The Stripper (Jenlisa)

Chapter 18

"A good day"

NOTE: For a better reading listen to the song "Superman by Joe Brooks" when I tell you to on the chapter :)

Jennie's POV

You know when you are sleeping and wake up with a different energy? A good energy? That's how I woke up today, stretching in the huge bed feeling all my muscles more relaxed than usual. I opened my eyes looking around the room where I had slept, it was big, luxurious and at the same time comfortable. I confess that I was still very tired, I rolled over in bed several times thinking about everything about Lisa's life. Imagining how hard it was being for her to face her father's disease.
From the little I knew Alzheimer was incurable, and it only got worse with time. Marco was too young to have such evil, but unfortunately he does. The man seemed happy, so far I only saw smiles on his face. Mrs. Manoban and Yaya seemed to be conformed to live with the disease. Only for Lisa it was more complicated, and I could even understand.
Last night had really left her too fragile, I remember exactly the sad glow of her eyes as she stared at me, it was heartbreaking to see her like that. But what really left me surprised was the request for a hug. Does Lisa consider me a friend? Or did that only happened because she was in her worst moment?
No...
Lisa wasn't like that, I saw her as fully determined and sincere person, and to imagine her in another way was too hard for my head. But then, what did she expect from me? Maybe nothing, only a friendship. It was clear that Lisa kneeled at Ruby Jane's feet, or better, at my feet. But it wasn't like that that I wanted her. I wanted her, I wanted to feel her affection, I wanted to be cared for, loved. But at that level I hadn't gotten in.
Ruby Jane conquered Lauren with the body, the desire. And I? What had I done? Nothing. What had I conquered in Lisa?
I got up from bed leaving all those ideas behind. Thinking about so many things would leave me confused. So I had made a decision. I would make this weekend something special, I wouldn't worry about Ruby Jane, or with the fact that Lisa was my boss. Like she had asked, we would only be Lisa and Jennie. Nothing more.
After a hot bath, I put on a pair of jeans, ripped in the knees, and a gray blouse that left my stomach showing. My hair was loose and slightly wavy. I looked in the mirror one last time before leaving the room, by now everyone should already be at the table for breakfast.
I descended the stairs without making a noise, I heard some laughter coming from outside that I guessed to be from Mr. Manoban and Yaya. They weren't in the dining room, through the huge window I saw them outside sitting at the table, eating breakfast. I approached them slowly.
"Let's say that I believe that she's not, but she should, she's very beautiful.'
Marco said to Lisa. Were they talking about me? Lisa let out a laugh at Mr. Manoban, throwing a little bread at him.
"Wasting food is a sin. Good Morning everyone."
I said as I approached the table. They all quickly looked at me, leaving me embarrassed. Lisa stared at me from head to toe as if she was analyzing every detail in me.
"Good Morning, Jennie!" Yaya said excitedly.
"See, Lisa? Camila is even religious."
"Dad!"
Lisa nudged him.
"Good Morning, Nini, sit with us." Lisa said smiling.
Nini? I had won a nickname from Lisa? Dammit! Stop being a silly little girl, Jennie, it's just a pet name. I smiled shyly, and approached her, there were two chairs, one beside Yaya and the other beside Lisa, I walked further away from that woman.
"Here, by my side."
Her tone was calm and at the same time decided. I sat beside her, receiving a beautiful smile.
"Did you sleep well?" she whispered while pouring me coffee.
I looked at her, seeing her doe eyes, they weren't sad like last night, they were happy, maybe.
"Yes, I slept very well, and you?"
"I slept very well too. Today we are going out, right?"
"We are?" I asked confused.
"Sure, Yaya is preparing my dad's birthday party for tomorrow and she wants us to help her pick up some things. I didn't want to go but she doesn't take a "no" for an answer."
I looked at Yaya who sent me a smile.
"That's a family thing."
Lisa smiled at me, probably causing another stupid smile on my face.
"It must be! Do you want a croissant? I didn't make them but they are great."
She said grabbing the small basket where were the croissants that had an amazing smell.
"Do you want to make me fat?"
"That's impossible."
"You should try, Jennie, they are really delicious.' Mr. Manoban spoke taking a bite out of one.
"I took her to "Le Café", dad, and guess what, she loved it!"
Mr. Manoban smiled.
"It wasn't for less, baby girl, that place is divine, tomorrow when I go to work at the company I'll stop by."
"Dad..." Lisa began.
"What? I can buy you one, and then we go to the company. I have a million problems to solve."
Dammit, a negative point. Marco had had another memory lapse, I just placed one hand over Lisa trying to tell her that everything was fine. She looked at me, took a deep breath and to my surprise she just nodded. She didn't go into a bad mood nor grumbled.
"Good Morning, good morning family."
A tall boy with dark hair and frowzy clothes spoke as he approached the table.
"You finally showed up, Bambam, I thought that you had already moved into Palisa's house."
Yaya spoke while typing on her phone.
"Not yet, but maybe one day. Sis! What a miracle to have your majestic presence here."
Lisa arched one brow, giving a fake smile to the boy who bowed at her in reverence.
"The prodigal son returns home."
"Always, right?"
"Of course."
The boy grabbed a glass of juice, and sat at the table to then look at me.
"Well, well. Unpublished facts, Lisa brought her girlfriend to meet the family?"
"This is Jennie Kim, Lauren's secretary at the company, my son." Mrs. Manoban spoke, serving the boy with small breads.
"You date your secretary?"
"No, Bambam, Jennie and I aren't dating."
This was getting annoying. Lisa's brother was the typical troublemaker. By his words and appearance, he cared little for others.
"Great then, the road is clear. Good Morning, Miss... Kim, right? "
"Yes." that was all I said.
Lisa got up from the table, to lean down and whisper in my ear:
"Have you finished?"
Feeling her breath against my skin made my entire body shiver. I stared at her, and now she seemed rather irritated.
"Yes, I have."
"Let's go then, I don't want to stay here."
I nodded and got up from the chair.
"But already? You didn't even let me get to know your secretary, sis. Stop being selfish."
His tone was provocative and mocking.
"You don't have to know her, and let alone speak with her. Let's go , Jennie."
-Excuse me, good morning Mr. and Mrs. Manoban.
Mr Manoban and Mrs. Manoban smiled, and I walked away. I walked behind Lisa who left stomping into the house.
"Let's go?" Yaya approached us.
Lisa huffed, putting her hands on her waist with a mean face.
"Geez, what happened?" Yaya asked confused.
"Bambam, ironical and provocative as always!"
"Lis, you know how he is. I don't know why you still get all worked up about it!"
Lisa was in pure rage. Maybe she didn't like her brother so much.
"Are we going or not?"
"We are going to take Jennie to meet LA. Tomorrow we'll take care of everything for dad's birthday party."
-Fine by me. You are going to love LA, Jen!"
"Jen?" Lisa asked, making me laugh.
"Yes, I imagine that her nickname is Jen, right?"
"Yes, Yaya. You nailed it."
"See?" she said smugly "I'll grab my bag and we can go."
The girl walked away, leaving us alone.
"Please don't take into account all the intimacy, ok?"
"Relax, it's okay."
"I'll take you to some really cool places today, Miss Kim."
"Are you going to discount something from my salary? For the tour?"
Lisa let out a relaxed laugh.
"I'll think about it. Do you really want to go with this outfit?"
I looked at her confused, wondering what was wrong with my clothes.
"Something wrong?"
"No! On the contrary, you look stunning, Jennie. I mean it..."
One minute for an awkward silence between us.
"Fuckboys will be all over you dressed so beautifully like this." she grumbled, making me smile.
If I didn't know how crazy Lisa was for Ruby Jane, I might even think that her attitude was pure jealousy. But it would be crazy of me to think such thing. So I just smiled. Within minutes we were already in the streets of LA. Lisa at every instant told stories about her and about the places where we passed by. It was good to know more of her, of her story and her life itself. She could be so different from the arrogant businesswoman that everyone imagined her to be.
"Lis! Today there's a mega Dodgers game, we could take Jennie to watch it."
Yaya gave the idea. Lisa seemed to be thinking as she drove her car.
"I don't think Jennie wants to go to a baseball stadium, Yaya."
"If it depends on me it's okay, we go, no problems."
I spoke calmly. Lisa looked at me and smiled.
"Are you sure? You do know how crowded it gets, right Miss Kim?"
"Yes, Miss Manoban. I know."
"Do you always treat each other so formally like this?"
Yaya asked from the backseat of the car, causing a relaxed laugh.
"Sometimes, yes, I like Jennie's surname." Lisa spoke staring at me.
"Is this serious? Or are you kidding?"
"I'm being very serious. I like Miss Kim's Korean blood."
The atmosphere had become tense. Our gazes crossed with certain mischievousness, and I wasn't sure if it was with this intention that Lisa had spoken.
"Well, let's go to the stadium? The game should start in half an hour."
In exactly twenty minutes the three of us were going through the huge crowd that entered the Dodgers' stadium. Lisa walked in the front, leading us through the best way, and Yaya made us get into the spirit, we bought snapbacks and jerseys, which suited Lisa really well. She was wearing light jeans that outlined her curves perfectly well, a blue jersey with the name of the team and a snapback. I literally never thought that I would ever see her like this.
"I found seats up there, come on."
Lisa spoke louder due to the big noise, the woman held my hand pulling me through the crowd. She was right, I had no idea of how much that place was crowded. We walked with some difficulty until we arrived at our seats.
"Finally!" she spoke sitting down.
"What heat is this, God?!" Yaya spoke as she fanned herself.
I sat next to Lisa, cussing inwardly the heat that made this morning. Luckily I was wearing light clothing despite being dark, however jeans. As soon as I crossed my legs beside Lisa, her eyes immediately landed on me. I knotted the hem of the team jersey, leaving my stomach completely showing, but I wouldn't care, I would prove to Lisa that it wasn't only Ruby Jane who knew how to seduce.
"Jesus, this is not working!" Lauren spoke taking her eyes off my legs, and fanning herself with the pamphlet she had received.
I held in a laugh, turning my snapback backwards.
"The game is about to start." Lisa informed.
"Do you want something to drink? You seem to be hot."
Lisa spoke staring at me, was it madness or was she eating me with her eyes?
"Yes I do."
"You look beautiful, Jennie."
"You too, Lisa."
She smiled and got up to get the drinks. Yaya who was beside her just casted us a mischievous smile. Lisa soon returned with soda and Popcorn. The game was pretty animated, the stadium was sold out . It was without a doubt exciting. And the Manoban family definitely loved that kind of game because both understood everything and some more. Lisa time or another explained me some pitches, and laughed at my lack of knowledge on the subject. I was good, and she seemed very happy to be here, she laughed a lot.
"I had already forgotten how good it is to watch a game like this."
"You should have more fun, leave work aside for a few hours."
"I can't, Jennie, I am alone and I have a lot of commitments."
"That can be paused for a moment of rest. It does wonders to the mind, you know?"
"I bet it does. I'll leave you in charge of that."
I didn't understand, but I just nodded. We paid attention back to the game, which luckily the team that Lisa and Yaya liked had won. We left the enormous stadium in pure joy. It was so weird to meet this more relaxed side of her, but it was being wonderful.
After there I met the entire downtown LA. Lisa and Yaya were great guides. We took a lot of pictures, against Lisa's wishes of course. She hated to take pictures, without reason of course, the Manoban family had an outstanding beauty.
"I spoke to mom, and she said that we should have lunch at home. Dad wants to spend more time with you, Lis."
Yaya said getting in the car.
"Alright, we are going home. Then I'll take you to meet the rest, Jennie."
The woman spoke gently, making me smile.