"Ms. Manoban, there's a young woman out here to see you. And she doesn't have an appointment," Minnie announced over Lisa's intercom Monday morning. It never ceased to annoy her when somebody showed up expecting to see her boss without an appointment.
Lisa knit her eyebrows together, curious as to who it might be. "It isn't Jisoo or Ella, is it?" she asked her secretary.
"Unfortunately not. I've never seen this one before."
"Let her in."
The door opened a moment later, and Lisa was face-to-face with a blast from her past. "Wendy," she gasped, totally surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"
Wendy removed her long coat, placing it on the leather couch in the office. Her long, dark hair swept across her almost-bare shoulders in waves, a tight red sundress accentuated her curves. 'Still as devilishly handsome as ever,' she thought. "Hello, my Lisa. Aren't you pleased to see an old friend?"
"Of course." Lisa blinked in astonishment. Wendy was the last person she'd expected to find in her office. "I thought you were in London."
"I was. I'm working as a clothing designer and I'm in Korea searching for inspiration. Having spent so much time away, I'd forgotten how beautiful it is here. In fact, I ran into GD Saturday evening."
"Oh."
"I wanted to come see you. Don't worry, I'm not going into Fatal Attraction mode this time around; a year in the hospital cured me of that. I hear you are married," she stated.
Lisa nodded her head. "Yes. Happily married for a little over two years. Her name is Jennie."
She walked around to her desk, picking up a picture of Lisa and a pretty blonde she didn't recognize. 'This must be the infamous Jennie,' Wendy said to herself. 'I can see why GD is so smitten with her.' "Is this her?" she questioned, pointing to her.
"That's my Jennie."
The look of adoration on Lisa's face didn't escape her attention. She could see how in love with Jennie she was. "She is very pretty."
"That she is." she took a deep breath, searching for the right words. "Wen, I owe you an apology for what happened before. I didn't mean to hurt you the way I did. It was heartless and cruel."
"You don't owe me anything. All I want to do is put the past in the past and bury it. We can start with a clean slate, as friends. Maybe we can even have dinner together sometime before I leave."
"I can do that. Friends."
****
Two months later in late March, Jennie, Nayeon, Winter and Jisoo sat around Jennie's kitchen table playing catch-up. They'd been there for an hour and Jisoo had not said much of anything since she had arrived. Her silence was beginning to unnerve Jennie, who feared something was wrong with her adopted sister.
"Jisoo? Are you okay?" she asked. "You've been really quiet ever since you got here."
With a frown, Jisoo shook her head. "Not really, but I'll be fine. I don't mean to bring you guys down."
"What happened?" Nayeon wanted to know. She and Jisoo hadn't been the best of friends when they were growing up, but she didn't like seeing anyone upset.
"GD and I broke up yesterday. Well actually, I broke up with him."
"How come?"
Jisoo sighed heavily. "I got sick of it. All he ever wanted to do was have sex, have sex and have more sex. I'm twenty-five years old, I think I'm past that stage in my life. So I gave him an ultimatum: either give me a commitment or I'm gone. He didn't answer, so I kicked him out of the house and told him never to come back."
"Oh, Unnie, I'm so sorry," her younger sister apologized.
"Don't be, it's not your fault GD is scum. I've had more than my fair share of crummy relationships, beginning long before Jacob. I want a real relationship, like the one you have with Lisa, Jennie. I want a man who loves me, a happy marriage and lots of kids. Okay, maybe one or two, not a truckload."
Winter was impressed. "Gotta hand it to you, Jisoo. Finally giving the bleached-blonde prick the old heave-ho. It's about damn time."
"I agree," Nayeon told her. "He always scared me a little bit. Sorry, Jennie. I know he's your wife's best friend."
"Don't be. he scares me, too, sometimes."
"You know," Jisoo began, "I'm sick of getting screwed around by guys. You three are lucky, you've got great guys who love you. Now I want that."
"You will. You just have to meet the right guy."
The front door slammed shut, and the four young women looked up when Ella came running into the kitchen, clutching a large square envelope. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" she shouted. "I can't believe it!"
"Can't believe what?" Jennie questioned the teenager.
"I got in!" She handed Jennie the envelope.
She read over the contents. "Oh my congratulations, Ella! You got accepted to NYU, that's great news! You've wanted to go there since you were a little girl."
"I'm so happy. I finally get out of Korea. Do you have any idea how excited I am about this?"
Jennie smiled, genuinely happy for her sister. "I think I have an inkling."
"Congrats, Ella," Nayeon told her. "That's no easy feat."
"Way to go," added Winter.
"Just remember us little people when you're a big star on Broadway," teased Jisoo.
Ella turned to Jennie. "Can I call Lisa at the office and tell her the good news?" she asked.
"I think she's busy with meetings all day and she's having dinner with a friend later. How about we just surprise her with a chocolate cake later on when she gets back?" she suggested.
"Works for me. I'm going to call Katie and tell her the good news. She's going to be so jealous when she finds out." Ella left the room to call her best friend.
*****
Wendy kept her smile hidden from view as she unlocked her hotel room door. She didn't want Lisa to get suspicious; after all, they were only friends. "Dinner was magnificent, Lisa," she complimented. "You always did have exquisite taste in restaurants."
"Thank you. Although it was eclipsed by the company I kept."
Wendy flashed her a sly smile. "You always were charming. It's good to know that some things will never change."
"No, they do. You just have to look underneath the surface."
"Would you like something to drink? My boss sent over a bottle of scotch to celebrate my new designs. She loved them."
Lisa thought it over for a moment or two. "I'd love to. But only for one drink."
They entered the room and Wendy poured them each a glass of scotch while Lisa sat down on the edge of the bed. She handed it to her and sat down to her left, leaving less than an inch of room between them. "How about a toast? To new old friends."
Lisa lifted her glass, clinking it against hers. "To new old friends."
Each of them took a sip, Wendy placed her glass on the bedside table and turned to her guest. "Are you happy, Lisa?" she asked her. "With your life the way it is now?"
"I guess so."
She raised her eyebrows. "You guess?"
"Yeah."
"Something's missing, I assume. A happily married wouldn't look as sad as you do if everything was perfect in her life." She touched her face gently. "You are missing something. I can tell."
Lisa never even had a chance to reply; Wendy turned her face in her direction and pressed her lips to her. The move shocked her, but she didn't pull away. It had been so long since she'd been kissed by someone and she just couldn't stop herself from responding to her. Even though it wasn't the woman she wanted to kiss.
Wendy, however, couldn't have been more pleased. Things were working out the way she and GD had planned. It had taken her two months, but she finally had Lisa where she wanted her. She felt her hands unzipping her dress and knew she had won. After six years, she would finally have her revenge against her bed and dump her the way Lisa had to her. And when she tried to turn to her young wife, Lisa would find her in the arms of her best friend. It was perfect. So she began unbuttoning her white dress shirt.
Lisa couldn't seem to stop herself from undressing her. It had been far too long since she'd had sex and she wanted nothing more than to ease the unbearable ache between her legs. For the duration of her marriage to Jennie, she remained faithful to her. She could never betray her like that, but she just couldn't stop the need. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Wendy again, or Jennie for that matter, but the temptation proved too great. she needed physical contact.
"Lisa" a soft voice called.
Lisa ignored it, thinking it was in her imagination, because it wasn't Wendy's voice. It couldn't possibly be, she was too busy kissing her. Then she heard it again. "Lisa"
Opening her eyes, Lisa saw Jennie standing behind Wendy. She was dressed in a flowing white dress with baby's breath in her long blonde hair, a sad look upon her face. "Please don't do this, Lisa. If you sleep with Wendy, I'll never be able to forgive you for it. I love you. And if you love me back, you won't betray me like this."
Lisa blinked her eyes but when she focused them on where she had been standing, Jennie was gone. Lisa regained her composure and jumped up from the bed, leaving a stunned Wendy looking up at her. "Lisa? What's wrong?"
Quickly, Lisa buttoned her shirt and stared at the beautiful brunette clad only in a black lace bra and matching underwear. Her dress had been discarded on the floor near her feet. "I-I can't do this, Wen. I'm sorry."
"I don't get it. You still want me, I can feel it." She lowered her gaze to her groin. "I can even see it. Just take what you want."
Lisa vehemently shook her head. "No. I love...I love my wife" The admission took her by surprise. And she ran out of the room.
Wendy stared angrily at the door after she exited. "I'll get you back, Lisa Manoban. GD will have his revenge and through her, I'll get mine. And I hope you'll be as miserable as I am."
****
Twenty minutes after Lisa had left Wendy's hotel room, she returned to her house, coming in through the back door from the garage. Jennie heard her enter and then noticed how upset she looked. Something had happened to her, leaving her concerned as to her emotional state of mind. she had been out with Wendy and she assumed something went down between them. "Lisa?" she called as she walked past her through the kitchen. "Is something wrong?"
Lisa stopped when she heard her voice and turned to look at her. The sight of Jennie made her heart pound. All she could think about when she saw her was the apparition in Wendy's hotel room, begging her not to make love to the other woman. And her admission of love. "H-Hi," she stuttered.
"You look frazzled. Did something happen?"
"No! I'm fine." she saw the bowl sitting on the counter. "What are you making?" Lisa asked, changing the subject.
She smiled. "Chocolate cake. We were going to have it tonight when you got home from dinner with your friend Wendy, but you're home awfully early. Ella got her acceptance letter from NYU today."
"That's terrific news." Lisa reached over to stick her finger in the batter for a taste. Jennie slapped her hand after she'd scooped a good amount on her pointer finger. "Hey!"
"Don't do that!" she chastised. "There are raw eggs in there."
Lisa tasted the batter. "Very good." she stuck her finger in the chocolate mixture again and spread it over her lips. "Here, try some."
"Yuck. No thanks. I don't eat raw cake batter."
Jennie began to wipe it off but Lisa stopped her. Rather than rub the batter off, she pressed her lips against hers in a sweet kiss, kissing a licking it off of her. Jennie didn't try to stop her, although she wondered what brought it on, although asking her the reason was the last thing on her mind as her tongue probed the inside of her mouth. She held her tightly, fearing she'd lose her balance as the kiss deepened. The kiss had to end sometime and she feared it would end too soon. Her kisses were addictive.
Lisa wanted to carry her up to her room and show her her true feelings. But she knew doing that might cost her everything she wanted. There was no way she'd be able to stand her rejection. She knew it would take time to prove to her that Jennie changed her for the better.
When they ended their kiss, Jennie needed time to catch her breath. "Wow. What was that for?"
"I don't know. I just felt like doing it. I hope I didn't upset you by kissing you like that," Lisa told her. "But I don't regret doing it."
Jennie shook her head. "I don't regret it either. And it's okay, I didn't mind at all. It actually...it was nice. All your kisses have been nice."
"They have?"
"Yeah."
Lisa bit her lip, fearing she'd kiss her again and not be able to stop. "I'm, uh, going to congratulate Ella on her acceptance," she said. "And take a shower." 'A long, cold one.'
As she walked through the living room, Lisa sighed. Admitting to herself that she loved Jennie was one thing, admitting it to her was something completely different. And she needed more time to win her love in return.