Chapter Text
Capitolo 1
She is very aware of her own heartbeat and – funnily enough – her tongue.
She pushes the muscle in her mouth against her front teeth and wonders. Can she usually feel her tongue? Apart from when she accidentally bites off a little chunk of it when she’s once again been too eager or too distracted to eat.
Probably not. But right now, she consciously feels how heavy it lies in her mouth and it makes her feel insecure.
Even more so than the side-eye she gets from the blonde woman sitting to her left.
She sends a tight-lipped smile her way and pushes her sunglasses up her nose as she sinks further into her chair.
There’s a clock on the wall opposite her and she watches the hands not moving fast enough as she rolls her tongue in her mouth.
Her hands feel clammy – but that’s what they always do as soon as she steps foot into this building. Usually, she doesn’t have to wait though – and the suspense is killing her.
“Miss Lee?”
She doesn’t know the young woman standing in front of her, addressing her and she raises an eyebrow at her questioningly.
The short nod she receives is answer enough and in a flash, she stands, following the assistant as she bits a polite farewell to the other people in the waiting room.
“I'm sorry I had to call you a false name. I was ordered to do it... Anyway, Doctor Nam is expecting you.”, the small woman informs her - slightly nervous, as she opens the door to her bosses office.
“Thanks.”, she mumbles back and hears the door fall close behind her seconds later.
There’s some rustling from the other side of the room and when she looks up, Doctor Nam is already on her feet – hand stretched out for her to take in greeting.
“Miss Manoban. Thank you for meeting me on such short notice. I’m sorry if it caused any inconveniences.”
She smiles as she takes the offered hand and gives it a friendly squeeze.
“It’s Lisa, please Doctor. And no problem at all. I had a free afternoon today anyway.”
It’s not quite the truth but the Doctor didn’t need to know that. It isn’t as if it mattered. She would’ve postponed absolutely everything in order to be here.
“Well then, Lisa.”, the older woman nods and gestures for her to take a seat beside the desk.
“I don’t want to keep you in suspense any longer.”
Doctor Nam too lets herself fall into one of the chairs as she leans back to grab a folder from her desk.
“Since you’re a very special client of ours with some pretty…” She pauses to give Lisa a pointed look and a smile. “Specific requirements, this first step took us a little longer than usual – but…” She makes another dramatic pause, before holding up the file and waving a little bit with it. “I think we found the perfect candidate for you.”
She hands over the folder and Lisa skims the front page – feeling a rush of adrenaline creep up the back of her neck as she lets the words sink in.
The perfect candidate.
Fucking finally.
“Her name is Jennie Kim. She’s 25 years old and a primary school teacher in Queens. Born in Seoul and immigrated to the US when she was three. No siblings. Her health check was four days ago and she couldn’t be better if we tried. She’s regularly active in sports and has a very healthy diet – most of the time. No known diseases in the family.”
She takes a breather, which gives Lisa a minute to track down everything that had just been said in the file.
She isn’t sure why, but her mind is going crazy right now – but instead of happy, over-the-top thoughts, she finds herself worrying.
How? How could this be, that after all this waiting and contemplaining, she’s suddenly here? The perfect match.
“I get that it’s a lot to take in right now.”, the Doctor vocalizes her thought. “But we already sent her information to your management for the background check. If they should dig up any dirt – as they called it – they would get in contact with you.”
She stops talking as she places a soft hand on top of Lisa’s trembling shoulder.
God, when had she started trembling?
“As for your other requests, Lisa. She told us she’s fine with all of it… except for the place of birth. She wants to deliver the baby here, in New York. She said that she didn’t know a soul in Los Angeles and that New York has the better hospitals anyway.”
Doctor Nam snorts and Lisa squints her eyes a bit.
“Her words, not mine.”, the older woman defends and puts both hands into the air.
Lisa bites her lip as she tries – and fails – to hide a smile creeping up onto her face and all of a sudden, her worries seem to wash away like the tide had just hit.
She looks down at the folder in her hand again – the stoic face of Jennie Kim’s photograph looking back at her, and somehow she knows, even without Doctor Nam’s elaborations – that she’s looking at the woman who’s going to carry her baby someday.
Hopefully soon.
“Okay.”, she says. Calm and collected - and nothing like she’s feeling on the inside.
“I’ll think about it.”