"… And this is why I have decided to assign case Lee to Lisa-ssi. Jennie-ssi, you and your team did an incredible job. I'm sure next time the case will be yours!"
Lisa and her team cheered and shook hands, while Jennie looked down, clenching her jaw and gipping the files in her hands tightly.
After their boss congratulated Lisa and patted Jennie's back with a gentle smile, the latter and their team exited the room quickly, not even sparing a glance at Lisa or at her teammates.
Once outside, Jennie threw her files on the desk in her office with force before walking away with loud footsteps towards the restrooms.
She slammed the door shut and groaned angrily, hoping that no one from Lisa's team would have walked in the corridor outside of the restroom in that moment to not let them have the satisfaction of knowing how much her loss had affected her.
She had been studying case Lee for weeks, hoping that her boss would have chosen her to lead the defense of the convicted. She and her team had worked harder than ever to obtain the case, Jennie more than anyone. She knew she was rookie the head of her opponent team, and consequently less experienced, so she had made double effort in her preparation, but, in the end, she had lost anyway.
Jennie was about to yell out how much she hated Lalisa Manoban, how much she would have just wanted her out of her sight for at least a thousand years, but in the end she just slammed a hand against the sink instead and stopped herself.
She was sure she wouldn't have been so angry and disappointed if it had been someone else to take her spot, but the fact that Lisa had defeated her made her absolutely furious. The other already teased her at every occasion and made her run to the peak of her career more difficult than she would have ever imagined, but from now on Jennie would have had to see her annoying smirk directed at her accompanied by her gloating for her win every single day and she absolutely wasn't ready.
Plus, she was really disappointed that she didn't win. It was true it was her first fight for a case since she had come to work at the firm and that she would have had a lot of other occasions, but it still hurt.
Jennie washed her face with cold water to stop the need to punch something or someone, then exited the restroom, careful to look around the hallway to see if someone was around before moving. She didn't meet anyone apart from some people from her team on the way to her work desk, so she just waved at them, grabbed her bag and walked out of the office.
She walked for a while without a specific destination, then, when the sky got dark, she aimed for the bar at the end of the street, a crowded place in which she always went with her teammates and that she hoped Lisa and her team didn't frequent.
The lawyer walked to the counter and ordered a drink with a low grumble before sitting on one of the stools there and taking her head in her hands with a huff.
She thought of all the hours spent studying the case at night, giving up on nights out with her friends, then sulked at the prospect of having to see an even more insufferable Lisa every day from now on.
She whined, resting her forehead on the counter as people walked past her and music blasted in the room through the speakers. Groups of people laughed loudly and danced in the dimly lit place, but Jennie tried to ignore everything in order to focus only on her misery.
She spent about an hour munching on some snacks and ranting on the phone with her best friend, yelling over the loud music about how much she hated Lisa Manoban and her stupid better defense plan and stupid experience and incredibly stupid and annoying little smile, until she felt someone approaching her side.
