Lisa
"I think your job here is done," I said, tucking Jennie under my arm as Irene was escorted from the building by the SEC and security.
"Ha. Literally." Her laugh sounded a little brittle around the edges. "She's probably not going to get any jail time," she predicted.
"Maybe not," I agreed. "But she's also not going to walk into another cushy seven-figure job either. I'll make sure of that."
"What the hell happened to Irene?" Bobby Kim, in pink shorts and flip-flops, stormed up to Jennie. "What did you do to her?"
I felt her stiffen under my arm and stepped between them. "You've handled enough today," I told her. "Let me take this one."
Jennie's gaze slid over me to her brother and then back to me.
"He's all yours," she said. "Alison? Help me load up?"
"But, but, but. Stun gun." Alison pouted.
Jennie slung her arm around her friend. "What's more satisfying, making my brother piss his pants with a stun gun or watching Tea and Crumpets do it with scary faces?"
Alison heaved a sigh. They took the boxes of Jennie's corporate life and headed for the Range Rover outside.
"Jennie! You gotta talk to me," Bobby yelled.
Then the idiot made the mistake of trying to go after her.
"Let's you and I have a chat," I said, grabbing him by the back of the neck like a pup. He was still wearing his sunglasses indoors, and that made me even angrier.
"Get off me, man. I need to talk to my sister!" He tried to shrug out of my grip, so I squeezed harder. I didn't get to deck Irene. But Bobby was a different story.
"Your sister is busy."
I steered him toward the building security manager's office. It was a small room with two desks, a sagging bookcase full of binders, and two shabby visitors' chairs. I pushed him down into one.
"Where's Irene going? What's going on?" he asked, trying to get back up. I pushed him down again and sat on the corner of one of the desks.
"That's really none of your concern anymore."
He scrubbed his hands over his face and through his $300 haircut. "Look, just tell me what's going on."
"You conspired with Irene Bae to steal and sell Flawless's scar treatment formula because your sister wouldn't bail you out."
Bobby blinked. "That's not how it went down."
"You worked with Irene to destroy Jennie's reputation, to get her fired."
Surly now, he kicked back in the chair. "She needed to be taught a lesson. Family first."
"How do you put your family first, Bobby?"
He smirked, and I couldn't help myself. I snatched the sunglasses off his face and hurled them against the wall.
"Jesus, man! Those cost four grand!"
"Real men don't wear sunglasses indoors, and they don't make other people buy them for them, you stupid sod."
"What's your problem?"
"You, you festering moron. What's your family contribution, Bobby? What do you give back to your parents, your sister? No wait, let me guess," I insisted when he opened his stupid mouth. "Your familial contribution is requiring them to clean up your messes, you pathetic pissant."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm the kid, the baby of the family."
"You're twenty eight years old. You stopped being a 'kid' seven years ago. Legally, at least. Mentally and emotionally, you appear to be about four."
"Dude. What the hell? You can't talk to me this way."
"You set your sister up." I gripped the lip of the desk so I wouldn't choke the living shit out him.
"This again. She fucking deserved it. So high and mighty about her money and her work. Jesus. You'd think she was curing cancer or something."
"Actually, she's working on heart disease, not that you'd give a damn, you worthless little shit."
"Dude. Can we not with the insults?"
"Dude. You're lucky your sister didn't give me permission to destroy your face," I shot back.
"Look, man. I'll clear it up with her. It was a misunderstanding. Just lemme talk to her."
"You don't get it, do you?" I asked.
"Get what?" he asked, exasperated.
"You blew it. That was your last interaction with your sister. Ever. There's no coming back from what you did."
"So she lost her job. Irene's gonna give me a title and some pull. Maybe I'll make a position for Jen after she apologizes."
I laughed. The unbridled idiocy of this moron was making me crazy.
"Have you ever had any IQ tests? Taken your SATs?" I asked.
"My tutor took the SATs for me. My time isn't best spent in some classroom." Bobby snorted.
"I can see that." He was a fucking git, and it was all Venice Kim's fault. "Let me spell it out for you. You tried to take away the thing that mattered most to Jennie. And now you'll never see her again."
"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"
"I wonder how your father will feel? He's the one who holds the purse strings, isn't he? He wasn't too keen on helping you out of this jam before. How's he going to feel when he finds out you tried to sabotage Flawless? Your sister's company. He's on the board of directors here. He's got a vested interest. So really, you screwed him over, too."
"Look, it's not that big of a deal," Bobby insisted. "Jennie was being a bitch. Irene and I taught her a little lesson. Whatever."
"Now it's my turn to teach you a little lesson," I said amiably. "You saw Irene leaving?"
"Yeah, what the hell happened to her face?"
"You'll see in a minute or two," I predicted. "Irene is being questioned by the SEC. Do you know what that is?"
"The better question is, do I care what it is?"
"Oh, I think you will. But some things are better left as a surprise. Your girlfriend Irene—"
"We only screwed a couple of times," he clarified.
I shook my head to clear it. "Very well, your friend Irene is being investigated for committing fraud."
"Jesus, what's with everyone and this fraud bullshit?" Bobby demanded.
"The government doesn't like it when you fuck with people," I explained.
"You'd think they'd have better things to do."
"Be sure to make that point when they question you."
"Me?"
"Irene has been in their custody for—what?" I glanced at my watch. "Five whole minutes now. How much do you want to bet that your name was the first thing out of her mouth? Oh, I forgot. You don't have money. You can't bet."
"She wouldn't…" But his slow, clunky wheels were starting to turn. I could hear the creak of unused machinery.
I glanced up and spotted the man I'd been waiting for.
"So, to recap, not only are you facing fraud charges for your little non-existent music festival, but you're also going to be looking at some pretty serious charges from the SEC because you decided to take your sister down a peg or two and helped Irene Bae steal and sell a patented formula."
"This is bullshit. It's all bullshit," Bobby said, coming to his feet.
"That true?" Jiwon Kim grunted from the doorway.
Bobby's eyes widened with hope. The dumbass.
"Dad. This has all been a misunderstanding."
"Your fucking life has been a misunderstanding," Jiwon shot back. "You're getting nothing from me, you stupid fuck."
"Dad! You don't get it. They want to arrest me! I can't go to jail!"
The worst thing in the world to Bobby Kim would be being told what to do and when to do it.
"Try using that in your defense," I suggested, moving toward the door.
Bobby picked up the computer monitor from the desk behind him and hurled it in my direction. It hit the wall by my head. My hands flexed into fists.
"A temper tantrum? Really?"
"Christ, this kid," Jiwon groaned. A keyboard smashed into the filing cabinet, keys flying in all directions.
"That's the first problem," I told him. "He's not a fucking kid."
I grabbed Bobby by the arm, and he took a swing at me. "He swung first," I said conversationally. And then I plowed my fist into Bobby's washboard abs and followed it with a swift uppercut to his Instagram-famous jaw.
He crumpled to the carpet, deflated and defeated. Entirely unsatisfying.
"Jiwon," I said as I walked past the man.
"Manoban," he grunted back.
I walked out without another word.
Alison met me in the hallway. "How did it feel to hit the fucker?"
"Not satisfying enough," I admitted.
A chair shattered the glass window of the office and came to rest in the hall behind me. Bobby was shouting incoherently.
"Calm the fuck down, you fuck," Jiwon shouted.
A computer monitor flew through the broken glass next.
"Now can I?" Alison asked.
"Be my guest," I said, stepping out of her way.
I walked out with the delightful sound of Bobby's shrieks and Alison's maniacal laughter ringing in my ears.
"How did it go?" Jennie asked as I slid into the back seat next to her.
"About as to be expected," I said cheerfully.
She picked up my hand and compared knuckles. Both our rights were bruised, split.
"Good day," she whispered.
I lifted her bruised hand to my lips, kissed each knuckle lightly. "A very good day," I agreed.
"Let's go get a drink," Alison said, opening the driver's door.
"I smell charred flesh," Jennie said.
"Huh. Imagine that," Alison mused, putting the SUV in gear.
"Here," I said, digging in my pocket. "I got you something." I pulled out Bobby's watch and handed it to Jennie.
Alison snorted.