JENNIE
Dinner is painfully slow, and my senses are tripping over one another. I strain to hear her voice or catch sight of Lisa out of the corner of my eye. It's frustrating. And Sterling is trying to engage our table with his, and I'm done. I lean over to Nayeon. "I'm going to take a walk. Are you okay here?"
She puts her hand on my shoulder. "Take your time. I'll hold off Sterling. Find out what's going on over there." She nods in Lisa's direction.
"I won't be gone long." I brush a kiss across her cheek and make my way to the front of the room. Three people stop me along the way to introduce themselves, and as much as I want to brush them off, I can't. I remain cordial and excuse myself after a few minutes of conversation. I'm dressed for attention, and I'm getting it. I can't be mad.
Lisa's presence is throwing me for a loop. It never crossed my mind that she could be here. I make it to the bathroom without any more interruptions and stand in front of the mirror. I look good.
My hair is still styled perfectly, my makeup isn't smudged, and my dress hugs all my curves. I hate that Tzuyu Chou, or whatever her name is, shakes my confidence. Maybe because Lisa was adamant about not dating weeks ago at my place, yet tonight Tzuyu introduced Lisa as her date. Is this jealousy? Or disappointment because she lied to me? I take a deep breath and head back to the ballroom.
"It's not what you think."
I get instant chills. Lisa is leaning up against the wall outside the bathroom. I admire her long fingers as she casually holds her drink by the rim. The hallway is filled with tension.
"Oh. What am I thinking?"
Fuck, she looks sexy. Her bow tie is slightly crooked. I'm filled with the desire to straighten it and touch the pleats in her shirt. Her hair is mussed, and the messiness gives her a carefree look.
She sighs. "You're thinking I'm on a date."
"I've learned not to assume things with you." I walk away because I'm confused about this night, but she moves off the wall when I take a step toward the ballroom.
"The judge is her uncle. She didn't have a date and asked me."
"Okay." I nod as if I understand or believe her, but I could see how comfortable they were in each other's space. Lisa is more to Tzuyu than a date. I take another step. She blocks my progress.
"I need you to believe me," she says.
I sigh and shift my weight to one hip and cross my arms.
"Lisa, we aren't exclusive. We aren't dating. You don't date, and I don't date. We just have a mutual respect for our unique and demanding needs." I air-quote 'you don't date' for effect.
"Christ."
"Okay. I'm going back to my friend. I don't want her to send out a search party for me."
"Is she your date?" she asks.
"Again, I don't date."
"She's lovely, but I can't imagine she gives you what you need." Her confidence level ramps up as she challenges me.
"I can't have this discussion here. Have a good evening, Lisa." I nod and walk past her. I don't get far before I feel her fingers grab my hand and pull me toward a door near us. It's locked.
She tries two more doors before one is unlocked. She ushers me inside and closes the door. It's a room full of chairs for either an upcoming event or one that just ended. Judging by the straight lines of the rows, probably one that's coming up. She pulls me into an alcove for privacy.
"I really don't want this to be an issue for us," she says. She runs her fingers over my cheeks and down my neck. I think she's going to kiss me, but she doesn't.
"We're free to fuck whomever we want."
She doesn't deny it, and my stomach slips a little. "Who's your date?"
I laugh a little too hard. "That's Nayeon. My best friend from law school who came into town to be my plus one since I don't have time to date."
Her shoulders visibly relax. I put my hand on her lapel. "Let's not read anything into this. Let's just go about our lives." I don't mean that. I don't want her to fuck Tzuyu and then come over to my house. For the first time, I feel used. And I hate that I know Tzuyu from the courthouse. That's going to make my already challenging job even harder.
She presses into me and kisses me hard. I snake my arms under her tux jacket and hold her close. She always smells so good and feels so warm. We stop when we hear a door close and people whispering.
"Look, I tried everything, but I can't do anything about it." I recognize Sterling's voice.
"Try harder. You owe us. If this thing blows up, every single person involved is going down. You get that, right?"
I don't recognize the second voice, but I know a threat when I hear it. We peek out from the dark alcove when a scuffle ensues.
Lisa tenses as though she's planning to get involved, but I hold her back and shake my head at her. She thinks she's going to break up a fight, but I have a feeling that whatever this is, is far more complicated.
"Get away from me. If it comes out, it comes out," Sterling yells.
"If Seamus talks, you're the first one he'll name." I hear a thump and a groan. The other guy must have hit Sterling in a soft place. "Get that bitch in line, or I will."
"My hands are tied. I can't go around threatening people. That's not how I do things. Tell him that," Sterling yells.
I look out and see Sterling hunched over. The guy who hit him has already turned his back and is walking out the door. We watch Sterling pick up a chair from the perfectly lined row and throw it.
Lisa pulls me back into the shadows until we hear Sterling stomp off. The door opens and closes again.
"The coast is clear. And what the hell was that about?" Lisa asks. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but I have to go."
She pulls me close. "We need to finish our discussion."
"I don't know what to say. I don't know what this is, but I'm not going to be the other woman for you. If you want a relationship, have it with Tzuyu. She complicates things for us because I work with her. You understand that, right? It's a serious conflict of interest. I'm sorry, but I can't be involved in whatever this is." I touch Lisa's face. I don't tell her that I hope Tzuyu makes her happy or anything cheesy like that. I'm excusing myself from this entanglement because it's become that. An entanglement. Work and play have collided, and I can't have that. "We need to get out of here and away from whatever that was."
Lisa carefully opens the door we're standing in front of and peeks out. "Okay. It's safe."
I give her hand a squeeze and walk away without looking back.
I'm sure Nayeon's worried about me. I order two more drinks from the bar and head back to the table. Most people are up and mingling, but I see Lisa is back at the table with Tzuyu, and they're laughing at something somebody said. She got over me pretty fast.
"Are you okay?" Nayeon asks. She takes the old-fashioned from my hand and pushes my chair back for me. "You were gone a while."
I see that Sterling and Eloise aren't seated. "Where's the mayor?"
"Oh, he and his wife took off. Said something came up and they had to leave. He was very cordial and shook my hand again. I really like Eloise."
"She's nice. But listen to what just happened." I lower my voice and look around before I start my story. Nayeon leans closer, knowing discretion is a must. Her smile drops when she sees I'm not happy.
"So, Lisa follows me and we're having a little chat in one of the other ballrooms."
"Chat like 'hey how are you,' or chat like 'let's fuck.' Strictly need to know for context," she says.
"More like 'let's talk,' but there was a really nice kiss."
"I see that." Nayeon wipes the top of my mouth, where my lipstick has evidently smudged.
"I told her that I can't have work and my personal life collide."
"Again. Collide again."
Technically, she's right. "Yes, again, but on a larger scale. Tzuyu is a lawyer, and at some point, she or her firm will try a case in my courtroom. I can't have this much conflict of interest. She could destroy me if she finds out Lisa and I hooked up prior to my first case, where Lisa testified."
She rubs my arm. "I get it. And I'm sorry that has to happen."
She thinks I'm upset about that. I am, but like with every woman before Lisa, I'll move on, and it won't be an issue. At least I hope that's how it plays out. "Here's the interesting part. Sterling and some guy were having a not-so-friendly chat. There were threats about a boss not being happy, and he mentioned Seamus. That's the arsonist Sterling asked me to go easy on."
"What?" Nayeon's voice is laced with panic.
"Maybe it was a different Seamus." It sounds weak even as I'm saying it.
"What did Sterling say?"
"Nothing. He threw a chair."
"At the guy?"
"No, after he left, but some testosterone-induced shoving on both their parts happened. Lisa almost got involved, but I held her back."
"She tried to get involved after the chair throwing?"
"No. I'm telling it all backward." I start over and tell her exactly what Sterling and the mystery man said.
"I was right this whole time. The mob, threats. You have to have somebody you can talk to. I don't like this."
"I don't want to be here anymore. Can we leave?"
Nayeon finishes her drink and nods. "Let's go. We'll have more fun at your place anyway. We still have time to fit a rom-com under our belt. Can you get our coats? I need to go to the bathroom before we leave."
I head straight for the coat check. After ringing the bell three times, I walk around the corner to the coat room and find it unlocked.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Someone shoves me from behind, and I stumble inside. Then somebody trips into me. The second shove is more forceful, and I fall against the coats. I stay upright, but I don't know how. I turn and find the same man who just argued with Sterling.
"Look, you bitch. You screwed up big-time, and now you're going to pay for it." Spittle shines in the corner of his mouth. His eyes are bloodshot as though he hasn't slept in days or is drunk.
His hot, sour breath reeks of cigarettes and bad hygiene, but I don't smell alcohol.
I flinch at his nearness. "I don't know you or what you're talking about." I try to keep my voice steady, even though my stomach is rolling and quivering.
He cups my face hard and moves closer to me. "Don't fuck with the power in this city." The world goes black for a fraction of a second as the back of his hand connects with my cheek.
"Motherfucker!" Even though it's filled with hatred and anger, Lisa's voice comes into focus before her face does. She peels the man off me and throws him, so he stumbles into the aisle and crashes into a group of men leaving.
"Hold him. He just assaulted a woman," Lisa says.
The five men walking by don't hesitate and hold him down on the floor. He struggles desperately to break free. A staffer rushes over, and Lisa barks for him to call the cops.
She turns to me and winces. "Are you okay?"
Her anger frightens me, but I nod. She gently cups my face and tilts my head to see the bruise that I feel already forming across my cheekbone. "Fuck."
"Oh my, God. What happened?" Tzuyu rushes over to us, and Lisa drops her hand from my face. I am flooded with emptiness when our physical connection ends.
"That douchebag just assaulted Jennie," Lisa says.
"You'll be sorry," my assailant says. He smirks as if he knows something more than what's going on here.
One of the guys holding him down laughs at him. "You just assaulted a judge in a room full of lawyers and other judges. I'd say you're fucked."
"What the hell's going on?" Nayeon rushes over to me and pulls me into a hug. I'm so close to crying. "Oh, baby. Did that asshole hit you?" She tilts my head, too. It must be bad because she winces as well.
My cheek is hot and swollen. "Somebody needs to take a picture before this beaut goes away." I laugh, but that makes my cheek hurt more.
The hotel manager ushers me and Nayeon into a private room. I look at Lisa before slipping into it. Her chest is heaving, and her face is flushed. When I shake my head, she stops where she is. We don't need any more questions. The manager hands me an ice pack after Nayeon snaps a few pictures of me. I don't want to see them, and she doesn't offer.
The manager's walkie cuts into the silence. "Ms. Brown, the police are here." We all sigh with relief.
She clicks on her walkie. "We're in Ballroom C."
Thirty seconds later, two police officers walk into the room to take my statement.
"Did you recognize the man who assaulted you?" The female officer asking questions is very calm with a soothing voice.
"I've never met him prior to this evening," I say.
"Can you walk me through what happened?"
"My friend and I decided to leave the party, and while she was in the restroom, I went to get our coats. Shit, Nayeon. I never got our coats."
"I'll get them after we're done," she says.
"Nobody was at the desk, so I went to the side door, which was unlocked. I opened it, and just as I was stepping into the room, he pushed me from behind. Twice. When I turned around, he hit me in the face."
Nayeon squeezes my shoulders. "Bastard. I hope they throw the book at him."
We both know he'll be out within a day. I'll be sure to find out who bails him out. The officer snaps pictures of my bruise for official use. I'm too angry to be scared. Nayeon grabs our coats, and an officer walks us to the town car.
"Are you sure you're okay, Judge Kim?" he asks.
I wave him off. "I'm fine. I just need to rest and put ice on my cheek. Thank you for getting here so quickly and taking care of things." I climb into the car, grateful the trip will take only a few minutes.
"I can't believe all of this just happened. What the fuck? Like what the actual fuck? Who is that guy?" Nayeon holds me, and I don't know if it's to make me feel better or for her to calm down. Probably both. She's seething.
"I would be a mess if you weren't with me this weekend. I can't imagine going home alone after that."
"The cops will probably come by in the morning and dig a little deeper. There's obviously some connection between the arson case and the mayor and your assault. They might even give you protection. I'm not going to leave you alone."
Fuck. I didn't even think about that. "You're going home tomorrow. I'll be fine. I'm sure whatever's going on ended with him."
Nayeon obviously believes that about as much as I do. "I'm going home after things settle down, even if it's next week. Okay, we're here. Let's get you cleaned up and into warm pajamas."
I follow her into the building, relieved that we have security.
I hand her my key for the elevator and punch the code to my floor.
"Why am I so tired? It's barely ten."
"It's the adrenaline leaving your body."
I kick off my shoes and walk upstairs to take a shower. Nayeon wants me to put ice on my face, but I need to clean myself first. I feel dirty. Violated. The hot water feels wonderful. I wash my makeup off, careful of my tender cheek, shampoo my hair, and scrub my skin hard. The water cools, so I turn it off and slip into lounge pants and an oversized sweatshirt. My cheek is red and slightly swollen, and I know it'll change colors by tomorrow. That really hurt. It dawns on me that I didn't tell the police officers about Sterling's confrontation with the same man earlier in the evening. Considering he mentioned Seamus's name, I definitely should have.
"You know what I forgot to tell the police?" I'm walking down the stairs towel-drying my hair when Nayeon stops me.
"You have a visitor. I thought it would be okay that she's here," she says.
She moves aside. and I see Lisa standing by the couch, her eyes on me. She's concerned, and a part of me wants to melt against her because I feel safe with her. Instead, I stay exactly where I am.
"How are you?" she asks.
The first thing that pops in my head is Tzuyu. Where is she? I also hate that I'm not sexy right now. "I'm okay. Thank you again for being there for me." I've never felt so vulnerable.
Nayeon hands me an ice pack and motions for me to sit on the couch. "We need to get the swelling down. God, I hate that he hit you." She turns to Lisa. "How did you get there so fast?"
Lisa unclenches her fists and shakes her hands. "I wasn't fast enough. I wanted to say bye before you left. I just didn't get there in time."
On instinct, I reach for Lisa's hand and pull her to sit with me on the couch. Nayeon sits across from us in a chair. "You got him off me, and that's important. If you hadn't been there, who knows what would have happened."
"I would have killed him," Nayeon says.
"Same," Lisa says.
They share a moment over me—my best friend and my nostrings-attached ex-lover. Even agitated and stressed out, Lisa looks sexy. Her jacket is on the table, and her tie is missing. I wonder if it's in her pocket or her car.
"I don't know about you all, but I could use a smooth drink,"
I say. Nayeon jumps up and pours us whiskeys. The first sip heats my throat, and I welcome the sharpness. The second sip calms my tastebuds, and I settle into its warmth. Lisa swirls her glass but doesn't take a drink. Nayeon's looking at the label that I know she's not really reading. I'm the only one drinking. I take another sip.
Lisa carefully hands me the ice pack. "You need to put this on your cheek to keep the swelling down."
"Thank you," I say.
Lisa's tense, and Nayeon's bouncing her leg. I'm the only calm one. I hold the ice pack against my cheek in one hand and my whiskey in the other. "All in all, I thought the party sucked, but the food was decent," I say.
Nervous laughter bubbles up from both, but they remain quiet.
"Okay. Let's talk about something or turn on the television or something, because I can't be alone with just my thoughts," I say.
Nayeon jumps up. "I'm still upset that asshole put his hands on you. And who is he? Why you? What's going on?"
"And what were he and the mayor arguing about? Obviously, they know one another," Lisa says.
"I forgot to tell the officers about that, but I'm going to have to confess we were in that room, Lisa," I say.
"That's fine. Whatever it takes to lock him up."
I'm not one-hundred-percent sure I'm ready for the world to find out about a somewhat clandestine meeting in an empty room with a former witness. Especially since I wasn't her date for the evening. I sigh. Just when my career is taking off.
"Do you remember what he said? I still think it's the mob," Nayeon says.
"What? What are you talking about?" Lisa looks at Nayeon likes she's nuts.
"I told Jennie at the beginning of the trial that it could involve the mob. They burned down that warehouse to hide something, and the mayor's obviously involved," she says.
"The mob? Are they even still around?"
"Well, no. Probably not. But somebody rich and powerful had something to gain by the warehouse fire." Nayeon crosses her arms and stares at us. She's still wearing her dress and heels.
"Why don't you go change clothes? You don't look comfortable," I say.
"Okay. I'll be right back, but we're not done talking about this."
When Nayeon leaves, Lisa turns to me. "I'm sorry about everything that happened tonight. I know I put you in a bad spot by pulling you into that room."
I put the whiskey down and touch her forearm with my free hand. "We needed to talk about some things. I'm not sorry."
"How do we leave things now?"
I smile sadly at her. "For now, we keep it as friends." I don't want to rehash that she's in a relationship with somebody who could potentially destroy my career. We had figured that out earlier, but we both need to hear it again.
"I get it. Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I can sleep on the couch. I just want to make sure you're okay."
I agree. Her presence will give me peace of mind. "That would be nice."
When Nayeon returns, I tell her Lisa's staying on the couch tonight.
"She can have my room. I'm sleeping with you," Nayeon says.
Lisa thanks her but decides to stay on the couch. I pull out a soft pillow and a blanket and put it on the couch for her.
"Thank you for everything tonight," I say.
"Good night, Jennie. I hope you sleep well."
I stop on my way up to my bedroom and try to muster a smile, but my cheek is numb and my energy waning. "Good night, Lisa."
