***
My room number is 214. I’ve found the movie on Netflix. Hurry up or I’m visiting Santa without
you.
Roseanne stared at her phone for the millionth time since she had sent the message to Lisa, who hadn’t answered nor showed up so far. She had decided to call room service to order dinner once the brunette was there to make sure the food was warm. She wondered if she should call her to check if everything was alright. The pilot had seemed as eager to spent time with her as she had.
Why would Lisa stand her up now?
Roseanne paced back and forth in her hotel room, wondering and sighing, when she finally heard a knock at the door. She quickly made her way over and before seeing who was there.
“Wow finally. Took you long enough -” She stopped and gaped like a fish upon seeing a man on the other side of the door.
“Um, hello?” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to disturb your evening Ms. Park, but I have a message for you.”
He explained with a bright smile. He handed over a small bottle of champagne, a box of chocolates and a note. Before Roseanne could say anything the man turned around and left her standing with her hands full. She furrowed her forehead whilst stepping back and closing the door with a swing of her hips.
Roseanne,
I’m really sorry I can’t be with you already, but I hope the refreshments will help you enjoy the movie.
Lisa
Roseanne smiled at Lisa’s words, but immediately sadness took hold of her features and she sighed disappointedly. Whatever the pilot was busy with was more important than being here with her. She cringed at her thoughts. Lisa had a life, which was apparently higher class, if she felt the need to send something to Roseanne’s room as an apology for not being there personally. The blonde looked up from the note and eyed the alcohol and sweets. Who does that? A simple text would have just been as informative.
Roseanne shrugged and opened the box of sweets, a tiny piece melted on her tongue whilst she marvelled in its rich taste. “Wow, good stuff.” She praised appreciatively, sucking the praline.
Roseanne (20:16): Bribing me with bubbles and chocolate won’t get you out of this, but it’s a nice gesture. Thank you. :-)
....
Lisa felt the vibration in her pants pocket and started fidgeting almost immediately, hoping she had gotten a text from a certain blonde assuring her she wasn’t mad. Hoping being the operative term. She had managed to make a quick call to the hotel on her pretended toilet break to make sure Roseanne knew how sorry she was. Lisa was more than disappointed for missing out on their downtime together.
She sighed and stealthily pulled her phone out to read the message.
“Lisa? You ok?” Veronica looked at her worriedly. Lisa’s facial features must have displayed the giddiness she had felt reading the words.
“Um, yeah yeah. Just…” She lifted her hand holding her phone up. “Do you mind? I need to answer this quickly.” Her godmother shook her head, but eyed her curiously.
Lisa (20:18): I’m sorry Roseanne. Please start the movie and enjoy. Lisa
She had wondered if she might get a response at all and was genuinely surprised at the little time, which had passed.
....
Roseanne looked at her messenger, a tsunami of disappointment, sadness, and frustration flooded her mind and she sat down on her bed, champagne glass temporarily forgotten in her hand. ‘She doesn’t want to be here.’ The thought was running amok in her brain. ‘Why suggest it to start with?’
“Why suggest it to start with?” She repeated loudly breaking the silence around her. “Why?” She again read the note attached to the gifts and decided Lisa was just being polite and didn’t want to hold her back from enjoying her favourite Christmas movie.
Roseanne bit her lip, contemplating her next move. She could be bold, couldn’t she? They had a moment back in the cockpit, hadn’t they? Besides, she still recalled Jisoo’s words from earlier in the week about their infatuation for each other.
Roseanne (20:26): Tell you what. I’ll start watching but you promise to come by as soon as you’re free?
...
‘She still wants me to come?’ Lisa thought when she read Roseanne’s answer. It had taken a little time and she wondered what had gone through the head of the blonde. Lisa felt a warmth spreading through her body at the fact that she was still very much invited to Roseanne’s, but as soon as she allowed herself to marvel in the feeling she caught the curious glance of Veronica.
“What?”
“Who are you texting?”
“That’s for me to know.”
“Finish up, we still have a few points to discuss.”
Lisa (20:27): I don’t know when I’m free but I’d love to come over. Just don’t want to be a nuisance.
...
‘Huh?’ Roseanne swallowed the liquid in her mouth questioning Lisa’s sense of reality. She could never be a nuisance. Whether or not Lisa knew it herself, Roseanne was very convinced the brunette could only be, if at all, positive trouble. If she wanted to find out, what could be between her and the pilot, she needed to be clearer of her intentions. She wanted Lisa to come over, not in as a booty call.
Roseanne blushed at her own thoughts. She simply wanted to spend time with her, get to know her, and explore their connection. She grinned at that and let her fingers type out her answer.
Roseanne (20:36): I’ll call the reception and have them hand you a key card. This way I can stay
comfy in bed with my treats. No bother at all.
....
Lisa glanced up from her phone, cheeks slightly red from Roseanne’s last message. Wasn’t it a big step from offering to spend time with each other watching a movie to be granted access to the room without restrictions? She sat up straighter, watching Veronica and Jackson at the other side of the room getting coffee, and biting her lip subconsciously.
There was nothing wrong with the offer, as she wasn’t a creep. They had had a moment earlier the day and Lisa was pretty sure if she had been braver she would know by now how Roseanne’s lips felt against hers. And she really wanted to know that, so much so much that it scared her. She hadn’t felt such a strong connection to anyone, not even the one whose name she despised with all her power.
She studied her phone for another moment before typing out her response and getting back to the meeting to wrap it up.
Lisa (20:40): Ok. I’ll finish as quickly as possible. See you soon.
She was so tired and longed for her bed, when she finally made her way down the second floor of the hotel. It was close to ten o’clock. Not really that late, but her day had been long and exhausting.
When she arrived in front of the door, she considered for a moment to knock rather than using the card, but she didn’t want Roseanne to get up. Especially after such a long time being comfortable in bed. She pushed the card into its designated slot and the green light flashed after a second accompanied by an unlocking sound. Lisa pushed the door slightly open, surprised to see the room drowned in darkness with music playing quietly in the background. She closed the door and stepped into the room to see Roseanne asleep, wrapped in her duvet. Lisa took a moment to calm her nerves and just watched the sleeping beauty.
‘God, she is gorgeous.’ She went over to the bed and with shaking hands pushed a lock of hair back, which had fallen over the blonde’s face. When Roseanne made a tiny sound the brunette came back out of her trance, straightened up again, walked past the TV, and switched it off. Before she slipped quietly out of the room, Lisa turned back and with a longing gaze whispered “Goodnight Roseanne”.
***
When the alarm went off Roseanne blinked at her surrounding, utterly confused as to where she was. It took her moment scanning the room when it dawned on her and she sat up. Lisa had not shown up and she must have fallen asleep, she mused. She looked at the time and with a yawn got up. When she walked past the TV she stopped and slowly turned back to the device. It was switched off. She remembered she hadn’t switched it off; she loved the music at the end of the movie and usually left it on.
“Lisa had been here.” She whispered to herself relieved to learn the brunette had stopped by. She grinned like a toddler on a sugar rush and skipped into the bathroom to get ready for the day.
They met in the entrance hall. Roseanne had just left the lift and walked towards the reception to check out when Lisa turned around, leaning against the counter to do the same. They smiled when they caught sight of each other.
“Hi there.” Roseanne stepped up to the counter next to her and handed her card over to the eagerly waiting woman.
“Good morning Roseanne. I’m sorry for yesterday.” Lisa lowered her head, regret written all over her eyes.
“Me too, but I’m sure you were needed wherever you were.” Roseanne tried and Lisa smiled softly at her, but the blonde had to focus her attention at the receptionist and signed the checkout form giving Lisa a few moments to admire the beauty next to her. It was early morning, but Roseanne looked flawless in her uniform and aesthetic makeup.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
Lisa blinked and blushed immediately realising she had been caught staring, but the flight attendant just smiled at her.
“You looked so calm and soft I couldn’t wake you.”
It was Roseanne’s turn to blush and she lowered her head. “Pity though.”
The women turned and walked towards the exit, when Lisa spoke again. “I really wanted to be there, I hope you know that.”
Roseanne looked at her, a smile playing at her full lips. “I really wanted you to be there, I hope you know that.”
Before Lisa could reply her phone rang and she glanced apologetically at the blonde who gestured for her to go ahead.
“Lisa here.”
“Fucking finally woman. I’ve been trying to get you on the phone for ages.”
“Good morning to you too.” Lisa sighed. She had forgotten to call Jisoo back although she had been asked to do so.
“Yeah yeah. Stop the niceties. So, what’s happening at Christmas?”
“Actually, we’re on our way to LA. Shall we meet up tonight?”
“Geez, better have time for everyone. Talked to Jennie yesterday. Irene and her are really pissed at having to work.”
“Um…”
“You can’t talk at the moment?”
“Not really.” Lisa looked over at Roseanne, who had given her some space and was waiting with the rest of the cabin crew for their transport. “But are you suggesting I should send out an information letter?” She whispered into the receiver.
“Well, I’m not paid remotely enough to function as your advisor -”
“Jisoo.” Lisa interrupted her with a whiny voice.
“But…” Jisoo picked up her sentence. “If I were you I’d address that issue before it escalates any more. Explain and diffuse.”
“Right.” Lisa nodded.
“So?”
“Yeah will do. Thanks Jisoo.”
“Wait. Are we still on for tonight?”
“Um, I have to check my agenda. Let me message you once I know more.”
Jisoo sighed loudly. “You need to let go and relax a little or else you’ll explode. Come out with me tonight? Ask Rosie if she wants to come along? Jennie will be there too.”
Lisa looked over again, this time catching Roseanne looking at her. She smiled. “Ok, if I have no meetings I’m in.”
“Yes.” Jisoo exhaled triumphantly. “See you later loser.”
Before she could come back with a retort of her own the call was disconnected and she quickly opened her calendar. She grinned whilst walking over.
“Roseanne?” The blonde looked up from her phone. “I was wondering if you fancy a drink later? I’ll be out with Jisoo…” She stopped seeing the grin on Roseanne’s face.
“And Jennie?” The blonde finished the sentence for her and held up her phone for Lisa to read her latest conversation with her friend.
Jennie: You better come tonight. I need to vent.
Roseanne: Why? What’s happened?
Jennie: Christmas happened…
Roseanne: Christmas happens every year shockingly always on the 25th of December. Crazy huh?
Jennie: Asshat. Not what I meant. We’re working.
Roseanne: Well, new things don’t necessarily have to be bad things.
Jennie: We NEVER worked on Xmas!!!!!!!!!
Roseanne: Chill out lover of punctuations and I know. I was there. With you. Every Christmas.
Jennie: Why are you so calm about it?
Roseanne: Cos it’s nothing I can change and I’m sure it’ll be ok.
Jennie: I need a dose of the tranquilizer you frequently seem to ingest woman. Bring it tonight. We’re going out. Jisoo and Irene are on board as well.
Lisa gulped at Jennie’s outburst. She really should have been told about the ‘Christmas is company vacation’ rule.
“So, you going?” She asked hesitantly.
“Are you?”
“I asked first.” Lisa smiled, feeling the anxiety leaving her body.
“I am.”
“Me too.”
They grinned, looking at each other. The bus arrived at the same moment and the spell was broken, and reality seeped in.
“Cool.” Lisa mumbled and offered to take Roseanne’s trolley to hand it over to the driver.
The trip was short and Lisa tried actively to not think about the drama her decision had caused. In her mind she’d already formulated an email, which she hoped to be able to send later that day. She needed to do damage control, Jisoo had been right.
Their work at the airport went smoothly and soon enough Lisa sped up on the runway westbound towards LA leaving a cold and windy Boston behind.
...
“Mmmm.” Roseanne moaned at the warmth enveloping her when she opened the cabin door.
“Nothing’s as nice as a warm breeze in December.”
“I like the cold more.” A passenger quipped back at her when she moved aside to let them get off the plane.
“Fair enough. Thanks for flying with LM Airline.” Roseanne said with a nod and a smile. She repeated the statement in various versions to all the first class passengers and bit her farewells to the economy class and sighed when the last has disembarked the plane. “Thank god I’m off tomorrow.”
“That’s nice.” Lisa stepped out of the cockpit and joined her on the platform to the tunnel.
“So…” Roseanne drawled eyeing the pilot with a smirk. “Am I still seeing you tonight?”
“Yes.” Lisa breathed out. She would cancel all meetings if she had any today to make sure not to stand Roseanne up again. “I’ll most definitely be there.”
“I’m looking forward to it then.” Roseanne said when they entered the arrival hall. She spotted Jennie at the end of it and quickly turned to Lisa. “Excuse me please, but my crazy, unmedicated friend needs assistance before the airport police arrests her again.” Roseanne grinned and waved at the pilot over her shoulder before marching down the hall.
Lisa kept her eyes on the retreating form until Roseanne vanished from her sight. She exhaled the air she had been holding and made her way over to the exit. She needed to get to her office after having been informed about the misery she had put her employees in.
....
“Rosie. Come here. You have to see this.” Jennie exclaimed as soon as Roseanne was in earshot. She
waved her into the meeting room of the Airline and made her sit down at the head.
“What is it Jen?” The blonde flight attendant asked annoyed. Instead of replying she was presented a single sheet of paper. Confused Roseanne looked at it and upon reading her own name as well as her friends she picked it out of Jennie's fingers to study it properly. “Is that what I think it is?” She asked carefully.
“The Christmas rota. Yes.” Jennie replied with anger in her voice.
“New York?”
“Yes.”
“On Christmas Day?” Roseanne looked at her.
“Yes.” The brunette confirmed annoyed.
“You, Bae and I?”
“Jisoo and Lisa too.” At that a small smile tugged at her friend’s mouth and Roseanne let a grin take over her own features.
“On Christmas Day?”
“You’re repeating yourself.”
“I’m just trying to find out why the hell you’re so pissed at that.”
“It’s Christmas Day.” Jennie exclaimed loudly.
“Doesn’t really matter were we are as we’re still together.”
At that Jennie eyed her suspiciously. She opened her mouth as if to counter, but closed it, when the blonde spoke up again.
“We’ll be flying in early afternoon and will have the rest of the day off until the evening shift on the 26th. We could go ice-skating in front of the Rockefeller Centre?”
Roseanne’s eyes brightened more the longer she spoke and Jennie’s mouth widened the more she let the idea sink in.
“Wow Park, you’re right. Actually, that is probably the best Christmas in a long time.”
“What do you mean? You guys spent the last two at my place.” Roseanne pouted.
“Yeah that was nice too.” The dark haired woman appeased her friend. Silence sank into the small meeting room whilst both women daydreamed of the possibilities a Christmas in New York offered.
“So.” Jennie broke the calmness of the moment, but waited for Roseanne to look at her, before she elaborated her thought. “Lisa, in New York, with you, at Christmas… thoughts?”
....
When Roseanne got ready for the evening out, she heard her phone vibrate on the kitchen counter. She was nervous about the night, as she wasn’t sure where her and Lisa stood at the moment. She had hoped to be surer after their time together, but as it turned out, she had been more confused than before. Lisa hadn’t shown up for their evening, but had apparently tucked her in after spending money to apologise for her no-show. Again Roseanne asked herself the same question she had the previous night. ‘Who does that?’
She strolled over to where her phone was charging and checked the reason for the notification. An
Email from l.manoban@lmairline.com sat in her inbox. ‘Was that the new boss? L. Manoban?’
Roseanne mused whilst opening the message, curiosity too big to ignore till the next day. Roseanne read the email twice. “Wow.” She whistled to herself. “They know how to eat humble pie.” She closed the app and readied herself upon hearing a car honking just outside her apartment complex, accompanied by a text message telling her to hurry the fuck up.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Roseanne breathed out in annoyance when she yanked open the door and glared at Jennie’s impatience. “About time.”
“Just drive.”
Jennie nodded and reversed out of the small parking lot onto the main road taking them downtown LA.
“So, that happened.” Roseanne stated nonchalantly.
“What?”
“Oh the new boss had just sent an email apologising for the Christmas debacle.”
“What? What did it say?”
Roseanne opened her app and read the words out loud for Jennie.
Dear Colleagues,
It came to my attention that my recent decision to schedule flights on Christmas Day had been received with incomprehension and animosity towards my person.
Please accept my apology. I hadn’t been informed about the tradition to not conduct business over the holidays.
I understand your anger and outburst, but I hope LM Airline can still bank on your utmost focus, motivation and enthusiasm to create a special time for our customers.
Everyone working on the 25th / 26th will be granted an additional vacation day in the next year. I value each and every one of you just as much as my parents did and I hope this incident won’t decrease your loyalty towards LM Airline.
Happy Holidays,
L. Manoban
“That’s um… unexpected.” Jennie muttered.
“Someone must have talked and explained for them to write that.”
“Yeah. Takes some courage to openly admit a mistake though.” Jennie admired.
“Oooh, does that mean the big boss is off your naughty list?”
“Haha. You are so funny. Not.” Jennie grinned despite her words. “Here we are.”
They arrived in front of the bar and spotted Irene leaning against the nearest wall talking to Jisoo and Lisa.
“You’re ready for this?” Jennie sat after unfastening her seatbelt watching Roseanne doing the same.
“For partying? Always.” The blonde replied with a smile.
“No I mean for hanging out with Lisa.” Jennie clarified with a smile.
“Sure.” Roseanne cleared her throat and opened the door indicating the conversation done.
“Good. Cos someone looks fucking hot tonight.” Roseanne glared at her for a moment, before turning her head towards her colleagues and friend.
“Fuck.” She moaned.
“Told ya.” Jennie whistled quietly and pushed the stupefied blonde forward.
“Jen, Rosie.” Irene called out when she saw them coming over, affectively making the other two aware of the arrival of the rest of their group.
Lisa, who had been talking to Jisoo, stopped mid-sentence when her eyes found Roseanne’s. Jisoo picked up on the missing part of Lisa’s attempt to convince her about the beauty of underwater documentaries and looked back at her friend. She leaned closer to Lisa and whispered “breathe” in her ear, before stepping back and turning to her girlfriend in a greeting.
“Hi babe. Long time no see.” Jennie flirted.
“Too long as usual.” Jisoo replied against the brunette’s lips and pulled her into a tight embrace and more kisses, leaving the other three women standing awkwardly next to them.
Roseanne cleared her throat. “Hi Irene. Lisa.”
“Hi Park. You look hot.” Irene stepped closer to squeeze her friend, whom she hadn’t seen in a few days.
“So do you.” Roseanne smiled into the hug, before moving out of her reach.
“Hi Roseanne. You do look stunning.” Lisa managed, her heartbeat going a mile a second.
“Thanks. I can only return the sentiment.” They stared at each other, and effectively forgot the world around them.
“Great. We’re all hot as fuck tonight. Good we’ve established that. Can we move on?” Irene interrupted the staring contest and kissing marathon and pushed the groaning and complaining women towards the entrance. “Well, I’m not getting younger.”
....