Tulips and Roses

Chapter 14, secrets and consequenses

The next few days seemed completely different to the heavenly afternoon she spent with Rosie. The business woman had been once again submerged with work, only being able to call and text her real interest briefly. She knew that she would get to text her between meetings, so it was safe to say Jisoo had been more than productive as of late.

Briskly, she made her way back from her latest meeting, having used some less than kind words to describe her branches performance. She had given them control over the audits, they had somehow ruined everything. She tried her best not to scream, she knew it could leave a stain on the company.

Not to mention, the audits now had a face, that boy from Lisa's party, a Mr Kim.  Considering that half of her board were also 'Mr Kims', Jisoo was less than impressed with the development.

Sitting at her desk, Jisoo typed then sent an email to her lawyers, informing them of the situation, then it was back to work. Her fingers tapped against the cold desk as she read through the rest of her mail. She realised why she had an assistant, this was a complete nightmare for one person. It took her fifteen minutes to find out who would be attending meetings with her tomorrow.

Soon, the sun began to set outside, her final meetings and plans now complete. She leaned back in her chair, shooting a text to Rosie, praying for a quick response, the florist had also been busy as of late. She spun her chair to look out of the giant windows behind her desk. The beautiful city was lit up like Christmas lights, making her forget about her problems for a moment. It was times like this that reminded her why she loved her job: she knew some of those lights belonged to her shops, helping to make the world a little brighter. She hoped that at least one person was able to get a worth while deal today.

What's the point of nice things if only a few people can have them? We must always do our best to make sure everyone gets the best we can offer.

Jisoo shook her father's voice from her thoughts. She wanted a moment of quiet before she returned to the real world. For a short while, she thought she had it, finally.

Then the door opened. A slam following.

"Jisoo Kim, why did you do this to me?"

She knew who it was, so saw no point in turning around, "What do you mean?"

"Don't act stupid, you know what I'm talking about," She snapped back.

Jisoo resisted the urge to yawn, "Jennie, sit down." Carefully, Jisoo listened as her assistant walked over and sat, "I do believe we had a meeting for next week?"

"Move it forward."

She turned to face Jennie, ready to retort. She was greeted with puffy eyes, messy hair and stained clothes; Jennie was never below pristine. Jisoo knew something was seriously wrong. She found herself incapable of taking her eyes off her assistant, she had never seen her like this. She took a box of tissues out of her drawer and slid them across the table for Jennie.

With all the softness she could muster, Jisoo asked, "What happened?"

Jennie took a tissue, rubbing her nose before meekly holding it in her hands, "I want to come back."

Jisoo closed her eyes, "Jennie, you've got a week and a half to go."

"Please."

Never in her life, had Jisoo heard that word come from Jennie's mouth. The two sat in silence, both at a loss in their own right. Jennie looked like she wanted to shrink into the chair, completely different to her usual confident self. Jisoo's concern grew by the second.

Eventually, Jisoo repeated, "What happened?"

Jennie caved, "The first day with Lisa was rough but after that it was fine, we were fine. And then today... she blew up."

Jisoo's eyebrows furrowed, "Did she assault you?"

Her assistant's eyes widened, "No no, she would never. I think she was just frustrated."

Jisoo sighed, "Then why did you come here? Lisa's dramatic, that a part of the deal."

"You don't know what she said to me," Jennie looked like she was about to cry again.

It was at this poorly timed moment, Lisa decided to enter the room, taking a few steps in before noticing Jennie hunched over. She stopped dead in her tracks, her face pale, distraught with guilt, "I didn't think..."

"No you didn't," Jisoo interrupted, "Tell me Miss Manoban, what foul spirit possessed you into thinking it was a good idea to make my assistant cry?"

There was a moment of silence, "She brought us up," Lisa responded, quietly.

Jisoo was once again at a loss, glancing between the two. Both of them had crossed a line. Of course, Jisoo's and Lisa's high school romance was a touchy subject between the two, they would have preferred if it did not happen, neither of them cared about it, even if it did not end on their own terms.

Their friendship was of a greater value. But Jennie, she took the matters of the heart much more seriously than Lisa, even if they were failures. She would never usually bring issues like this up. She should know better, Jisoo thought.

Jisoo looked up at Lisa, annoyed, knowing the answer she was about to receive, "Does it still mean anything to you?"

"Of course not," Lisa tore away from Jisoo's stare to look at Jennie, "It was how she said it."

Jisoo raised an eyebrow, unamused, "What did you say, Lisa?"

The dancer took in a breath, "She said that I was stuck to you, that I never moved on. I told her to look in a fucking mirror," She burst.

The business woman's eyes widened, "Lisa, that is completely inappropriate language..."

"look at her! She can't even admit it. It's like she's still in high school, like their both still in that fucking building." Lisa seethed.

High school? Jisoo thought, her voice deepened, "Calm down."

"You see the way she looks at her, the way Jennie practically drools on sight, we all do," Lisa fuelled her own rage, there was something else behind her eyes, "It doesn't matter where we go, what we do, she's always thinking of her, it's always fucking her."

So it's a woman, Jisoo thought, unsurprised. Both of them made a habit of chasing pretty things, high school would just add nostalgia. Jisoo knew that Jennie would rarely act on it, so she was indifferent to her. Lisa on the other hand, had never been worked into a state like this by anyone before.

Jennie finally spoke, "You don't understand..."

"Yes I do," Lisa bulldozed, "You can't move on, you don't allow yourself to move on because you're scared, you're always so fucking afraid of what will go wrong."

"I'm not afraid!" Jennie retaliated, "You think you can just hide behind your fancy parties and endless groupies? You can't. You're just a loser. You're just like me."

"No," Lisa snapped, "You don't get to say that, no one gets to say that."

"Why?" Jennie asks, "Will you believe it? Will you realise the truth?" Jennie's voice cracked, Jisoo knew she did not mean a word she just said.

Lisa froze, her hurt growing, "Will you believe me if I say you will never have her?"

"Rosie isn't something you can posses," Jennie snapped, turning to face Lisa, "She's not mine, or yours, or anyone's. Don't you ever talk about her like that again."

This was when both Lisa and Jennie realised what they had just given away.

After a tense silence, Jisoo stood, "Lisa, take a seat. Jennie, face me please," Jisoo said with a dangerous calm.

They both did as they were told. They both had waterfalls in their eyes. Jisoo was unsure of which one she was more upset with; her friend for acting out so harshly, hurting both herself and the other; or her assistant for not informing her of her feelings towards a certain florist. She wondered if Jennie, someone she considered family, ever planned on informing her of this, something so important to them both.

There was only one thing Jisoo knew for certain, both Lisa's jealousy for Rosie and Jennie's love for her needed to be dealt with. That lead to one final question, "Where did this all come from?" Jisoo asked.