and there it is, a mark of the divine | JENLISA

Chapter 5

But Manuel is right: she does want her. God, does she want her. The pull towards Lisa is inexplicable. She thought maybe putting some distance between them might allow her feelings to fizzle away, but instead, Lisa is the north pole and Jennie's compass isn't relenting. There isn't a force on Earth that could stop it.

"And if I go there and she doesn't want me?" Jennie's voice cracks just at the thought, and it humiliates her, but she's unable to take it back. "What the fuck do I do then?"

Manuel approaches her, taking hold of her shoulders. "Then I'll buy your plane ticket home. But, Jennie, I really don't think that's going to be a problem. Just... think about it, at the very least."

She nods, mostly because she has no idea what else to do or say. "You should hurry. You've got a flight to catch."

Manuel gives her shoulders a squeeze. "There's still time to get you a ticket."

"You and I both know that's bullshit."

Manuel laughs, before finally letting go of her. "Just be careful, okay? And think about what I said."

"Yeah... Yeah, I will."

/

When Jennie wakes the next morning, Lisa is already sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of tea and staring off into space. Jennie rubs her eyes, peeking at her from the couch as she tries to adjust to the light.

"Why do you look like you've been sitting there all night?"

Lisa grants her a slight smile, her eyes refocusing. "I wanted to speak to you before work."

Jennie sits up completely, making sure no unnecessary body parts are showing as she adjusts her shirt.

(She wouldn't mind at all, but she thinks her tits might derail the conversation Lisa clearly wants to have. Actually, she knows they would. She's very confident in them.)

"What'd I do this time?" Jennie jokes with a quiet chuckle. "You know, besides the obvious."

Lisa shakes her head. "You haven't done anything. There's coffee for you, if you'd like it."

Jennie stands up off the couch, lifting her arms and stretching widely. Her shirt rides up a little on her stomach, and she catches Lisa's eyes on her, only briefly, before she looks away again.

Okay. So everything that happened last night didn't completely ruin Lisa's ability to check her out. Jennie can work with that.

Once she's got her coffee in hand, she moves to sit with Lisa at the table. In the time it's taken her to get there, Lisa has gone back to staring at nothing in particular, her fingers tapping the side of her cup.

"Are you okay? Feeling ready to run yet?"

Lisa exhales a little, and Jennie knowing they're both reliving the same memory at the same time is a little dizzying. Knowing that Lisa thinks about her in that way will give her vertigo if she ponders it for too long. "I would be lying if I said it hadn't crossed my mind."

Jennie shrugs. The admission doesn't concern her. "Well, as long as we're being honest."

Lisa smiles. "I just wanted to... This is going to be strange, living in such tight quarters like this. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Jennie matches her smile. There isn't a single moment where she isn't endeared by Lisa's concern for her wellbeing. It infects every aspect of their relationship, every conversation. She covers all the necessary ground, even the things Jennie herself hasn't thought of. "Lisa, I'm not uncomfortable with anything. It's you I'm worried about. I want whatever you want."