Chapter 8
Jennie
I followed the directions that Lisa had emailed me earlier, pulling my Honda Civic up to the most exclusive restaurant in Los Angeles. I sighed up at the building as I emerged from my completely out of place mid-size sedan and reluctantly handed my keys over to a waiting valet. I hadn't even had the time to ruminate over how large that parking bill was about to be when a low voice emanated from just behind me.
"Good, you came. I've spent the whole afternoon wondering if you were going to stand me up." I turned to see Lisa Manoban looking down at me with a smile. Her eyes remained firmly on mine despite the fact that mine continued to travel over our surroundings, taking particular care over the amount of people now stopping to whisper and point at us. I adjusted my glasses and squared my shoulders, sticking out a hand as professionally as I could manage.
"Ms. Manoban," I said in greeting and fought to maintain my balance as her slow, crooked smile threatened to knock me right off my feet. I took her in then. The collared shirt unbuttoned at the top, the solid blazer over it, the hip hugging designer jeans. I cleared my throat. "Forgive me, I wasn't aware there was a dress code."
She smiled, placing a hand on my lower back and steering me toward the hostess counter as she said, "I think you look beautiful. As always."
I should have objected, either to the compliment or the physical contact, but I found my lips rather unable to form words when her hands were on me. She moved away briefly to give her name to the hostess and I managed to regain some of my senses in her absence so that, by the time she returned, I had enough confidence to say, "You might have warned me that you'd selected Los Angeles' most exclusive restaurant for our meeting."
"Right," she said with a smile. "Our business meeting. Well, no worries, Miss Kim, I'll be paying this evening."
"No," I blurted before I could think better of it. She cocked an eyebrow but I stood by my denial. "I'll pay for my share, Ms. Manoban, as you know this is not a date."
"Oh, I know it's not," she told me, leaning in to whisper the rest. "If this were a date, we would have already skipped dinner and headed back to my place to make my very vivid daydreams a reality."
My lips parted as I backed away to look up at her in wide eyed surprise. My face flamed as the hostess called out Lisa's name and we began following her to our table. I cursed silently as I took my seat across from her. How was this person always making me blush? We settled in and ordered our drinks, taking the menu from our waitress before she walked away. I looked over the menu for a time, actively trying to keep my eyes from bulging at the prices, before I felt someone staring. I looked up to see Lisa watching me, sipping her scotch and smiling. Before I could ask what she was looking at, the waitress returned to read us the specials. Overwhelmed, I ordered what she recommended, some fish entree with... was it lemons?
As she took our menus, I reached down for my briefcase, setting it in front of me and pulling out a notepad and a planner. Lisa watched with an amused grin which I utterly ignored as I uncapped my pen and looked up expectantly.
"Okay, Ms. Manoban," I began, "now that I'll be your newest representation, I'll need to know a bit about your preferences. Given your status with the team, it's very important to upper management that I keep you happy."
Her lips quirked into a smirk and I realized what I had said. Fighting to control the heat spreading to my cheeks, I rushed on. "Scheduling," I blurted and she raised a brow as she took another sip of her drink. "Previously, Ji-hoon was handling all of your team sanctioned events, correct?"
"That is correct," she answered in a tone somehow both professional and teasing.
"I believe he had set up a shared calendar with your agent so that your team sanctioned events and your personal events did not clash. Is that something that you would like for me to continue? I can get in touch with your agent if-"
"I fired my agent."
I blinked at her, surprised.
"Oh," I said. "You did?"
"He didn't care for my performance during contract negotiations. I didn't
care for his," she answered with a shrug as if a franchise quarterback with no agent wasn't a huge deal.
"I see. Well, I'm new to the industry but I'm sure if I asked around I might hear of an agent you might work better with if-"
"How did you get into this?"
"Excuse me?"
"Player representation. This isn't what you wanted to do. You're a
licensed attorney, right? So how did you get into this?"
I leaned back in my chair, more relaxed now that she had somewhat
revealed her hand. The waitress delivered our food and I smiled at her. "Have you been asking about me?" I asked, raising a brow.
"Anyone who will listen," she answered with a wink and I laughed. "So?"
I bit my lip, trying to decide whether or not I should tell her. Eventually, I realized that it wouldn't take much for her to find out anyway. It may as well come from me. "I was fired from the law firm that I was working at," I started. "They were representing an organization which was breaking some pretty serious environmental regulations. They were helping them hide it. So I blew the whistle. I reported them to the EPA. Next thing I knew, I was packing up my things and being escorted off of the premises while being told I would never work in the legal industry again. I didn't believe them, not really. At least, not until I went on my seventeenth interview and was rejected before I even made it to the lobby. So I moved in with Mino and Hoony, started job hunting for anything I could find. Then Rosé said she knew of an opening with the Chargers, got me an interview, and here I am."
"Wow," she said when I was done. "Rosé. She's the physical therapist, yeah? She worked on my wrist last year."
I smiled, "You remember her?"
"Of course. I would never forget a woman who has held my career in her hands. How did you and Rosé meet?"
"Ah, law school. She wasn't a student but she was dating one of my classmates at the time. He brought her to a fundraiser I had organized and we hit it off," I told her. "You know, she's going to get a kick out of knowing you remember her."
"Hey, the team is more than just the players, you know."
