MAYBE THIS TIME | JENLISA

4

No sooner had Jennie vowed to have a good time on the ship than she heard a knock at the door. She wondered if this might be the Lisa Enrique mentioned before. His Lisa, not her Lisa. Not that she had a Lisa to begin with, but now that he'd said the name, her mind wondered all the same.

"I'll be right there," she called as she scanned the room to make sure all her unmentionables were tucked away.

She made her way to the door and pulled it open with a smile, one that quickly died.

"Jennie?" Behind a mass of red roses, Lisa Manoban's expression matched what Jennie was currently feeling: shock, surprise, disbelief. Definitely disbelief.

Jennie felt faint. No, not faint. Sick. Like she was having an out-of-body experience at the very tippity-top of a too high roller coaster and she was going to pass out on the ride and be pitched off the coaster into oblivion. That kind of sick.

The room began to spin, and she grabbed for something, anything, to keep her from falling.

"Whoa, Jennie, hang on." She became aware of Lisa's hand gripping her shoulder, steadying her in place. But only vaguely. Because this was a dream, right? Her ex-love was not delivering flowers to her non-honeymoon honeymoon suite. On a ship. In the middle of the ocean. Because that stuff didn't happen. Nope. Not a chance.

"I need to sit. Or lie down. Maybe both." She would've been amazed at her ability to form words if this was really happening. If she wasn't still in complete and utter shock at the concerned blue eyes that met her gaze. Familiar eyes. Eyes from her past.

"Yeah, sitting is good. Sit." Lisa looked around, panicked. "Is there someone else? Hello?" she called to no one. "Is there someone here I can-"

"Ha." There was that all too familiar bitter laugh Jennie seemed to have perfected lately. "No. Just me."

Lisa helped her to the edge of the nearby bed, juggling the oversized and rather obnoxious bouquet of roses. Which looked heavy. Very heavy. Or maybe Jennie was still just feeling weak from the near fainting. "Oh, um, okay."

Jennie took in a few steadying breaths, her body shaking a bit from the surprise of it all. She leaned forward on her elbows and rested her head in her hands. "This is some kind of sick joke, right?"

"For which one of us?" Lisa's voice sounded like a mix of sarcasm and nervousness.

She looked up at her. "I was talking about for me. But I could see why you would feel that way, too."

"Harrumph." Lisa hummed and Jennie felt bad. They hadn't broken up on the best terms and she knew that was entirely on her. But that was a long time ago. She was different now, and she wondered if Lisa was, too.

Lisa placed the glass vase on the nearby table and leaned against the wall. She looked good. Great, even. Her long blond hair was swept back into a ponytail. She looked tall and skinny.

Lisa cleared her throat and Jennie realized she might be staring. "So, you're one of the Mrs. Bae, huh?"

"No." Jennie leaned back on the bed, resting her weight on her hands. The new position afforded her some room to breathe, and she took it, inhaling deeply, trying to gain some composure. As if that was a possibility with the ghost of her past standing no more than four feet away, looking incredible and like no time had passed at all. "Not married. Not a Bae. Still a Kim."

Lisa raised an eyebrow and looked more delicious. "Are you in the wrong room then?"

"Nope. Not in the wrong room. Just not married."