Chapter 14
Jennie
"It was nice meeting you, Miss Kim," the reporter from the Atlantic that I had just met was saying. He reached out a hand, smiling. I shook it and gave him a smile of my own but it wasn't genuine. Nothing about my interactions at this Saturday evening conference opening cocktail party had been genuine. Nothing but the name on my name tag and the amount of alcohol I had already consumed.
I'd gotten on my plane the previous evening, feeling guilty about Lisa Manoban. I wasn't sure why. I didn't owe her anything, least of all an explanation of the men I chose to go on a date with, but something about the look on her face when she had asked me about Kim Taehyung was proving hard to forget. Even when I was placed in a first class seat surrounded by reporters and other administrators all headed to the same conference. Taehyung had attempted to take the seat next to me but luckily it had been occupied by a grouchy old man who filled the same position I had but with the Los Angeles Rams.
He proved far more interesting to talk to than Kim Taehyung and I found myself asking him questions about the job, about his interactions with the players, trying to learn everything from him that I could. He claimed he was considering retiring but I knew, from my limited experience, that men in sports never meant it when they said they were retiring.
I had practically ran off the plane to avoid the NBC anchor when we had landed and hailed a cab to my hotel where I locked myself away in record time. I had managed to avoid Taehyung until the breakfast mixer in which he cornered me and I had no choice but to finally agree to the promised date for this evening. So now I stood in the ballroom of this Four Seasons, mingling with distinguished members of the national news media and drinking my weight in mixed drinks, dreading the evening to come though I hadn't the slightest idea why. I had agreed to this date, after all.
Suddenly, my phone rang and I fished it out of my purse, tapping the screen and holding it up to my ear as I made my way to an unoccupied corner. "Jennie Kim," I answered, glancing around distractedly.
"I've missed your voice."
I froze. I held the phone out and looked at the name. Lisa Manoban. My heart beat a bit faster just knowing it was her.
"Why are you calling me?" I hissed in a whisper as if it was so strange for the director of player relations to be receiving a call from her team's franchise quarterback. I straightened my skirt and cleared my throat, smiling at a passing group of reporters.
"Isn't that what friends do?" she asked with a tone of faux innocence. I could hear the teasing even from here.
"Lisa."
"I was just thinking about you, Jennie. That's all."
I hesitated, lips parting in surprise at the admission. She was thinking
about me? "You... were?" I asked. I tried not to shiver at the deep chuckle reverberating from the other end of the receiver.
"I was," she answered. "It's not an uncommon occurrence, you know. I hoped we could talk about it."
"I'm at the conference."
"And I'm in the shower. We're both busy. But no time like the present. And I don't like how we left things."
I heard what she was saying. My brain deciphered the words that she was saying but only four of them clearly stuck out. I'm in the shower. Was she? If so, why was she calling me? She said she was thinking of me. Was she thinking of me... in the shower?
"Jennie?" her voice came, shattering my thoughts. I cleared my throat and shook my head, cheeks burning.
"I- uh, yeah. I'm here. Sorry," I took a sip of my drink but thought it might serve me better dumped over my head.
"Distracted, are you?" she asked with a chuckle and I could practically hear the smirk in her voice. "What could possibly be distracting you, Miss Kim? Is your conference that interesting? Or maybe it was my mentioning of me in the shower?"
My eyes widened and my cheeks burned even hotter. Get it together, Jennie.
"I just got out, you know," she was saying from the other end. Her voice had gotten lower, more sultry. It was doing strange things to my nervous system. "Was planning on getting dressed but maybe I shouldn't?"
"Lisa, please-" I started, trying for my professional tone but only succeeding in a whimpering beg.
"You don't have to beg, baby," she told me slowly. "You can have whatever you want."
My lips parted but, before I could respond, someone spoke up loudly from behind me.
"There you are, Jennie!" Taehyung called, approaching with a smile. "Are you ready to go?"
"Jennie?" Lisa asked from the receiver. The sultry tone was gone. Replaced by a tone of query. "Is that-"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Manoban. I have to go. We can speak about this when I return next week. Thank you," I spoke a rushed goodbye into my phone and hung up quickly before I could second guess myself. Then I turned to Taehyung, sliding my phone back into my purse, and smiled.
I followed Taehyung out of the ballroom and to a waiting taxi, doing my best to ignore the constant buzzing at my side all the way. It stopped by the time we reached the restaurant and I did my best to ignore the dreaded feeling of disappointment in the pit of my stomach as we made our way inside and to our reserved table.
"I hear this is the best sushi restaurant in the city," he boasted as we took our seats and the waitress handed us our menus. "Online they say you can't get a reservation unless you call four months in advance but I suppose they've never called as Kim Taehyung from NBC News."
He chuckled at his own arrogance and I just responded with the same fake smile I'd been using on him all week. My face was starting to crack from the effort. Nevertheless, I reminded myself to make the effort. Lisa Manoban was off the table but that didn't mean I couldn't have a nice date with a distinguished man.
