After dinner with her parents, things with Jennie went really well. Things between them seemed to be... softer, somehow. Lisa found herself growing irritated less, and Jennie gave her more attention than she ever had before. While at work, Jennie would send her a random message or send an uber with food, and it made Lisa's whole day. In return, Lisa tried to do little things to ease Jennie's stress-she made sure to have migraine meds handy at all times, got Chaeyoung to keep Jennie hydrated and fed, and also sent snacks her way.
It started to feel more and more like the beginning, when everything else never got between them. Lisa tried her damn hardest to give Jennie more of her support, instead of her ire. Being angry and upset over everything would only ever create a constant cycle of misery, and they didn't need that. Jennie didn't need that, and Lisa didn't want it.
"Lisa, have you seen my heels?" Jennie asked her, hurrying into the bathroom to check her makeup in the mirror.
Lisa spat toothpaste out in the sink and rinsed her mouth. "Uh, which ones?"
"Black. The ones you call my hooker heels."
"Oh, I think you left them in the study."
Jennie smiled, kissed her softly on the cheek and then hurried out to retrieve them. When she made a loud noise of joy, Lisa grinned to herself and felt warmth fill her chest.
It was 6am, and they were both up and getting ready. Lisa had an early start and this was the usual for Jennie, so they were getting ready together. It felt so nice-domestic, relaxed. Jennie strode by the bathroom clacking in her heels, and Lisa was quick to follow her to the lounge where she found her jacket draped over the couch.
"You still look hot in those heels," Lisa found herself commenting.
Jennie paused by their key bowl at the door. "Oh?" She lifted a perfectly sculpted brow and pursed her red lips. "I'm glad you still think so."
Lisa eyed her outfit, the tight black skirt and white striped blouse, showing just a tiny hint of cleavage. With the makeup on point and the severe heels, she was an absolute snack to behold. Lisa found herself feeling very thirsty all of a sudden, and she swallowed thickly.
"Me too. I'm happy that I can look at you again and want to rip that skirt off."
Lisa could imagine how Jennie's face reddened, but the makeup hid it well. "Really?"
Lisa shrugged her jacket on and approached Jennie, eyes lidded. "Oh yeah." She backed her up against the door and pressed a hand to its surface. She lowered herself until her lips were by Jennie's ear.
"Imagine how those heels would look with your legs hooked over my shoulders."
Jennie visibly shivered and grabbed the front of Lisa's shirt. "We've had every type of sex imaginable, and yet I feel like we haven't yet. Like I'm a little virgin and you're the sexy fox that'll take me to orgasm land."
Lisa snorted ungracefully and straightened to look into Jennie's eyes. "Me too. It feels so good to feel like this again."
Jennie tugged her softly, so Lisa happily bent down and kissed her. Still, no sex was allowed, but they could still kiss-and kiss they did. Lisa pressed herself fully to Jennie's body, felt the softness of her curves and the heat of her, and without being able to help it she lifted Jennie in her arms to press her flush against the door. Jennie moaned into her mouth, arms winding around her neck and legs around her waist. Lisa could feel the dig of her heels in her lower back, and it only served to turn her on more.
"We shouldn't," Jennie panted against her mouth.
"Just this," Lisa gasped out, silencing her with more, a tongue sliding against her own, teeth at her lip. Lisa's fingers dug into the soft roundness of Jennie's hips, and she felt like she was drowning. She had gone so long without this that it was a little overwhelming, so she finally pulled away and rested their foreheads together.
They panted quietly, sucking in breaths to relax their fluttering hearts. Lisa let Jennie down again, grinning sheepishly at Jennie's now ruined look. Jennie peeked at herself in the reflection of her phone, but she only laughed.
"I look thoroughly devoured."
Lisa found herself grinning. She slid her fingers through Jennie's hair to return it to order, and helped to straighten her clothes and redo a button that had popped out. "As you were."
Jennie sighed. "Thank you, Lisa."
"You're thanking me?" Lisa pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm just desiring my wife, is all."
Lisa felt the shiver rock through Jennie, and she wanted her desperately. She wondered when the fuck Chaerin would allow them to finally have sex, and she was sure that when the time finally came, neither of them would hesitate. It didn't feel weird anymore-it felt inevitable.
"I'll just fix my makeup in my car," Jennie told her. "I don't want to be late."
Jennie said so, but she kept her fingers around Lisa's shirt and tugged her again, and Lisa bent down to resume where they had left off. It was slower this time, still as heated but with more gentle purpose. Lisa enjoyed the way Jennie cupped her jaw, the pressure of her fingertips and the desperate swipe of her tongue.
"You really will be late if we keep kissing like this," Lisa laughed softly against her lips.
Jennie groaned and pulled her in again. "I know."
Lisa took both of Jennie's hands in her own and straightened. "Love, I don't want you to have a difficult day just because you wanted to stand here and kiss me all day."
Jennie's eyes filled with intense emotion. Lisa couldn't remember the last time she had used an endearment, or when last they had been so lost in each other. Usually Jennie would have been frantic to leave the house on time, would have snapped at her and whipped away. But there she was, stepping forward to bury her face against Lisa's chest. Jennie exhaled and hugged her tight, and Lisa could only hold her back.
"I'll try to be home earlier tonight," Jennie told her. "I'm more in the mood for you."
Lisa's heart soared. "I'd love that. I'll have dinner ready so you don't need to worry about food. Do you want to watch something?"
"Yeah. That sounds nice. Maybe we could have a bath together?"
Lisa caressed the curve of Jennie's cheek. They were speaking softly and smiling, and yet the brown of Jennie's eyes was dark. She almost looked like she wanted to cry, and Lisa wanted to sweep her up and keep her safe from all of their worries.
"We can debate the bath," Lisa told her, smiling. "I would love to, but I don't think I can resist you if I have to see you naked."
Jennie pouted. "Maybe that was the point."
Lisa chuckled and patted Jennie's cheek, then reached for the door handle. "Alright, Jennie. Time to kick you out so you can run an empire."
Jennie turned, but when Lisa pulled the door open Chaerin stood there peering down at her phone. She glanced up at them, blinking.
"Done?" Chaerin asked, grinning naughtily.
Together, Lisa and Jennie flushed.
"Chaerin!" Jennie exclaimed, eyes wide.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Lisa asked.
Chaerin chortled. "Step 7, ladies. I see you're both ready for work."
Lisa immediately felt suspicious. "Yeah, so?"
Chaerin's grin was all too pleased. "That's great! But I think you're both dressed wrong."
They shared a look, confused.
"Huh?"
"Step 7," Chaerin repeated. "Jennie and Lisa, welcome to the new step. For today only, you will be switching jobs. Lisa, get into a handsome pantsuit that screams big shot CEO. Jennie, dress down for a casual day at the bookstore. Sounds good?"
Lisa felt speechless. Her good mood from earlier felt like it was about to crumble, and she was almost too scared to look at Jennie to see her reaction. There was no way she would agree to this. Lisa didn't know how to run Kim Corp. There was no way she would let Lisa take over for her for a day, no matter what.
"Okay," Jennie said first. The look in her eyes was something strange, something that made Lisa's spine tingle-amusement and challenge.
"Right," Lisa agreed, nodding. "Guess we have no choice, huh?"
Chaerin seemed too pleased at their easy acceptance. "I'm so proud that we've come so far, that this hasn't escalated into an argument. Jennie, you seem more at ease about leaving the company in Lisa's hands than I expected."
Jennie nodded. "I trust Lisa."
"And Lisa, you seem very relaxed. More than usual."
Lisa shrugged. "What's there to be angry about? Jennie can run a whole corporation. Of course, she can handle a little store."
Chaerin clapped her hands together. "Oh, this is lovely. I'm feeling so good about this. Arrangements have been made. The rules are simple. You will switch jobs and perform everything required to your ability. There will be assistants to guide you. If you feel uncertain at any point, you can call me. The last rule is that you're not allowed to contact each other. Understood?"
Lisa felt Jennie's hand curl around her own, and she turned her face to see Jennie smiling at her.
"We've got this."
Lisa squeezed her hand softly. "Yeah, let's kick ass."
Jennie wouldn't lie and say that she wasn't completely anxious about this step. She really did trust Lisa, but she knew how stressful and busy her job could be, and Lisa had a really short temper. Jennie dealt with sexism on a daily basis, because she had to for the sake of her father's corporation, but Lisa had no reason to take it, and she wouldn't. Jennie could only imagine what chaos Lisa could unleash, but she also hoped that Chaeyoung was enough to keep Lisa in line, at least to not ruin relations with some of their powerful partners and clients.
It's your father's business, not yours, the thought came to her. Why should I care so much what happens to it? I don't need the money.
The thought surprised her, and she stopped short in front of the bookshop, her eyes wide. She felt like her whole world suddenly shifted-this was exactly it, what Lisa had been trying to tell her. Most of her still felt like always, that she needed to do this, run Kim Corp, so that one day her father would turn to her with pride in his eyes, and feel grateful for her existence.
"Jennie?"
Jisoo approached and gave her a soft smile.
"Oh, Jisoo! Good morning."
Jisoo dipped her head. "Morning. I received an interesting call from your counsellor. Welcome to the bookstore, boss."
Jennie flushed. She felt a little uncomfortable in just jeans and a shirt. Usually she wore heels to give her height, but she was wearing her most comfortable sneakers so that she could be on her feet all day. In a way, it kind of felt nice.
"I think you're more my boss, actually," she laughed. "I have no clue how to run the shop."
Jisoo slid her key in to open the door, and held it for Jennie to head in ahead of her. "I'll do all of the complicated things and you can watch. You just need to understand how Lisa's work day goes, right?"
She nodded. "I guess that's the point."
Jisoo chuckled. "Our prayers with Lisa, then."
Despite the flutter of nerves, Jennie found herself laughing. "She has no idea what's coming."
Jisoo switched the lights on and together they stepped through the shop to the back office. There, Jisoo got their PC running and showed Jennie where to store her bag and jacket.
"We need to put the floats in our two point of sales, can you just grab the money from the safe for me?"
Jennie nodded and did so. She then followed Jisoo to the front computers and listened to her quick explanation of how to put the float in. While Jisoo did POS 1, Jennie went over to POS 2 and started counting the cash. Everything balanced, so she shut the drawer and Jisoo came over to put her code in.
Jisoo glanced at her watch. "Jihyo and Daniel should be here at eight thirty. Until then, we need to sweet and mop. Are you fine to help?"
Jennie nervously bobbed her head. Jisoo gave her a broom, so Jennie started sweeping at one end of the shop. They met in the middle and Jisoo used a small dustpan to gather the dust, then returned with mops. When they were done, Jennie's back ached, her hands felt raw and she was drenched in sweat. Luckily the AC was on, so Jennie rested against a bookshelf and let the cold air from the vent above wash over her.
"It's been so long since I did hard labour like this."
Jisoo snorted as she took the mop from her. "I guess you hire people to do that at Kim Corp."
"Yeah, and I'm never home so Lisa does all the cleaning, or I just hire someone."
The floor dried very quickly thanks to the AC, and before Jisoo could respond a young girl appeared by the door and knocked.
"Will you let them in? I just need to check emails at the back."
Jennie did so. When she opened the door, the girl stepped in and behind her a boy slouched inside.
"Whoa, who's the pretty lady?" the boy asked her directly. His eyes widened when he realized what he had just said to her face.
Jennie laughed. Without any makeup on, her blush was visible. "Hi, I'm Jennie. Lisa's wife. I'm here in place of Lisa today."
The girl straightened and gave her a salute that the boy immediately copied. "Hi, I'm Jihyo! We didn't even know Lisa was married."
"I'm Daniel. Seems like Lis went and scored, eh?"
Jihyo elbowed Daniel in the side and he doubled over, gasping.
Jennie's lips twitched but she cleared her throat, not wanting to laugh. "We've been together for eleven years."
"Oh, damn," Jihyo breathed. Daniel was still wheezing.
All of them went to the back office where Jisoo had a small meeting, discussing their sales, stock and everything they needed to be aware of. When 9am hit, Jihyo left to open and Daniel went to the counter. Jisoo continued to sit in the back office, so Jennie stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do.
"Um..."
Jisoo glanced over at her. "I just need to do some orders, then I'll be out on the floor. For now, you can just walk through the shop, neaten shelves and help customers as they come in. Guide them to Jihyo or Daniel whenever you struggle."
Jennie nodded and left the office to join the others on the floor. She felt incredibly out of place. She was so used to being the absolute authority in the room, but she found herself constantly going to the other two for help when a customer asked about a book. She hated looking and feeling like she didn't know what she was doing, but here, it was exactly that.
The atmosphere was completely different to Kim Corp. The shop wasn't overly busy, only in short waves. They would have a period of an hour where it was completely empty, and in that hour they fixed shelves and packed stock away, or Jihyo and Daniel played sword-fighting with tubes of gift wrap.
Jennie ended up chatting with them, and she discovered they were best friends and roommates. They were still very young, only 22 years old, and had started working for Lisa a year ago. Of course they wouldn't have known about Jennie, then. Lisa probably never mentioned her.
When they asked her about it, Jennie didn't know what to say. Thankfully Jisoo joined them then-and told them to put the gift wrap away or pay for it. When Jisoo smiled at her, Jennie knew that she had come over to save her having to explain that she was trying to save her marriage, and she was grateful. She could see why Chaeyoung was so goddamn in love with Jisoo.
Later, Jihyo was on her break and Daniel was at the front of the store helping someone. Jisoo and Jennie stood behind the counter. Jennie's feet absolutely ached, but she didn't want to sit down otherwise she wouldn't be able to get up again.
"Lisa has been a lot happier," Jisoo started suddenly. "This counselling must be working."
Jennie found herself smiling softly. "Yeah. It's like, before we weren't really able to communicate properly. Chaerin has helped us figure out why things were going so wrong."
"What happened, if you don't mind me asking? I remember the two of you being so disgustingly in love, and then suddenly it was like you became strangers."
"It's my job," she admitted. "My father wanted me to take his place for years. I was mostly just his assistant, and I could do a lot of the work from home. So when I started spending more and more time at the office, Lisa started to get upset. I became so consumed by the work and by wanting to prove myself, that I forgot to give Lisa my time as well. Lisa stopped supporting me, too. I guess she felt like I stopped caring. I think if she had maybe tried a little harder to be there when I needed her, we wouldn't have started fighting all the time."
Jisoo nodded. "Yeah, I remember Lisa complaining. She's such an asshole sometimes. I remember telling her that you aren't doing it because you want to, and that maybe she should be there as your partner, instead of throwing tantrums all the time."
"But she's stubborn," Jennie agreed. "And probably ignored your advice."
"Yeah."
"I like the vibe here, you know. It's so relaxed. Back at Kim Corp, I'm constantly running around to meetings and doing an endless amount of paperwork. The men I sit in meetings with are so rude and entitled. I've really had to harden up this past year just to be able to sit there and not burst into tears."
Concern washed over Jisoo's face. "Oh no. Does Lisa know that?"
"No. I never really told her. I didn't want anyone to know how difficult it was for me."
"She should be the one person you do tell. Maybe if she knew, she would have felt able to be there for you."
"Yeah. I think we both messed up badly, but we've realized that now. She... she said she still loves me."
Jisoo exhaled like the words brought her relief. "I'm so happy."
"We've also rekindled our desire for each other." Her cheeks warmed. "But, Chaerin says no sex. Yet."
Jisoo chuckled. "Must be difficult, I can imagine."
"It is. And it feels so good, looking into Lisa's eyes and seeing desire there and not disgust. She always used to give me such angry, hurtful looks. I missed her. I've missed her so much."
Jennie's lower lip wobbled and her eyes filled with tears. Jisoo slid an arm over her shoulder, but that only made it more difficult to keep the tears in. They spilled out, warm and salty, and Jennie hastily tried to wipe them away. When Lisa's mother suddenly appeared by the counter, Jennie had no way to hide that she was crying.
"Jennie!" Olivia exclaimed, brown eyes wide in worry. "What on earth happened? Jisoo, where is that daughter of mine?"
Jennie laughed softly and wiped at her wet face. "No, Lisa hasn't done anything. Hi, mom."
Olivia rounded the counter and went right behind to pull Jennie into an embrace. "I impulsively came to ask Lisa to have lunch with me. I see that my intuition was spot on. Jisoo, can I kidnap her for a bit?"
Jennie sniffled in the crook of Olivia's neck and Jisoo nodded, smiling. "She hasn't taken lunch yet, so take all the time you need."
"Thank you. Come on, Jennie. Let's get something to eat."
Together they left. Jennie's tears finally stopped but her eyes hurt from them, and she knew she looked like a mess. Everything was just so much so suddenly, and her relief that she had Lisa back clashed with the incredible fear that something small would push Lisa away again and she would lose her forever.
Olivia took them to a restaurant in the same mall and they ordered something to drink. Olivia took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Now," Olivia said, eyes growing stern. "Tell me what has been happening between you and Lisa."
There was no way to get out of it. Jennie hesitated for a second, worried that maybe Olivia would think that she was entirely at fault. But Olivia kept hold of her hand, gently caressing with her thumb, and she felt a wave of affection for her mother-in-law. This woman loved her, and there was nothing she could do short of hurting Lisa purposefully to make Olivia stop loving her.
Jennie inhaled shakily, then she explained everything. Olivia quietly listened, nodding her head and furrowing her brows. When their drinks arrived, Jennie stopped talking only to order food and take a drink, then she continued. At the end of it, she felt unburdened and clearer.
"So, yeah. That's it."
Olivia sat back and quietly sipped on her iced tea. "Jennie, I want you to know that I don't think any less of you for any of this. You may not know this, but Dom and I nearly divorced before we had Lisa."
Jennie nearly choked on her coffee. "What?"
Olivia nodded. "Lisa gets that insufferable personality from Dom. She had a drinking problem. When we first got married, we bought a house that we couldn't afford. Dom left the job she loved to work somewhere for more money, but she hated it. She would come home and drink. We fought so often. I loved her so fiercely, but I was starting to wonder if us marrying had been a mistake. Eventually it got so bad that I moved out to stay with my sister, and it was then that Dom realized what she was doing. She came to me one night, stone cold sober, and broke down. She went to meetings and gave up alcohol. We decided to sell the house and found a place cheaper, and Dom left that awful job. To help, I started working as well. Then we decided to start a family, and when I gave birth to Lisa and held that little asshole in my arms, I knew that my love for Dom and our marriage were the best decisions I had ever made."
Jennie felt herself tear up again, but she sniffled and forced them away. "Wow, I always thought you were the perfect couple."
"People always think that. We really struggled, but it was a lot of hard decisions and patience that kept us together. Jennie, a marriage is not simply burning love and passion. There will always be times when you get tired of each other, when you argue or want space. That's normal. A marriage is a choice. Sometimes the love won't come easily, but when you promise yourself to someone, you decide to keep to that.
"If you are genuinely unhappy, then leaving is the best option. But if your love is still there, then work hard for it. Relationships don't just happen. They're built with laughter and tears alike. And when you're halfway done building, you'll see how worth it all of the labour was-and you'll never stop building."
Jennie nodded. "You're so wise."
"To be honest, I read a post about that on tumblr somewhere. But it does apply!"
Jennie laughed so loudly she snorted and covered her mouth with a hand, horrified. Olivia cracked up at her expense and ended up laughing so hard tears leaked out. Jennie saw so much of Lisa in her mother, and her resolve hardened. Olivia was right-it was a lot of hard work. Jennie wanted to make that stand and keep Lisa in her life, because she loved her and she didn't want to spend her life with anyone else.
"Thank you for this, mom. I really needed it."
Olivia waved her hand. "That's what a mother is for. I know you don't have this with your own mother. Honestly, I would fist fight your mother in a dimly lit alleyway."
"That's weirdly specific."
"I may have a fantasy or two."
"I love you, Olivia. Lisa is the wonderful person she is because you raised her so well. And I'm just so grateful that you and Dominique had her, that I could meet her and love her."
Olivia's eyes were watery, but her smile was warm. "Of course, sweetheart. You know Dom and I love you too."
Jennie felt it, the shift in her chest. She thought about how her own parents treated her, how they spoke down to her and especially how they looked down on her wife. It was disrespectful to Lisa to allow them to do that. Thinking about going back to Kim Corp was unappealing. For what purpose was she even there? They had more than enough savings, and Lisa's shop alone brought in enough to keep them afloat. Their house was paid off, their cars were paid off. They had no accounts to pay, just basic bills each month.
Why was Jennie doing this to herself?
*
"So, this is just a farce?"
Lisa could see that Chaeyoung was struggling to keep up with her, but she was on too much of a role to try and relax.
"Well, yes, but-"
"Then why the hell are we even having this meeting?" she asked, throwing the hallway door open. Chaeyoung hurried beside her to the elevator.
"Well, Mr Kim prefers this to anything else."
Lisa snorted. "If he already decided everything, I don't get why he wants to still have this dumb meeting. Do these men still think it's up for debate?"
Chaeyoung nodded. "Yeah. They don't know what Mr Kim has decided until the end of the meeting. Until then, they all present their cases and often argue with each other."
Lisa looked at her brand-new watch. Jennie had bought it for her years ago, but it was too fancy and rich for her and she had never had a proper occasion to wear it. Being the stand-in CEO for Kim Corp was the perfect opportunity, though. Lisa was also wearing the stunning pantsuit Jennie had bought for her not too long ago.
Lisa felt powerful in the suit, the shiny new heels and the watch. Her wedding band attracted attention and Lisa was thoroughly enjoying herself. Poor Chaeyoung.
"That makes no sense. They're wasting resources. We could be diverting our time to more important things, instead of wasting an entire hour."
At that, Chaeyoung's face brightened. "Jennie thinks the same thing! Every time she tried to talk to her father about it, he shut her down."
"That old dickwad."
They made it to the meeting room on the third floor of Kim Corp, and when Lisa strode in with authority, Chaeyoung at her side, the men in the room were already seated and bickering. There was only one other woman, but she looked stressed out and Lisa could guess that she was just an assistant. Lisa looked to the woman and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Good afternoon. My name is Lisa Kim," she greeted, looking directly at the woman. "You are?"
The woman jolted. "Me?"
The men quieted immediately, confused. "Yes, you," Lisa responded, smiling still.
"My name is Emily."
"Lovely to meet you, Emily," Lisa greeted warmly. She turned her attention to the men and her eyes hardened. "Gentlemen."
"Excuse me?" one of them sputtered, looking to Chaeyoung. "Who is this?"
Chaeyoung sat down at the corner of the table and Lisa took the seat at the end. "My name is Lisa Kim," she responded icily before Chaeyoung could open her mouth. "And if you have any questions about me, you are welcome to direct them to me, not my assistant. I am Jennie's wife, and I will be running things for the day. We have," she looked to her watch," fifty-five minutes left. You may commence your bid to close the deal."
They stared at her in shock, but she took her phone out and went on her social media. Chaeyoung pretended to look through official paperwork, but really, like she had said, everything was already decided and signed.
The men started talking all at once. They bickered back and forth as Chaeyoung tried to placate them, and all the while Lisa ignored them. She was surprised when the chair to her side moved and Emily took a seat.
"Forgive me, Mrs Kim. May I sit?"
Lisa nodded. "Of course. Do you need anything?"
Emily nodded. "This is my first day here. I just wanted to thank you for acknowledging me first and asking for my name."
Lisa felt pity crush her heart. "Who do you work for?"
"Oh, I started at BenCo. I was asked to sit in today to take notes, but they're all shouting at each other so I can't even hear what they're saying."
Lisa snorted. "Bunch of plebs. How has your first day been, Emily?"
Emily shrugged. "What I expected."
Lisa straightened and turned to Chaeyoung, but she was busy arguing with one of the balding men. Lisa waited for a minute, but grew impatient. "Shut your fucking mouths!" she shouted, and they all quieted. "Jesus Christ, am I the only adult in this room?" She gave Chaeyoung an incredulous look. "Is this how it is? Senseless arguing?" Chaeyoung shrugged. "Chaeyoung, please see if we can take Emily on. Preferably a position where we have an abundance of women."
One of the men finally noticed Emily wasn't beside him and his face reddened, but Lisa lifted a hand to stop his shout before he even got it out.
"Lisa, are you sure?" Chaeyoung asked.
Lisa grinned. "Oh, hell yeah. I'm here to cause as much chaos before the day is up." She turned to Emily. "Does that sound good?'
Emily seemed shocked. "I... what's happening?"
Lisa gave her a pat on the hand. "We'll pay you double what that old fart is paying. Oh, and gentlemen," she stood and gathered her papers. "This meeting is an entire farce. Mr Kim already decided weeks ago. As such, I'm wasting my time here. I trust you know where the door is."
Confidently, she strode out the room. Chaeyoung followed with Emily in tow, and the men just started screaming at each other again. As they headed back to the top floor, people whispered to each other and Lisa loved that it was about her. All day she had been implementing change where she saw fit, and with Chaeyoung's signature they had to be passed. Jennie had given Chaeyoung just as much power as her, and Lisa had gone through Jennie's contract-Mr Kim had given her almost all power over the company. The only thing they couldn't change was his profit, and if profits of Kim Corp plummeted, Jennie would be legally liable to pay him in damages.
What the fuck kind of piece of shit father did that to his own daughter?
When Lisa had first stepped through the elevator doors to this floor, everyone had been silent and tense, running around and working hard. That had been unacceptable. Now, people were more relaxed and there was soft conversation bouncing around. As people turned to look at her, Lisa saw many pairs of relieved eyes.
"Who wants McDonalds?" Lisa shouted. She received shocked silence in reply.
"Lisa-" Chaeyoung started.
"What?" Lisa asked. "Don't they get a lunch break? I'm tired and this office is boring. There must be a company bus somewhere." The idea sounded brilliant. "Alright, everyone! McD's on Kim Corp's expense. Who's up for it?"
Immediately people shot up from their seats and conversation exploded, many people laughing and cheering her name. When Lisa turned to Chaeyoung, she was ending a call and looking entirely too amused.
"Mr Kim is going to be furious," Chaeyoung told her, snickering.
Lisa caught Emily's awed eyes and couldn't help the grin on her face. "Nothing makes me happier than imagining that turd getting especially pissed off. Jennie basically owns this place anyway thanks to him."
Chaeyoung shook her head, but she didn't argue. Lisa led the group of office workers down the stairs and they all boarded the bus. They crowded in McDonald's and ordered a shit ton of food-Lisa told everyone not to hold back-and as they ate, Lisa spoke to everyone. She learnt about their lives, their hobbies and why they were working there. Many of them expressed their surprise that Jennie was married, and said how they had never felt comfortable approaching Jennie because she was always so busy and stressed out.
Lisa was sad that they didn't know how sweet and kind Jennie was, and her heart ached knowing that Jennie must have hated herself for never being able to change things for the better for her employees.
Jennie went through so much. Lisa felt ashamed that she decided to let her wife deal with everything alone. Without her consent, tears gathered and spilled down her cheeks. Chaeyoung was the first to notice, and she sprang forward to wrap Lisa in a hug.
"Finally realizing some things, huh?" Chaeyoung asked her.
Lisa sniffled around a laugh. "Shut up. I'm dumb sometimes, okay?"
"Yeah, I know. Jennie is still lucky to have you."
Lisa laughed as more people crowded close to hug her, and she accepted it with open arms. Chaeyoung, she hugged the hardest.
"No," she said, blowing out a big breath, "I'm the one lucky to have her."