Jennie took a deep breath as the cab pulled to a stop in Lisa's driveway. During the whole drive over from Beverly Hills, she'd been rehearsing in her head exactly how to play it. She couldn't let Lisa see that she was upset. That much was essential. In her texts to Lisa last night, she had said she left with other people and gone to another club, and she needed to stick with that story. She'd been out all night club hopping. And whether or not Lisa had brought another girl home last night - it didn't matter to Jennie in the least. Nope, not at all. She couldn't care less.
That was the story. She just needed to keep it up long enough to pack her suitcase, charge up her phone, and get out. There'd be plenty of time to fall apart once she was back on her way to the airport.
She pasted a smile onto her face now as she stepped out of the cab and squinted into the glare of morning sunlight. There Lisa was in the doorway, watching her walk up the driveway toward the house. Lisa looked like she hadn't slept - still in the same dark jeans and grey t-shirt. Lisa must have had a fun night.
"Good morning," Jennie said, forcing her mouth to smile even wider when she came to a stop in front of Lisa.
Lisa wasn't smiling back. She was just standing there, watching Jennie with her head off to one side, resting against one of the doorposts. Just leaning there, like Lisa didn't quite have the strength to support her own body weight. She must have had a very fun night.
They stood studying each other for a moment, and Jennie wondered if Lisa was going to let her come in. Was there something inside she didn't want Jennie to see? Something, or someone?
Didn't matter, Jennie told herself, feeling her smile start to waver. Didn't-matter-didn't-matter-didn't-matter.
"Should I come back later?" she asked.
Lisa struggled to gather herself as she stood watching Jennie standing in front of her. Jennie was still in the same clothes from last night. Her face was scrubbed clean of makeup now and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but otherwise she looked just as she had the last time Lisa saw her. No bruises. No blood. She was fine. She was smiling, even. Lisa closed her eyes for a moment, sending up a silent word of thanks to whomever might be listening.
Lisa reached out towards Jennie, wanting nothing more than to take Jennie in her arms and squeeze her tight with every ounce of strength she had left. Lisa's hand just brushed Jennie's arm as she side-stepped and moved past Lisa through the doorway into the house.
"You look like you had a quite a night!" Jennie said to Lisa over her shoulder as she entered the living room.
Quite a night, Lisa thought. That was one way to put it. "Are you ok?" Lisa asked as she turned and followed Jennie inside.
"Of course!" Jennie said brightly. "I had so much fun last night!"
"You weren't answering your phone."
She pulled the phone out of her bag and showed Lisa the blackened screen. "Out of power," she explained. She reached the door to Lisa's bedroom and put her hand on the knob.
"Wait!" Lisa said, stumbling after Jennie and reaching out towards her again. "Jennie, just... wait. Just come here." Lisa needed to touch her right now. She needed to run her hands down the length of her body, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, to reassure herself that Jennie was really there. She was fine. She was safe. She'd just run out of power.
Jennie ignored Lisa's words and pushed the bedroom door open, bracing herself for whatever it was that Lisa didn't want her to see on the other side.
"Come here." Lisa said again as she followed Jennie through the bedroom door. "Where are you going?"
"To charge my phone." Jennie responded. She briefly scanned the room. At least the bed was unoccupied, she saw with some relief. There was no one else in the house. If someone had been here last night, they hadn't stayed for breakfast.
Lisa froze the moment the words were out of Jennie's mouth. "To charge my phone." Her phone. The phone that had been out of power all night. The phone Lisa had been calling and texting non-stop for the past five hours. How many texts had she sent Jennie last night? How many voicemails? Too many to count. She stood paralysed, powerless to stop Jennie, as she took her charger from her suitcase and plugged it into the wall.
Jennie left her phone on the bedside table to charge, and then hoisted her suitcase onto the bed, unzipping the main compartment. Get in and get out, she thought. She hadn't unpacked much yesterday, so it shouldn't take too long to gather her things. She headed towards the bathroom to round up the toiletries she'd left by the sink, keenly aware of the fact that Lisa was just standing there, saying nothing. Lisa just stood there with a look of horror on her face like a kid who was about to get caught with one hand in the cookie jar.
