Chapter 1
Jennie
I took the stairs two at a time, straightening my blazer and shouldering my bag as I went. When I reached the door of apartment 302, I pounded on the outside until it opened. One of my oldest friends, Hoony, stood in the threshold, a dubious smile on his face.
"Where are my keys?" I grumbled, swiping a stray strand of hair from my glossed lips as I did.
"Good morning to you too, Miss Kim, don't you look dapper," Hoony greeted me with a smile and a playful tone but I simply rolled my eyes.
"I don't have time for this, Hoony. Keys."
"Alright," he relented, stepping inside and leaving the door open for me as he went to retrieve my belongings. I checked my watch as he crossed the room, "I thought you said I could drive the Honda Civic while my Land Rover's in the shop."
"I did. A week ago. But now I need my car, Hoony. It's my first day and I can't be late so-"
"Wait!" another voice called out and Mino, another old college friend and Hoony's roommate, jumped up from his place on the couch just in time to catch the keys in mid-air that Hoony had tossed my way, "First day, that's today?"
I sighed as the boys both broke out into matching grins.
"Take me with you," Mino said.
"What? Are you insane? You want me to bring a guest on my first day?" I
responded but he just nodded and stared at me expectantly.
"Look, Rosé pulled a lot of strings to get me this job and-"
"Strings?" Hoony huffed. "You're overqualified. If anything, they got a
deal. I bet you're the only PR person who's a licensed attorney."
"Season tickets then," Mino ignored Hoony, continuing his negotiations
as I lunged for my car keys and he held them over his head.
"I'm not in PR," I groaned, "I'm in Player Relations, not Public Relations."
"Yeah but... shortened... it's still PR."
"Player Relations," Mino repeated, glancing over at Hoony with a nod, "Yeah. PR."
"Mino!" I shouted, losing patience and precious time.
"One single game ticket," he tried.
I narrowed my eyes and countered, "One single preseason game ticket." He and Hoony exchanged a glance and then he nodded and tossed me the
keys. I snatched them from out of the air and ran for the door. They shouted simultaneous good lucks after me but I merely stuck my middle finger up behind me as I ran down the stairs to my car on the street below. I tossed my briefcase in and hopped in the driver's side before speeding off toward the Los Angeles Chargers compound.
I peeled into the parking lot and parked my car in the spot reserved for me. Then I emerged, heels tapping aggressively against the asphalt as I made my way through the front doors and to my office on the other side of the compound. I had to take some dark hidden staircase that came out just on the other side of the players' locker rooms, precisely where my office was located. I entered through the clear glass doors into a large open room. There were five occupied desks on either side of me.
My team was already hard at work. Some were on the phone, others typing away at their laptops, but all of them looked up and gave me a smile or a wave as I passed. I smiled back as I approached the pristine white desk in front of my office at the back and glanced down at my assistant.
"Good morning Jimin," I said kindly.
"Good morning, Miss Kim," he leapt from his seat and followed me as I entered my office, setting my briefcase down on my desk and sitting down in my chair, "It's so nice to finally be working with you. The team you've hired are all here, as you can see, but for it to be your first official day..."
"Thank you, Jimin," I interrupted him, smiling politely at the overexcited assistant. "I appreciate the warm welcome, truly, I do. But I'm eager to get to work so, if you will..."
"Of course! Yes, well, I've taken the liberty of adding all of your meetings for the next week into your calendar. Mr. Yang wanted me to ensure that you were at least at a few very important ones. After this week though, of course you'll have far more control over your own schedule."
"Naturally," I answered him as I powered on my computer. "Any calls?" "Just from Mr. Yang."
Mr. Yang, right. The man who had hired me despite his cryptic word of
warning that women never seemed to last very long in the National Football League.
"How's the team doing?" I asked Jimin, ignoring his mention of my boss for the time being. I was sure I'd be seeing Mr. Yang soon enough.
"Well enough. They're ready for some instruction, I believe. They've been locked in those training seminars for a few days now. I think they're ready to meet the players."
I nodded, "Well, then. I should get to work so that they can. Thank you, Jimin."
"Miss Kim."
"Please," I stopped him as he reached the door on the way out. "Call me Jennie."
He shot me a smile before heading back to his desk. I started unpacking my things right away. As organized as I'd always been, I knew I couldn't last even my first day, without my color-coded note-taking binder. I placed it on the side of my desk so I could easily grab it for any meetings I might have to run off to and then turned to type my login information onto the screen beside me.
"Well, well, well, look who's moving up in the world with her big fancy office," a familiar voice spoke and I looked up to see my best friend, Rosé, smiling down at me. "Smells a bit, though."
"That'll be the locker room just down the hall," I told her and she nodded in understanding
"Seriously, Rosé. I cannot thank you enough for this. I really needed a change of pace and, you're right, I think this is something that I could possibly be good at."
"Please, your penchant for organization? You'll have these guys sorted out in no time. Speaking of which, I know that Mr. Yang wants you to represent some of the players yourself, not just your team. Do you know which ones yet?"
I shook my head. I had been wondering who they were ever since Mr. Yang had called me to say the powers that he had decided that a few choice players needed a more "personal touch" and that I would be representing them myself.
