Penny was baffled by the sudden feeling: the warmth in her heart, the relief and relaxation in her muscles. She never felt this before, or perhaps she did- when her mother still lived with her. She lost her home the minute she lost her mom. Now, in the city, in this random Penthouse lobby, she felt like she was home.
She lead up against the wall next to the elevator, taking a minute to slow her breath down. The usually nightly door man walked up to her and asked if she was okay.
"Uh, yeah" she pulls herself from the wall, and pushing the up button. "You know, as a woman in the city at night, it can be a little scary."
The doors open, "Well, if you need anything that I can help with, please tell me."
She walks in, gives a real, pleasant smile and the doors close. Her once calm breathes start to pick up. It becomes heavier and heavier. Not from fear or anxiety, but in realizations. She once thought she had no one to care for her, but now, it feels like she has everyone.
Before, the number of people that cared for her was one. No, she feels as though one hand isn't even enough. Even this doorman was there for her and wanted to make her feel safe. It was an overwhelming feeling.
She stepped out of the elevator, to the door of the penthouse. She was walking slow, still processing her feelings. Penny could feel a thick lump form in the back of her throat, stuck and unmovable. Her eyes stung with wet tears that wanted to spill, but she refused to have a complete breakdown until she was safely in her room.
She quickly unlocked the door, and pushed it open. She kicked her shoes off and swung her jacket onto a hang and in the closet. She swiftly shuffled down the hall turn towards the stairs, but she heard, "How was your day?"
There Quentin was, sitting on the dining room table with take-out boxes and bags spread across. How long was he sitting there for? She wondered while frozen in her spot facing him.
She wanted everything to unfreeze and go upstairs to journal and cry her feelings out, but she couldn't. The dam broke loose and the sobbing started. She dropped her head into her hands to cover her reddening face and snotty nose. She refused to look up as she heard the quick shriek of the chair against wood floor and then the tumble of said chair to the floor.
She felt two arms snake underneath her armpits. Penny quickly moved her arms to around Quentin's neck and shoved her ugly crying face to the curve in his neck. She tried to avoid getting snot onto his casual black shirt. The stain would be hidden, but it still wasn't nice. However, getting tears on his shirt seemed better than snot. Some bodily fluids are better than others.
She wiped her wet cheeks against the shirt, drying her face off.
"What's wrong," Quentin ask her.
Penny surely wasn't physically ready to say what she was feeling, but she did trying, "Th-the do-or man..." She paused, planning on elaborating further, but she just broke into more tears.
"The doorman? What did he do? Did he say something to you? Oh god, did he touch you?" He pushed her away, in anger. She knew from the tone in his voice that it wasn't at her, but at the doorman, who didn't do anything of the sort.
He hurried to the door, slipping on the first pair of shoes he saw that would fit. He started to mumble under his breath, "I am going to break that man's nose and then get him fire, and then make sure he can never get a job in the city again."
This time, Penny wasn't frozen. She ran to his, rubbing her face clear of tears that were still falling. "Stop!" She grabbed his hand. He frozen and turn to face her, waiting for her to give him the next instruction. "He didn't do anything to me. He was actually really kind."
Quentin, realizing that he overreacted, slipped his shoes off. Her hand still around his wrist, he slid his hand up to intertwine them instead. He lead her to the dining table so they could sit down next to each other. Penny, once sitting down, used her free hand to wipe away the final tears that leaked from her eyes and put her and his hand into her hand. She used her fingers and thumb to gently rub the top of his hand.
"Uh," Penny always had a hard time talking about herself, but Quentin is being so kind and supportive (like always), she had to give him the truth. She believes that he as earned her trust. "I was walking home from rehearsal, and it felt like someone was following me the whole time. But every time I stopped and looked around, I was alone, or at least from what I could see. I basically ran back home. The doorman saw how frantic and scared I looked, so he asked if I was okay and then said, 'If you need anything that I can help with, please tell me.' I realized that I have so many people in my life who care about me, when before I only had Ms. Birdie. It was such an overwhelming feeling that I just broke down and started to cry." She looked up at him, right into his grassy eyes, "Thank you for everything, for giving me a new home and for giving me a family."
He was trapped in her eyes, her hazel eyes. He tried to find the places where green started and brown stopped, but it was impossible. He could see how the white of her eyes were an angry red and how her eyes lids were puffy, but he didn't care. "Anything for you."
Afraid he was being creepy and lingering for too long, he broke the intense eye contact and asked, "Do you want to start dinner?"
"Sure," Penny said, remembers how hungry she was when she left the building. Running away on the freezing cold streets of New York and crying your eyes out makes a girl pretty hungry. Quentin opens everything and explains each dish, what's in it and how it was cooked. He put everything he got on her plate, eager for her to try everything.
Penny tried each food and she couldn't find anything that she didn't like; it was all amazing. They sat a little in silence, before Quentin asked how her first day of work was.
She started to talk about how happy the director was that she decided to sign. She didn't give him the plot of the show, but she talked about how small the cast was and how she is happy it wasn't a lot of people. She talked about Thomas Olsen, who seemed really creepy at first but was incredibly kind. She wasn't able to talk much with the other people, but expressed how excited she was to get to know everyone.
"Oh geez, then there is Corey Patton. I already dislike that man," she lamented. Quentin's ears perked up at the sound of a man's name, a young man's name. "He is suppose to be my love interest in the show, but he is just so irritating." He started to get nervous and jealous. "It is so obvious he wants to get into my pants. He keeps on making these little comments, thinking that he is wooing me. I want to punch him in the face sometimes." Me too, he thinks to himself. He hides his hands under the table, clenching them together, to relieve the anger he is feeling.
He wants to say so many things to her in reason to that man.
Well he can't have you...you are my wife.
I will punch him in the face for you.
He can't have you because you are mine.
This possessiveness was new for him, but he didn't want to scare her with his domineering tone. He also has a feeling that she would fight him on it.
"Well, if you need me to talk to him for you, tell me anytime and I will do it," he tells her, his tone playful.
It made Penny smile and she plays off of it, "Even when you are at work?"
"Of course! I would drop everything for you," he says, keeping the playful tone; however, deep in his heart, he means it. "Oh that reminds me!" He reaches into into his pocket to grab his phone. Penny looks over his shoulder and see him pull up Amazon and type in the words mace.
"Oh, no. You don't have to do that!" Penny says. "I can get that myself."
"Well if you feel unsafe now, you should feel safe right now too," he argues with her. "Would you look at that! You will have one day shipping because I have Amazon Prime."
Penny didn't have Amazon Prime and it would take a few days for her to receive it. She will get it tomorrow and have it with her for Monday. "Thank you," she tells him.
Realizing that they are both done eating, Penny and Quentin start to collect the trash, dirty plates and utensils. They settle once again into a simple silence, cleaning the dishes and wiping the food from the table.
Once finished, Penny started to walk upstairs to her room. She was done for the night and ready to get cozy in some pajamas. She a little bit up the stairs, similar to how she stopped Quentin earlier that evening. "Wait" his masculine deep voice whimpers out. "I'm sorry but I have to know..."
She stays facing up the stairs, not wanting to turn around yet.
"Was your father really physically abuse to you?" He didn't say it in an acquisitor tone, like if he was calling her a lier. It was as if he couldn't believe it himself. He couldn't comprehend how a wonderful woman like her was trapped in such an awful position. But then again, many sighs of this were present to him. Quentin just ignored them and made her relive it all, and will never forgive himself for that.
"No, I just said that because I wanted attention," She mock, sarcastically. Seeing how that will slightly rude, she sighed, "Yes, he really did."
This time she turned around. Penny wasn't crying, but a single tear slipped from her eye and slid all the way down her face. Her face remained neutral, as if she couldn't even feel it.
He stepped a little closer, and was just slightly shorter than her on the stairs. Quentin gentle placed his hands around her face and lead her to bend over slightly. Still a little short, Quentin had to raise his heels so that his lips could reach her forehead. He pressed his soft lips against her forehead. Penny could feel his love and comfort radiating from him. She closed her eyes in response.
He released his lips and lowered his heels. He rested his forehead against hers, and spoke, "You are safe here."
She nodded her head slightly, since it's weird to have her head rub against his. She responded, "I am home."