Lisa
The smile Jennie slapped on her face was just this side of frozen. "Give me your bag," I insisted, taking her purse from her so she could hold her coffee and donut for the unruly crowd awaiting their glimpse.
The billionaire with drive-thru coffee and distressed jeans looked miles more approachable than she had yesterday.
"Jennie!" There were two dozen photographers stationed on either side of the entrance to the building. Security kept them from blocking the door with sawhorses and ferocious frowns.
My charge cleared her throat, and I realized beneath that glossy layer of bravado, she was nervous. "Hello," she called weakly.
"Jennie!" More photographers jockeyed for her attention, shouting her name as they lined her up in their camera bullseyes. I gave her a little nudge forward. Alison and I flanked her as she approached the front door.
"Do you feel lucky you avoided an arrest?" a woman bellowed from the front row.
Jennie's smile wavered, and I felt a rarely used protective instinct flare to life. Most of my clients brought their shitstorms upon themselves. But my instincts were telling me that this wasn't her fault.
"What kind of donut is that?" someone else called.
Jennie turned to the man. "It's a cinnamon sugar vanilla donut from Carbs 'n Coffee," she said, holding it up proudly. "Breakfast of champions."
There were a few titters of laughter. But it was enough to embolden her.
"If I'd known you all would be here loitering, I'd have brought some for everyone," she said.
"Tomorrow!" a jokester in the back yelled.
Jennie beamed in his direction.
"Jennie, whose shoes are you wearing?" someone on the right called.
"Mine."
I hid my smile and gave her a subtle elbow.
"Mine via Sophia Wang. She's relatively new," she corrected.
"Who's the hottie?" a woman demanded from behind the camera that was documenting every millisecond.
"I'm Alison," Alison deadpanned.
The crowd cracked up.
"Nice to meet you, Alison. How about you, Gorgeous?" the woman tried again.
I pointed to myself, feigning confusion and looking over my shoulder. "Me? Oh, I'm just one of Jennie's dear friends."
Jennie turned to look at me and arched an eyebrow. I grinned at her, fully aware of the picture we were making.
"None of my friends look like you," another woman called from behind her camera.
"I'm just here to carry her purse," I assured the crowd.
Jennie's smile tightened. "If you'll excuse us, we've got a big day at Flawless today, and I'm excited to get started," she said, only a hint of tightness in her tone.
"Is the IPO still on?" someone yelled.
"Are you and Lisa dating?"
"Have you apologized to your family for the embarrassment?"
"Were the drugs yours or Koo's?"
We were whisked neatly inside by building security. Jennie's tight smile stayed in place as she thanked the guards but vanished as soon as the elevator doors slid shut.
"Alison?"
"Yeah, boss?"
"Could you dig up a few extra-large cauldrons and some hot oil for me?" Jennie asked. "I'm thinking of doing some renovations to the roof."
I hid my smile.
I followed her into the Flawless offices. "Good morning, whoa—" the woman behind the desk breathed, the papers in her hand floating to the ground unheeded. Alison smirked next to me.
"Good morning, Rosario. This is Ms. Manoban. Don't get used to her," Jennie said crisply.
I waved in the woman's direction. She wiggled her fingers, eyes wide.
"Must be nice to be so good-looking you turn people's brains to mashed cauliflower," Alison mused next to me.
"It does come in handy."
Jennie led us through a well-decorated network of hallways, cubicles, and conference rooms to another set of glass doors. Two immaculate desks staffed by two immaculate assistants flanked the doors.
"Haruto, Yuna, this is Lisa Manoban. She's very gorgeous, and she's aware of it. So we can all move on now," Jennie said. "Lisa, these are my assistants."
"Yuna," I said, extending my hand. "We spoke this morning."
"Yes. Good morning, Ms. Manoban," Yuna said, shaking my hand briskly. She looked nervous.
"Haruto," I said, shaking his hand.
He gave me a wary once-over.
"Ms. Kim? Your father is waiting in your office," Yuna said.
"Dammit." Jennie paused, glanced at the donut, and shoved the remains in her mouth.
She and Alison both took healthy hits of coffee and straightened their shoulders.
"I have my stun gun set on crispify," Alison said.
Meeting the father on the first day. This should be fun.
Jennie gave me a long, unreadable look. "Okay. Let's get this over with," she sighed.
I followed her inside. Her office was smaller than I'd expected. Significantly smaller. The CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company didn't even rate a corner office?
The room itself was done in what I assumed was Jennie's trademark off-whites and light grays. The wall of glass gave visitors a spectacular reminder of all that Miami had to offer beneath them. The furniture was stainless and white. Modern. Peaceful. Feminine. Or, at least, if not for the large man glowering at a newspaper behind the desk.
"You're in my chair, Dad," Jennie observed.
Territorial. Nice.
The man looked up. He was balding, a little paunchy with ruddy cheeks. He looked like an aging boxer, but the six-thousand-dollar suit and Rolex said otherwise.
"Someone's got to play leader around here since you're too busy running around getting arrested."
The set of Jennie's jaw suggested there was a torrent of words begging to be set free.
"I wasn't arrested," she said crisply, dropping her coffee on the desk and nudging the chair. "I was questioned and released."
Jiwon Kim rose to his full six feet and frowned fiercely at his daughter. "Do you have any idea what kind of a clusterfuck this is?"
"Yeah, Dad. I have a really good idea of the clusterfuckery."
"I'd expect this behavior from your brother," he began.
Jennie rolled her eyes. "When have I ever let you down?"
"Tuesday," he snapped.
I saw the wince just before it disappeared.
"When have I ever not come through? I'm doing everything in my power to fix this."
"If this IPO doesn't go through because of your little stunt—"
"It wasn't my little stunt. It was a public appearance that the board of directors and publicist were desperate for me to do. Do you have any idea how many things I have on my calendar right now? I didn't need to be parading myself around for photographers so the public can remember I exist. Do you know what we're doing today, Dad?"
He crossed his arms over his barrel chest.
"What? You and Alison driving around and picking up prostitutes before the five o'clock news?"
"We're reviewing the biobandage results. Remember the scar treatment I spent fifteen months working on? Today, we find out how well it works."
"If it works." Jiwon smirked.
"How well it works," Jennie insisted, standing her ground. "Now, you might as well finish chastising me so I can get back to running my company."
"This might be your company, but don't forget you have a board of directors and a few hundred employees to answer to. If you've fucked us all over, Flawless will be the one wearing the scars. So you'd better get out there and raise money for orphans or give away free lipsticks to the homeless. Whatever it takes to save face. Make it go away." He pointed a burly finger at his daughter.
"I'd suggest that you have some faith in me rather than running behind my back and hiring me a babysitter," Jennie snapped.
For the first time, Jiwon registered my presence. I had a feeling he didn't notice most of the people who crossed his path. Quiet servants, invisible employees. The people who made his world go 'round.
"So you're the famous Lisa Manoban," he said.
"I am," I said, setting Jennie's bag on her desk. Neither of us offered a hand to the other.
"I certainly hope the exorbitant fee you charge covers more than carrying purses."
"Lisa, meet my father, a rude child when he's grumpy and hungry. Dad, meet Lisa, a trespassing criminal hell-bent on annoying me. Now, if you both will get the hell out of my hair, I can get back to running this company."
Jiwon grunted.
His daughter's high-handedness obviously pleased him, and I wondered if his bluster was just for show.
"Better call your mother today," he said, buttoning his jacket. "She's yammering on and on about being too embarrassed to show her face at the club. And I need her to go to the club, Jennie. If she spends much more time at home, one of us will murder the other."
Jennie's frostiness warmed by a few degrees. "My money is on Mom."
"And mine's on you. Make me proud, slugger." He landed a light punch on her arm.
"I will," she said, sitting behind her desk and effectively dismissing him.
For the first time, Jiwon smiled in approval. "Alison, you're looking trigger-happy as always," he said.
"Always ready and willing to stun gun anyone who requires an attitude adjustment," Alison shot back with a baleful look.
"Ms. Manoban, I expect you'll keep my daughter on the straight and narrow for the next seven weeks."
"I'll see that Jennie has all that she needs," I said.
"I should hope so. I admire the way you wormed your way into a position we didn't know we needed filled." It was both sarcastic and a compliment.
He offered his hand, and I shook it. We were two brawlers sizing each other up, wondering what the other was up to. I saw my opening when he glanced away.
"You've got a few donut crumbs there," I said, brushing at his jacket.
"What?"
"If you two are done crushing bones, I've got a very busy day today," Jennie said, sounding annoyed from behind her monitor.