HOW YOU LIKE THAT | JENLISA

Chapter 11

Jennie

That evening, Lisa didn't show up at the dinner table, and Sorn was missing as well.

"Where's Lisa and Sorn?" I asked.

"Lisa refused to come down for dinner, so I sent a maid to check on her. Sorn has a bit of a headache and said that she wants to lie down in her room."

This is where I will be put to test. If I could prove to Nichkhun that I could get Lisa to eat without throwing tantrums, they would likely end my probation period and keep me here as Lisa's permanent caregiver. Well, at least until she does regain her memories.

I stood up from the table. "I'll go see that she eats her dinner."

Nichkhun gave me a grateful smile, "Good luck with that." His eyes rested on the plate that I filled with food. "But I would suggest for you not to force her, if she doesn't want to eat."

Bambam sniggered, while smiling coyly at me.

I didn't step on his tail, so I didn't understand what this hostility was all about. And someday I was going to ask him what his problem was.

I carried some of Lisa's food on a plate and began climbing the stairs. When I reached her room, I heard someone talking, so I stopped outside of her bedroom, not wanting to pry into the conversation.

"Do you understand what I'm saying? I know you can." The maid's tone was commanding. I recognised her as Diana. "Don't act smart with me! You tell the caregiver something, and I don't need to remind you what happens after that."

I was appalled by what I'd heard and how the maid was talking to Lisa. What didn't she want me to find out?

"Are you going to eat your dinner or not!?" she scowled.

I was also horrified by the way that she was treating her boss. Even though Lisa wasn't exactly in the right state of her mind, it didn't change the fact that she was still the heir and the eldest grandchild of the Manobans. Before the boating accident, Lisa was the head of the Manoban household. I didn't think the maid would have had any right to speak to Lisa like that if she knew better.

Lisa was reassembling a complicated toy robot; her concentration was on what she was doing as she completely disregarded the fuming maid.

"Fine, suit yourself!" She emptied the plate of food into the bin.

Unable to control myself, I knocked on the door and stepped inside.

"Hey, Jen." I watched as her demeanour changed completely. She sounded nothing like she did a few seconds ago. "Were you standing outside for long?"

She was checking to see how much I'd heard of everything that she'd said before I entered the room. I shook my head, "I just came here to check on Lisa, since she didn't show up downstairs for dinner."

She stood up and took the plate filled with food from me. "Lisa doesn't want to eat, and I've tried my best to convince her to. Rebellious behaviour is punished in this household. She can skip dinner for tonight."

"That's not for you to decide, and I'm sure she's hungry. I can get her to eat something."

Diana's face remained impassive. "If she gives everyone a hard time, she skips dinner. Those are the rules and I hope you will follow them too. You have to be strict with Lisa, Ms. Kim; otherwise, she would do as she pleases. Now, if you'll excuse me."

She gave Lisa a look filled with vehemence and stormed out of the room, while closing the door behind her.

I sat on the bed beside Lisa, but she paid no attention to me. Her full concentration was on building the robot from scratch and, by the looks of it, she was doing a good job.

"Lisa." I called her to bring her attention to me.

Nichkhun had informed me that if I were to talk to Lisa, I needed to address her by her name even if we were alone in the same room because she had a hard time focusing on conversations and because of her memory loss; she didn't understand certain words.

She looked up at me, with her golden-brown eyes cutting through mine. "Jen." her voice was almost a whisper. And just then I noticed her bottom lip. It had a little blood on it. There were spots of blood on her lower lip, like someone had tried to force her to eat. I closed my eyes as I felt a wave of ferocious anger build up inside of me, momentarily blinded by fresh tears. I quickly wiped them away.

"Lisa, sweetie, can you tell me who did this to you?" I touched her cheek and felt the softness of it on my fingers. I willed her to look at me.

She continued to stare down at her robot, while trying to fix it. "Come on, you can trust me with your secret. I won't tell anyone. I promise."

It was no use. She wouldn't talk about it. Then I was struck by an idea, but I wasn't sure if it would work. The file that contained information about Lisa mentioned that she had a sweet tooth.

I left her alone and went back downstairs. I spent the rest of the evening baking a peanut butter chocolate cake and just before bedtime; I brought it upstairs to her. I knew that she would love the cake because my aunt used to love it, and I baked it for her until the month that she died. I saw a flicker of happiness when Lisa saw what I'd brought her. She ate the cake in four bites, not bothering with the fork or the spoon that I'd brought her. The icing was smeared all over her mouth, so I dabbed her mouth with a towel.

When she was done with one slice, she reached towards the second one, but I pushed it away from her reach. "If you tell me who hurt you, I'll give you more cake."

She just stared at me like an adorable child with shining goo-goo eyes.

"If you tell me the truth, no one will hurt you. I'm your friend, Lisa. You need to trust me."

"Friend." She repeated.

"Was it Diana?"

She stared at me for a full one minute. I'd learned not to feel uncomfortable under her scrutiny. A few seconds later, she said, "It was... her."

I gave her the plate with the last slice of cake, like I had promised and left to go to bed.

The next morning, I told Nichkhun everything, and he came upstairs to Lisa's room to check the puncture marks on her bottom lip. He seemed disturbed by it, and couldn't believe that Diana would hurt Lisa.

"Lisa, is it true what Jen is saying? Did Diana hurt you?"

"Lisa, tell your brother the truth."

She began breathing erratically, gripping her hair tightly and started rocking back and forth repeatedly, while screaming bloody murder.

I was frozen in place watching this gorgeous, and innocent person going over the edge.

Nichkhun caught my hand and dragged me out of the bedroom and locked it from the outside. He pulled out his phone and called the nurse to come upstairs urgently while I heard things being thrown across the room inside, followed by the sound of loud crashing.

"Jackson, I need Diana removed from this house. Right now!" Nichkhun yelled into the phone. He was shaking when he hung up, and he had fresh tears in his eyes as he leaned his back against the wall. "I'm sorry you had to see Lisa like this. Sometimes she gets ticked off by certain people, so you have to be careful about what you say to her."

Hesitantly, I touched his shoulder, and he placed his hand on mine. His emerald eyes were shining with unshed tears. "People told me that she was better off in a home, a private facility that gave care to someone like her. But I couldn't do that to her... she's my sister. I wanted her to stay here with the people that love and care for her."

I nodded, "I know. You did what you thought was the best for her."

"But she's getting hurt because I trusted the wrong people, Jen."

Nichkhun allowed me to pull him into a hug, and all I wanted to do was take away his pain and suffering. I just rubbed his back in soothing circles. "I promise no one will ever hurt Lisa from now on."

And I vowed to make that happen.