Lisa pulled the door shut behind her and leaned against it heavily. She peered into the hotel living room and blinked her eyes as they adjusted to the dim light. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so utterly exhausted. Right now, she could barely summon the strength to stand.
Her head had been pounding for hours, ever since she cracked it against the low airplane ceiling on the runway in New York. She must have exacerbated her concussion from last week. And her stomach was still reeling from the motion sickness of the return flight - slightly less bumpy than the hellacious flight out, but not by much.
Of course, her car hadn't been there when she finally landed at LAX. Long since towed away to some impound lot. But there was no way she had the energy to worry about it tonight. Lisa had reached for her phone to let her assistant know, only to be reminded that her bat phone was gone too. She hadn't planned on coming back. Hadn't looked before she leapt. Just took a flying jump off the edge of the precipice. And now here she was at the bottom - bruised and battered, but still breathing.
Lisa ran her eyes around the room. It was pitch black but for the flickering light of the television screen. Had Jennie forgotten to turn it off before she went to bed? Lisa took a few steps forward before he realised that Jennie was lying there on the couch beneath a tousled blanket. She was slumped over with her head resting on the armrest, fast asleep.
There was an unfinished slice of pizza on a plate at her elbow. Her cell phone lay on the floor just beneath her hand. Jennie must have been holding it, waiting for a call, when sleep had overtaken her. Jennie must have been waiting up for her.
Lisa moved across the room to the television and stood watching the screen for a moment before she knelt to turn it off. The Princess Bride. It was just about at the end. The part where the hero goes back for the girl, but he's so broken down that he can't even move. He's completely paralysed from head to toe. The love of his life throws herself into his arms at long last, and he doesn't even have the strength to lift his head.
"Trust me, I know the feeling." Lisa said to the man on the screen.
She switched the TV off, casting the room into total darkness. There was a rustle of movement behind her, and she turned back once again toward the sleeping figure on the couch.
"Lisa?" Jennie whispered.
Lisa didn't answer. She crossed the room in two steps and slid onto the couch beside Jennie. Lisa pulled Jennie into her arms and rolled over, so that she lay flat on her back with Jennie's body resting on top of her. It was too dark to see Jennie's face, but she felt Jennie put her hands on each of her shoulders and arch her back to peer down at Lisa.
"Is that you?" Jennie whispered, her voice still thick with sleep.
Lisa smiled at the question. "Were you expecting someone else?"
Jennie lowered her head and nuzzled her face into the side of Lisa's neck. "Maybe I was."
"Who?"
"Mmmm..." Jennie murmured, shrugging her shoulders and running her hands over Lisa's chest. "I don't know. Maybe the bellmen?"
"Which one?"
"All of them." Jennie whispered.
Lisa let her eyes drift closed as Jennie slipped her hands beneath the fabric of Lisa's t-shirt. Jennie tugged at it, attempting to pull it up over Lisa's head. Lisa remained motionless, flat on her back, but Jennie was kneeling now. Her knees straddled Lisa's thighs as she got Lisa's shirt up over her head. Jennie traced her fingers downward and began working on Lisa's belt buckle.
"All of them." Lisa muttered, her eyes still closed. "Guess I should I get out of your way then."
"You can stay." Jennie answered.
Lisa reached behind her to flick on a table lamp. Then she braced her weight on her elbows to watch Jennie. She had Lisa's fly undone now, and she'd begun peeling off Lisa's jeans. Jennie's eyes were veiled, looking down as she struggled with the stiff fabric. Her teeth bit gently against her lower lip. She had her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and Lisa reached out a hand to tuck a loose strand behind her ear. Jennie was dressed in nothing but an oversized t-shirt, long enough to hit her at mid-thigh. Lisa saw now that it bore the logo from her band's most recent concert tour.
"Nice shirt." Lisa said, as Jennie finally got the jeans off. She moved to toss them aside, but Lisa took them from her hands. Lisa fished for something in one of the front pockets before she dropped the jeans onto the floor.
Jennie pulled her t-shirt taut in front of her and bent her head forward to look down at the logo. "My favourite band." she said.
"They're ok." Lisa said.
Jennie was still kneeling across Lisa's thighs, and Lisa pushed herself upright into a seated position so that their faces were nearly even. Jennie tilted her head to the side, the ghost of a smile on her lips, as she looked from the concert t-shirt back to Lisa's face.
"I heard a rumour they might be breaking up." Jennie said.
"That might be true."
Jennie shook her head. "No." Jennie replied. "Not true. I told Rosé to kill the story."
Lisa raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not sure that's your call to make."
"I can't let you quit, Lisa."
"And I can't go out on this tour..." Lisa said, "... unless you're coming with me."
They both remained still for a moment, examining each other's faces, trying to discern the full meaning behind the words. Jennie broke the silence first.
"Is that what you're asking me to do?" Jennie said. "Drop everything and go follow you around on tour for two months?"
No, Lisa thought. That wasn't the real question, was it? She had taken the engagement ring out of the pocket of her jeans a moment before, and she gripped it now in a closed fist at her side. Lisa had been carrying it around in her pocket all day long - all the way across the country and back again - fingering it every now and then to make sure it hadn't gotten lost somewhere along the way.
Did Jennie want Lisa to ask her again now? Was Jennie ready? If Lisa said the words, would the answer this time be different? It didn't matter, she realised, as she sat there studying Jennie's face. Lisa had no choice. She had to try. She had to close her eyes and leap, one more time - and pray that Jennie was ready to leap with her.
"I don't care." Lisa said aloud. "We can go to New York. We can stay in LA. We can go on tour, or not go on tour. It doesn't matter." Lisa lifted her hand and opened it, revealing the ring that rested now in the centre of her palm. "We can go anywhere you want." Lisa said. "Just let me put this ring where it belongs."
Jennie's eyes had left Lisa's face when she opened her hand, but Jennie met Lisa's gaze again now. Jennie's face was solemn. Her eyes sparkled in the lamplight, and Lisa saw the tears threatening to overflow.
Tears of joy or sadness? Lisa still didn't know the answer. She waited. She held her breath and watched as Jennie pressed her lips together and nodded. Slowly, Jennie lifted her left hand and extended it towards Lisa, spreading her fingers wide.
Yes, then? Was that a yes?
"You have to say it." Lisa told her. "I need to hear you say it, Jennie."
"Yes." Jennie whispered.
"Yes what?"
Jennie shifted her eyes to the side for a moment as a trace of uncertainty clouded her face. "Yes please?"
Lisa shook her head. Not good enough. "I need you to spell it out for me baby."
Jennie looked down at the ring again, still resting on Lisa's upturned hand. Jennie moved her own hand to cover Lisa's, so that the ring was trapped between their two palms. She was silent for a moment that felt like an eternity. Lisa sat frozen in place, eyes locked with hers.
Lisa watched as a single teardrop made its slow progress down Jennie's cheek and disappeared into the corner of her mouth. And at last Lisa heard the words she hadn't known she needed - the only words that could fill the hole Jennie had left in Lisa's life, the day she walked away.
"Lisa." Jennie said, her voice soft and low. "Lisa, you're the one. I love you. Will you marry me?"
"Yes." Lisa answered. "I will."
And then Lisa dipped her head to kiss Jennie.
And then Lisa slid the ring home.
