Lisa placed one elbow on the counter in front of her and rested her forehead against it, willing herself not to lose her patience.
"Jennie," she said, pronouncing each word as slowly and carefully as she could manage. "I swear to God if you don't tell me where you are in the next 30 seconds I am going to have a heart attack."
Jennie was silent.
"Where are you?" Lisa shouted.
"I'm in the hotel room!" Jennie shouted back.
Hotel room? Did she go to another hotel? "What hotel?"
"What do you mean, what hotel? How many hotel rooms do you have?"
"Wait..."
"Whatever, Lisa. You just go do your thing. Have a nice trip. I'll see you when I see you."
"No!" Lisa shook her head violently. "No no no no no. Jennie, just tell me what hotel you're in."
Lisa heard Jennie let out her breath in a huff. "The Beverly Hilton?"
The Beverly Hilton. Good, she thought. Wait. Wait a minute. The Beverly Hilton?
"You didn't leave?" Lisa stood bolt upright, holding onto the counter with one hand for support. "But I saw you! I saw you leaving this morning."
"I just went for a walk around the block."
"A walk around the..."
"Lisa, did you think I went to the airport?"
Shit. Lisa probably shouldn't say yes to that. Shit shit shit. "Umm... maybe?"
"Why?"
"I don't know, Jennie. People don't really go for walks around the block in LA. That's more of an East Coast thing."
"Well, there you have it." Jennie sounded annoyed. Shit, she sounded annoyed. "We figured it out. In case you were in any doubt, Lisa, I am not from LA."
Ok. It was ok. Jennie was annoyed, but the main thing was she didn't leave. She was still at the hotel. Lisa felt a burst of elation that she hadn't missed Jennie.
"Just sit tight. I'm on my way. I'll be right there. Ok?"
"Fine," Jennie said. "I'm not going anywhere."
Lisa clicked the phone back off. Jennie wasn't going anywhere. She hadn't run away. She just went for a walk around the block. Maybe Jennie wasn't even mad at her. Maybe everything was fine. Ok, she thought, breaking into a broad grin. OK. OK. OK. Everything was fine.
Lisa began striding toward the main exit. She slipped the cell phone into her pocket as she went.
"Wait!" she heard a voice say behind her. She turned around to see the girl behind the airline counter waving at her frantically. "Wait! Wait!" she called.
Fuck, Lisa thought. She had promised her a picture.
"Sorry!" Lisa called back, pointing at the spot on her wrist where her watch would normally sit. "No time for pictures!"
Lisa had spun back toward the exit when she heard her voice stammering behind her. "But-But-BUT THAT'S MY PHONE!"
She stopped in her tracks, mentally slapping herself in the forehead. Lisa could just see the headline now. "Hollywood Celebrity Steals Cell Phone from Adoring Fan!" Rosé would have a field day with that one.
Lisa turned and jogged back over to her. "Sorry."
Lisa shot her a sheepish grin as she slid the phone back to her. Then, on a whim, she leaned across the counter a planted a kiss on her cheek.
"You're a lifesaver!" Lisa said. She clapped her hand over her mouth in astonishment as Lisa turned and once again headed for the exit.
Lisa made it to the doors at last and swivelled her head left and right, trying to remember where she had left her car. Oh right, she didn't have a car. She had a motorcycle.
That motorcycle over there, probably. The shiny black one that she could just make out in the distance. The one she must have left in a... NO PARKING ZONE. The one now attached to the back of a tow truck - currently being hauled away.
Good one Lisa. Well done.
