IV. She Who Came Back

    “Lisa?”

Lisa opened her eyes at the sound of someone calling her name.

“We’re already here,” Yuen informed her from the driver’s seat when she saw her open her eyes.

She looked outside and saw that they were already outside an office building with a familiar logo outside. “Oh.” Taking a quick look at her watch, it was already thirty minutes past two. She slept the whole one-hour ride.

After moving her hands and neck to shake off her sleepiness, Lisa took out her credit card from her wallet. “Ge, you can go and eat something while waiting for me if you don’t have any plans. I think I’ll be here for around an hour or so, so take your time.”

Yuen nodded and took her card. “Do you want anything? I know a good chicken place around here. I can pick up some for you.”

She gave him a grateful smile but shook her head, gathering her coat and backpack, getting ready to get out of the car.

“Okay. Call me when you’re ready to go home. His office is on the ninth floor.”

Giving him an okay sign, Lisa went inside the building.

“Lance just went to check something on the HR department downstairs but he’ll be back soon,” Lance’s secretary informed her, explaining her cousin’s absence after leading her inside the office. “He already ordered some lunch but if you want anything else, I can get it for you.”

Seafood and some Chinese food were already laid out it in the table along with some fruit shakes. “It’s fine. I’m good”

“Okay. Call me if you need anything.”

Lisa dropped her things on the sofa before looking around the room. As it was her first time being there, she was curious. The room was definitely more spacious than Lance’s office three years ago. According to him, they moved to a bigger building in order to accommodate the growing company.

Company pictures filled the shelf. She couldn’t help but smile and be proud as she stopped and looked at the picture of Lance and Vin which seemed to be taken at a company event. The two best friends have come a long way ever since establishing their own entertainment company twelve years ago. They were managing artists that were doing pretty well along with producing some dramas and movies. Lance was managing the artist management side of the company while Vin oversaw the film production side.

If it weren’t for the both of them, Lisa didn’t know if she would be able to make it to film school in the US until she came back and started her career. They never admitted it but she knew they had something to do with being hired as an assistant director back when she was just starting out at twenty-one years old.

She felt someone looking at her so she looked up at the door to find Lance leaning at the door smiling at her.

“What’s got you smiling like that?”

Lisa returned his smile and gestured around the pictures with the agency’s artists. “You’ve come a long way.”

Her cousin looked around his office just like she did a while ago. With a fulfilled look on his face, he turned to her, “We did, didn’t we?”

She nodded. “I’m proud of you guys.”

He pushed himself back from the wall and walked towards her. “Thank you. We’re proud of you as well.”

Another time and the nickname would have earned him a punch but instead, she just scrunched her nose, making him laugh and ruffling her hair.

“Let’s eat. I ordered some of your favorites.”

“Thanks.”

“What did you do today?” Lance asked as they started eating.

“I went to see a house for sale and did some errands.”

Lance gave her a wondering look. “I didn’t know you were planning on buying a place.”

“I’m not really sure yet.”

“I guess the right question is if you’re back for good. Are you?”

Lisa bowed her head, avoiding her cousin’s eyes.

     Every day since she got back, Lisa had been expecting the question but still, it made her nervous. Maybe because it was the first time it was asked out loud. Dropping her chopsticks and reaching for a napkin to wipe , she nodded her head slowly.

The silence in the room that followed told her that Lance was clearly not expecting her answer or maybe, he was surprised she even answered.

It was not a decision Lisa made overnight. It took her more than a year of thinking before finalizing her decision. After much consideration, she finally decided it was best to come back home.

At the moment, she was focusing on making up for the years she had been away to her parents. She hasn’t even informed them about her plans on coming home for good.

It had been over a month since she came back to the country. For almost three years, she never mentioned anything about going back home. That was why going back home unannounced really shocked them all. As much as her family was trying their best to act normal, they were still tiptoeing around her on certain topics. Lisa knew that they wanted to ask some questions but were all afraid to do so. It must be hard for her parents to stop themselves from asking if she was back for good.

“I’m sure Auntie and Uncle would be very happy to hear that.”

A sad smile appeared on Lisa’s face, knowing how she put them in a hard time. No matter how they begged, she told her parents to go home, leaving her alone in New York.

That was why she let them call her every few hours just to check on her. They had been staying with her for the first two weeks but she insisted that they go back home to Yunnan. After making her promise to visit them soon, they finally relented.

“You should have told me you were looking for a house. I could have helped you,” Lance said, changing the subject.

Maybe in time, they will be able to fully talk about what happened to her but right now, she was not ready yet.

“It was just a spur of the moment decision. I saw it on an ad this morning and went to see it. I haven’t really decided what to do yet.”

“And wow was it?”

“It was nice.”

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