Lisa
There was a knock at the door and one of the writers of the talk show asked Jennie to get ready. I got up from my seat and put an awkward hand on Jennie's forearm, "Knock them dead... honey." I saw her face tense up for a second before she put on a smile.
"Jennie will do her interview for the movie, but how would you like to be interviewed as well?" The writer turned to me.
I could feel the colour drain from my face. This wasn't part of the plan. I was just supposed to show up, get participation points, not actually have to go out there. I looked to Jennie for help but she looked just as shocked as I was.
"S... sure." I smiled weakly.
"Great!! I'll get someone in here to mic you up in a couple of minutes." she said.
Jennie opened her mouth but she didn't get a chance to say anything because she was ushered out. She turned her head around and gave me a concerned look before she turned a corner. The door closed and that meant I only have a few minutes to myself. The only thing heard in the dressing room was the sound of my laboured breathing, why was there no air in here? I pulled out my phone quickly and dialled my mom's number. She picked up on the second ring.
"Hi, honey."
"Mom..." I breathed out.
"What's wrong, Lala?"
I smiled into the phone, my mom didn't even need to see to know that something was up.
"Mom, I'm going to be on the news tonight."
I heard her breathe heavily into the phone, "Did you put another person in an arm lock?"
I rolled my eyes, "This isn't about that. Listen, mom, I'm about to do an interview but I wanted you to hear it from me first instead of from somewhere or someone else."
She waited for me to continue.
"Mom, I'm in a relationship with Jennie Kim."
There was silence on the other side for a couple seconds, "You're what!? I didn't even know that you were attracted to women, Lala."
I couldn't say anything, mostly because I didn't want to lie anymore to my mother more than I had to. She must've taken my silence as shame because her voice softened, "Honey, whether you bring home a boy or a girl, I would've loved you just the same."
I winced at the hurt in her voice, "I don't know if I'm attracted to all women, mom. But I do like Jennie. This is all kind of confusing and overwhelming right now." I sighed into the phone, "It's a really new relationship, but I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner."
She chuckled, "Oh, honey don't worry about that. When can we meet her? Lia misses you a lot, she asks about you almost every day."
I smiled at the comment. Lia was my 10-year-old sister who looked up to me even though I told her that I was a bad role model.
There was a knock at the door and a head poked in with a mic pack. "Soon, mom I promise that I'll visit soon. I have to go now, give Lia a big hug for me." I hung up the phone giving the stage crew a smile, "Sorry about that, you know how mothers can be."
She smiled back, "No worries." she held up the battery pack and mic, "I just need to clip this into your shirt and bottoms." She walked towards me, clipping it on the lapel of my blazer. "If you want to follow me, you can wait backstage until I give you the green light."
I nodded nervously, "Yeah, sure."
She led me into different hallways, past people with headphones and mics, and through a curtain. She signalled me to stop, "Just wait right here until Jane calls your name." she whispered, I nodded absentmindedly, while staring at the monitor in front of me.
Jennie sat cross-legged laughing politely at what Jane said. I studied Jennie on the screen, she always looked so poised and sophisticated. I have no idea why Taehyung would want to hide their relationship because Jennie was like the top 1% in Hollywood and everyone on the face of this planet. I shrugged, it wasn't my business and I was getting paid to basically be around Jennie.
"So Jennie, you've been making headlines these days with your new movie." Jane waited a beat until she gave Jennie a sly grin, "And then for your love life as well."
I heard the audience cheer as they encouraged Jennie to clarify.
I watched Jennie nod, "Yes, I've seen quite a few magazines with the same pictures." she laughed, "But she is someone who's really important to me."
I was surprised, I've never seen Jennie's movies so I wasn't familiar with her acting skills, but I thought Jennie was really good. Even I believed everything had Jennie said and I knew about the whole scam.
Jane smiled, "Can I ask if you two are seeing each other?"
Jennie smiled and everyone in the audience held their breath, "We are." There was a collection of groans from the men and mostly applause from everyone else.
Jane's eyes twinkled, "That's so good to hear, is it alright if you tell us something about her?"
Jennie giggled, "I think she can probably do a better job than I could."
"Everyone please welcome Lalisa Manoban!" Jane clapped standing up.
I was pushed gently from behind, my legs started moving like they had a mind of its own, and my mouth was suddenly very dry. Why did I think that I can do this?
