Warm On a Cold Night ★ JENLISA

Chapter 5

It works.

For a week it works.

She doesn't have any cases that require her presence in court and she sneaks out of the office early most days to complete her paperwork at home. There are plenty of motions and responses that need to be written and that can happen anywhere. She doesn't even think about stepping foot in the regular bar, takes the long way home most days to avoid even walking by.

And it's fine.

It's fine.

It's not as if Lisa has reached out either. It's not really what they do. They meet, they have sex, they return to status quo until they see each other again and the cycle starts anew.

Except now, now it's...

It's over, it's done, that's it.

And really it's fine.

Until the following Monday when the high profile double homicide that's gripped the city begins jury selection.

And Lisa's stupid face is plastered all over the news.

And, well, fuck.

If this is what she meant by bigger fish, then she certainly wasn't going to be losing any sleep over the case with Jackson.

Oh, that's what she's been doing.

How the fuck did she get picked to sit co-chair on this one? How the hell did she juggle both cases?

This is undoubtedly the biggest case the city has seen in years, featured in the news almost daily since the bodies were found and everyone and their mother has opinions.

And there's Lisa right in the middle of it. Walking by the news crews camped in the hallway of the justice building with her head down and her game face on. Looking perfectly coiffed. Her hair actually down. A skirt on her legs and a soft blouse under her blazer.

Something wiggles in the back of Jennie's brain.

Jennie recognizes it for what it is.

The extra ooomph.

Lisa does this for the cameras, pulls out all the stops for the large crowds and the press that hounds her.

Of fucking course she does.

She's preening.

That fucking ego.

Xx

Jennie does her best to ignore it all. Tries her hardest. But it's all anyone wants to talk about, can pay attention to. It's as if the rest of the speeding train that is the court system comes to a grinding halt. Her few cases are postponed and rescheduled. Her clients are flaky. Her colleagues are all in and out of the courtroom like a group of fangirls. Jennie would pop them all popcorn and drop it off if it would be allowed.

But she stays away.

Doesn't want to go anywhere near it.

Repeating her mantra over and over in her head every time she catches sight of Lisa.

And Lisa, Lisa is pulling out all the stops for this one, not that she doesn't look criminally good on any other day. But there's something about seeing her out of her regular uniformity that just gets to Jennie.

There's the pencil skirt. The pair of red heels. The different color palette. Her hair down and wavy and over one shoulder in that way Jennie tries not to dream about. She's not in her usual button downs, but switching it up with fabrics that highlight her frame and it's all scrambling Jennie's brain.