J
"Call me once you're in the limo, okay?" Lisa sighed. "Just so I know you made it home safely."
I could see the sadness clearly in her expression. It matched my own. We both knew it would be almost three weeks until we saw each other again, and the last minutes we had together were flying by. She turned her Shelby onto the main road that led into the airport.
"I will." I sniffed, trying not to cry. I didn't want to leave but I had to get back to running my pub. Lisa was planning to spend some well-earned time away with her friends, Matt and Scott, and her brother before leaving for Scotland. The four guys were going hunting. She and her brother also had some making-up to do.
"You know you really didn't need to do this… Hyunji or Fred could have picked me up," I muttered.
"Jennie," she groaned, looking over at me. "You know why. I don't like that you're flying home alone either."
I stared out my window, thinking that she worried too much. Our stalker was incarcerated and most of the Seaside fans left town once the filming wrapped. The reasons to be frightened and paranoid were gone.
"I'll be all right. You should stop worrying," I whispered.
She shook her head at me; her lips frowned at my words.
All too soon we were parked in front of the doors for departing flights.
I leaned across the center console and kissed her. I had to turn my Kim's Pub baseball hat on her head so the visor would be out of my way.
"I love you," I uttered, missing her already.
"I love you too. I'll see you in L.A. on the sixteenth." She took my face in her hands and kissed me again. "It's going to feel like forever," she whispered, resting her forehead on mine.
I turned to look at her one last time before walking into the airport… alone. No security, no police escort, no one taking my picture, no one shouting my name or hers. No one really even looked at me. I stood in line to go through baggage screening and security completely unnoticed. The airport was busy with holiday travelers, but none of those travelers even looked twice at me.
I sat in the waiting area right outside my gate, not hidden away in some VIP lounge. There was no reason to hide. It dawned on me that my heart rate was… normal. My heart wasn't pounding in my chest like it was when we first started this trip. Fear was pleasantly absent from my blood. A young woman approached me. She gently smiled before asking if the seat next to me was taken. I smiled slightly to myself; I didn't even make a blip on her radar.
The only difference between this flight home and any other flight I'd ever taken was that I was flying first class instead of sitting in the economy seats in the back of the plane. Flying first class definitely had its perks but the actual flights were so short that it didn't really matter what seat I had to sit in to get home. I said a little prayer of thanks when my plane finally landed in Providence. I was not a fan of flying either.
I pulled the handle out on my little suitcase, adjusted my backpack on my shoulder, and followed the other passengers towards the exit. I looked around at the people waiting for family and loved ones to arrive, wishing I would have been able to come home to familiar faces waiting for me. Instead, some stranger would be taking me home. That thought made me feel even lonelier. I fought the impulse to call Hyunji so many times to ask her to pick me up, only because I knew Lisa was paying for this ride home personally out of her pocket. Besides, she insisted on a security escort. Which one of these strangers is my driver?
I noticed his face first before I read the little sign that he held in front of his body which had "Kim" written on it. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment; fate certainly had a wicked sense of humor.
He smiled at me, but it wasn't one of those "I'm smiling because I have to be nice to you" smiles; it was more of a smirk – like he was committing a crime by standing there holding my name on a card. I stopped in front of him and took a deep breath before I found the guts to say hello.
"Welcome home!" Mino said smugly. "Can I take your luggage for you, Ms. Kim?"
He carried my suitcase and ushered me out to the car, which again, was another surprise. I had expected the typical black sedan or an SUV; even a stretch limo wouldn't have been as shocking. Instead he had his own personal car waiting… a nice little two door silver Audi.
"Did you have a nice holiday?" Mino asked. I sensed he was just trying to make polite small-talk.
"Yes, I did. Thank you for asking." I chuckled lightly to myself, trying to ignore how cute he looked. "But the bigger question is why are you the one who is taking me home?" I was already in trouble just being in this car.
He smirked, knowing I wanted him to explain. He hit the gas pedal to get us out of the airport faster.
"I saw the pick-up request on the assignment log and I volunteered," he confessed. "I just wanted to see how you were doing." He looked over at me and shrugged. "Why, is your girlfriend going to be mad?"
The way he said it, I could tell that he didn't care either way if Lisa was going to be angry or not. He almost sounded like he welcomed the challenge.
I stared out the car window, watching familiar road signs flash by. "Probably," I whispered. "When I tell her."
Mino glanced over quickly. "Then save yourself the argument and don't tell her."
"I have to tell her," I admitted. "Just in case someone took our picture. Her PR team will have to be informed."
"Wow," he sounded astonished. "You really have gone Hollywood, haven't you?"
His comment raised my pulse slightly. "Why do you say that? Because I happen to be involved with someone whose life is constantly under public scrutiny? Because I don't want to give her one more reason to be hurt - that makes me Hollywood?"
"Hey look Jennie, I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that you don't seem like the type of woman who would put herself out there to be scrutinized like that. But who am I to judge? Maybe you like having your picture plastered all over those magazines in the grocery store. What do I know?" he muttered, looking over his shoulder to change lanes on the highway.
I huffed. "I could definitely do without the lies that they print."
He laughed lightly. "I can't be sure, but I'm willing to bet those were all things you never had to worry about with other guys before her."
I thought about his statement, backtracking through my history of failed relationships. "Lies have followed every relationship I've ever been in." My admission made me frown. "Even the fabricated ones."
"I don't know. I thought the stories about our alleged love affair were rather amusing and eloquently written!" Mino said comically. "I suppose that's why she got rid of me so quickly."
"You'd be correct in your assumption," I whispered.
"So are you tired of all the lies yet?" he asked, shifting his car to accelerate past a few tractor-trailers.
I stared at him. "What kind of question is that?"
His eyes flashed over to look at me before turning his attention back to the road and driving.
"I think you can do better. I think you deserve better." The tendons in his hand flexed when he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"Better than what?" I questioned. If he was going to pass judgement, he'd have to defend his opinion.
"Better than being put in harms way. Better than subjecting yourself to public ridicule. Better than allowing the media to use you like a punching bag." He glared over at me. "Do you want me to go on because I can make a long list!"
I focused on the landscape outside my window while trying to subdue the burning feeling in my chest.
"No," I muttered coldly. "I get your point." My cell phone started to play in my purse. It was Lisa's ringtone.
"Hi," I answered, happy to hear from her, but annoyed that she couldn't wait for me to call her.
"Where are you?" Lisa demanded.
"I'm in the car. We just left the airport," I lied. Mino looked at me and smirked, indicating that he caught my fib to Lisa.
"Oh, why didn't you call me? I've been worried!" she continued.
"Honey, I just got in the car. I was going to call you but you beat me to it." I tried to be quiet, but Mino was sitting less than ten inches away from me. There was no way to keep this conversation private. I rubbed my face with my free hand. I was getting a sinus headache from this entire experience.
"Well, I just wanted to make sure you landed safely and that there was a car waiting for you to take you home, that's all."
I knew Lisa cared, but she was also getting a bit controlling.
"Yeah, there was a driver waiting," I whispered. I heard Mino chuckle. "Everything is fine."
"You don't sound fine!" she pressed. "What's wrong?"
My love knew me well enough to call me out on a lie. "Nothing. My sinuses hurt - must be from the flight. How about I call you when I get dropped off at home? Is that okay? Then we can talk."
Mino started laughing out loud when I snapped my cell phone shut. "Ms. Manoban checking up on you?" he teased.
I gave him a dirty look. "She's concerned, that's all. Besides, she cares enough to make sure I'm taken care of."
"Sounds to me like she's getting a little possessive!"
"Maybe she feels that I'm worth possessing!" I fired back.
Mino fidgeted in his seat. "Yeah, she's right. I can't fault her for that one."
He drove down the alley, stopping by the back doors of my building. For the first time in a long time there were no paparazzi, no fans, no one near my doors. The relief I felt was refreshing. Mino carried my suitcase into the hallway; there was no way I'd allow him in the apartment.
"Thanks, but I can carry it. Please just set it down." I rubbed my cheek again. My face was starting to hurt for some reason. "Thank you for the ride home."
"Yeah, sure - no problem. Ahh, so, are you going to be open tonight?" Mino asked.
"Yes. That's why I came home. I still have a business to run." I looked at my watch, noting that I had three hours to rest before starting another long night behind the bar.
I walked him out into the alley, hoping to send him on his way quicker. Mino pushed the trunk of his car closed and smiled.
He held his arms open, silently asking for a hug goodbye. My body responded without me even thinking about it, dragging me unconsciously into the danger zone.
"It was nice seeing you again." He grinned, locking his eyes on mine. "I'll see you soon."
I towed my suitcase into the bedroom and dropped everything, including my coat, on the floor. Our bed looked so soft and inviting and the desire to lay down for a few minutes was overwhelming. I snuggled up on my pillow and pulled Lisa's pillow to my chest, catching her familiar scent and wishing she was lying next to me. I'll just close my eyes for a minute…
My head sprang off the pillow when I heard my cell phone.
"Jennie! What's going on?" Lisa shouted. "Where are you?"
"Shit! What time is it?" I looked over at my clock. It was quarter to four. I sat up quickly; my head felt like it weighed forty pounds and my throat burned. "I fell asleep on our bed," I murmured. "I'm sorry I didn't call."
She was irritated. "You couldn't call me quick before you laid down?"
"I said I'm sorry," I repeated forcefully through my sore throat. "I think I'm getting a cold. My nose is all blocked up. I feel awful."
"You sound sick, Honey. I'm sorry. I was just worried."
"I have fifteen minutes to pull myself together before I have to open," I groaned. That's when my sneezing fit started.
Hyunji was already behind the bar when I went downstairs. Asahi came in a few moments later. Both of them would be working Friday night; I had a band scheduled to play. Hyunji's grin twisted to a concerned stare when she spotted the wad of tissues in my hand. I wasn't in the bar for more than a few minutes before she turned me by the shoulders and sent me packing for my apartment.
"I'll wait to hear about your trip when you're not contagious. We got this," she insisted. "Asahi and I will be all right. Go, and take your germs with you!"
I curled up on my couch with a box of tissues and my quilt and drifted back to sleep.
I woke up when the band started playing down in the pub. The reverb from the sound system made my pictures vibrate on the wall.
"How are things going?" I asked Hyunji. It hurt to swallow. I looked around at the crowd in the pub. Fred waved to me from his stool by the front door.
Hyunji's eyes stealthily slid back and forth. "Mino is in the poolroom shooting pool," she informed. "What the heck is he doing here? He already asked for you once!"
I rubbed my face with both of my hands. "He drove me home from the airport."
"What?" she yelled. "How the hell did that happen?"
"He saw the pick-up assignment and volunteered. I'm in so much trouble."
She looked at me, trying to ascertain why I thought I was in trouble.
"I didn't tell Lisa… yet. She's going to be so pissed."
"Did something happen between you two? I mean, you and Mino?" she corrected.
"No, there's nothing going on." I looked over my shoulder to see if I could spot him in the poolroom. Our eyes accidentally made contact and I watched him set his pool stick up against the wall and head in my direction.
"Hey Jennie! What's wrong? Are you okay?" Mino asked.
I shook my head. "No, I have a cold."
Other thoughts ran through my head, like how much I wished Lisa was here so I didn't have to try and explain all of this over a cell phone. The crowd in the bar was definitely manageable but I started washing dirty drink glasses anyway. Asahi looked at me like I was crazy – little did he know I was using it as an excuse to get away from gorgeous Mino.
"Boss, what are you doing?" Asahi grumbled, dropping the bottle of house whiskey back in the tray.
Hyunji grabbed my arm and hauled me away from the sink. "Go back upstairs. This is all under control. You're sick. You need to go rest!" she ordered, loud enough for Mino to hear.
Mino waved his fingers in the air to say goodbye but I ignored him and kept on walking. The way I felt was odd. Mino was a professional bodyguard; his presence should have made me feel safe and secure but instead I felt the complete opposite of that. His presence around me was surprisingly dangerous.
It was almost noon on Saturday when my doorbell rang, rousing me from my comfortable resting spot on the couch. I pulled my hair back in a hair tie and grabbed a few tissues along my way.
Mino was standing in my alley with a large, brown paper bag in his arms. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked.
Oh, God, why are you torturing me?
"Worse, actually," I squeaked.
He held out the grocery bag. "I got you some supplies," he said happily. "Thought you might need some of this stuff."
He followed me up to my apartment and set the bag on my coffee table.
"Tissues, nighttime cold medicine, daytime cold medicine, cough drops, and a whole container of chicken noodle soup from my favorite corner deli." He pulled each item out of the bag. "Oh, and some crackers."
"Thanks, but you shouldn't have," I muttered. Little did he know how many facets that one statement had. I knew for a fact that he had to drive over an hour to get here. It wasn't like Mino lived right up the street or anything. He was definitely going out of his way to see me.
"Would you like some soup now?" he asked, testing the temperature of the container with his hand. "It's still slightly warm."
I nodded and started to stand up. Some hot soup sounded appealing for my sore throat.
"Sit down!" he insisted. "I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to use your microwave."
My eyes traveled to watch his incredible body and his nice ass walk towards my kitchen. I covered my eyes and rubbed my face to banish the thoughts. I had to get him out of my apartment – as soon as possible. Then another thought flashed through my mind. This wasn't just my apartment anymore. This apartment was a home that I chose to share with Lisa; a home where we were living together in happiness and where no other man should be standing.
"Careful, it may be too hot now," Mino cautioned, handing a mug of soup to me.
"Thanks," my voice strained as I set the cup down on the table. "Mino? I appreciate all of this, but why… why are you here?"
"What, we're not allowed to be friends?" he quickly replied.
I thought about his question for a moment and replied with one of my own. "If your girlfriend was traveling out of town for work, do you think she'd appreciate another woman being in her home while she was gone?"
"What does that have to do with us being friends?" he countered.
As sick as I felt, I still wasn't falling for his bullshit. "I don't think you're here because you want to just be friends."
"You think I have some ulterior motive?" Mino questioned my glare.
"Please!" I squeaked. "You're a man; you have a pulse. Don't question my intelligence." I wiped my snotty nose with a tissue, hoping that would discourage his thoughts even more.
"All right. To tell you the truth, when I saw that you were flying home alone I thought that maybe you and pretty girl broke up. I mean, you've got to admit that being with her definitely has its drawbacks!"
His little dig on Lisa really irritated me.
"Oh, and I suppose things would be a lot better for me if I was dating someone else? Someone like you perhaps?" I hoped my tone was sarcastic enough.
"Your life would be a hell of a lot more private, that's for sure! No cameras, no photographers, no fanatics." He tossed a pack of crackers over to me.
"Wait. Let me see if I got this straight. So instead of being with someone like Lisa, who is trying to do everything possible to shield me from danger, you're saying I'd be better off with someone like you, who willingly risks his own life every day to put himself in front of danger to protect complete strangers. Is that right?"
He looked away and then a little cocky smile appeared on his lips. "You've at least thought about it. That's a good start. And I would protect you a hell of a lot better than she would. Besides, being with me doesn't come with risk."
"Don't be so sure of yourself. You are the one who's forcing me to compare the two of you. And to tell you the truth, there is no comparison." I got up from the couch, irritated now by his presence.
"Mino, I appreciate the soup and the kindness, but we can't be friends."
He crossed his foot up on his knee, getting even more comfortable in the chair. "Why not?"
"Because you don't want just a friendship!" I scornfully stated the obvious. "Mino, I love Lisa. I have committed my heart to her." I picked up Mino's coat. "I'm sorry, but I think it's time for you to leave now."
"That's a shame. You'll never know what could have been." I noticed he didn't even attempt to get up. "You're not married to the guy, and I don't see a ring on your finger, so the way I see it, you're still available."
"Available? Did you not just hear what I said?" I was no longer just irritated; I was starting to get angry now.
"I heard you," he muttered. "I also know that it won't be long before she screws up and cheats on you. They all do eventually. She's not the first actor I've had to watch over. You'd be surprised to know the great lengths they go through to keep their little affairs hidden. Even the married ones screw around."
"Oh and I suppose if I was dating you, you'd be totally different from that. You'd never cheat on me." I laughed mockingly.
"No, I wouldn't. And if you were with me, I'd only take local assignments so I wouldn't have to travel and be away from you," he continued. "There would be no reason for you to ever doubt me."
"I have no reason to doubt Lisa either. Either it's in your nature to cheat or it's not." My throat felt like I'd been swallowing razorblades and I was starting to run a fever again. It was time for him to go.
"And I can tell you, Mino, that it's not in my nature to cheat either. I love Lisa. That's all you need to know. Now if you don't mind, I'd really like to rest." I shook his coat in my hand so he'd get the message.
He stopped to look at me before taking his coat from my hand. "I'll be watching and waiting. You're an intelligent woman. You'll come to your senses soon enough."
His assuredness was getting a bit creepy.
I was glad when he finally left. I watched him walk halfway down the alley to make sure he was leaving before locking up and setting the alarm.
Back in my apartment, I picked up my cell and hit the first entry in my phone book. It was time to come clean with Lisa.
By Monday my cold had morphed into something altogether more atrocious and wicked. The pain in my sinuses and chest was almost unbearable and I could not stop coughing. My ribs and stomach muscles hurt badly from all the hacking and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Hyunji helped me into her car which was parked by the back door. I was relieved just knowing I would be seeing a doctor today.
"I told Lisa about Mino," I whispered between coughing up lung tissue.
She looked at me, waiting for my further explanation.
"She was livid." I wiped my nose. "But then after she calmed down she was glad that I told her. She doesn't know everything though. I spared her some of the details."
"What details?" she asked, patting me on the back as I coughed severely.
I shrugged, not knowing how to say it. "Mino pretty much said that I'd be better off with him instead of being with Lisa."
"No! He didn't! What the hell else did he say?"
"He said I should consider dating him instead. He'd be better for me. He also brought me soup." I coughed out my last words.
"Soup?" She laughed. "Oh, he's good! What did you say to him then?"
"I told him I love Lisa and that he should leave. He sort of worried me a bit at the end. Like he didn't want to take 'no' for an answer."
Hyunji stayed in the waiting room while I went in to see my doctor. He informed me that I had a sinus infection and bronchitis. For as terrible as I felt, I was wondering if there weren't a few other lung infection terms missing from his diagnosis.
We stopped at the local pharmacy where I got a multitude of antibiotics, nasal spray, and an inhaler. I mistakenly glanced over the front of Celebrity Weekly while standing in line at the checkout. The cover of the magazine had a by-line that stated distance was tearing Lisa and me apart. She just left for Scotland this morning; how could we be split apart already?
"Why are you buying that shit?" Hyunji scowled. "As if you aren't in bad enough shape already, you need to torment yourself more?"
"I'm not buying it." I coughed violently into my sleeve. "I hate the media. Why do they do this?" I showed her the cover.
I had no intentions to spend even a penny on that crap. It was lies like these that enticed people to buy the garbage in the first place. And every time someone bought one of those magazines, it allowed some idiot to keep his job as a purveyor of lies and gave another idiot incentive to exist as an intruding photographer. Every dime spent on those rag magazines perpetuated the nonsense.
That's when Hyunji informed me that a photographer approached her the other day and offered her two thousand dollars if she'd get him pictures of the inside of my apartment. These leeches were now going after my friends. Of course Hyunji declined, but it was apparent that the magazines wanted to get their hands on actual photos of our "love nest" as they put it. Now I was even more paranoid about having anyone in my apartment.
Lisa called me every day while she was in Scotland, even if it was for only five minutes. She tried to describe the landscape and architecture so I could visualize the experience she was having; she even sent me a few cell phone pictures, but I still wished I was there with her to experience it firsthand.
It didn't take long for pictures of the cast in Scotland to surface on the Internet. Lisa's fan site was quite reliable with the latest selection of candid photos. Tongues around the globe were sent wagging once the photos of Lisa and Mina's "love scene" were leaked. Even Ali called me to make sure I wasn't going to go ballistic from seeing the scandalous photos.
For some reason the lies about Lisa and Mina's rekindled romance didn't bother me as much as it did when I first met her. I guess I knew both of them well enough to know that Lisa didn't have any romantic feelings for her despite how often her lips had to touch hers. I knew Lisa harbored deep resentment for Mina and her antics. She had wronged her too many times in the past for her to ever let go of her grudge, let alone ever love her.
I did however worry about Mina. Many of the little stunts she pulled all pointed to her being madly in love with her. I was onto her little game; after all I too was once young and foolish. She didn't try to break us up for Lia's benefit – I was wrong with that assumption. Her comments and evil tongue only had one beneficiary. She had made additional comments after her little failed tryst with Lisa's friend Scott, indicating that she had hoped that if her friends thought she was good enough to sleep with that maybe she might feel the same way. Unfortunately, her actions had the opposite affect on Lisa.
The media sure had fun with all these rumors and lies. According to the reports, Lisa was back with Mina, Mina reportedly told me to stay away from Lisa, our relationship was over, and I was having a secret affair with my former bodyguard behind Lisa's back. It was beyond ridiculous.
"You feeling up to getting out of the house today?" Hyunji asked, interrupting my private viewing of several old Lisa Manoban interviews on the computer. I clicked the video pause button and gave her a bit more of my attention. I'd been holed up in my apartment for an entire week.
"Tammy wants to take us to lunch. We have to stop at the jewelry store and then we need to go look at bridesmaid dresses," she rambled through the telephone.
I was feeling a lot better and getting out into the fresh air did sound appealing. I was also hoping to squash some of the new worries that mysteriously cropped up in my brain.
Hyunji and Tammy had been acting, I don't know - strange towards me for the last couple of days. I couldn't pinpoint the specifics; I could just sense it. Maybe it was the new way they both awkwardly smiled at me that caused me to feel weird?
I had been really ill and I was extremely thankful that my two best friends were there for me, but I couldn't help but worry that they were getting tired of me and my new life of drama.
"Tammy, your wedding band is beautiful!" I gushed, watching the diamonds sparkle in the light. She handed a check to the sales clerk.
"Thanks!" Tammy glowed. "Only six more payments and it's mine."
"Hey Jennie, come look at this one!" Hyunji called out. She was looking at emerald rings.
"How much is that ring right there?" Hyunji pointed to a very gaudy ring.
The lady took it out of the case and checked the tag. "This one is three thousand."
My eyes bugged out. It was an ugly ring for three thousand dollars. Hyunji tried to put it on her finger, but it wouldn't go past her knuckle without a good shove.
"Here Jen, you have tiny fingers. Model it."
I slipped it on my right hand and held it out to her. It was the kind of stacked setting that would take a layer of skin off someone if you brushed up against them accidentally.
Hyunji played with the ring on my finger, checking the look of it from several angles. I was surprised that she even liked this style of jewelry.
She held my hand out to the sales clerk. "So, what do you think? Does it fit her?"
"She would need to be sized," the lady answered, twisting it freely on my finger. "You could probably go down a half size smaller."
I took it off immediately and handed it back to the clerk. I didn't want anyone to think I was interested in buying this ugly ring.
"This ring is tiny. What size is it?" Hyunji placed it back on her finger.
"It's a six," the lady droned. "It's the standard stock size."
"There you go, Jennie. Your next job could be a hand model since all of these would fit you," Hyunji teased.
I thought about modeling my middle finger for her.
"How small is her finger?" Hyunji asked.
The sales lady slid a few metal rings around my finger. "You would wear a five and a half."
"Are both hands the same size? I heard one hand is always bigger," Hyunji stated.
The lady measured my other hand. "They're the same."
"Try that one on." Hyunji pointed to another ring. The sales lady handed me an opal and emerald disaster.
"You know you'll have to start working your fingers out more if you're going to be interviewing for all those hand jobs," Tammy snorted at her own joke.
"I'm sure Lisa would be happy to help there!" Hyunji laughed. "Come on, let's get out of here and go try on some really ugly taffeta dresses now. We got what we needed."
"Speaking of dresses…" I muttered and opened my purse to retrieve my cell phone. There was another very important affair which required a very special dress closer than Tammy's wedding on my calendar.
"I can't believe you have Wendy Shon's number and you can just call her to talk about dresses like it's no big deal," Hyunji teased. "Who else do you have in there now? Drew? Gwyneth? Demi?" Hyunji grabbed for my phone just as her own phone started to ring.
"Hi… Cheryl," Hyunji muttered awkwardly. "Hey, can I call you back? I'm out with my friends Jennie and Tammy right now."
Hyunji groaned. "Okay, well… um, let me think. How about if I call you at five thirty? Five thirty," she repeated.
"Gary's sister," Hyunji answered my questioning stare. "She's being a real pain in the ass lately."