Even though with the noises from the crowd around us, they didn't bother these two women with me, who were having their conversation so intently. And I couldn't help to chuckle a few times seeing how excited Lisa right now, talking about my next book to my only Chief Editor.
"The promotional is pretty basic"
"Just basic?"
Lisa looked like she wasn't satisfied of what she just heard as her hand kept stirring the slice of lemon in her hot tea, eyes staring at the older woman who was sitting in front of us.
"Yes, like a standard marketing plan for every book we published"
Lisa sighed, placing both of her elbows on the table as her fingers intertwined with each other. "Ms. Kim," Her fists rested just below her nose as she was staring at Jisoo without blinking. "I'm afraid that out of audacity, Roseanne's book is never standard"
My cheeks hurt, forming a smile that I didn't even want to since Jisoo ran her eyes to mine now, looking so nervous as if she was talking to her boss. I never seen her this terrified whenever she talked to Mr. Wilson.
But I totally understood her, this was like the third time she met Lisa in person. The first encounter was definitely when Lisa came to the hotel Jisoo and I were staying in Seoul after we had a big fight in Lisa's office. The second one was when Lisa came to my apartment and had lunch gathering with us all, which Lisa didn't really talk at the table because my mum was with us. It made her uncomfortable.
And only now Jisoo really had her chance to sit down and talk to Lisa, who she could find very intimidating.
I didn't know why Lisa had to talk formal though, sounding like so business oriented even though they were actually talking about business. But she could loose some muscles and be less serious, she was scaring my best friend and I guessed I couldn't hold my laughter any longer when I saw Jisoo's panicked face.
"I believe that Rosé's next book is not going to be standard," Jisoo shot her eyes to me, talking in telepathic way so I would send her some help.
"Yes, Jisoo" I joined in, almost chuckled. "It's not standard, it's going to be big"
"Right," She responded, taking her gaze back to Lisa. "Maybe we can monitor the first 3 months of sale first, then we can go full blast"
Melissa hummed, finally broke her stare as she was looking at her tea. "Maybe is never a favourite word in business, Ms. Kim" She tried to argue again. "Who's the main star in Houghton Mifflin again?"
"Alexandria McKay" Jisoo answered without a doubt.
"What's her standard marketing plan?"
"She doesn't have any, Melissa" Jisoo answered. "Her own name does the job for her"
"Ohh, okay" Lisa looked like she was thinking even harder when she frowned. "What about before her name gets big?"
"Then, she had one"
Lisa smiled when she finally found an empty space for her to use as an opportunity.
"Can Roseanne have the same one?"
"Y-yes" Jisoo answered with hesitation. "That's possible"
While they were busy discussing about marketing plan for my book, which I should listen and give my attention to since it was my book, I couldn't help to keep checking the time around my wrist as Lisa and I were waiting for our boarding time.
We had another 1 hour plus and I was glad Jisoo was here to send us at the airport. At least I got another company to kill the time with instead of just Lisa who couldn't stop touching and asking me if we could make out in the public toilet.
This lady really couldn't wait to get on the first class suite to do 'our thing'.
"Love," I called for Lisa as I gave a kiss on her shoulder.
She stopped her talk with Jisoo immediately, turning her head towards me to give her attention. "Baby?"
"I want to walk around to find some chocolates, do you want some?"
"No, thanks" She responded softly. "But I'll go with you"
Lisa was about to get up, placing her palms on the table but I clung around her arm to stop her.
"That's okay, I'll go alone"
"But-"
"Please stay here with Jisoo, I won't be long" I smiled at her because I knew she was so worried since it was so obvious on her face right now.
Lisa realised that she shouldn't leave the table, that would be rude to leave Jisoo alone since that woman already came here to bid her farewell. So she was left with no other option.
"Yuan, go with Ma'am Roseanne" She ordered one of our bodyguards and gave a kiss on my cheek. "Be careful"
I left them both at the cafe after that, entering one shop after another just to find any chocolate that could attract my eyes based on its packaging. I wouldn't know which one tasted best since previously whenever I shopped for chocolates at the airport, I would just buy them without the need to taste first.
But after coming in and out from countless of chocolate shops, I just found one that I guessed would taste good. It was a New Zealand dark chocolate with cute packaging and I really hoped that the taste would be as good as it looked.
Well, dark chocolates are my favourite though, so it would be hard to convince me that it didn't taste good. It was like a safe bet for Lisa too if she bought me any.
As I continued to walk away from the cashier, my eyes darted at someone who was standing at the chocolate shelf. I didn't know if my memory could be trusted at this point but I could assure that I definitely had seen this person before, her face looked familiar.
And the closer I got, the clearer my memory was. I had only seen this face on TV all the time but didn't have the chance to meet face to face.
"Jen?" I blurted out once I was close enough.
She turned around, looking so surprised when her eyes saw my face as her hand placed the chocolate she had been eyeing on back to the shelf.
"Roselle?!"
I was right.
She threw herself in to hug me, almost with the same energy as her excitement right now.
"Jesus!" She exclaimed. "I didn't expect to meet you here!"
"Of course not, you busy woman" I giggled, breaking the hug with her hands still gripping my arms just below my shoulders.
"What's your pretty ass doing here?!"
"Lisa and I are going to New York," I answered as her eyes were still wide, probably still in a shock state. "What about you? Out of all places in the world, what are you doing in Sydney?"
I opened up a conversation with her because I hadn't met her again after our first meeting at Lisa's meeting room. Both of them didn't have time to catch up together.
"So that fuckface is here too?" She asked and I nodded. "I've been in town since yesterday, you know some long ass transit, I had to check in to a hotel first, my next flight is in 3 hours"
"Tiring life?"
"Maybe not as tiring as being that asshole's wife"
I laughed to her brutal joke about me marrying Lisa. She could probably still didn't get enough of the idea of Melissa Maas got married at the first place and it amused me how these two could manage to say mean things to each other and still be friends.
"Do you want to get that?" I asked and Jennie frowned in confusion, letting go of my arms. "The chocolate?"
"Ohh!" She responded when she got what I was referring to. "No, I was just looking"
I grabbed her by the hand in an instant, pulling her out from the chocolate store and I could see her bodyguards started to follow us.
"Where are you dragging me to?" Jennie asked as she chuckled from my sudden gesture. I took a quick look at my watch again, guessing that we had more time than we actually needed.
"You have to see Lisa"
"What?" She began to laugh this time. "I've seen her enough in the media, Roselle"
"No, I mean real meeting" I answered without caring if she wasn't comfortable to get pulled by.
"Mother of God, who gave this woman eyes?"
I felt like I was going to get cramp in my stomach when she started to tease about me not being blind again, and now that I had the power to guide her the way, just like she used to do to me back then in school.
I could see Lisa, narrowing her eyes at me as if she was trying to see better, mouth slightly parted in a small shock while I was entering the cafe, taking someone she knew with me.
"Lisa!" I half yelled in excitement, approaching her and standing by the table, letting go of Jennie's hand at the same time. "Look who I found!"
Lisa pushed herself until her body met the back rest, crossing her arms with a smirk formed just at the corner of her mouth, eyes glaring at her friend.
"Bastard," She called in a playful tone. "Did you lose your momma? We can send you to the lost and found counter"
Jennie didn't reply Lisa's greeting like she usually would, but she bowed instead, causing Lisa and I almost gasped in her sudden change of mannerism.
"Melissa" She greeted with a smile on her face while my own eyes felt like they were going to pop out.
Jennie Kaltz bowed to Lisa?! My brain couldn't process what I just saw to correlate with what was happening at the same time. Did she get hit on the head until she forgot who Lisa was?
But as our eyes were all on Jennie, I noticed that her eyes were darted at another woman at the table right after she greeted Lisa, having a sweet, shy smile marked all over her face that had a slight redness on it.
I cleared my throat, trying to hint Lisa as well so she wouldn't do her hard joke on Jennie anymore.
"Jisoo?" I called for her to get her attention on me as her eyes had been locked at Jennie's, probably since we both arrived. "This is Jennie, Lisa's and my friend too since school"
Jisoo got up immediately, looking all clumsy with her hands at front below her stomach, ready to bow.
"You have seen her on TV before" I continued to remind her who Jennie was and she nodded.
I turned my head to Jennie who was still smiling at the older woman in front of her.
"Jen, this is my best friend, Chief Editor Kim Jisoo"
They both bowed to each other, so gracefully as a rare occasion happening right before my eyes. And Jennie decided to take another step by reaching out for a handshake with Jisoo right after the bow, and the older woman took her hand in response.
"Kaltz, Jennie" She repeated her name with her own mouth that I already announced earlier.
"With the Y?" Jisoo asked, grinning that I never seen before in these entire 7 years of being her best friend.
She even blushed!
"J-e-n-n-i-e" The other woman answered as charming as she could, deepening her voice to press each letter. "Jennie, with the E" She repeated again, still having Jisoo's hand in her grip.
"Kim, Jisoo" Jisoo introduced herself with sparkle in her eyes that were never off from the other beauty among us. "Nice to meet you, Jennie-" She smiled even wider. "...with the E"
▪️▪️▪️
"Turn to the side a bit"
Lisa's voice entered my ears as she continuously taking my pictures, giving instructions on how to pose.
"Beautiful" She muttered when she looked at the picture she just took.
"Love," I started to whine. "You always take my pictures" I said as I walked back to Lisa, having her strong arm around my shoulder as we continued our walk.
"They are for memories, baby" She replied, giving a strong, long kiss at the side of my head as she sniffed my hair at the same time.
"We don't have much pictures together"
"What?" She chuckled. "We took plenty of selfies, Roseanne..." Her hand started to stroke my arm. "We even asked Yuan to take pictures of us. You saw how he cringed to our romantic poses"
I laughed when I heard Lisa, covering my mouth just to suppress the volume as we were in the crowd, and she joined me shortly after that would surely look so sweet if only I looked at her. But my eyes were too busy looking at the scenery in front of me.
"How's New York tour so far?" She whispered to my ear as we were walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.
"I love it, Lisa" I turned my head to look at her this time. "Thank you so much"
A smile could no longer wait as it just went out on my mouth when I saw her face. She was indeed my brightest star as she was the only one who caught my heart, and now my eyes as well in this half dimmed, sunset setting we were in. She was still looking breathtakingly beautiful even with her shoulder length hairstyle that she just changed a month ago.
She chose the same hair length as she used to have when we were both still 15. And I really loved her hair now as it brought back the nostalgia between us.
Lisa brought her face closer to mine until our lips touched, giving me a quick, yet pressured kiss against my mouth.
"I love you too, Roseanne..."
I gave her a soft slap on her stomach, slightly pushing her to the side as I wrapped my both arms around her waist and gave it a little squeeze. Her giggles were too cute for me to handle, so I would always end up slapping her anywhere my hand could reach just to hide my own shyness.
"Aren't you tired?" She asked, probably wanting to get rid of her playfulness as this was supposed to be a romantic sunset stroll.
"Not yet so far"
"Let me know when you are," There were worries in her tone this time, which was also cute when I could hear she spoke her mind out. "We have been walking for hours"
I could feel her other hand started to caress my stomach, and I smiled again.
"I'm fine, Lisa" I said assuredly.
"Are you okay, baby?"
"Which baby?" I frowned in confusion.
"This little one," Lisa answered as she patted my stomach softly. "I'm sorry bud, your mommy just love to walk and jump around"
"Lisa!" I whined louder, slapping her hand off. "I don't think it can hear you," I complained. "It's only been 5 weeks"
"Oh my God," Lisa exclaimed all of the sudden. "Why are you calling him 'it' ?"
I chuckled again to see Lisa gasped. "We don't know it's gender yet, love"
"I know but-" She brought her hand to the back of her head, probably scratching a bit. "Let's just call it he"
"Yeah, like you always call it bud"
"I just have a feeling it's a boy, you know?"
I shook my head, still couldn't stop smiling. Lisa used to be the one who didn't agree on us having a baby. She just didn't like my attention to get divided once we had another commitment to take care of, and in this case, a baby that needed 24 hours care.
But I didn't fail to notice how excited she was when I finally got pregnant as the result from the money she invested for the IVF process. She just couldn't help to hide it from me, just like right now. She had been worrying about me walking around with my pregnancy, and she even controlled my food just for the baby.
Lisa was so cute when she tried not to show her feelings, but she definitely couldn't hide them from me and she knew that.
"Do you feel the same?" She asked again when she didn't get any response from me.
"What, Lisa?" I laughed this time, keeping my gaze to the orangey sky along with those tall buildings of Manhattan.
"It's a boy, right?"
"Yes, love" I just agreed on her so that she would stop with this gender guessing session. "But I like a girl too, doesn't matter right?"
"Absolutely"
We continued to walk until we found an empty spot for us to sit and watch the sunset that was about to happen in minutes from now.
But not only Lisa who knew how to be extra, like taking me for a walk across Brooklyn Bridge just to see the sun went down, I had my own extra ways too such as sitting in between her legs right now while there was a lot of empty space next to her.
I just wanted to have her arms around me as I rested my back against her chest, and feeling her breathing up and down at the same time. I would never be more comfortable than being in her embrace with her nose and mouth kissing my bare shoulder, giving me the peacefulness that I was so fond to whenever she was with me.
"It's so beautiful, Lisa" I said with teary eyes when I saw the most spectacular sunset, ever.
I'd never imagine to see such scenery before, or even go to New York since I used to be blind. But my Lisa, who was my childhood friend until she became my wife, was the only reason why I was here and be able to see again.
She was the one who always gave me all in her best ways and effort as she could; giving me the best education in Seoul, the first teenage love experience, the best career development, the best marriage life, and the best dreams I could ever dream of.
Now as I was sitting in her arms, I closed my eyes just to feel her true love and pure heart, while I was supposed to look at the sunset in front of me.
"The most beautiful..." She replied to my commentary about the sunset, which I doubted it since her tone was different when she said that. Even her choice of words were strange.
So I turned my body slightly just to look at her, and I was right when she had her eyes on me instead of the sunset.
"Lisa..." I groaned, slapping her forearm that was around me. I had lost count of how many times I had slapped her this whole day.
What a tease!
"Look at the sunset, Lisa" I said as I cupped her chin, pushing her head away from facing face. "You brought me here"
"But that's not what I intend to"
"Then what is it?"
"I want to look at you looking at the sunset"
I couldn't help to smile to that. "Fair enough" I said as the water in my eyes kept pushing to go out.
"What's wrong, baby?" She asked with her eyes looking into mine, rich in love and concern. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just-" I started to sniffle with the sharp pain attacking my nose. "Too happy I guess?"
I giggled in nervousness, trying so hard not to cry while actually the tears already fall down to my cheeks, and they were wiped immediately by Lisa's soft fingers.
"Your chest hurts?" She asked with her sweet smile that I couldn't resist not to look at. I just nodded to that question and she brought her hand into her inner jacket. "I have something for that..."
I squeezed my eyebrows to her gestures, waiting eagerly for what she might do again just to cheer me up.
"Look away, Roseanne, close your eyes" She demanded with her tone that sounded so cheeky.
"Okay," I chuckled to the millionth of times of me saying how cute she was, closing my eyes at the same time.
I failed to stop my brain from guessing even though I knew I would get my answer in just seconds from now. I might just love to overthink and torture my own mind.
Then I felt a cold thing on my chest, trailing around my neck and I could tell what it was when Lisa put it on me, and she clasped the lock to secure it.
"You can open your eyes now" She breathed out against my skin that was already got goosebumps.
I grasped the pendant first with my thumb and pointy finger, trying to feel it as my eyes remained closed. I smiled immediately when I could feel a letter R as for the shape, only then I opened my eyes to look at it.
"Lisa..." I called softly, turning my whole body this time to the side. "You don't have too, I don't have anything to give to you back"
"That's alright," She said as her hand began to stroke my hair. "Do you love it?"
"Of course I do!" I jumped a little. "It's beautiful..."
"Yeah, I was thinking that your chest looks empty" Lisa said as her eyes darted to where she just said. "So this necklace would look so good for your cleavage-"
"What?!"
My eyes widened, glaring at her while she ran her eyes back to mine as fast as she didn't want to get caught.
"No- that's not-" Her speech really showed how nervous she was right now. "I mean-"
"What do you mean, Lisa?"
Me on the other hand decided to mess with her as I raised my eyebrows, trying to look mad.
"It's for your chest-" Lisa was still finding the right words, squeezing her brain so hard. "Ugh!" She groaned in defeat, pulling me in just for her to snuggle against my chest that she had been talking about. "I'm so sorry, that was supposed to be romantic but-"
She stopped her words, sounding so frustrated in what just happened. I opened my arms to reciprocate her embrace, locking her close to a place that I had been putting her in since I was still young; my heart.
"But what?"
"You just-" She sighed loudly, blowing warm air against my skin. "...have a very, beautiful chest"
I burst out laughing as soon as she finished her sentence and I could feel she was relieved a bit when she heard my laughter.
"I love you so much, Lisa..."
I whispered in giggles, breaking the hug to have her lips in between mine, and she caught my lips so gently, running her fingers to the back of my neck.
I melted in her kiss, in her love, in her tenderness that I would always keep in my heart, beating for someone who couldn't be replaced.
Melissa, my love, who gave me happiness that no one else could ever give as nearly as she did, would always have her own place in my heart that already loved her since our eyes first met, got blinded after, and to be seen again through the same eyes as they didn't change in feelings no matter how many times they had blinked.
The love remains each time our eyes meet, and so does our hearts.
Page 537
THE END
For my forever wife,
Lisa.
IT IS NOT ALL THORNS
By bestselling author
ROSEANNE PEARCE