"Oh, Lisa, look." she heard Jennie's voice breathe behind her. "It's a nursery."
Jennie let go of Lisa's fingers and she stuffed her hands in her pockets. Lisa stood back to give Jennie space as she made her way around the room.
She crouched down for a moment to pick up a pair of tiny baby shoes, no bigger than the palm of her hand, that had been lined up neatly next to the door. Baby shoes. Must have been Jackson's idea. Lisa made a mental note to give her assistant a raise.
"Jennie." she said softly. "Come here. Come sit down for a sec." Lisa gestured towards the antique rocking chair sitting in the corner of the room.
Jennie settled herself into the chair and rocked gently back and forth. Someone had arranged a row of blue and pink teddy bears on a shelf by her elbow. Lisa watched in silence for a moment as she pulled one of the bears into her lap and stroked its fur.
Lisa walked over to where Jennie was sitting. She immediately sat more upright, eyeing Lisa suspiciously, as Lisa dropped down to kneel beside the chair.
"What?" Lisa said. "There's nowhere else to sit in here." Lisa arranged herself so that she was resting on both knees with her weight back on her heels. With relief, she saw Jennie's shoulders relax again.
They sat together in silence for a long moment - the only sound the quiet creaking of the rocking chair - as they each waited for the other to speak first.
"So?" Lisa prompted at last.
"It's a nice house."
Lisa nodded in agreement. "It's pretty perfect, isn't it?"
Creak creak creak went the rocking chair. Jennie fell silent yet again, lost in thought. "I can't believe we just stumbled onto it like this." she said at last.
"I know!" Lisa reached out and took one of her hands, pulling it away from the teddy bear she was clasping to her chest. "And your last day in LA, too! What are the chances?"
Lisa was watching Jennie's face again, but she didn't return Lisa's gaze. Jennie's eyes were fixed on the whitewashed wooden crib at the other end of the room and the simple mobile hanging above it - half a dozen sleepy-looking baby elephants, dangling on the ends of their strings.
Lisa didn't dare speak again. She had led Jennie as far as she could safely go without giving the game away. Lisa held her breath now, waiting.
"It's like it was meant to be." Jennie murmured, her words just barely audible.
Now, Lisa thought. Now was the moment. Do it. Do it now.
"Jennie." she whispered. She waited as Jennie turned her eyes away from the crib and looked back down at Lisa's face. "Jennie, we should do this."
Lisa saw a shadow of uncertainty cloud Jennie's expression, and she gripped Jennie's hand more firmly to steady her.
"Do what?" Jennie whispered back.
"We should buy this place. Together. You and me."
"You want to buy a house together?"
"It's perfect."
"But I thought..."
"Jennie, it's perfect."
"Together?"
Lisa nodded.
Jennie looked away from Lisa again. Her mouth had fallen open in surprise and her cheeks suffused with colour. "You want to buy a house together?"
Lisa gave her hand another gentle squeeze. "Yes."
Jennie shook her head. "Lisa, no. It's too soon..."
"I know it's fast. I know. But houses like this don't come on the market all that often!"
"But how much does it cost? I don't think I can afford..."
"I don't mean pay for it together. I mean live in it together." Lisa took another teddy bear down from the shelf and placed it in Jennie's lap, next to the one she was already holding. "You and me..." Lisa whispered, "... and whoever else may decide to come along."
"Lisa..."
"It was meant to be, Jennie. You just said so. You said it yourself."
Lisa hadn't breathed for what felt like an eternity. She held her breath a little longer now as she waited for Jennie's reply, watching as Jennie's eyes shifted downward to the two teddy bears cradled in her lap.
"Say it." Lisa chanted inside her head. She watched Jennie's tongue flick out over the corner of her mouth and her teeth nibble hesitantly at her lower lip. "Say it baby." Lisa silently commanded.
Say-it-say-it-say-it.
Say yes Jennie.
