and there it is, a mark of the divine | JENLISA

Chapter 5

February (1)

"You're either coming with me or you're not."

Jennie stands in the middle of the room, watching Manuel go back and forth, packing his suitcase. Frustration clings to the air like humidity, thick and low. He's mad at her, probably for the first time ever, and it's paralysing. All she can do is stand there, like someone is giving her continuous electrical shocks and she's unable to escape.

And she could go with him. It would be easy to follow him home to Spain, maybe get invited to spend Christmas with him and his mother in their ridiculously large mansion with more food than anyone could possibly need. But the easy option isn't what she wants, and she's known that for weeks now.

"I can't." The words leave her mouth before she has a chance to ponder them. She's acting on pure instinct, and she can't seem to stop the wave once it's started.

Manuel stops packing and turns to look at her. "You can't or you won't? Maybe you should just admit what this is really about."

Jennie throws up her hands. "You might as well say it, Manuel, 'cause I sure as hell can't read your mind."

"This is about Lisa, and we both know it."

Jennie gapes at him. And, sure, maybe it's a little dramatic, definitely a move she picked up watching too much TV growing up. "That's— We're not even with Lisa right now."

"No, but you want to be," Manuel considers her. "Jennie, she's literally all you think about."

Jennie scoffs. "How could you possibly know that?"

Manuel sighs. "Because I've been in love before. I know what that looks like."

Her heart hammers so hard in her chest that for a minute, she thinks it's about to finally make its great escape. "In lo—" She stutters, realising that's not helping her case in the slightest. "It was three days, Manuel. You were there."

"Three days and then two and a half months of texts and calls. And yeah, I was there. It was like third wheeling on a honeymoon."

"I'm sorry," Jennie says, chewing the inside of her cheek. "I'm sorry, I know that wasn't fun for you."

"No, I don't care about that. What I care about is that you always go after what you want, but not this. You clearly wanted to stay with her and you didn't say anything," Manuel says, clearly frustrated. "If I knew then I would've just..."

"What? Left me with a bunch of strangers?"

"Well, no." Manuel frowns. "But we could've talked about it. Now I can tell you're not completely happy."

Jennie shakes her head. "I couldn't just... stay. It was too soon. She's special, I can't just... I can't come on too strong and scare her away. Not with her."

"Okay, then why not go back now?"

Jennie wishes she had an answer, but she doesn't. The flow of the conversation is entirely interrupted as she just stands there, staring blankly. "I... I don't..."

"You love her."

"That's— That would be insane, Manuel. If I loved her. That would be... that's crazy."

He shrugs. "Maybe. But if I were in your position, I wouldn't let it slip away. I think she feels the same way, for what it's worth."

Jennie's sure there's a childlike petulance crossing her features at this very moment. The idea of Manuel seeing through her so easily is horrifying. She can only imagine what Lisa must think — maybe she still is coming on too strong with the texts and calls? Surely if she has feelings, they aren't anywhere close to love.