Welcome to Cairns

Chapter 9: The Wedding

Lisa slept in late the day of Roseanne's wedding. She'd purposely come home and drank a couple more beers so that she would sleep well through the next morning. She knew it was bad to fall into the old habit, but she also didn't want to spend the morning thinking about Roseanne, knowing that she was about to marry someone that wasn't her.

By the time she did wake up, it was about noon and it was time for her to start thinking about making her way down to the beach. The storm clouds were starting to roll in and she didn't want to still be pounding long sticks of metal into the sand when the lightning started to strike.

Lisa was loading the conductors into the back of her truck from where they'd been staying behind her old home when Jisoo drove up. Lisa was surprised to see her sister, especially when she exited her car dressed up.

"Don't you have a wedding to be at?" Lisa asked. "I heard the whole town was invited."

"I'm on my way there now," Jisoo responded.

"I'm pretty sure this house is out of the way for you if you're on your way to the Kim Plantation."

"You ran after Roseanne last night," Jisoo cut right to the chase. Lisa knew that her sister had come to her in order to check on her, but she also knew the older woman would never come right out and say her intentions.

"No one else knew what was wrong," Lisa replied honestly.

"She's not your responsibility anymore."

"I know," Lisa nodded. She also knew that Jisoo was just trying to protect her. "And I told her as much. I told her what her leaving did to me."

"You did?" Jisoo's eyes widened just slightly, only enough for someone who knew her well to realize that she was surprised. "What'd she say to that?"

Lisa could have told her sister about the almost-kiss, but decided against it. It seemed too personal. Besides, even though she knew Jisoo would never tell anyone, Lisa would never put Roseanne's relationship with Jaemin at risk like that. She cared to much about her, even after everything.

Realizing that Lisa was hiding something, and that she wasn't going to give it up, Jisoo took a step back towards her car. "So that's it then? You're going to head down to the beach and pretend that everything is normal while the love of your life marries some random guy?"

"Life goes on," Lisa responded.

"You're pretty quick to let go of something you've been holding onto for so long."

"I can't control her any more than I can control the weather," Lisa sighed as she gestured to the sky around them.

Without another word, Jisoo turned and left. Lisa was down her driveway as well not two minutes later, but instead of turning left at the end of the street and Jisoo had, she turned right.

Lisa was just about through town when she noticed that her gas gauge read near empty. She groaned and pulled up to the gas station. Town was eerily quiet, but Lisa knew where most people were.

"I take it you're not invited to the wedding," the gas attendant spoke.

"Let me just get my gas in peace Murphy," Lisa sighed as she stuck the nozzle in her gas tank. Murphy simple shrugged and walked off.

Lisa was just closing her gas tank, ready to hop back in her truck, when an unfamiliar car pulled up. She figured it must have been one of Roseanne's New York friends in for the wedding, most likely lost. Her suspicions were assuaged when the driver rolled down his window.

Inside was a somewhat rotund, balding man with horn-rimmed glasses.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find Miss. Roseanne Kim? I have a very important matter to settle with her," the man spoke.