a wife's regret // chaelisa

chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Chaeyoung hadn't really expected to see the handsome Ms. Manoban again after that disastrous first time, yet there Lisa was, waiting outside the restaurant the following evening after her shift ended. Lisa had looked moody and uncertain, leaning against the wall outside the staff entrance. When she saw her, Chaeyoung hesitated, not sure why Lisa was there.

"Oh . . . sir, are you waiting for someone? Would you like me to deliver a message?" Lisa was frowning down at her in consternation and seemed a little bewildered.

"Have you eaten?" Lisa asked unexpectedly, and her brow wrinkled as she tried to make sense of the bizarre situation.

"Not really." She shook her head.

"Have dinner with me?" The request was so abrupt that it took a few seconds to sink in.

"Uh . . ."

"Look, I know how this must seem," Lisa acknowledged gruffly. "But I assure you, I am not in the habit of lurking around outside restaurants and ambushing the female staff with invitations to dinner. I won't harm you in any way. I'm not some creepy pervert or anything. I just . . . I just . . ."

Chaeyoung waited, watching in absolute fascination as Lisa glowered in frustration and ran an agitated hand through her hair while swearing beneath her breath. Lisa dropped her gaze to the ground as she made a visible effort to gather her scattered wits.

"God," Lisa was muttering to herself. "I sound like a complete psychopath . . ." Chaeyoung's lips curved into a slight smile at the tone of disgusted self-discovery, but she quickly wiped it from her face when Lisa shifted her eyes back to her.

"I had no intention of coming back, but I wanted to see you again."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Lisa sounded so baffled that the smile crept back into her eyes. "Will you have dinner with me?"

"Okay," she said lightly, and her frown deepened. Lisa nodded, pushing herself away from the wall and turning to lead the way before pausing to turn back to her.

"Do you have absolutely no sense of self-preservation?" Lisa growled, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise at her stern tone. "Promise me that after tonight you won't agree to have dinner with any more strange women off the street! It's dangerous. There are all manner of crazies out there. Murderers and rapists and God knows what else. You have to be more careful, Chaeyoung. Promise me."

"I promise," she vowed, a little stunned by this unexpected protectiveness from a woman she barely knew.

Lisa had smiled in relief and Chaeyoung noticed, for the first time, that Lisa had a rather sexy dimple in her right cheek. "Good. Then let's eat . . ."

Lisa had been in an unpredictable mood since she had confessed, earlier that day, to pawning her wedding and engagement rings. Chaeyoung eyed her wife nervously across the dinner table. They tended to have late dinners, so Ella had been fed and put to bed an hour before. She had toyed with the idea of skipping dinner, but she knew that it would be foolish to miss any meals when she was already so weak, and eating in her room would be the coward's way out. Lisa had insisted, soon after her arrival, that they dine together. Lisa seemed to want everyone to think that this was some kind of happy reconciliation. Not that anyone other than the maids had been around to see them together. Bambam, Alice, and their thirteen-month-old baby—Ten—had resumed their family vacation in Knysna and wouldn't be back in Cape Town for another few days.

Chaeyoung was still amazed by how much things had changed since she left. She wondered where Lisa's friends were. Jennie Kim, her business partner at BLACKLABEL Jewellers Inc. and good friend, used to be a regular visitor in their home; she had liked the Korean, although Chaeyoung knew she must have wondered what Lisa was doing with a small-town hick like her.