What Is - Jenlisa (Book 2)

Chapter 6 - Hate You

After weeks of meticulous preparation for Cena Dell'angelo's interior design and kitchen setup, assembling a team of skilled chefs and staff, and sourcing high-quality ingredients, the day for menu planning finally arrived. It is crucial to create a menu that not only satisfies guests' taste buds but also harmonizes with the hotel's vision and concept without compromising Lisa's signature dishes. And after weeks of avoiding each other, the inevitable discussion between Lisa and Jennie about the menu finally took place.

Jennie entered the room with her dark sunglasses on, emitting an air of "I don't have time for anyone's nonsense today," the low hum of conversation gradually faded. The room fell into a brief silence, followed by some nervous shuffling of papers and clearing of throats from both Lisa and the hotel management team. Lisa, seated at the far end of the table, looked up at Jennie's demeanor with a subtle raise of her eyebrows, acknowledging Jennie's tardiness without uttering a word. Right there and then, she knew that this menu planning session was going to be challenging. It hadn't even started yet, but Lisa could already sense the tension in the room. The air was thick with unspoken words, and the silence lingered for a moment longer than necessary.

"Apologies for being late," Jennie broke the silence in a flat tone as she removed her sunglasses and placed them on the table. "Let's get straight to business, shall we?" she added, cutting straight to the chase.

Despite the initial air of tension, Lisa responded with a warm smile and nodded in agreement, her eyes meeting Jennie's briefly before shifting to the menu proposals neatly laid out on the table. But when she was about to start, her phone began to ring, immediately stealing her attention away from anything and anyone before her. It's Diana calling. "Hey Diana, sorry can I call you back late-- Baby? What happened?" Lisa excused herself from the room, stepping out to take the call and leaving everyone in the room and Jennie with furrowed brows, questioning the interruption and feeling a tinge of annoyance. "Baby," she scoffed under her breath and started to scroll through her phone without even knowing why she was doing it in the first place. The room fell into an awkward silence as everyone exchanged glances, unsure of how to proceed without Lisa.

On the other hand, Lisa felt a sense of urgency and concern as she started talking to Diana on the other end of the line, hearing Bree crying hysterically in the background. "I'm sorry Lisa, I didn't mean to call you but she's been asking for you," Diana explained with worry in her voice. "Did we interrupt something important?"

Lisa quickly reassured Diana, "No, it's alright. Nothing's more important than Bree. Let me talk to her."

Sobbing uncontrollably, Bree's voice came through the phone. "Hey there Little B," Lisa softly said trying to soothe Bree over the phone. "Bad dream? Do you want to talk about it, baby?"

Bree sniffled and managed to choke out a few words, "Monsters... scary... under... bed." Lisa felt terrible hearing the fear in Bree's voice and wished she could be there to comfort her in person.

"Oh, I know how scary those monsters under the bed can be, Little B," Lisa empathized. "You're safe, and Auntie D is there with you. Nothing can harm you."

"But... I'm still scared," Bree interrupted with a trembling voice. Lisa sighed softly, wishing she could teleport to Bree's side and hold her tight. "It's okay to be scared, baby," Lisa comforted. "You know what? I also used to be scared of monsters under my bed too. Do you want to know how I got rid of them?"

Bree hummed in response and started to listen attentively, her sniffles subsiding slightly. "Close your eyes and imagine a magical bubble around your bed. Wrap it around you like a shield, and imagine that inside that bubble, there are no monsters. What color would you like the bubble to be?" Lisa asked, trying to distract Bree from her fear.