The Quiet Contract

Paris

Jennie's POV

The room was too quiet after Lisa left, the silence pressing down on me like a weight I couldn't escape. My heart hammered in my chest, and I felt my throat tighten as I stared at the door she'd just closed. I should have known she'd come. I should have been prepared, but nothing could have readied me for seeing her again—her face, her smell, the way her arms wrapped around me like I still belonged there.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my fingers trembling as I grabbed my phone. I needed to regain control. I couldn't let her disrupt me like this. I scrolled to Mina's number and pressed call, pacing the length of the room as I waited for her to pick up.

"Mina," I snapped the moment she answered. My voice wavered, betraying the calm I was trying so hard to project. "Why is Lisa here? How does she know where I'm staying?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Mina answered, her voice careful. "I didn't tell her, Jennie. She must have her ways."

"Her ways?" I scoffed, running a hand through my hair. "She can't just barge in here uninvited! This is a business trip, Mina. I can't deal with this right now."

"I understand, Jennie," Mina replied, her tone soothing, as if she were trying to calm a child. "But Lisa said she just wants to talk. She sounded... desperate. Are you sure you don't want to hear her out?"

Desperate. The word hung in the air like a taunt. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the image of Lisa's face when she hugged me earlier. She looked desperate, but she also looked like she missed me. Like she cared.

"No," I said firmly, shaking my head even though Mina couldn't see me. "Tell her I don't want to see her. I don't want to talk to her. I don't care what she has to say."

"Jennie," Mina began, her tone soft, but I cut her off.

"Please, Mina," I said, my voice breaking. "I can't— I just can't do this right now. Tell her to leave. Please."

There was a long silence before Mina sighed. "Okay. I'll tell her."

I hung up before she could say anything else, tossing the phone onto the bed as I buried my face in my hands. My chest heaved, and I realized I was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.

Why now? Why did she have to come now, when I have a very important business talk, I can't have any distraction.

The email flashed in my mind again—those pictures of her and Diana, the lies, the betrayal. My anger flared, but it was quickly swallowed by the ache that had been living in my chest since the moment I saw those images. No matter how much I tried to deny it, I missed her.

I missed her laugh, the way she always found a way to make me smile even when I was furious with her. I missed her stupid jokes, her warmth, her presence. And now, she was here, and all I wanted to do was run into her arms, but I couldn't.

I wouldn't.

She lied to me. She looked me in the eyes and lied, and now she expected me to believe whatever excuse she had prepared?

I stood and walked to the window, pulling the curtains aside to look out at the city below. The lights of Paris were beautiful, but they felt distant, like they belonged to another world. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to steady my breathing.

The memories of her were relentless. Her voice, her touch, her scent—they filled the room like ghosts I couldn't exorcise. I clenched my fists, hating how weak I felt, how much I still wanted her despite everything.

I replayed the moment she hugged me earlier, the way my body instinctively leaned into hers before my brain reminded me of the betrayal. I hated myself for that moment of weakness.