I had taken Archie's advice of getting to know Penny on a personal level, without the crown, the guards, and the paparazzi, just me and her, figuring out who she was and what she loved. Turns out she is a huge Witcher fan and thinks that I look just like him, quite frankly, I look nothing like that beast, he is poorly mannered and uncivilized, and I am the opposite of that. She used to work at the local library before she went to college. She started working for Vogue three years ago after Ashby helped her land the job. His cousin Dave who worked at HR told him about it and put in a good word for her and now she could be jobless because I acted like Geralt of Rivia, these stupid fantasy names.
"So, you and Ashby?"
"What about us?" she asks looking at me.
She looked so cu
"I can't believe he asked you out," Sophia gasps in disbelief.I frown, "You make it sound like it's a dreadful thing."Sophia laughs, "It's not, I just thought he had better taste."Ouch."So, what are you going to wear?"I sigh, "We are having sushi at his house, so I was thinking of jeans and a simple T-shirt and some sneakers."Sophia cringes, "Ew no.""What do you mean no?""If you want to impress the king, you have to do better than that honey, show some boob and some leg."
It's 18:00, I sent Gustav out to pick up Penelope and I'm a nervous wreck."You need to calm down your majesty," Lee the sushi chef says.Chang Lee, the family sushi chef, and an incredibly good friend of the family, I consider him my uncle I wish I had, his son and I went to the same school when we were kids."Is it that obvious?"He nods, "Very soon, you're going to be a sweaty mess."I groan, "I just don't want to mess this up, this is the first girl I have ever been seriously interested in and I think she could be into me too."Lee smiles fondly, "I see that, and you won't just calm down. Have a drink.
He is sweet and funny, caring, and compassionate, most of all I am falling in love with him, much quicker than I had expected. I love the way he speaks to me with kindness, love, and patience, he isn't demanding or aggressive. "Did you enjoy the sushi?" he asks as he traces his finger down my bare arm. I nodded, "I did thank you." "I should be thanking you for coming." I giggle, "Well, in that case, it was my pleasure." "Can I kiss you again?" It must be the wine talking but I nod, missing his lips on mine, "Yes." He leans forward and gently places his lips on mine, my body tingles and I place my hands on his thighs, he pulls me closer to deepen the kiss. I can get used to this I think as I wrap my arms around his neck, I feel his hands move down to my waist, he pulls away and I frown. What could it be this time? "Penny, you vixen," he says lowly with a smirk. My cheeks heat up, "I'm sorry."
“Neither did I,” Chris says.I cringe.“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Penny says, “I didn’t know it was your room.”“It’s okay Penny,” he chuckles as he steps closer to her.“Woah little bro, she’s mine,” I say, he gives me a dirty smirk and I roll my eyes, “Penny let’s get out of here.”She hesitantly walks to me.“Wait, why did you come in here?”“None of your business Christopher.”“Now, now Henry, let the lady speak for herself.”Penny looks at me and then at Chris, “We were playing hide and go seek.”Excuse me.Chris laughs, he doesn’t believe her.“Did your tiny penis finally scare her off?” he laughs, I glare at him.Penny looks down, embarrassed.“Come on Penny let’s get go.”She walks toward
“What are you doing with my phone?”I walk over to him and grab the phone out of his hand.He sighs, “I’m sorry Penny, I didn’t mean to. Why didn’t you tell me that you got fired?”I look down, “It wasn’t important.”“Penelope, look at me,” he commands.I look at him and he’s guilty eyes stare into mine.“It is important baby; this was your job,” he says.“I know, I honestly didn’t think about telling you.”He looks hurt.I frown, “I’m sorry.”“No, I’m sorry. I’ll help you get a new job and take care of your aunt; I promise.”“You don’t have to, I can-”He shakes his head, “I want to and it’s fault anyway, so I owe you.”Hell, he’s right, it is his fault.“Okay,” is all I say.&l
Goddamit, seriously.I apologise to Penny and walk to the door.“Leave Sonja, I told you that I want nothing to do with your crazy self,” I yell through the door.“You don’t mean that Henry,” she wines.“Henry Crawford open this door, right now!”I knew it, I fucking knew it.I open the door and find Sonja standing next to my father with a little smirk on her face.“Father, I don’t have time for your games.”My father looks over my shoulders and gives a disapproving look.“I see you’re sleeping with the help again.”“Excuse me!”“Henry, you need to-”I hear a door slam behind me and turn around and Penelope is no longer behind me.“That is no way to speak to my queen,” I fume, “I don’t care who you are, I will not tolerate people disrespecting my woman like that.”
I could not believe what his father is saying about him, it is all a lie, Henry was only defending me."Penelope, what happened?" Aunt Linda asks.Lie, lie, Penelope, lie."Henry's father insulted me, he called me the help and a whore, Henry got mad and punched him in the face, that's all that happened Nana, I swear, don't be mad at me," I ramble in a frantic panic.Nana sits down beside me and sighs, "Calm down baby, calm down, I believe you.""Really?""Of course, Jeffrey has always been racist.""I didn't think he'd do this to his own son," I frown
That's a new one."Wait, you're marrying him now?" Ashby roars, "You barely know the guy, Penny.""First of all, I'm not marrying him yet, secondly I'm helping him get out of this mess that I created," she says calmly.I try not to grin when she says that there is hope for both of us to become more."Penny, this isn't for you, you weren't made for things like this."Penny looks at Ashby with her mouth ajar, I can tell by the look in her eyes that she's hurt.Ashby does not seem to care at all."I can handle this Ashby, and as my friend, I thought you