Loved You First (Jenlisa) COMPLETED

21

"Yes, hi. This is Jennie Kim calling for Mr. Choi again."

She shifted the phone to the other ear so she could better stir the brownie batter. The advance check he promised her should be ready soon and she needed to arrange for delivery or pickup, whichever would be faster. The bank continued to call on practically a daily basis now and she no longer had the luxury of that little cushion of time.

The curt woman on the other end of the line sighed. "Yes, Ms. Kim. Mr. Choi received your messages and instructed me to tell you that your advance check would be ready by the end of next week. He was hopeful you'd have time to discuss a few details of the Nini's Truffles deal. It's almost in place."

Praise baby Jesus.

She'd held the bank off as long as she possibly could, and the minutes were beginning to matter, a place she'd never thought she'd be. Even though she was growing further and further behind, if the check was ready when his assistant professed it would be, all would be well.

It was Tuesday. She could make it to Monday. She could. Big sigh of relief. "Thank you so much."

"Mr. Choi will be in touch within the week to set up the planning session."

"That sounds great. I appreciate your help."

She hung up the phone and turned to Nayeon and Dara who stared at her like a couple of beauty pageant contestants, awaiting the results.

She let out a breath. "The check will be ready on Monday. We're still good."

The tension left their bodies immediately as they released one another, but Nayeon tried to play if off.

"I told you, Nini! You worry too much! Pass me that salted butter!"

But the covert look she exchanged with Dara coupled with the fact that she was now speaking in exclamation points tipped her hand. She'd been every bit as concerned as Jennie had. They were in this together, she realized. Her little group. They were a makeshift Flour Child family, and she was so grateful for them it almost hurt. But in newly fantastic news, the bakeshop family was going to be okay. She'd just been assured of that.

She took a moment to call Felix over at the mortgage department and let him know that the check was on its way. He'd seemed conservatively happy to hear it, and she knew she owed him her firstborn for all the interference he'd run for her over the last six months.

Content that her job was no longer at stake, Dara headed to the front of the shop to work the counter.

"I'm off to greet the customers and hopefully dodge Minho's grumbling."

Jennie turned to her. "That man adores you, Dara. He just doesn't know how to show it."

"Well, he should try smiling once in a while. You know, prove he has teeth. You never know at his age."

Nayeon laughed. "Tall order for that man."

Jennie and Nayeon went back to their respective projects, brownies and croissants, working in quiet tandem.

Nayeon shot her a look across the island.

"You hangin' in there, Nini?"

She glanced up. "Sure. I'm getting by."

Nayeon leaned her hip against the counter and folded her arms.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Who?"

It was a lame attempt to sidestep a conversation that would make her think about Lisa, because when she thought about Lisa, all she did was think about Lisa, so she rationed it out in small doses. The truth of it was she missed her more than she would have thought possible.