possibility days | JENLISA

tenderness

Some mornings, Jennie runs.

It's an unexpected interest – if anything, she hadn't expected herself to be so enamored with something that requires her to be up so early in the morning – but then again, she hits the point where she actually starts looking forward to her morning runs, and that's that.

Some mornings, Jennie runs with Irene. Which is also unexpected, considering how she is often out of her orbit, shoots and shifts considered, but by some stroke of luck Jennie finds herself with a couple of non-shooting weeks that coincide with Irene's normal hour shifts.

(On the day Irene first joined her, Jennie nearly choked on her water in surprise. She'd been taking a pause near one of the benches when her friend approached casually, nudging her shoes with hers with a soft, "Hey." Jennie looked up, confused for a split-second before ultimately letting out a squeal: "YOU.")

"So," Irene begins, falling in step beside Jennie, matching her steady rhythm. "Tell me about Lisa Manoban."

She huffs, trying to speak through the heavy thudding in her chest. Where do I start? she thinks, noting the way her heart races just with the thought. "What about Lisa?" she asks instead, catching her breath.

Irene laughs. The way she sounds, it's almost like she isn't running at all. "Come on, Jennie. The two of you are all over my feeds. You're doing pretty well."

"Had you stayed," says Jennie, grinning as she slows her pace a bit. "You'd have been included in all those events."

"Don't take this the wrong way but—guarding you was an absolute nightmare," says Irene, and Jennie nudges her with an elbow in retaliation. "Seriously. I've had more peaceful patrols."

"You make it sound like I'm a constant crime scene."

"Correction – a high value target," says her friend, raising her finger to make a point. "The only bigger nightmare was Carlos."

Jennie laughs, rounding the bend and slowing further. "Remember that time with the paparazzi—"

"Which one? The one where you signed the wrong posters?"

"In my defense, it was dark—"

"The ambush interview spoilers were so unnecessary. The look on Carlos' face—"

"—made it all worth it, right?" Jennie sprints for a bit, leaving Irene behind for a handful of seconds before losing steam altogether as she rounds the final corner, ending where she often does: In front of her favorite bakery for breakfast.

When Irene realizes where they are, she laughs out loud, her head thrown back. "Jennie."

"What?"

She simply gestures at the bakery door. "You have never changed at all, have you?"

*

Jennie gets the bagels while Irene gets the coffee, just like old times, and they eat breakfast in the brunette's flat. She tells her more about Lisa in between bites and sips, taking a peek at her phone every so often.

"Let me guess – shoot break 'til what, next Friday? But the two of you are keeping in touch all along, and it's not part of some strategy, is it?"

Jennie takes a long gulp from her coffee. "Strategy? Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Well, when people have a million or so followers between them, it kind of just pops up." Irene shrugs. "It's just a thing."

She opens her mouth to say more, but she notices her phone screen blinking so she goes for that instead, barely catching Irene roll her eyes. When she unlocks her phone, it's Lisa; of course, it is.