***
"What?"
Irene, Jennie, and Roseanne stared at Jisoo after she had finished telling them what had happened.
She turned to the blonde. "Where were you and Lisa yesterday?"
Roseanne looked at her angrily. "I haven't been with Lisa."
"Didn't you leave saying you wanted to go to the hotel, to talk to her?" She asked puzzled at the obvious display of irritation.
"I…" She trailed off; trying to contain the hurt she still felt thinking of Lisa with her ex-girlfriend.
"Roseanne this isn't the time to be secretive. She needs us. She's about to lose everything."
"How can she lose the company? It's hers." Roseanne huffed annoyed.
"Lose might be the wrong term, but she's about to have any say in her own business revoked. Someone has played her." Jisoo stared at Roseanne. "So if you weren't with her, where were you last night?"
"Home." She shrugged.
"Roseanne?" Irene slid over to the blonde. "Has something happened?"
She inhaled and exhaled deeply, before letting her head fall back focusing at something on the ceiling. Jisoo looked confusedly from Jennie to Irene to Roseanne and back, before shrugging her shoulders and pointing to Irene to continue with the interrogation.
"Hey." She tried once more, caressing Roseanne's arm. "Did you see Lisa last night?"
Roseanne closed her eyes, and nodded. "I did." She whispered in a rough voice. "She was at her hotel." Although it had hurt, she didn't know the deal between Lisa and the other woman. Right now, the brunette needed help so Roseanne would give her that.
"When was that?"
"Around ten o'clock."
"Ok. What did you see?"
It was clear to all three of them that the blonde had witnessed something, which had thrown her completely, off-centre.
"I saw her with another woman at the bar." Roseanne finally divulged.
"A woman?" Jisoo whispered.
"Not any woman." Roseanne pushed on and opened her eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Who the hell did you see her with yesterday?"
"You told me they were history. Didn't look like that to me." Roseanne spat sarcastically.
"Miyeon?" Jisoo's mouth fell open.
"The ex?" Jennie asked confused.
"The one and only…" Roseanne pressed out and wiped at the few tears. "What's the deal Jisoo?" She asked wanting to hear there was nothing going on, but preparing herself for the complete opposite. Jisoo raked a hand through her hair and sighed.
"OK, I'm telling you something you have to promise to never tell anyone." She looked around the small group. Upon her seriousness all three nodded. "Miyeon had blackmailed Lisa into paying her one million dollars or she would tell the world who Lisa really was."
"Recently?" Irene asked.
Jisoo shook her head. "That was the reason they split." She explained.
"Wow, what a bitch." Jennie shook her head.
"Yeah, after four years of being together, happily so, at least on Lisa's part, she'd turned around and requested the money to keep her mouth shut."
"Why didn't Lisa sue her?" Jennie asked confused.
"She grew up in a world where people only wanted to be acquainted with her cos of her parents' money. She learnt early on that people were more likely to use her for her wealth than being genuinely interested in her. The idea of the world knowing who she was terrified her, as she had convinced herself she'd end up alone with no friends or people who wanted to be around her for her sake, for her personality." Jisoo paused to sip on her tea. "She couldn't let Miyeon steal her privacy."
She finished and looked at Roseanne who was still crying silently, but for a whole different reason.
"How did you find out?" She asked quietly.
"We spent a lot of time just the two of us flying in simulators and then planes. She opened up eventually, after I had made it clear that I was her friend. I promised I wasn't interested in her money or family. She trusted me. Still trusts me."
"So, Miyeon?" Jennie raised an eyebrow.
"There's no chance in hell Lisa would do anything with that woman ever again. She hates her guts and I truly believe, now that Lisa is out of her shadow, she'd actually bring her to justice."
"Didn't look like that though." Roseanne mumbled, more composed and calm.
"What exactly did you see?" Jisoo asked her curiously.
Roseanne tried to remember as much detail as possible and Jisoo jotted down all the information.
"So, when do you think you left?"
"I wasn't there longer than five minutes."
"So, we're talking between ten and quarter past?" Jisoo clarified.
"Yeah possibly..." Roseanne nodded and got up with a new fierceness in her movements. "We need to find Miyeon. I want to hear this from her." If there was the possibility that she had not misread Lisa and still had a chance with the brunette, Roseanne was willing to skin Miyeon alive to get the information.
"Where should we look for her?" Irene scratched the side of her head.
"Let's check the big hotels. Bitch like her rests her head on satin rather than cotton." Jennie suggested and opened the browser on her phone.
"Good evening. How can I help you?"
"Good Evening. My name's Jennie and I'd like to inquire the whereabouts of one of our passengers from LM Airline. We have her luggage."
"Who are you looking for?"
"Ms Cho Miyeon."
"One moment please."
Jennie covered the mobile and turned to her friends.
"They're checking for her."
"No, I'm sorry. There is no such guest in our hotel."
"Ok..." Jennie eyed Roseanne and shook her head pressing her mouth into a thin line. The blonde nodded and crossed out the name of the hotel from their list. "We'll check our data again. Thank you for your help Sir." Jennie finished and sighed once she had ended the call. "This is like searching for a needle in a haystack."
"We'll find her. We need to." Jisoo grumbled.
"I know." Jennie mumbled whilst Roseanne threw the list of hotels against the wall in frustration.
.....
"I can't believe this is happening." Lisa had been pacing her office ever since the meeting had ended. Jackson had left to talk to the hotel to see if they had a security camera.
"I'm not surprised." Veron answered calmly. "It's hard to believe someone who worked for your parents would do that to their child."
"Yeah 'cos they have been such great employers and everyone had felt loved by them." Lisa answered sullenly.
Veron stood up and went over to Lisa, taking her into her arms once she had reached her. "Your parents loved you very much and they were immensely proud of you."
"Why didn't they tell me?" Lisa asked with tears in her eyes. The morning had chipped away at her professional mask and left her vulnerable and small.
"I think you didn't speak the same language. They told you in the form of gifts and experiences."
"Did they ever tell you?"
"Yes, and I believed them."
"Why did they always choose the company over me?"
"Because you made it quite clear that you didn't want to be with them."
Lisa opened her mouth, stunned at the words. "It was my fault?"
"No, it was as much them as it was you. Unknowingly you have pushed them away by wanting to remain unknown and they didn't fight for their child. I know you never meant to distance yourself from your family, but it happened nevertheless."
"If you saw all that, why didn't you stop us drifting apart?"
"I tried, but it was too late. The connection had been severed. You were stubbornly fixated on your opinion and they were immovable on their stance towards you."
"I don't know why you're telling me all this. Why now?"
"Because you have finally stepped up and owned your name and I don't want you to give up without a fight. You're out now Lalisa. People know who you are and your parents wanted you to have their business. They trusted in you and your abilities."
"I wish they were still here." Lisa admitted quietly.
"I know, but you would not have become the strong and fierce woman you are now, if you had kept hiding behind your real identity. You are a Manoban, and you have the power and the ability to change things. The last year has given you a lot to handle, but you came out on the other side stronger and more level-headed than before. You know what you want."
Lisa huffed and stared at her phone for the millionth time. She had read all the messages and had replied to Jisoo and Roseanne, explaining the situation of her missing phone. She had not heard back from either. If Roseanne had been to the hotel yesterday, she might have seen her with Miyeon and the assumption the blonde might have drawn from what she had seen scared and worried Lisa beyond words.
"I would have been alright being a pilot. I just want to be happy again." Lisa said after a while, glaring at her phone for not announcing a reassuring message from Roseanne.
"You will be." Veron answered and sat back down, watching her carefully. "Can I ask you something else?"
Lisa only nodded, her mind still hung up on Roseanne.
"What were you doing with that woman at the bar yesterday? I thought you'd parted ways a long time ago?" Lisa had told no one besides Jisoo about the blackmailing, but everyone close to Lisa had been witness the breakup.
"I told you already. She waited for me and convinced me to have a drink. I didn't want to spend time with her, but I really wanted a drink."
"Could have had one in your room?"
"Yes, Veron, I am aware of my mistake which will most likely cost me my business and relationship." Lisa hissed more forcefully than needed. Her mind went immediately back to the blonde. Her thoughts went in circles. She was unable to stop them; too worried what Roseanne thought of her now.
Veronica pointedly remained quiet, only raising one eyebrow conveying the unspoken question. She had not been aware of any new relationships.
"What?" Lisa huffed annoyed.
"Is this about someone named Roseanne?"
"How…?" Lisa stopped abruptly in her pacing and stared at her.
"Jisoo might have mentioned it."
"When?"
"Doesn't matter. Tell me about her." Veron looked at her with a soft smile.
"She's a senior flight attendant."
"And?"
"She's based here in LA and we met on the job." Lisa smiled weakly at the memory.
"Go on."
"There's not much to go on with. We spent Christmas working together." Lisa blushed at her own admission.
Veronica grinned at the flushed woman. "Ok, how does she make you feel?"
Lisa eyed her warily, but realised she had already revealed too much to get out of the conversation.
"Alive… On fire… Capable of facing anything..." She smiled wider.
"Wow. Have you ever felt like that?"
"No." Lisa was certain this had never happened to her before.
"Why isn't there more to tell? Why isn't she with you?"
"We obviously met when I was undercover and although I kind of told her who I am, I also didn't."
Veronica shook her head. "Why do you always make it so hard for yourself?"
Lisa sighed. "I didn't know if I could trust her to not break my heart. I couldn't go through that again." She remained silent about the deep-rooted trust issues she had when it came to her name and wealth.
"She doesn't sound like a Miyeon." Veron answered softly. "You have to let people in. Your parents always wanted you to experience love and friendship."
"My parents never taught me either."
"Your parents learned the hard way who to trust with which level of privacy and intimacy. I believe it had been difficult for them to make you understand."
"I guess." Lisa nodded. "It's really nerve-racking to establish trust. I find it one of the most difficult things to do."
"Do you trust me?"
Lisa looked up and into Veron's soulful eyes. This woman had been there for her and Lisa had no doubt she would walk through fire to save her. "Of course I do." She answered without a shadow of a doubt.
"Then trust me that I'm telling you the truth about your parents. They wanted you and they did everything to keep you safe. They respected your wish to be kept out of the limelight. It hurt them to not be able to show you off, but they did what they thought you needed from them. Stop being angry with them. They tried their best and failed you, but never think they didn't love you." She stopped and watched her goddaughter for a moment. Silence stretched through the space as Lisa kept staring at the ceiling.
"Don't think love is only a notion..." Veron picked up her pep talk once more. "…a creation for stupid people to be fooled and hurt. Love comes in all shapes and forms, but what you feel for this woman is pretty rare. I wish your parents had been around more so you could have seen them in love." Veron smiled sadly. "Cos they were and you're their perfectly summed up product."
Lisa smiled. "I get it. Thank you."
"If you feel alive with someone you need to hold on. Don't let go like your parents let you go. Fight for what you want."
"Well I first have to fight for this." She gestured to the logo of LM Airline.
.....
They had to call ten more hotels before they found her. Half an hour later Roseanne and Jisoo strolled into the hotel and requested the room number with the same lie they had used to find her. They knocked at the door and waited and hoped for Miyeon to be there.
"Yeah?" She cracked the door open. When she recognised them she tried to close it but Jisoo pushed her weight against the door and after some struggling Miyeon gave up and let go off the door making Jisoo fall into the room.
"We're here to talk." Jisoo growled and got up.
"What do you want?" Miyeon put her hands on her hips.
"What did you do to Lisa?" Jisoo stepped closer to her.
"I haven't done anything to her." She grinned evilly at Roseanne, who looked frustratingly calm, arms crossed in front of her chest, eyes boring into the other woman.
Jisoo pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ok. Let me rephrase. Why were you at her hotel last night?"
"Yeah… I've no idea what you're talking about." Miyeon deflected.
"Were you spying on her?" Jisoo tried.
Miyeon remained silent with a glint in her eye, showing she was enjoying herself immensely.
"Where you trying to get her to tell you shit? And when it didn't work did you get someone else to do the dirty work for you?" The older woman was angrily yelling at her.
When Miyeon just shrugged and grinned, Roseanne finally reacted, lowered her arms and stepped into the woman's personal space. "Lisa never talked about you, you can't be that important to her."
"Lisa never talked to anyone about anything." She snorted.
"You're a mediocrity. A nothing. Your world was grey and tasteless until you found her." Roseanne ignored the flaring of nostrils and clenched jaw and went on. "You've experienced gold and silver served on a platter and you don't know what to do without it."
Miyeon opened her mouth but Roseanne glared at her so fiercely, she closed it and bit down on her lips.
"You dived into the superficial world of glamour and wealth thinking you were one of them, but they only chewed and digested you and crapped you out like the nothing you are. You've got nothing to offer, no personality, no depth and no spirit. Nothing." Roseanne spat the last words with pure disgust.
"How dare you. You don't know me." Miyeon hissed barely containing her anger.
"I know enough about you and I suggest you tell us what we want to know."
"Or what?" Miyeon stepped closer, head held high. "What can you possibly do?" She sneered.
"Well you see…" Roseanne drawled. "I can reason with Lisa to sue you, but I can also ask her not to. You've got the chance right now to walk away or you remain stupid and never walk freely again."
"Sue me for what? Last time I checked inviting a woman for a drink is not illegal." She grinned phonily.
"Don't be dumber than you already are. Do you really think Lisa would keep you and your crime a secret?"
Miyeon's grin froze. "She was pretty good in keeping her own identity a secret." She pressed through her thin lips, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"Your time is counting… Start talking before I lose interest in listening." Roseanne stated and pulled her phone out, navigating to her contact list and pressing on Lisa's name. "One more click and I have her on the phone. I just recently read that sexual abuse is 'part and parcel' of females in prison. You wanna find out yourself?"
"I told you already." Miyeon uncrossed her arms and held her hands up. "I haven't done anything to her or with her for that matter. She hates me." She added.
Roseanne nodded and pursed her lips. "Still not all there is to tell, is it? Maybe this jogs your memory. Someone entered Lisa's room while you distracted her. Who would that be?"
"What?" Miyeon furrowed her brow. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh my god." Jisoo turned to Roseanne. "Can we please start torturing her?"
"I really don't know." Miyeon added in confusion.
"Well what do you know then?" Roseanne asked and shook the phone in front of Miyeon's face, one eyebrow raised suggestively.
Miyeon glared at her, clenching and unclenching her jaw but she remained silent.
Roseanne raked one hand through her hair and groaned out in frustration. "What's in it for you? Who are you protecting?" Roseanne paused watching Miyeon carefully. "You do know that whoever has you in their pocket, is trying to demote Lisa. You're the pawn in their game and right now you're of no use to them anymore. If you remain quiet they succeed with their scheme, but whatever they have offered you for your participation, you won't be able to enjoy it, because I will make sure you don't get to. Take that as a threat I intend to keep."
Roseanne signalled to Jisoo to leave, but was stopped by a hand on her arm. "Wait."
...
"This is outrageous." Veronica exploded. She had left Lisa as soon as she had received the call, only now having learned of the crime and its depth.
"She said she didn't know the bigger picture." Jisoo explained.
"She's a piece of shit that woman."
Jisoo looked at the phone in surprise. "Um, yes you could say that." She laughed and said a moment later. "So what are we going to do now?"
"I'm on my way. Where are you?"
....