Jennie
"Koo reveals drugs belonged to Jennie Kim"
"Kim's long-standing history of drug abuse"
"Koo attorney hints at charges for billionaire"
Long didn't even begin to describe the day I'd had. After Lisa left from her second breaking and entering last night, I'd stayed up until three working my way through overdue tasks and emails. Then I'd dragged my body out of bed at six for a half-assed workout before starting it all over again.
I was a machine. A robot, letting Lisa or Alison or Haruto escort me where I needed to go. And my batteries were running dangerously low.
I indulged myself and rested my forehead on the cool glass of my desk. Enjoying five whole seconds of the sanctuary my office provided.
If I could just grab a quick cat nap. Maybe a snack? I'd be back in business.
My office door opened, and I sensed Lisa's annoying presence. She oozed some sort of unignorable energy. Nayeon would call it Big Dick Energy.
"Sleeping beauty," Lisa crooned. That slight accent, like she couldn't quite commit to British or South Florida, made everything she said sexier. Which annoyed me further.
"Ugh. Go away," I grumbled.
"I can't. I need you, love." I heard her take a seat in front of my desk.
Everyone needed me, I thought wryly as I sat up and straightened my hair.
She placed a coffee cup on my desk.
If I hadn't been so tired, I would have reflected on the oddity of how essential my mere physical presence in a room was.
I'd attended a breakfast networking event for female entrepreneurs. Strong and sexy pantsuit, no time for the made-to-order omelets. From there, we zipped across town for a radio interview about Flawless and its mission in the skincare industry. Jeans and a trendy, bejeweled top with strappy sandals. Double shot of espresso.
In the car, I'd approved the hiring of a new chemist and the director of global retail design without the deep dig I usually did into a candidate's background. I was trusting—hoping—my team had done their due diligence.
Then it was on to an early lunch with two of my grumpier board members. Navy sheath dress with a red bag that screamed "I'm in charge." I spent so much time smiling reassuringly that I'd forgotten to actually eat anything.
Back at the office, I'd shut my door, kicked off my heels, and scraped together nearly ninety minutes to plow through the most urgent items on my running a business list.
Then it was back in the car to meet a crew of hand-picked business journalists for a private tour of the lab. It took two hours, and my feet and head were in a war to see which could ache more. I was also starting to see spots. Lovely little flecks of light danced in front of my eyes every time I stood up.
It was 6 p.m., and I'd been running flat out for twelve hours straight. Tired didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling.
"What could you possibly need now?" I asked, opening the report that topped the stack on my desk. I stared blankly at colorful pie charts, words and numbers swimming before my eyes.
"The name of your date for the gala tomorrow night," Lisa said, drumming her fingers on the arm of the visitor's chair. She looked impeccable as always. A navy suit, subtly striped shirt open at the collar. The blue in the shirt matched the eerily blue eyes that were fixed on me now. It annoyed me that she hadn't required multiple costume changes today.
"I don't have a date for the gala," I said, wondering if I even had a dress.
"I accept," she said cheerfully. "You're wearing black, by the way. I'll be in Tom Ford."
"Jennie Kim can't even get her own date," I quipped. The gossip blogs would have a field day with it.
"Or am I your date and you're falling head over heels with me?" Her smile was lethal.
"You must be awfully desperate to win our little bet if you're willing to throw your own reputation out the window." The most recent headlines were not much more flattering than they had been three weeks ago.
She didn't look remotely concerned enough for my liking. "Jennie darling, have you ever turned a container ship around?"
I shot her a bland look and took a hit of caffeine.
"It takes careful nudging. And just when you think it's too late, that it's destined to chug off into a pier, killing hundreds of people, it starts to turn. Imperceptibly at first. And then before you know it, you're heading in the opposite direction."
"Aren't you at all concerned?" I pressed. "They're accusing me of hiding a drug problem. That Koo moron is telling tabloids that the drugs were mine. People are believing this bullshit."
"Trust me," she said. "Things are progressing as planned and even a little ahead of schedule. You're not giving them any fuel for the fires. You're painting lovely pictures of a capable, powerful, intelligent woman who runs an innovative empire. The rumors will burn out… or be crushed."
"I do like crushing."
Lisa's lips quirked. "Good. Because I've already met with your general counsel, who is happily constructing a terrifying letter regarding defamation. We're demanding a retraction and a public apology. And if the blogs and papers really want to make good on their sincerity, they'll be donating to tomorrow night's cause."
"Which is?" I couldn't remember.
She pulled out her phone and reading glasses, and my toes curled into the carpet. I liked the look on her. "Ah, yes, the children's pediatric cancer wing renovations at the hospital," she said.
I sat back in my chair. It was a good cause. I needed to check with my father about the family donation. But it meant an interminably long night after another interminably long day. "And you're volunteering to be my date because?"
"I thought I'd made it abundantly clear that I plan to make love to you? Remind me to up my game."
"Lisa."
"What does everyone love more than a drug scandal?" she asked, steepling her fingers.
"A love affair."
"Exactly."
"So we're going to go to a gala together and be ambiguously suspicious with our chemistry—"
"Ah, you admit we have chemistry," she said triumphantly.
"I fail to see how fueling speculation on my love life is going to distract anyone from the real issue. The SEC asked for more documentation supporting our filing. That's code for 'this might not happen.'"
"You give the SEC what they need, and I'll give the media what they want. Classic misdirection. Give the public something sexier to obsess about while the original scandal dies a cold, lonely death." Those brown eyes were burning into me, warming me from the inside.
"What about your reputation, Ms. Manoban? Sleeping with a client paints an unprofessional picture of your business."
"Ah, but falling in love is another story entirely." She rose and crossed behind my desk. Big hands rested on my shoulders. Slowly, they began to knead at the knots that had taken up long-term residence there.
I bit my lip, but the moan still escaped.
I felt the satisfaction in her soft laugh.
"So now we're in love? This is ridiculous, Lisa. The hoops I'm jumping through because of one stupid mistake. Do you have any idea how much time I'm losing to something that should be a non-issue?"
"I know exactly how much time you're losing. It's my job to minimize that. We've paraded Good Girl Jennie out and about. Regardless of the headlines, opinions are shifting. Now we're feeding them something juicier. We're adding another layer to you."
"You tell me that nothing sells better than the truth," I reminded her.
She leaned down, her lips brushing my ear. I shivered. "Who says this isn't the truth? It's clear we have something here." She stroked a finger over the goose bumps that dotted my neck.
"We're not in a relationship."
"That doesn't mean we're both not contemplating the idea of it."
"My board is going to be pissed. They hired you to shore up my reputation, not 'fall in love and give me orgasms,'" I said, using air quotes.
"The orgasms are free of charge."
"Don't joke. Your business is just as important to you as mine is to me." Which was exactly why I demanded fifty percent of it. I needed her vested in my cause. In my success.
"But the difference is, I know how easily opinion can be swayed, manipulated."
"Hmm." I was too tired to argue.
"Why are you poring over social media campaign data?" she asked, peering over my shoulder.
Oh. So that's what it was.
"I don't know. Because it's my job." For a smart guy, sometimes she could say incredibly stupid things.
"It most certainly is not," she scoffed. Her hands abandoned my loosening knots and riffled through the stack of reports on my desk. "Why are you still doing any and all this?"
"Because it's my company. No one else is going to work harder for it. Oprah signed every single check," I said.
"Until she couldn't or she'd be doing nothing but signing checks all day," she shot back. "You leveled up years ago, but you're still trying to hold the reins."
"Who am I supposed to turn them over to? Irene?" I felt guilty as soon as her name escaped my mouth.
"No." Her response was abrupt.
"Wait. Why not?" She'd been to lunch with Irene twice and sat in on several meetings with her. I knew why I wouldn't give her more responsibilities but was curious why Lisa agreed.
"Because she wouldn't take the work seriously," she said simply.
"We started this company together," I said, automatically jumping to Irene's defense. And she'd witnessed the worst thing that had ever happened to me and never once let a hint of it slip to anyone.
"Yes, and you have been more than generous with her."
"She was in that lab with me. We came up with the name together."
"And it's your name on the office," she pointed out.
"I had the capital. She didn't. And we've already had this conversation," I pointed out.
"You protected what was rightfully yours," she said, perching on the corner of my desk. "It was a smart move. You're a smart woman. Don't get defensive about it."
"I wouldn't be here without Irene," I insisted.
"You would. But she wouldn't be here without you."
"We used to be best friends." I was exhausted. That's why the truth that I'd never spoken before escaped.
"People change, Jennie."
"I don't need you coming in here and trying to cast doubt on one of the only people I know I can trust." Exhaustion made my fuse microscopically short.
"I'm agreeing with you, and you're getting defensive. I think you're the one with the issue."
I pushed my chair back from the desk, making her step out of the way in the process. Annoyed. Frustrated. Hungry. "Look. I need to get back to this," I said, gesturing at the stack of folders on my desk. As if to emphasize my point, my email inbox autoloaded what looked like twenty new messages.
Damn it. I was never going to catch up. I was never going to win.
I stood quickly.
The spots were back. But they weren't white twinkles now. They were big, black blobs that were bleeding together.
"Jennie."
Lisa said my name, but she was so very far away.