Forever Manoban (Jenlisa Adaptation)

Chapter 14

She looked over at me. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I was just wondering about Lalisa Manoban, that’s all.”

She sighed and looked back at the road. I looked out the window and put my headphones in. I pressed play and started singing as we merged on the U S 1-9. Lisa tapped me on the arm. I took out my headphones and looked at her.

“Are you going to ignore me the whole way there?” She asked.

“Are you going to tell me a little bit about Lalisa Manoban?” I smiled in a cocky way.

She sighed and shook her head. I could tell I was pissing her off, so I put my headphones back in. She yanked the headphone out of my ear, “Hey, what the hell Lisa?”

She laughed, “Take those things out you stubborn girl and I’ll talk.”

I knew I’d win; I always do, but if it got to be too much for her, I would tell her to stop.

“My sister’s name is Somi, and I had a twin brother Bambam.”

I gasped as my eyes widened, “How the hell could you not tell me you were a twin?”

She sighed and took a hold of my hand, “Are you going to ask a million questions or are you going to let me finish?”

I twisted my face contemplating what to say, “Ok, I promise not to ask any questions at all, go ahead.”

“Are you sure?” She seriously asked.

I shook my head and made the zip my lip motion across my mouth. She smiled and continued; “Bambam died when he was 7 years old from a virus that attacked his heart.” I swallowed hard. I wanted to throw my arms around her and comfort her because I knew how hard this was for her to tell me.

“My mom and dad had a hard time with his death and their way of dealing with it was to get pregnant with my sister. When Somi was eighteen, she got pregnant from some guy who tossed her to the side when he found out. You asked me why my company is involved with the autism charity; it is because my sister’s 5 year old son, my nephew is autistic.”

I put my hand on her leg, “I’m sorry Lisa, you don’t have to say anymore.”

My sympathy ran deep for her, and my stomach was in knots for behaving the way I did and forcing her to tell me about her family.

She put her hand on top of mine and glanced at me, “It’s ok; I want to tell you.”

“My father built Manoban Enterprises from the ground up and started grooming me when I was around thirteen. I worked hard, learned fast, went to Harvard and 2 years ago he retired. He handed over his company to me, and in those 2 years I doubled the company’s profits. So now you know about my family.”

“What about past relationships?”

I knew that was crossing the line with her, but I was hoping she would feel comfortable enough to tell me since she was telling me about her family.

She pressed her lips together and took in a deep breath, “I do not talk about my past relationships, there’s no point, what’s past is past and why revisit it. I don’t have a girlfriend, nor do I want one.”

Her comment hurt deep down; just hearing her say she didn’t want a girlfriend was heartbreaking. It’s for the best though, because I could never be her girlfriend and she could never be my boyfriend. I figure if I keep telling myself that, I’d actually convince myself.

“Why not, even if you’ve been hurt before, you pick yourself up and move on. Everyone’s been hurt at least once in their life, some more than others, but you have to make a choice what to do with that hurt.” I sounded way too casual about that, and who was I to talk anyway.