie Kim's assistant. Jennie was hoping you could stop by her apartment tonight?"
Roseanne's frown deepened. "I haven't come up with anything—"
"She just wants to talk."
Roseanne didn't know what to make of that. What would Jennie Kim want to talk about? The artwork she hadn't yet started on? The fact that her best friend was now in her movie? "Okay, sure, what time?"
"Any time today is fine," Jisoo replied. "Feel free to drop by."
"Okay." Roseanne hung up feeling overwhelmed. She had to talk to Jane. They had to clear the air. Roseanne dialed Jane's number and waited for her voice to appear suddenly in Roseanne' ear. She couldn't remember the last time they'd talked. There was the click of someone picking up, followed by the robotic sound of Jane's voicemail, "You've reached 3-1-0..." Roseanne hung up.
She picked up her jacket and walked out of the door. She'd go visit Jennie Kim. Maybe the trek would clear her mind.
Lisa was looking at her funny when Roseanne passed. "Where are you going? I thought you had cramps?"
"Jennie Kim has summoned me to her lair," Roseanne replied. "Be back later."
"Find out if she's dating Jackson Wang!"
Roseanne let the request hang in the air as she headed for the door.
-
The ride uptown felt longer than usual. Roseanne tried to pour her jumbled thoughts onto a sketchpad, if only to contain them for a short while, but her mind kept drifting to Jane. What was going on?
A man sat beside her on the subway. He reeked heavily of alcohol and the pungent scent of him fell on Roseanne like a wave. At the next stop, she moved to sit elsewhere and landed next to a girl with short spiky hair who smiled at Roseanne as if she knew something Roseanne didn't.
Once above ground, Roseanne tried Jane's number again. It rang and went to voicemail, and Roseanne gave up. She hurried down the sidewalk toward Jennie Kim's apartment. She kept glancing at her phone, willing it to ring. She shouldn't care this much, she reminded herself, but her stomach was in knots; she felt anxious.
The doorman waved her through without protest and Roseanne hurried toward the elevator. The sooner she got to Jennie Kim's apartment the sooner she could leave.
Roseanne knocked on Jennie's door and waited. She could hear the actress' voice on the other side and wondered if Jennie had company. "... don't want to bring a date to the party," Roseanne heard Jennie say, and then the door opened. "Sorry, Irene, can I call you back?" the actress said into the cell phone at her ear. She looked surprised to see Roseanne standing there.
Roseanne took a moment to inspect the actress' outfit du jour: blue jeans and a white t-shirt. She thought of Hyeri's proclamations about Jennie Kim's taste in clothes and wondered what he'd say if he knew the actress seemed perfectly at home wearing Levi's and what looked to be a Fruit of the Loom t-shirt. Jennie had a watch, Roseanne noted. And that much looked expensive. "Your assistant said to come whenever..."
Jennie looked nervous. That was the first thing Roseanne noticed. The second thing Roseanne noticed was the smell; or lack thereof. She'd gotten used to smelling food when walking into Jennie Kim's apartment. But there was no coffee brewing and no food cooking. There was simply the soft, lingering scent of Jennie Kim's perfume—or was it soap?—as she passed by to close the door. The actress' hair was wet; that was the third thing Roseanne noticed.
"Thanks for coming," Jennie said, sounding apologetic. And nervous. Why was Jennie Kim so nervous? If she wanted to fire Roseanne all she had to do was say so.
Roseanne slipped out of her jacket. The apartment was its usual sauna-like temperature and Roseanne idly wondered at Jennie's electricity bill. She followed the actress into the kitchen.
"Would you like something to drink?"
Roseanne settled on one of the stools by the marble counter as the actress headed for the fridge. "No, thanks. I'm okay."
Jennie let the fridge close and walked over to sit on the remaining stool. She placed her cell phone on the counter and sighed. "So, you're probably wondering—"
Ringing interrupted whatever Jennie Kim was about to say, and Roseanne glanced at the cell phone between them before realizing that the sound was coming from much further away.
Jennie slid off the stool and looked apologetic. "It's my other phone, sorry," she said, heading off in the direction of the stairs. "I've been waiting for this stupid call from my agent. Sorry. I'll be right back."
How many phones did one person need? Roseanne glanced up to see the actress in her room. The ringing had stopped and Jennie was speaking in hushed tones with whomever as on the other end of the line. Roseanne looked around, taking a moment to observe the view beyond the windows. Her mind drifted back to Jane. Maybe she could text her. Maybe Jane was somewhere where she couldn't talk. But maybe a text message she'd get.
Roseanne took her cell phone out, glancing briefly to make sure Jennie was still on the phone. And then she typed, We need to talk. Call me, into the text area. She hit send and put the cell back in her pocket.
A second later, Jennie Kim's cell phone beeped, and Roseanne only glanced at it because the sound caught her attention. But then she stared. There on the screen of Jennie Kim's very expensive phone was the last name she expected to see.
Her own.