Chương 342: To learn about Lillian's past!
Giselle choked on her fries from hearing Jenna suddenly throw a bomb like that. It was an unfair attack. She grabbed her drink to wash down the food hurting in her throat. Jenna anticipated getting satisfied with Giselle's shock. She chuckles to announce that the conversation they are going to have is only between them, so Giselle can feel free to ask her anything about Lillian Grey.
"However, I possess only limited information, as her editor, Ms. Giselle. Please bear that in your mind! Now, go on, what do you want to know about Ms. Grey?" Jenna daringly said to fall quiet.
Giselle stopped to eat upon hearing as she mentally prepared herself for this subject.
"Where shall we start?" Jenna asked again, putting in the reasonable stress from finding Giselle's procrastination.
Giselle stuttered while scarping her mind to come up with a question.
"A-Ah- Ahm, since- when did- H- How long have you been working with Lillian?"
"Hmm, let's see- how long! F- five- Five? I think it's almost five- or six? I guess six years- yeah, I'm sure it's six- because I think Ms. Lillian praised to give me a gift last year for our five-year alliance."
Giselle nodded actively, a corner of her mind grew jealous that Jenna was lucky to stay by Lillian's side for that long.
"Six years-" she deeply exhaled to expose her envy visibly.
Meanwhile, Jenna remained frozen from considering how time flew so fast. She received a great shock to realize that six years had passed already. She only returned normal when she heard Giselle stuttering again to speak. Wincing to the voice, Jenna waited to take another bite of her crispy grilled cheese sandwich.
"Wow- Ms. Giselle, I must say this is the best-grilled cheese-" Jenna moaned from the taste as she praised the sandwich wholeheartedly.
For a moment, she ignored Giselle's struggle to her delight.
"I'm sorry-" Jenna appealed after the realization.
"That's alright! It is pretty good too!"
Jenna agreed with a soft smile.
"D- Do you want to know how we met?" she asked from studying Giselle's face as compensation for ruining the moment.
Surprisingly, Giselle nodded shyly to admit.
"Fancy story! Let's say I was a hot, fresh graduate daring for a job opportunity without having the luxury to intern," Jenna began smooth.
"Mr. Ricardo kindly took me in to put me under Ms. Grey's care, just like that, right away!"
"Wow!"
"Yes, only wow!"
Giselle almost noticed the sarcasm in that tone.
"Why- did Lillian was bad to you?" she asked worriedly.
"No! But- If she was, then I might have had faced the challenge, but that was not the case-" Jenna sighed weakly.
"Ms. Grey was- strange kind of human being. Sometimes I think that she may be the weirdest person I've ever met!" Jenna whispered loudly.
"Do you know that there are times when Ms. Grey- disappears somewhere?" Jenna complained.
"Disappear?"
"Yes, disappear! She would run off somewhere in the middle of her writing-"
Even hearing such things triggered Giselle's professionalism as she feared how she would face such situations. For example, what would she do if one day Jayce disappears before the book signing event? Giselle thought to freeze.
"But- she never missed her deadlines," Jenna returned to praise Lillian again.
Giselle relaxed finally.
"As I said before, it not her career I'm worried, but her personal life that got fated with misery," Jenna newly added that drew Giselle's attention.
"What do you mean, Jenna?"
Jenna glanced at Giselle's face for a while before worrying whether to touch upon the topic or not. Hopeless, she chose to let the river flow to its destiny.
"Perhaps, you know what I'm referring here," Jenna said to raise her brows high in a signal.
Giselle continued to remain clueless as she saw Jenna protrude to make a tight face.
"I- I don't know what y- you mean!" Giselle mumbled cluelessly.
Jenna exhaled gravely to face the other way as she reminded Giselle about Lillian's nasty rumors traveling in the air.
"Oh-" Giselle finally comprehended.
"Haven't you heard?"
"I did, yes, I've been aware of it!" Giselle admits gradually.
The dancers finally left the spot after receiving grand applause from the roaring crowd. Their noise dragged everyone nearby for a moment, including Giselle and Jenna. The ladies remembered to eat their cold sandwiches as they witness the boys signing off of the stage, and soon everything returned to its old self.
"Please don't believe in those rumors, Ms. Giselle!" Jenna said.
"They were all cooked up unnecessarily," she followed up.
Giselle protested, confronting the gossips to establish if Lillian never dated anyone or not. To Jenna's dismay, she couldn't help but admit.
"Yes, she went out with several people, but they were all one time fling. She never stayed in a relationship with anyone, Ms. Giselle."
"What about Lucy?"
Jenna felt a knot in her stomach as she heard the name after a long time.
She wasn't sure if she should be talking about Lucy to Giselle. Worried, Jenna kept herself at bay without responding, which only heightened Giselle's interest to learn.
"I only wanted to know if Lillian was ever happy," Giselle said earnestly.
"If she ever loved anyone-" she added with a pause.
Seeing the gloomy face again, Jenna bites her tongue to debate to herself. Frankly, she feared the consequence of sharing such a sensitive subject without Lillian's consent.
"Ms. Giselle, I am not authorized to say these, or should I be the person you should ask these things, but-" Jenna gulped, needing her drink again to quench the tension.
"Just- tell me who confessed their feelings first?" Giselle pleaded.
Jenna kept her mouth sealed from spilling, yet Giselle's sincere concern tested with her patience.
"Fine! It was Ms. Lucy-"
Jenna could see the relief in Giselle's eyes as she quickly hid it by looking away in a panic.
"Did they ever-"
When Giselle returned with another question, Jenna sincerely worried if she was the right person to get interrogated. Nonetheless, Giselle's sulk meddled with her conscience.
"All I can say is that Ms. Lucy's love did stir Ms. Grey back to her senses," Jenna added quickly.
"What do you mean?" Giselle instantly faced charging.
"I mean, before meeting Ms. Lucy, Ms. Grey never cared for herself. She acted rashly without considerations. However, things took a turn when Ms. Lucy showed up regularly in her life. Ms. Grey began to think sensibly."
None of them spoke for a while, giving Jenna a tremendous relief from Giselle's querying. As they indulged in silent seclusions, a group of protesters crossed their sight to exit the park while keeping up with their chants.
"Were they in a relationship?" Giselle ignored the noise to ask again, "I heard from Lillian that they broke up."
Unable to escape anymore, Jenna replied.
"They did!"
"Why would they break up if-"
"Ms. Giselle- you cannot ask me that. I'm allowed in Ms. Grey's life only up to a point. Beyond that, even I don't have the permission to exploit."
"Did Lillian ever tell you the reason?" Giselle ignored to continue her investigation.
"What did I just say?"
"Please- only this," Giselle begged.
Unable to hurt that pleasing face, Jenna spoke.
"She said it wasn't meant to be, and that it would be better to part ways early."
"Thank you, Jenna," Giselle said to return to silence.
The two spent the next few minutes to finish the food while gazing at the surrounding. Jenna finally relaxed while Giselle's mind got occupied.
Jenna quietly waited until Giselle made a move.
"Let's leave! It's getting late!" Giselle said to stand up, collecting the empty boxes and wraps to throw it in the garbage.
Upon her return after dumping the waste, Jenna gestured as the two walked together to leave the park.
"Oh yes, how is Lia's practice coming up?" Jenna asked to lighten the thick mood.
"She is doing great!" Giselle replied sharply.
Even she knew it was a bit too tense with the atmosphere between them. After all, Jenna was only helping Giselle. Feeling bad for her change of mood, Giselle kindly accepted Jenna's invitation for a new distraction.
"Ever since Lia heard her father coming to visit her, she's been in high spirits."
"Oh, so Lia's father got his permission?"
Giselle nodded with a gentle smile.
"Lia must feel overjoyed!"
"She is, and it is nice to see her happy-" Giselle said.
As they approached the exit, another group overtook the ladies to an alarm. It was a little girl chasing after her brown Yorkshire Terrier, followed by the parents.
The girl must be at Lia's age, and Jenna noticed that Giselle's eyes fixated on the child already, admiring its cute expressions and conversation with the pet.
They both exited the park to see the happy family trots off the other side.
Meanwhile, Giselle and Jenna walked to the nearby subway to ride back home together.
Upon reaching the point where they had to depart, Jenna requested for Giselle's time. Giselle had no longer appear tense, yet Jenna seems to carry a burden weighing on her. Until she spits it, there won't be any peaceful sleep tonight, so Jenna asked for Giselle's attention.
"Please don't judge Ms. Grey for her past. I'm not sure if I should be saying this," Jenna expressed her doubts again.
"But I have known you for a long time, Ms. Giselle-" Jenna revealed to alarm Giselle.
"Not- in a creepy way, but long ago- I think after a year working with Ms. Grey, she requested me to find you- or anything about you. Of course, I have never done this in my life, so all I could do was to reach your high school, your home, and-"
Jenna paused, feeling regretful from confessing.
"And, meeting with your sister-"
"You met my sister?" Giselle exclaimed in a pure shock.
"Hear me out, Ms. Giselle. I did find your home address to try reaching out. I got welcomed by your sister, who then rejected sharing anything about you. I returned to report to Ms. Grey, who also ignored it casually. Except, she told me to keep trying somehow until recently she asked me to discontinue."
"Discontinue! Wait, when did she ask you to quit?" Giselle asked.
"Not that long, probably a few months ago-" Jenna replied.
Giselle learned to recognize that it was around the time when she returned home as well. She suspected if someone told about her arrival already to Lillian, maybe Anna or Diego! However, she kept her worries to herself and appreciated Jenna's kind thought to share.
"I'm not sure if I fulfilled your interest. However, I want you to know that Ms. Grey never stopped thinking about you. She is still there, right here, right now, in your life, reappearing again," Jenna said to paused before adding, "I hope you don't hurt her more, Ms. Giselle. All I can say is that she is still suffering because of your absence. That's all! Goodnight, Ms. Giselle. Take care."
Jenna said to leave and take her route back home as Giselle stood in the street, feeling a lot of emotions surfacing inside of her. She watched Jenna disappear from her sight- all of her confessions about Lillian replaying in her head.
Taking a deep breath from the dropping temperature, Giselle looked at the time to hurry back home.
***
Practicing nonstop for the past few days both at school and at home ever since learning about her father's journey, Lia seems to go to bed early than usual. Giselle kissed her goodnight to let the child rest as she sat on the couch to watch some TV. Time passed to her empty interest and lathered in boredom for a long time Giselle felt the need to go to bed early as well.
Lying on her back to gaze at the ceiling, Giselle was wide awake, unable to fall asleep. She had thought about Lillian's lifestyle, her dating many people, and most of all- Lucy. She was curious to know about her and how she managed to move Lillian's heart. Giselle knew that asking Jenna won't work anymore, and despite knowing already about their broken bond, Giselle felt naturally scared of Lucy's existence in Lillian's life. Her mobile rang suddenly to intrude on her chaotic thoughts.
Giselle reached over the nightstand to check the message and found it to be from Lillian Grey, who sent her a picture of herself in that new pink suit they had chosen today. Lillian wanted to send her the picture of herself wearing the dress and did so. Giselle smiled from looking at the photo. She kept staring at it endlessly that sleep sank eventually without her awareness.
Giselle unconsciously threw her mobile by her side to fall asleep.
On the other end, Lillian, also in her bed, kept waiting for Giselle's response, unable to contain her happiness from today's fun.
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