The No Kiss Contract (Jensoo)

6

One of the things Jisoo liked about her new home was that it was within walking distance to Elmdale's charming main street. Lined with cute little shops and boutiques, it was one of the features that made the town so attractive. Since the early summer weather was nice, she had gotten into the habit of walking to and from the train station for her daily commute. It had made her transition from the city not quite as jarring.
And now, on Sunday morning, she had bought a box of fresh pastries from a cute bakery called Grigsby's before walking back, past her own house, to Roland's.

She rang the bell and didn't have to wait long before Roland came to the door, looking fresh from the shower. He opened the door wide for her, looking chagrined. "Hello, Jisoo."

"Roland. Good morning. How are you feeling?" She handed him the flask she had confiscated the night before and entered. "Do I smell coffee?"

He hastily shoved the flask into the drawer of a console table in the foyer. "You do. I'm hosting brunch before our tee time."

"And I wasn't invited? Not very neighborly of you." She offered her box of baked goods to him, which he accepted in an abstracted way.

"Of course, you're welcome to stay. I'm sorry for barging into your party last night. It was unforgivably rude."

"The last time I saw you that drunk was at the holiday party two years ago. I believe it was scotch that did you in that time as well."

Roland's eyes darted back toward the rear of the house. "Could you keep your voice down? Leanne doesn't know how soused I got last night. She was already in bed when I got home. I know you don't want to get me in Dutch with the missus." He waited for her to nod, then led her into the kitchen, where Leanne was taking some muffins out of the oven.

"Well, hello, Jisoo. I didn't know you were golfing today," Leanne said.

"Gosh, how long has it been since I've seen you? Last August's Summit?" Every year Melvin Archer, one of the senior partners, held a gathering at his Hamptons home for key personnel. He called it the Summit because he liked to believe it was a meeting of great legal minds. Mostly it was a bunch of male lawyers smoking Mel's Cuban cigars and puffing up their accomplishments in front of the name partners while their wives talked about...whatever wives talked about. Jisoo had gone the first time she was invited and then blown it off ever since. Her time was better spent working rather than talking about work. "Must have been the year before. I was running point on a big case last summer and couldn't make it." She accepted a hug from Leanne, one of the nicest women Jisoo had ever met. "You work entirely too hard. I'm glad you've moved into the neighborhood. I wanted to bring over some goodies when you moved in, but Roland insisted I let you be. How are you adjusting to Elmdale life? Quite a change of pace I would imagine."

"I'm slowly getting used to it. I've discovered the pain au chocolat at Grigsby's. That's helping me get over my city withdrawal."

"Aren't they divine?"

With one hand, Roland offered the opened box of pastries to Jisoo and his wife while he shoved one in his mouth. "You shouldn't have, Jisoo," he said around a mouthful. "Good thing I'll be able to walk it off later."

She refused the croissant but accepted a mug of coffee from Leanne as the doorbell rang. Melvin Archer arrived with a man that Jisoo had absolutely no love for, Kevin Keeley. While Leanne welcomed them in the foyer, Jisoo turned to Roland. "What is Keeley doing here?"

"I invited Mel to play today, and he brought Kevin. What? What's wrong with him?"

The two name partners who mattered were meeting to play golf today and they invited Keeley to play with them? This was not good. Couldn't Roland see that Mel was positioning Keeley for Conant's spot? And of course, they were doing it on the fucking golf course. She'd have to stay for brunch now and suss out the undertones here.