YOUNG LOVE || 𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐀 ✔︎

seventeen

Lisa's eyes were glued to the screen, her right hand moving the mouse slowly as she added a round table near the deli bar. Would that go over in Daegu? Would people actually come to the store to have breakfast? Lunch?

“Gotta do something with all this space,” she murmured as she changed the low round table to a taller, square table. Three tables, two chairs at each.

“Busy?”

She glanced up, finding Jennie watching her from the doorway. She smiled quickly, surprised to see her. Sitting back, she motioned her inside her bedroom-office. The desk had taken up what little room was left after she’d moved in her bed from home. There wasn’t room for an extra chair.

“I’m sorry. It’s a little cramped.”

“I don’t want to interrupt,” Jennie said. “I came to visit Alice.”

“Oh.” Lisa reminded herself that Jennie was friends with her mother, not her. Jennie smiled at her, albeit a little nervously.

“Are you working on the design?”

“Yeah.” Lisa paused, then turned her laptop toward Jennie. “Here, take a look,” she said. She saved what she’d been working on, then pulled up a smaller scale schematic of the inside. “Our stores are on the small side, the largest being ten thousand square feet and the smallest—the first one—only seven thousand. So this one will be huge for us. It’s over twenty thousand square feet. Twice what we’re used to,” she said. “I’m not sure I can double our inventory, so I’ve got to fill the space somehow.” She pulled up the deli area again. “I want to make an eating area. Like a food court, with different options. It wouldn’t be entirely vegan or vegetarian,” she said. “Nothing commercial or factory farmed. That’s off limits. But we try to buy locally when we can. Has to be organic. A salad bar, a taco bar, a—” She stopped. “Sorry. I’m sure you don’t want to hear about all that.”

“No. It’s exciting.”

Lisa leaned back. “I don’t know if I would call it exciting, but I enjoy the planning stages.”

Jennie nodded. “And it shows.” She hesitated, her eyes darting around the room before coming back to Lisa. “I was wondering if…if you’d like to come over for…dinner. Tonight.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Lisa said. “No offense, but the last thing I want to do is have dinner with you and Mino,” she said.
Jennie shook her head. “Mino is…well, it doesn’t matter. He’s away. He won’t be there.”

Their eyes met, and Lisa tried to read Jennie, wondering what she was planning. She finally looked away, glancing to her screen instead. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we’d be alone.”

Jennie's eyes widened. “Are you worried about…”

“Well…”

Jennie smiled. “I have no ulterior motives, if that’s what you’re worried about. The last time we saw each other, we agreed there would be no…no affair,” she said, her voice quiet. “Seeing as how it’s been five years since we’ve seen each other and I’m still married…”

Lisa chewed her lower lip, then finally shrugged. “Okay. You’re right. We should be past that by now anyway.”

Jennie met her eyes again. “I miss you in my life. I miss a lot of things,” she added with a quick smile. “But I miss talking to you. I miss you being my friend. I don’t have anybody I’m close with, anyone I can talk to.” She took a deep breath. “I just really need to talk, Lisa.”