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

Chapter 8

One year later

Jennie wiggles when she's excited.

Not only does she have a terrible poker face, but her entire body starts to move if she has some sort of surprise up her sleeve. That, coupled with Lisa's very keen observance, means she can usually tell when something's coming a mile off.

Jennie has been wiggling for days.

The best part is, Jennie thinks she's being subtle, so Lisa won't say anything to the contrary and ruin it for her. Whatever the surprise is will genuinely surprise her — it usually does — especially taking into consideration Jennie's bizarre timing when it comes to just about everything.

On their one year anniversary, they agreed to no presents. At least, nothing of any monetary value. Jennie can only work six months of the year on her current visa, and they'd gone all out for both of their birthdays. They'll go somewhere nice for dinner and take a walk along the beach at sunset and it'll be more than enough.

But between Jennie's wiggling and the fact that it's their anniversary, Lisa can only imagine what she has up her sleeve. Lisa partially blames Minnie, but also herself a little, too. Jennie's been driving for months now, and while Lisa is her primary teacher, Minnie pitches in from time to time. Which means they go on unnecessarily long drives together, which makes Lisa more nervous than it should.

Jennie always returns with some sort of conspiratorial glint in her eye that can only come from an afternoon with Minnie.

While there's a sort of anxiety that comes with her girlfriend colluding with her best friend, it's the kind of concept she'd never allowed herself to consider before. And it's something Minnie seems to enjoy in equal measure, and that makes Lisa happy, too. Even Lilith texts her more often, the two of them speculating on what the two of them could possibly be planning.

Considering Lilith proposed to Minnie last year, it could be a whole host of things. Jennie has somehow become Minnie's partner in crime when it comes to wedding planning. So, at any given time, Lisa and Lilith are completely unaware of what they're up to, whether it has something to do with either one of them, or not at all.

In short, they are a match made in heaven as far as friends go. Especially when Minnie gave Jennie unlimited free rides on her whale watching tour last spring, which is the holy grail when it comes to gaining Jennie's affection.

Lisa has been sitting at the kitchen table for about twenty minutes, with Bagel at her feet, as Jennie gets ready for the day. Or, pretends to get ready, at the very least, because Lisa can feel her hovering in the background. She doesn't point it out, though, only sips at the tea in her mug and flicks through the mail she'd just opened.

Suddenly, Lisa blinks once, and a large envelope is now sitting on the table before her. She looks up at Jennie, who has gone back to wiggling, so she knows this must be her surprise.

"What is this?" Lisa has a feeling Jennie has somehow found a loophole for their 'no gifts' rule.

"Open it!" Jennie replies, bouncing on the balls of her feet in an impatient manner.

Lisa relents, opening the envelope with ease and pulling out a single piece of A4 paper. She reads the title a few times, unable to fully absorb what she's seeing.

"Ta-da!" Jennie throws her arms up with a flourish. "Happy anniversary!"

Lisa feels her heart rate pick up. "Partner visa... but you..."

"I learned that you can only fill out the forms online, which is no fun, so I needed something ceremonial," Jennie explains with an enthusiastic bob of her head. "So, what do you think?"