The No Kiss Contract (Jensoo)

9

One of the benefits of Jisoo's office, besides its southern views of Manhattan, was that it looked out over many buildings of lesser height. One of the adjacent buildings had a helipad, which occasionally made for interesting viewing, but another had a restaurant on its top floor with an outdoor space that catered to a brisk lunch business. At the moment, she watched two miniscule people greet each other with a hug she could tell was filled with affection even from this distance.

It was ridiculous that the emotions of two complete strangers as they ate a meal together would fill her with loneliness.

Three days had come and gone, and she hadn't heard from Jennie. It had been a long shot, but Jisoo had really hoped Jennie would come through for her.

Okay, it was more than a long shot.

It was definitely crazy for her to think Jennie would agree to such a harebrained idea, but she couldn't believe how wounded she felt at the rejection. Now she had to figure out how to gracefully extricate herself from Leanne and Roland's barbeque even though it was in her honor.

"I'm going out for some lunch. Do you want me to pick you up anything? A salad? Some soup?"
Jisoo swiveled her chair back around to her desk and answered Halima, who stood in the doorway. "No, thanks. I've been woolgathering. I need to get some work done."

"Are you sure? You haven't eaten anything yet today."

Jisoo gave her the smile she reserved for the times when Halima, six years her junior, tried to mother her.

"Okay, I'm going." The tone sounded on Halima's desk phone that meant she was being hailed from the reception desk. "Wait, hang on."

Jisoo sighed and maximized her email window. Time to start plowing through the recent onslaught.

Her hand over the receiver, Halima leaned back toward Jisoo's office. "You have a visitor. Jennie Kim?"

Jisoo gripped the edge of her desk with both hands, and Halima noticed, but came to the wrong conclusion.

"She doesn't have an appointment. Shall I tell them to turn her away?"

"No!" She was probably coming to reject her some more, but Jisoo had to know for sure.
Halima put her purse on her desk, probably assuming Jisoo would want her to fetch Jennie from reception.

"Go to lunch. Whatever she's here for, it's personal. I'll go get her."

Jisoo ignored the curious eye Halima gave her as she collected her purse and left. She took a few cleansing breaths and went to greet Jennie.
She was gazing at the art in the reception lobby, art that Jisoo had never once stopped to look at in the eight years she had worked there. The calf- length peasant skirt paired with a simple camp blouse and Birkenstocks was maybe her attempt to look professional, or what Jennie the artist imagined professional to be. Whatever her rationale, Jisoo liked the look and appreciated the effort. "Jennie?"

"Hi, Jisoo." She crossed the lobby, her expression tentative.

Before she could say anything, Jisoo gestured for her to follow her back to her office. She closed the door and moved behind her desk. "Have a seat." She pointed to one of the chairs that faced her desk and tried to quell the nervous energy that roiled through her belly. "What brings you into the city?"

Jennie's ruefulness was apparent. "Let's open the negotiations."

"Negotiations for..." She waited, her nerves at the edge of their seats. "Don't try to lawyer me, Chu. I know you haven't found a new fake fiancée since Sunday. Do you want to do this or not?"

Jisoo's breath left her in a whoosh, and she couldn't hold back her smile of relief. "Yes, I do."

Jennie leaned forward. "Before we really get into it, how long do you think it's going to take them to choose you?"