The Bet "JENLISA"

11. Swampland

Third person pov.

Lisa walked into her office and was greeted by Tracy. Lisa was still on a high from that morning and in a really good mood. It was obvious by the smile on her face. Tracy offered to fetch her a coffee but Lisa didn't want more coffee. She decided tea would be okay. She sat at her desk and looked out at the view. Her corner office was in the perfect spot to see the entire city. When she wasn't so consumed with work and remembered to look up, she was reminded how beautiful it was. 

Tracy  came walking in with Lisa's tea and placed it on her desk. She thought Lisa was so pretty. Admittedly, Tracy had a bit of a crush on her boss. She didn't think Lisa noticed her in that way though. Lisa was very focused on her work all the time.

"Thank you, Tracy," Lisa said, taking a sip of the tea. It was green tea, one of Lisa's favorites.

"You're welcome, Miss Manoban," Tracy said.

"I told you. You can just call me Lisa. You're basically the other half of my brain. You don't have to be so polite," Lisa reminded her.

Tracy snickered. "Right. Well, you're welcome, Lisa." Tracy sat down with a notepad and a pen. A part of their morning routine was debriefing and mapping out the rest of Lisa's day. If she had court or if she had to mediate, Tracy would remind her and give her times and places. Not that Lisa went many places without Tracy but it was still nice to know ahead of time.

Tracy began the outline of Lisa's day. First, she ran down the court appearances she had to make and with which judge. Lisa internally groaned at the names. There were only two but she didn't care for either of them, no one really did. They were especially hard judges. You never knew which way they would rule. Lisa listened intently as Tracy spoke and when it was time for Lisa to give Tracy a to-do list, Tracy jotted down detailed notes. There was no doubt that the two of them worked well together.

"Was that all, ma'am?" Tracy asked, looking over her notes one more time in case there was something she needed clarification on.

"I believe so. Yes. Thank you," Lisa said as she woke up her computer screen. She needed to get to work. She had a long day ahead of her. Tracy could tell her mind was already buzzing with work-related ideas. She nodded and silently excused herself from Lisa's office.

Lisa's day went by fairly quickly. Her cases were both ruled in her favor and she was making headway in the big case she was working. She was having a good day. However, as it got later in the day, she noticed she felt a longing for something or rather someone. She missed Jennie and she became annoyed with herself for doing so. She had to learn how to cut those little troublesome emotions off at the knees. They were only going to get in the way of a thing that was only supposed to be a bet.

Still, she wished she knew what she was doing. Maybe Lisa was needy. She hadn't thought of herself that way before. It never seemed that way. Usually, Lisa would enjoy the company of her lover when they were together but she would never feel so... mushy when they were apart. That's what this foreign feeling was. Mush. Lisa wasn't a fan. She hated the mush. It was hard to get her footing and she felt like she was slowly but consistently sinking. It was a swampland of stupid emotions.

"Get yourself together, Lisa" she said aloud to herself. She was being beyond silly. Jennie was her friend. They made a bet. She lost. That's all this was. She was keeping up her end of the bargain. Yeah. This was no different than if they had bet money and she had to pay up. Just now money was sex and intimacy. Lisa could do this. She could separate sex and her feelings. How hard could it be? People did it all the time. Jennie did it all the time. She always had a line of women in and out of her life. 

There were two small knocks on Lisa's door. She knew the knocks belonged to Tracy. That was her knock. Lisa told her to come in. Tracy walked in balancing a bag of food, a drink holder, and a vase of edible arrangements. Lisa quickly helped her get the things to her desk in one piece.

"I would have gone with you to get lunch, Tracy," Lisa said, looking over the haul. There was a drink and some type of green shake-looking thing. Lisa didn't recognize the bag that the food was in but it smelled divine. The edible arrangement was a little random, Lisa thought, but whatever Tracy was into.

Tracy shook her head. "I didn't go. This was delivered for you."

"For me? Are you sure? I didn't order anything," Lisa said, looking over the things for some type of clue about where the food could have come from.

"Yeah. The guy said Lisa Manoban. Oh wait. I think the card fell on my desk." Tracy hurriedly retrieved the card and brought it back. She smiled at Lisa who was still in the state of shock.

"Are you seeing someone, Miss Manoban?" she asked. Lisa blushed at the question. She wasn't sure how to answer.

"I uh... I don't know." She laughed at her own answer. It must have sounded crazy. How could she not know?

"It's complicated. Been there," Tracy said. She completely understood that weird grey area of things. "Well, I'll leave you alone with your secret admirer lunch." She teased before leaving Lisa alone with her little surprise.

Lisa sat down and opened the card. It was Jennie's handwriting. The note was simple and sweet. "I miss you, love. You've been on my mind." Those two simple sentences were enough to have Lisa smiling like the idiot she was. And just like that, she was quickly and unexpectedly tossed back into the swampland.