THIRD PERSON POV
Jennie lay asleep in a pile of papers in the office's cafeteria. Her coworker, Jisoo, walked up and smiled, dropping her tray onto the table next to her sleeping friend with a loud bang of metal on metal.
"Fuck!" Jennie popped up, her feline brown eyes opened wide and reddened as Jisoo took her seat, laughing. "Why, wh-wha-". Jennie shook her head and realized what had happened, "You're the worst." More of Jennie's work friends, Jimin and Taemin, came and sat around the pair as she got her papers in order and out of the way.
"You look exhausted," Jimin said.
"We all are," Taemin added.
"Yeah, but Jennie looks, like, beat up," Jimin clarified.
"Thanks," Jennie said, rolling her eyes, but laughing a little. Recica, the company Jennie worked for, had been adding more and more work onto their coders plates, four of whom were Jennie and the three people she was sitting with. "I don't know. These deadlines just keep getting moved up. I just think we need so-"
Jennie lost her words as a woman entered the cafeteria. A tall woman with an elegant walk about her and blonde locks tied back in a ponytail. Jennie watched as the woman picked up a salad, dropped a bill at the cashier, then turned to the first open table she saw and sat down to eat alone. It was an odd sight. One, the woman was beautiful. To the point where Jennie couldn't finish her sentence. Her face was mousy and serious., and yet her eyes seemed to shine. Mischievously? Sternly? Jennie couldn't tell. The other reason the sight was odd was because the woman was eating alone. Recica had a great culture. Coworkers often became good friends. It was rare to see someone eating alone.
"Jennie?" Jennie snapped back into the conversation.
"Yeah?" She said.
"Where'd you go?" Jisoo asked.
"Sorry, I just...who's that?" She asked. The table did a quick collective turn towards the woman and then back.
"A cold bitch," Jimin rolled his eyes. Taemin gave him a punch on the arm, "Ow, what? She is!"
"I'm confused," Jennie said.
"They call her the cold bitch," Jisoo explained, "Although, Taemin thinks that's too harsh."
Taemin shrugged, "I mean, she's got a job to do and she's doing it. Can't blame her for that."
"Seriously, can someone explain this normally," Jennie asked again.
"Okay," Jisoo said, "You know how a month ago our workload started increasing steadily. That's because of her. She's a little higher up on the business side of things. Apparently she's some sort of fixer. Lalisa Manoban."
"Lalisa?" Jennie repeated, looking back at the woman. It was strange. The way Lalisa was being described made her sound like some old crabby boss. In reality, she looked maybe at most 2 years older than Jennie's 24.
Taemin chimed in, "Mhm. Projects weren't getting done on time so she's sort of a logistical genius. There's a rumor she used to be a codebreaker for the government."
"What?" Jennie said, cocking her head in disbelief. "Does she know how to code, like, how we code? Can she program?"
"No," Jimin now butted in, "Probably could if she wanted. She was a codebreaker like puzzles and spy messages and shit. At least that's what people say. But no, she can't code like us. That's why she doesn't understand how hard all these deadlines she expects from us really are."
Jennie took all the information in. In hindsight it was something she should have known, but her head had been so in her screen and papers lately it was hard to think of anything else. "Okay, well...has anyone, you know, talked to her about it?"
No one responded.
"Oh c'mon guys, seriously?" She was met with shrugs and statements that she 'looked scary'. Jennie sighed and stood up with the rest of them as they finished up their lunch. Jennie couldn't help but take a look over at Lalisa again. The woman was eating a salad with one hand and reading from a tablet in the other. She seemed so serious. But calm.
Later, Jennie sat at her desk wired in, music blaring into her ears as her fingers typed. She paused for a second, as the distraction of an image passed over her mind. A face. Lalisa's face. She sighed and stood. I suppose my brain isn't going to let this go, she thought. Jennie looked up the office of Lalisa Manoban and found it in building D. Recica had a large campus of offices. Like most tech companies it was a beautiful place. Kitchens and cafeterias, gyms and showers, ping-pong and pool tables, gardens and fountains. It was all designed to keep people feeling okay here...so that they'd stay as much as possible and work long hours.
It was a short five minute walk over to building D. Jennie had never been inside even though she'd worked here since she'd graduated college. She actually hadn't been inside most buildings. She went up the elevator to the third floor, found the office, and gave it a knock. When no one answered she tried the knob. It was open.
Slowly Jennie peered in and saw Lisa inside, typing at her laptop. The office was very nice, especially compared to Jennie's shared office. There was a couch and beautiful bookcases filled to the brim on the wall opposite it. They led to a very large desk and behind that large windows that seemed to have a beautiful view behind them, however the blinds were drawn and shut. "Ms. Manoban?" Jennie asked.
Lisa looked up from her computer for a moment, registered Jennie's face and looked back down. "Mhm?" Was all she let out.
Jennie walked into the office. She wasn't sure if she was welcome as the blonde woman didn't seem to give any indication of emotion. Her face calm and solemn, her eyes moved along the screen methodically. "Um, I'm Jennie Kim. I'm a programmer here. I'm on the Iris project." Jennie paused for the other woman to say something. Lisa simply kept typing at whatever she was typing at, not even looking up. Jennie continued, "Well, to get to the point Lalisa-" Jennie paused, expecting the woman not to like it that she called her by a first name. It didn't seem to phase her, "Basically, ever since you've been assigning work deadlines, and you've been doing a great job, it's just, a little bit, sort of...too much for us."
Lisa stopped typing. She looked up from her computer and at Jennie for less than a second before looking back down, "Okay."
Jennie's eyes widened and she let a nervous smile spread on her face, "Okay?"
Lisa's eyebrows raised as if to say "Yes, that's what I said, why are you still here?"
Jennie nodded, "Okay. Thanks." She backed out of the room and shut the door, walking back to her desk.
In her office, Lisa waited a few moments before looking up at the door, her face still solid. She looked back down and opened a file labeled "personnel", the file she'd been given of her workers before she'd started. It was slightly more detailed than the public one and supposed to be kept private as it was really only for security reasons. Lisa looked through them anyways.
Quickly, she found Jennie's file, reading the basic information first.
Kim, Jennie.
Goes by "Jennie".
DOB: 16/1/1991.
POB: South Korea (Grew up in Auckland, New Zealand).
Age: 26
Ethnicity: Asian.
Black hair.
Brown eyes.
5'5.
103 pounds.
Lisa looked up from the file and closed her eyes. Also, she thought, Great feline eyes, nice smile, quite large breasts, a filled out figure... Lisa shook her head and chided herself. She passed the résumé and other details and read on to personal statements. These are statements coworkers give describing each other after their first year of working together.
Jennie is the best. She's always happy and fun.
Jennie is just a ball of sunshine.
I literally just find Jennie when I'm having a bad day. Her smile is always there and makes me happier just seeing it!
Lisa read on. They were all basically the same. This girl, she thought, the tiniest bit of a smile playing at her lips, She's my opposite. The smile faded. How annoying.
"Each of the three projects listed will receive one new employee. We can hire one experienced hire and two graduates. Each project team must have one representative email me as to why they need the experienced hire. I will work on making deadlines more manageable. Lalisa Manoban." Taemin stopped reading the email and looked over to Jimin who shrugged,
"Okay, maybe not a complete bitch."
"Wow, how touching,"
"Look," Jimin said, spinning in his office chair, "She only did it cause it was work. It's not like this lady healed puppies and cured cancer. She saw a way to better optimize us and she took it. It's not like she actually cares about us. Honestly, I have no idea how Jennie swung it."
Jennie spoke up, "I don't know, it's almost like if you go talk to someone they'll actually help you." Her three officemates all leaned out of their chairs and looked over to her, "Thank you, Jennie," they said in unison groans to Jennie's snickering. She was looking through the personnel file as she did, finding the woman she'd met.
Manoban, Lalisa. DOB: 27/3/1990. Age 27.
The rest was just some work and educational background Jennie didn't bother reading. There weren't any personal statements as per usual. She supposed they brought her on rather fast.
As the day wound down Jennie decided she'd finish her work from home. She said bye to her friends and headed to the elevator. Just as it was about to close a hand stopped it and caused it to re-pen. Inside walked Lisa.
"Oh, hi," Jennie smiled wide as Lisa walked in and leaned against the back of the elevator. It was literally the farthest from Jennie someone could have gotten, "Um, thanks for being so responsive to me earlier. It means a lot. To all of us. I know you're not technically our boss but our boss takes your words to heart."
Lisa was uncomfortable. Her phone had died and she had no way of looking busy. Finally the elevator doors opened and she was able to leave quickly, walking ahead of Jennie.
Jennie wasn't to be left behind. She rushed out of the elevator almost in a skip, bouncing next to Lisa. "So how are you liking the area, are you from here?"
"No," Lisa answered. She didn't feel like answering, but simple 'yes or no's would be easy enough. The two women walked to the parking lot and Jennie continued,
"Where are you from?" No answer. "What'd you do before this?" No answer. Jennie didn't stop though.
This girl really won't take a hint, Lisa thought. Jennie just kept coming at her, enthusiasm not dropping.
Jennie took in the other woman's figure as she asked her questions. Her eyes bounced off Lisa's long dress. The blonde girl had a lithe figure, like a dancer, and pale skin that Jennie couldn't help but think contrasted nicely with her own naturally white complexion. She had a few inches on Jennie, maybe two or three, but not many.
"Are you annoyed by my questions?" Jennie asked.
"Yes." lisa said quickly. Jennie just laughed,
"You'll probably just have to get used to it if I'm honest." Jennie stopped at a car. "This is me, see you tomorrow. Have a good night."
Lisa kept walking to her car. This day had not been her first encounter with Jennie. In fact, Lisa had noticed Jennie many times in the last month. She didn't really admit that to herself though. I'll need to keep that girl far away.
The next day Lisa sat in her usual spot alone in the cafeteria and ate her salad, her tablet in the other hand as she read her book.
"Hi," a voice said above her and then the table shook slightly as someone sat in the seat across from her. She looked up with wide, surprised eyes to see Jennie. She quickly looked back at her book.
Jennie had been eyeing Lisa from across the cafeteria. Something in her felt sad when Lisa sat alone. So she decided to do something about it. "Mind if I sit here," Jennie asked as she sat across from Lisa.
"Yes," Lisa replied.
Jennie laughed, "Figured as much." Still, Jennie unpacked her lunch and began to eat in silence. Occasionally she'd look up at her tablemate and of those times occasionally they would make eye contact only for Lisa to look back down at her book quickly again. It made Jennie want to giggle but she held it back by just smiling.
"Do you always eat a salad for lunch?" Jennie asked. No response. "Did you get my email about the new hire?"
"Yes," Lisa responded.
"Ah, so you'll talk to me about work," Jennie smiled, "Where'd you work before?" No response. "Okay, well then, relevant work." Jennie had wondered about Lisa for most of the night before. She'd wondered if Lisa was anti-social in a shy way or in a way to create a position of power. It didn't really matter to Jennie. She'd decided she was intrigued...and attracted. Jennie had few sexual experiences, and didn't really stick a label on herself. She knew what she liked when she liked it. She was starting to like Lisa.
Jennie pulled out her phone, "You know, I'm gonna Google you."
"Yes, salad for lunch. Always." Lisa said suddenly. Jennie looked up at Lisa and cocked her head in confusion.
"Wow, five words," Jennie smiled. It was the most Lisa had said to her as of yet. The redhead had a prettier voice than Jennie had realized. "You don't want me to Google you that bad, huh?" Of course, Jennie did it anyway. A few pages came up. Some news articles. And then more. And more. Jennie's eyes widened as she got into them, getting a painting of Lisa's life.
Lisa had made a name for herself when she was still in college, turning around a major company as an intern to become a model for efficiency. Out of college she'd applied that model to numerous nonprofits. Environmental organizations, children's hospitals, anywhere she could. She'd dropped off the radar for a year and recently popped back up here, at Recica.
"Lalisa," Jennie said, "This is amaz-" But Lisa was gone. Jennie had been so focused she didn't notice the other woman leave. Jennie read on, trying to find something that pointed to Lalisa's behavior. But the few counts of people commenting on Lisa's personality stated something similar to what Jennie could see. Words like cold, calm, serene, solemn. One repeatedly came up that she hadn't seen herself though. Kind.
Jennie finished her lunch and went back to her office, still mesmerized by the articles. As she walked, though, a pop up appeared on her screen. An email. From Lisa.
"Please come to my office when you can today. I'd like to discuss a new position for you."
A new position? Jennie thought, She doesn't have the authority to do that. And I like my position.
Jennie figured she may as well get this done now. She turned around and headed out of the building over to Lisa's office. Once again she knocked, knocked again, and then turned the knob to find Lisa exactly where she was the day before. Jennie walked in and sat across from her.
"So?" Lisa asked.
"Um...you called me here?" Jennie said with an amused smile.
"The attachment," Lisa responded.
Jennie's eyes went wide and she pulled out her phone again. The email had had an attachment, she'd just missed it. She opened it up. "Shit, sorry."
The job described was for Jennie to keep her job but take on additional duties. Namely, be the chief advisor to Lisa. She was to go over Lisa's requests and schedules and use her technical knowledge to ensure their feasibility. She would need to schedule daily meetings with Lisa. It came with a $5,000 salary raise. The paper made sure to stipulate that neither of them were each other's bosses. It was purely an advisory role and their departments remained separated.
"So?" Lisa repeated.
"Um, heh," Jennie smiled and peered at the redhead. It was a job that seemed too good to be true. But here it was in writing, "Yeah, I'll do it."
"Good," Lisa said, still typing. Jennie squinted as she watched Lisa's lips. For a split second she thought she'd seen a smile tickle the corner. Jennie shuddered internally at the thought. If Lisa was this beautiful, she couldn't imagine how breathtaking it would be if a smile appeared.
"Is...is that all for now?" Jennie asked. Lisa nodded. Jennie stood up and nodded as well. "Okay, well, awesome! I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other. I guess that's good for me, not so much for you, heh," Jennie laughed.
What am I doing? Lisa thought. She couldn't get a grasp of her mind or feelings. Usually her mind ran the show, her feelings took a far, far back seat. Now it wasn't that they switched, just neither of them could seem to understand anything.
Jennie stuck her hand out across the desk. "Thank you for the opportunity," she said, holding in a laugh from the formality of professionalism. Lisa looked at her hand and stood with a sigh, wrapping hers around Jennie's. Jennie looked into Lisa's eyes and Lisa finally looked back for longer than a second. Jennie then tried to pull away but Lisa's hand didn't let her go. No, instead, it pulled.
Jennie had to put her other hand out to keep herself from face-planting into the desk as Lisa pulled her. She caught herself and didn't have time to form a thought as she looked up at the woman who pulled her to see her face approaching. Jennie felt a soft hand cup her cheek and the hand that was in hers let go. Lisa's hands held Jennie's cheeks and tilted her face slightly as Jennie held herself up on the desk.
Then their lips met. Jennie melted immediately. Her surprise gave way instantly, instead turning to holding onto the moment as her eyes quickly fluttered shut and her lips puckered and morphed into Lisa's. She breathed in deeply, taking in the redhead's fragrance as she did, only to let her breathe back out and letting the smallest of moans escape. In the kiss Jennie felt something she hadn't seen or heard or felt from Lisa yet. A warmth.
Lisa held the remarkably soft skin of her coworker as the kiss started and didn't let go. Her eyes were heavy but barely open as the kiss started. She watched Jennie accept the kiss in an instant and let her own eyes drift shut as well. It was so warm. So delicious. So all-encompassing.
But she let it go quickly. Only a few seconds did the kiss last before Lisa released it, Jennie's face still in her hands.
Jennie's eyes opened second to see Lisa just inches from her, a small close-lipped smile on the corner of her lips. The sight made Jennie weak in the knees for a moment as she smiled back. But the smile faded quickly.
"You're..." Lisa said, pausing, "You're so annoying."
Jennie's brow furrowed as Lisa bopped her nose, causing her to stumble back five steps. Lisa hadn't put any force behind it, but the words combined with the action had made Jennie literally trip backwards. She looked at Lisa, who sat back at her desk as if nothing had happened and began typing again. Jennie swallowed, tried to say something, decided not to, and left.
So that's the first chap, for this new story :)
Please let me know if there's something strange.