Undercover Affection

Chapter 4

Lisa groaned as her alarm blared at 5:00 AM sharp. She rolled over in bed, blindly smacking the snooze button before burying her face into her pillow. "Why do I keep agreeing to this?" she mumbled. "I’m not a morning person, I’m barely a  person before 9 AM."

Still, the mission demanded it. Jennie was the key to bringing down one of the most dangerous mafia lords in the world, and Lisa had to play her part. She sat up, yawning and stretching, trying to summon the willpower to leave her warm bed. “You’re a special officer, Lisa. Trained for high-stakes, dangerous situations. And here you are whining about a gym session.”

After a few more minutes of internal pep talk (and one more snooze), Lisa finally dragged herself out the door and into the cool morning air. She arrived at the *Midnight Gym* just before 6 AM, still half-asleep but determined to keep up appearances. If Jennie could do this every morning, so could she. Kind of.

Lisa walked in to find Jennie already at work again, her movements precise as usual. Jennie glanced up briefly as Lisa entered, her expression as neutral as always. "You’re late," she said, checking her watch.

Lisa blinked, staring at her. "What? No way, it’s like… exactly 6 AM!"

Jennie raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "It’s 6:03."

Lisa dramatically gasped, clutching her chest. "Three minutes? Oh no, it’s the end of the world! I guess I’ll just have to live with the eternal shame of being tardy. How will I ever recover?"

Jennie gave her a dry look, but Lisa could see the hint of a smile in her eyes. "You don’t take anything seriously, do you?"

"Oh, I take plenty of things seriously," Lisa replied with a grin. "Like breakfast. Speaking of which, remind me why we aren’t at a café right now instead of torturing ourselves in this gym?"

Jennie ignored the jab and gestured toward the mats. "We’ll start with some basic strength training today. Let’s see how long you can last before you start complaining."

Lisa followed her over, cracking her knuckles with an exaggerated swagger. "I’ll have you know I’m extremely strong. Just last week, I opened a jar of pickles *all by myself.* No assistance. That’s the kind of power you’re working with here."

Jennie gave her a once-over, clearly unimpressed. "Good to know."

Lisa pretended to flex, showing off nonexistent muscles. "Check it out—*strength incarnate.* But just so you know, I’ll still be emotionally fragile if you say anything mean."

With a sigh, Jennie dropped into a plank position and started counting off reps, her form flawless as usual. Lisa hesitated for a moment, then followed her lead, lowering herself down onto the mat. It only took about ten seconds before she started to regret it.

"How… how are you doing this… without breaking a sweat?" Lisa wheezed, her arms shaking. Jennie, meanwhile, looked like she could hold this position for hours without even blinking.

"It’s called discipline," Jennie replied calmly. "You should try it sometime."

Lisa dropped to the floor dramatically, rolling onto her back. "I’m trying, Jennie, I really am. But I think my spirit just left my body. Look, there it goes—floating up to the ceiling."

Jennie glanced down at her, the faintest smirk on her lips. "You’ve lasted less than a minute."

"I know!" Lisa groaned. "I’ll be the first to admit that my cardio is about as good as a potato’s. But I make up for it with personality. And dodgeball skills, in case you forgot."

Jennie shook her head, but there was a small smile forming now. "Alright, up. We’ll move on to weights."

Lisa groaned again but hoisted herself to her feet, eyeing the dumbbells with suspicion. "You know, I’m convinced these things were invented by someone who just really wanted to see people suffer. Like, ‘What if we took something heavy, made you pick it up, and then put it down again for no reason at all?’"

Jennie handed her a pair of light weights. "Just start with these."

Lisa accepted them and immediately began making dramatic noises, grunting and gasping like she was lifting a car over her head. "Oh no, the strain! The agony! *Why is this so heavy?*"

Jennie couldn’t help it this time—a laugh escaped her. It was brief, but it was there, and Lisa caught it.

"Aha! I *knew* you had a laugh in there somewhere," Lisa said, pointing at Jennie with one of the dumbbells. "You’ve been holding out on me!"

Jennie composed herself quickly, shaking her head. "I’m just laughing at how weak you are."

"Oh, harsh! Brutal!" Lisa gasped, clutching her chest like she’d been wounded. "But I get it—you’re trying to motivate me with tough love. Smart. Very smart. I’ll be benching 200 pounds in no time thanks to you."

"At this rate, you’ll be lucky to lift your own water bottle," Jennie teased back, her smirk still lingering.

Lisa narrowed her eyes, though she was grinning. "Challenge accepted, Ice Queen."

The rest of the workout was a mix of Jennie’s focused, no-nonsense style and Lisa’s nonstop barrage of jokes. Every time Jennie pushed her to go harder, Lisa would respond with some over-the-top remark, whether it was pretending to pass out dramatically or insisting that the weights were, in fact, filled with lead.

By the end, Lisa was sprawled out on the gym floor, panting and staring at the ceiling. "I think I’m dead. This is what death feels like. It’s just… empty gym ceilings and sweat."

Jennie, still perfectly composed despite the workout, looked down at her. "You’ll survive."

"Are you sure?" Lisa wheezed, lifting one hand in the air as if reaching for the light. "I see the gates of heaven opening up. And—oh, wait, no. It’s just the janitor."

Jennie crossed her arms, but there was a definite glint of amusement in her eyes now. "You’re ridiculous."

"And yet, here you are," Lisa shot back, rolling onto her side to look up at Jennie. "Spending time with me, by choice. Makes you wonder, huh?"

Jennie tilted her head slightly, her expression softening for a moment. "I guess it does."

For a split second, the air between them shifted. The usual banter and teasing seemed to fade into something else—something a little more real. Lisa blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change in atmosphere. But before she could process it, Jennie turned away, heading for her bag.

"Same time tomorrow," Jennie said, her voice back to its usual calm, composed tone.

Lisa propped herself up on her elbows, still panting but grinning nonetheless. "Oh, you bet. And just so you know, tomorrow I’ll be even stronger. You’ll be like, ‘Wow, Lisa, are you secretly a superhero?’ and I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, but keep it on the down-low.’"

Jennie threw her bag over her shoulder, glancing back at Lisa with a small smile. "Goodbye, Lisa."

"See you, Ice Queen!" Lisa called after her, watching as Jennie left the gym.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Lisa let out a long, dramatic groan. "Why do I feel like this is the hardest mission of my life?" she muttered to herself, rubbing her sore muscles.

Because, she realized, it wasn’t just the physical workout. It was Jennie. Getting close to her was proving to be more complicated—and more interesting—than Lisa had anticipated.

And the worst part?

She was starting to like it.

Continue,,,