THE HAPPIEST GIRL | JENLISA

Chapter 68

Jennie

The sun is shining brightly, the weather absolutely gorgeous as I walk down the streets of L.A. to a small, quiet cafe to meet someone for brunch. Rounding the corner of the cafe, a woman with blonde hair and pink tips sitting at a table outside on the patio looking at a menu instantly catches my eye. In a matter of seconds her gaze shifts up to lock with mine and we both break out into huge grins. She stands up from the table, with arms open wide, and I practically run to her, flinging my arms around her tightly.

"Don't crush us." she groans into my shoulder jokingly.

"Oh my gosh, you're so big!" I exclaim excitedly, pulling away from the blonde and instinctively placing my hand on her pregnant belly.

"Way to call me fat." Jessi mumbles, and I shoot her a dry look. She lets out a sigh, flopping back down into her chair and rubbing a hand over her bump. "I don't know if I can handle another two months, little dude." she says, directing her voice towards her stomach. "My feet hurt, my back hurts, and don't even get me started on my bladder!" she says, poking her stomach sternly. "You need to come out already." she whines.

I can't help but giggle, sitting down in my chair. "Be careful what you wish for."

She lets out a puff of air. "I know, I'm just excited to meet him. I want to hold him in my arms, squeeze him, kiss him, and finally be able to yell at him face to face for all the hell that he's putting my body through... and I need to ditch some of these hormones, too."

I laugh, shaking my head at her dramatics. While her hormones have caused her a few mood swings, she's still the same old feisty and sassy Jessi.

"Other than the hormones, how have you been?" I ask, after not seeing her for a few months. The last time I saw her, her baby bump was just starting to show.

After everything that happened, I managed to get back in touch with Jessi. She is the first and only person that knows about Hyun-suk and how he forced me to leave. When I was at my lowest point, right after I dropped out of college, I had a bit of a breakdown. Desperately needing to finally talk to someone about everything, I did a bit of late night Googling, finding Jessi's number. Despite answering the phone to a blubbering mess, she was so excited and relieved to hear my voice, but I was even more elated to be able to communicate with her again, even though it's against Hyun-suk's terms.

I told her everything, knowing that I can trust her, and she wasn't surprised at all. She never did like Hyun-suk, and she claims that she knew he had something to do with my disappearance. She knew I wouldn't up and leave without some sort of goodbye.

She filled me in on all that happened after I left, how Lisa refused to do the rest of the tour and Hyun-suk couldn't seem to take control of her anymore. She basically told me that everything went to shit and Lisa gave up. She became angry and disinterested, despite Hyun-suk's many efforts to get her to move on and continue with the tour and everything. But Lisa was diligent, her anger and broken heart got the best of her.

Jessi says she didn't last working for Lisa for more than a few weeks after I left. There was no point. Lisa became a difficult mess, refusing to do anything and everything that was asked of her, and Hyun-suk was having a meltdown trying to put her back together again.

While I was somewhat thrilled hearing about Hyun-suk's misery, finding it funny how he thought getting rid of me would solve all of his potential problems, and it turning out to be the exact opposite, I felt awful about Lisa.

There were so many nights I wanted to call her, to reach out to let her know that I'm still here and I care, but I figured it may do more harm than good. The damage was already done, and what good would it do to randomly reach out to her again? It's not like I would be able to explain myself anyway. Hyun-suk made it clear the repercussions I would face if I ever came in contact with Lisa again, and I wouldn't doubt that I'm Lisa's least favourite person ever right now. It would be too much of a risk.