Jennie ducked her head and let her hair swing in front of her face as she and Lisa made their way past the doorman at the front entrance of the Beverly Hilton hotel. She recognised him as the same doorman who helped her get a cab after she checked out this morning, and she silently prayed that he wouldn't remember her.
"It's an honour to have you stay with us, Ms Manoban," the doorman said to Lisa.
Good, Jennie thought. No one was going to notice her with a celebrity at her side, attracting all the attention. She lifted her head, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Welcome back, miss," the doorman said.
Lisa turned her head and glanced at the man in surprise, but Jennie kept walking. "Have you been here before?" she asked softly in Jennie's ear as they made their way inside.
Jennie forced her face register a look of innocent surprise. "No." She shook her head. "Must have me confused with someone else."
She held her breath as they headed across the lobby, but she didn't recognise the hotel manager who met them at the bank of elevators to escort them to their suite.
"Your personal assistant was just here with your things, Ms Manoban," the manager was telling Lisa. "Everything should be ready for you."
They came to the suite door and Jennie was just congratulating herself on making it inside without anyone else recognising her when a bellman stepped out of the bedroom. "Thank you, Freddie," the manager said.
The bellman nodded to all three of them. "Your luggage has all been taken care of, Ms Manoban," the bellman said to Lisa. "Welcome back, miss," he said to Jennie.
She froze, feeling Lisa squinting at her suspiciously as the bellman and hotel manager left them alone in the room. Jennie was starting to dislike this hotel intensely. Way too hospitable for its own good.
"Did he confuse you with someone else too?"
Jennie shrugged, and then clapped a palm to her forehead as if she'd just figured out the mystery. "I know!" she said, "I must have met them last night, when I was out clubbing!"
"You met the bellmen from the Beverly Hilton out clubbing?"
Jennie let out a laugh and turned her back to Lisa, pretending to look around the room. "It was some dive bar," she said over her shoulder. "I don't even know how I ended up there. I think it must have been the bar where all the hotel people go to party after they get off work."
She snuck a look at Lisa to see if she was buying her story, but Lisa didn't seem to be paying any attention. Lisa had her forehead scrunched up and she'd started rubbing her eyes with her fingers. "Sounds like a good time," she said vaguely.
"It was fun," Jennie agreed, going over to Lisa and pulling her hand away from her face. "Is your head hurting again?" she asked. "Why don't you go in the bedroom and lie down?"
Lisa nodded and let Jennie lead her into the next room. She glanced around at the surroundings as Jennie helped Lisa ease herself down onto the bed. Someone had brought her suitcase from Lisa's house, she saw with relief. Her phone too. It was on the bedside table, plugged into its charger.
Lisa had her eyes squeezed shut, and Jennie heard her let out a groan.
"It hurts, huh?" Jennie asked. "The nurse said you can't have another pill for a couple more hours."
"It's ok," Lisa muttered, turning onto her side and curling up her knees toward her chest.
Jennie sat on the bed next to Lisa and gently ran her fingers through her hair to soothe her. "How about a cold compress?"
Lisa reached up and lightly took hold of Jennie's wrist. "No," she said, without opening her eyes. "Keep doing that. That feels good."
Jennie kicked off her shoes and settled next to Lisa on the bed, pulling her head into her lap and massaging Lisa's scalp with both hands. "Mmmm," she heard Lisa murmur against her leg. "That's nice..."
Jennie bent to kiss Lisa on the forehead, when a brisk knock interrupted them.
"Stay here," Jennie said. "I'll see who it is."
