CHAPTER TEN

"I was kidnapped today," Lisa declared. "Few hours ago."

"You were... Oh, come on!" Jena laughed out loud; "I almost believed you just now," she walked over to a stool in the kitchen and sat down.

"What do you mean you almost believed me? I'm very serious here."

Jena laughed again. "Lisa, you and I know that nothing of that sort can happen to you, there's no way you won't literally see it few days before that time," she raised an eyebrow and shook her head; "if you're going to play a prank on me, do it well."

She reached into the freezer and took a can of juice for herself, but when she turned towards Lisa and saw that she had not moved from where she was, she dropped the juice on the counter. "Were you really kidnapped?" Jena asked, scanning Lisa's facial expression. She could immediately decipher that Lisa was not joking. "What? You were kidnapped? Why?! Are you okay?" She asked one after the other, looking very worried and anxious.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Lisa assured.

"Was the kidnapper caught? Tell me, what really happened? How come you didn't see this ahead of time?"

"You're the second person that has asked this same question, but there really is no way I would have known," Lisa replied.

"Maybe you're losing your ability? How would you not have known when all you need to do is to look into a person's eyes. Do you want to tell me that all the time you were in front of a mirror you didn't notice anything?"

"It doesn't work that way, Jena. I have to look straight into the eyes to be able to see anything. There is no way for me to look into my eyes without looking through a mirror, and a mirror is obviously a hindrance to my ability since the mirror is an object which doesn't give me a direct access to my eyes."

"What? That's not fair! You didn't ask for this ability, yet you have no choice but to live with it and you can't even benefit from it? Okay but at least you should have gotten something from looking into the kidnapper's eyes."

"Who would have thought that a taxi driver would turn out to be a kidnapper? Come to think of it, he isn't actually a kidnapper, he's an assassin," Lisa revealed.

"An assassin?! Eh? Who on earth is against you? I mean, you're not much of a trouble maker so why would someone want to eliminate you?" Jena huffed angrily.

"What do you mean I'm not much of a trouble maker, when in fact I'm a saint between both of us?"

"That's not the issue now. Was the culprit caught? What did he say? Who sent him?" Jena asked.

"Well, you see, that's not how it works. You don't expect a criminal like that to confess so quickly," Lisa replied.

"Mhm, that's quite fair. At least he was caught," she nodded.

"He wasn't caught," Lisa spoke in a near whisper.

"He wasn't caught?!" Jena's voice rose again. "How? Can you tell me what exactly happened today?"

"Okay, so I was coming back home after our team dinner, which is a different story entirely, but I boarded a taxi as usual and since I felt very tired, I fell asleep at intervals. You see what I had told you about looking into mirrors right? A few times when he asked me questions, he looked at me from the rearview mirror but I obviously would not have been able to read anything from him."

"Okay, go on."

"So a few moments later, my phone beeped continuously and when I looked at it, there were so many messages from my boss."

"Okay," Jena nodded.

"When I opened them, I saw that he was trying to warn me about a taxi whose driver was an assassin hired against me and after giving me a detailed description, I realised that I was already in the vehicle of the assassin."

"How did your boss know?" Jena asked immediately.

"He has a similar ability to mine, only that he sees them in his dream and also, instead of seeing into the future, he sees the past," Lisa explained.

Jena who was already surprised cleared her throat as she tried to figure everything out.

"Okay but if he sees the past, why was he able to know that you were in danger?"

"Well, that's because I was already in the car before he had the dream. And it was already too late for me to change anything. That's the downside of his ability, he sees the past but in a way that nothing tangible could be done to correct it, so this is like the first time for him that what he saw didn't end the way he saw it."

"Okay, okay, so continue. How were you able to escape the assassin?"

"We got to a checkpoint on the road, and the police officers were kind of suspicious so they insisted we step down from the vehicle for inspection and that was how he was forced to let me go, but he fled the moment I came out of the car," Lisa explained.

"And of course they couldn't catch him," Jena scoffed. "Nothing these officers do are ever right," she sighed and shook her head.

"Then guess what?"

"What?" Jena asked. She thought the whole story had ended.

"I was automatically tagged an accomplice of his."

"What? Didn't you explain that you were kidnapped?"

"They refused to believe me. Even at the station when I showed them my employee's card, they refused to believe me not until my boss came to my rescue."

"So they won't even do anything about the fact that you were kidnapped?" Jena asked in frustration.

"We're going back to the station tomorrow. I think I'll be going with my boss' PA."

"Good!" Jena nodded. "That evil being must be found and dealt with." "But why is it your boss' PA?" Jena asked after a short while.

"Mhm?"

"Why would you be going to the station with your boss' PA? I could easily go with you. You know you need somebody to put those officers in their place and you're too quiet for that," Jena smiled.

"Yet you said I'm a trouble maker!"

"I said you're not much of a trouble maker," Jena defended herself.

"Well Mr. Fred is there, that should be enough to put the officers in their place."

"Who's Mr. Fred?"

"My boss' PA."

"Ok then. Still, call me when anything new comes up or don't. You won't be able to reach me since you're with my phone, I almost forgot," Jena laughed.

"I'll update you when I get back tomorrow," Lisa replied.

"So you were just finding out about your boss' ability today?" Jena asked, changing the topic.

"Yes, just today," Lisa replied, as they both walked out of the kitchen. "Ah! That reminds me," she announced as she spotted her bag in the living room.

"What?" Jena asked curiously.

"I was awarded today, by my company."

"Awarded? You've not worked up to a week and you're already receiving an award? I mean, I know you're extraordinary but..." Jena let out a surprised laugh as Lisa brought out the award and the wrapped gift. "You're definitely going to take this company far if you have been able to achieve an award-worthy accomplishment within this short period of time."

"Well, I didn't do anything serious. I just didn't hand over the accountant's document to him as you already know, and I'm being rewarded since he actually got to find out that I was right all along!" Lisa praised herself.

"Wow! It's not that you were right all along, it's that you were lying. That's what he got to find out. How did he find out anyway?" Jena asked, ignoring Lisa's piercing look.

"Actually, this was what made me find out about his ability. He had a dream last night about the whole event. Right now, there's no official way to prove the illegitimacy of that proposal, but at least through our ability we were able to know that it was fake."

"A lot has happened in these few days at your new office," Jena shook her head. "Anyways, what's in the gift wrap?"

"Let's see," Lisa picked it up and tore it open.

"A phone!" They shouted together.

"A phone!" Jena shouted again.

"A phooooone!!!!!!!" Lisa screamed.

It was the latest model of the Samsung Galaxy S Series and her former phone was not even a quarter up to the price of the phone.

"Forget my line of job, Lisa. Didn't you say your boss found out about your accountant?"

Jena nodded vigorously. She was too shocked and excited to even form any sentence.

"That means she must have been laid off, right? Which means the accountant position is empty, right? Lisa," she dropped to the floor and clutched Lisa's right leg immediately; "I'm very good at accounting. I can keep good records of financial transactions. I mean, my business wouldn't have been moving if I wasn't doing well as an accountant, right?" Jena forced a nervous smile.

"Recommend me to your boss!"

"Ay?!" Lisa's eyes widened.

"I'm serious! I can guarantee he won't ever feel insecure about his company's money!"

"You want to ditch your fashion business for a white collar job? You? You that would literally die the moment you do anything fashion unrelated?

"Ay? Don't put it that way. Am I cursed or something? Why would I die? And who said I'm putting an end to my business. I can do both jobs at the same time. I work in your company in the day time and work at my business at night! Simple!" Jena laughed, a laughter that was filled with uneasiness.

"Both the office job and your fashion business will crumble before you can even save anyone!"

"Come on! It's not that big of a deal!"

"You won't only work overtime, you would also do things that would make you rethink life decisions. I can guarantee you that!"

"What? Your boss is definitely not like that! I know he's tough looking on camera, but I'm sure it's just all an act," Jena defended him even though he never knew she existed.

"Are you suddenly interested in this job because of this phone?" Lisa gently waved it in the air.

"Hey!" Jena quickly used both hands to carefully bring Lisa's hand down. "Do you know how much you are calling 'this phone'? Do you have any idea what you are waving carelessly calling 'this phone'? Lisa, listen very carefully to me," she signaled for Lisa to come closer to her. "This priceless treasure must not mistakenly leave you hand and touch the ground. What did I say?"

Lisa furrowed her brows. "This priceless treasure must not touch the ground."

"Is that what I said?!" Jena slammed the centre table hard enough to make Lisa flinch a bit. "Repeat what I said!"

"This priceless treasure must not mistakenly leave my hand and touch the ground," Lisa whispered slowly.

"This priceless treasure must also not mistakenly get lost. What did I say?"

"This priceless treasure must also not mistakenly get lost."

"Good," Jena nodded and sat down beside her. "Forget what I told you earlier about joining your company. You're right, I can't imagine myself leaving my fashion business, but you didn't have to put it that way! Anyone that heard would have thought I was cursed to forever be a fashion designer or die."

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry." Lisa apologised.

"What I have is called passion. Passion for what I love, just as you're passionate for your job." Jena explained.

"I understand, that's why I said it like that. Now you can have your phone back, I'm so happy!" Lisa squealed and turned on the phone.

"You need to thank your boss immediately. Quickly put your Sim into the phone and text him now," Jena suggested.

"Ok!" Lisa squealed again in excitement, but before she could even remove her Sim from Jena's phone, her phone vibrated.

She picked it up and read the text message that showed up. 'I was wondering when you were going to thank me for your new phone or am I not considerate enough for getting you one? I feel very insulted right now, Secretary Kim.'