by Lanee Lane
"This is my old room." I opened the door and revealed teenage Penelope.
It was just how I had left it with posters of N'sync, Backstreet boys, and Usher.
"I can tell so much about you by this room."
Reed walked around looking on my bookshelves, my books, and trophies. He picked up one of my yearbooks and sat down on the twin bed.
"It seems like you were involved in a lot of stuff in high school. You’re all over the yearbook."
"Yeah, I was involved in a few things. My mom was all about her kids being well rounded."
"I'd say you succeeded. You were in band, choir, and on the debate team. How did you have time to study?"
"Lots of coffee and very little social life."
"Were you involved in anything in high school?"
"I played baseball for a while. I had to work a lot in highschool so I didn't really get to do too much."
He closed the yearbook and set it beside him on the bed. I took that as him wanting to change the subject. He seemed a little touchy when it came to his childhood. I tried not to pry. I hoped that in due time he would open up to me about it.
"A guy could really live out his high school fantasy in here. A beautiful girl alone in her bedroom." He wiggled his eyebrows.
"Reed Colston, are you trying to get fresh with me in my parent's house?"
"No, maybe. Just a little kiss."
He held his hands out and motioned for me to move close to him. I took several steps until he could reach my hands and pulled me the rest of the way. I toppled into his lap. He leaned over and pressed his lips into mine. A little kiss turned into a full blown make-out session. He eased me back onto the bed and began running his hand along my side. Moans of pure pleasure escaped my lips. His hand roamed further down until it was under the skirt of my dress on my bare thigh. His kisses moved from my lips down my jaw to my neck. My breath was heavy and my self-control was diminishing. The sound of the doorbell brought me back to reality.
"We'd better stop before someone comes looking for us. Someone like my mother."
He placed a few more kisses on my neck.
"I don't want to stop, but you're probably right."
He helped me off of the bed. I smoothed my dress out and fixed my hair in the full-length mirror on the door. Reed came behind me and gripped my hips.
"You look gorgeous."
I smiled at our reflection in the mirror.
"Alright, it's show time. Let's get this over with. Then we can go back to my place and have some real fun."
We headed down the stairs. I heard voices at the bottom. One of them sounded very familiar. My heart started beating erratically in my chest. My foot faltered, but Reed caught me.
"You ok.?"
I couldn't reply. When we came around the corner on the last steps I was met with a face I’d never wanted to see again. We locked eyes.
Barely able to speak my voice came out in a whisper.
"Alec."
Backstabber
I felt Reed's grip tighten to help keep me steady. I appreciated his silent support. I was sure my mind and eyes were playing tricks on me. He looked the same. The difference was I didn't get the butterflies I used to when I first met him. All I felt was anger and hurt.
"What are you doing here?"
My voice came out shaky.
I noticed my mother standing next to him and my heart sank.
"Penelope, don't be rude to our guest. I invited him. He was a part of the family for so long."
"He isn't family. He isn't anything to us. You know what happened."
"Penelope, that's old news. You need to move on. Alec has told me he how sorry he is for everything and that it was a big misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding? A misunderstanding! Berating me and demeaning me at every chance he got while having sex with half of the city is a misunderstanding?"
I knew my mother had little regard for my feelings, but this was an all-time low even for her. This level of betrayal surpassed even what Alec had done. At least with him, I realized it was never really love. My mother was supposed to love me, yet here she was proving once again that she didn't care at all.
Reed was by my side now wrapping his arm around my waist. He pulled me close to him. I was so thankful that he had come with me tonight.
Alec stepped toward me. "Penelope-."
Reed stepped in front of me blocking Alec from getting any closer.
"She doesn't want you in her space. Step back."
Bless Reed for being a force. Alec gave Reed a dirty look, but stepped back.
"Who are you?" Alec asked.
"The man that isn't going allow you to hurt Penelope again."
Be still my beating heart. I think I fell halfway in love with the man.
"I'm not going to hurt her. I only want to talk to her."
"You'll only speak to her if she wants to speak to you, and I don't think she wants to."
My mother walked over to me and grabbed my arm. She leaned into me and hissed into my ear.
"You need to speak to him. He is willing to take you back. He’s about to make partner at his firm. You can't pass up this opportunity because your feelings got hurt."
I pulled my arm out of her grasp. "I'm not giving him another chance. I have nothing to say to him. We’re done. As a matter of fact, I'm leaving."
"You can't leave. The party hasn't started. What will the guest say if my daughter’s not here?"
"I don't know what they'll say mom, but I guess you should have thought about that before you invited my jerk of an ex."
I turned to Reed. He was right by my side placing his hand on the small of my back. He guided me toward the door. My mother was hot on our heels.
"Penelope Rayne Crowder, don't you dare walk out that door. You will not disrespect me in my home."
Before I had a chance to turn around, Reed beat me to it.
"With all due respect ma'am, I think that the only person being disrespectful is you. You have to give respect to get respect. Penelope is your daughter, and you put her in a painful situation. Your daughter is beautiful, smart, and caring, but you choose to ignore that and tear her down. I think that you need to think about the way you treat your daughter. If or when you are ready to apologize and treat her with the respect that she deserves you better hope that she’s willing to listen and forgive."
Reed didn't wait to hear what my mom had to say. He ushered me out the front door to his car. He made sure I was in before he went around to the driver side. When we’d been driving for a few minutes, he grabbed my hand and glanced in my direction.
"Are you ok?" His thumb rubbed back and forth across the top of my hand.
"Yes, no... I don't know. I'm so used to her disapproval of everything I do, but this was a new low."
'I'm so sorry Penny." I noticed he picked up the nickname my dad called me. That made me smile.
We drove the rest of the way to my apartment in silence. Reed held my hand still rubbing his thumb soothingly against mine. His jaw was set. I’d never seen him angry before today, but I could tell that he was still reeling from the encounter.
When we got to my place, he opened my door for me and then motioned for my keys. He let us into my apartment.
"Go change into something comfortable."
I didn't question him. I just did as he said. I washed the makeup from my face and put on a pair of leggings and a tank top. He was sitting on my couch flipping through channels when I reemerged.
"I ordered a pizza and figured we could watch a movie. I know you've been doing really well with your eating and exercise, but I thought tonight may call for a splurge."
"Where have you been all of my life?" I said only half-jokingly.
I sat on the couch beside him and laid my head back. He had me pick a movie from Netflix. He picked my feet up off of the ground and laid them on his lap. Strong fingers began to knead into the pads of my feet. I let out a soft moan. It had been forever since anyone had ma
ssaged my feet and it felt like heaven.
"Feel good?"
"You have no idea. Keep it up and I'll be out in no time."
"Go ahead, I'll wake you up when the pizza gets here."
We turned our attention to the movie. I stole glances at him every few minutes. I couldn't stop thinking how thankful I was that he was there today. He was a one-eighty from Alec. It was almost too good to be true.
"Hey Reed?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"Thank you for being there. No one has ever stood up for me like that."
"You don't have to thank me. I want to be there for you Penelope. I know what it's like to have no one. I can't bare the thought of you having no one on your side."
"I'm sorry that you've been alone Reed. If you want to talk about it I'd like to listen."
He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it.
"You’re so sweet. I do want to tell you, but you've dealt with enough for one day."
I didn't want to pry, and he was right, so I just nodded.
The pizza was long gone, and we had a mini movie marathon. My eyelids were heavy. Keeping them open was proving to be impossible. It was getting late. Reed shook my shoulder and my eyes opened slightly.
"Penny, it's late come lock the door behind me and go to bed." He placed a kiss on my forehead and my eyes closed in contentment.
I got up from the couch and stretched my body. I grabbed Reed's hand and was about to lead him to the door when I changed my mind. I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He wasted no time putting his arms around my waist.
"Will you stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone."
His eyes flickered with several emotions before he nodded his head.
"If that's what you want then, yes."
"It's what I want."
Life Changing
Reed
My eyes fluttered open. The early morning sunlight was seeping in through the blinds. I looked at the woman in front of me. She was still sound asleep giving me the opportunity to really take her in. The cover was halfway off of her body. She had a tank top on, but no bra. I could see the outline of her lush breast. The strap to her tank top had slid slightly down her shoulder.
Her hair was wrapped in a scarf of some kind. I had never seen anything like it before, but it was beautiful on her. I loved seeing her in her full natural state. No makeup, no extra frills, just her. I slid my arm along her hip and pulled her into me. I inhaled her scent. She smelled like vanilla. So simple, yet so sweet.
I had to admit that yesterday came as a huge shock to me. She warned me that her mom could be crazy, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened. Inviting her ex like that was insane. Usually I was pretty level headed, but that set me off. I don't know why, but I felt this need to protect Penny. Probably because I was starting to care about her. After everything that happened to my family I was protective of those I cared about. I wanted to punch the Alec dude in the face. Her mom was a whole other story. That lady, if she could even be considered that, needed some serious help.
Penelope's eyes opened. Big brown eyes looked back at me. I could get lost in her alluring gaze.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey." I couldn’t stop my smile.
She reached her hand out and stroked the stubble on my face.
"I like this."
I hadn't shaved since the morning before last so my beard was trying to grow in.
"I like you," I countered back.
She buried her head into my chest. I kissed the top of her head and stroked her back. It felt good to just hold her like that.
"Do you want me to make you breakfast? I have some turkey bacon, eggs, oatmeal."
"How about we make it together?"
"I like that idea even better."
We worked together in the kitchen making breakfast. Mostly she cooked, and I stood behind her with my arms wrapped around her. I placed kisses along her neck making her giggle. I loved the sound of her laugh. She deserved to laugh and be joyful.
She had a small patio off of her living room that we took our breakfast to. We enjoyed the quiet of the morning and each other's company. After we finished our food, I pulled her from her chair onto my lap. I had thought about everything that went down last night and I decided I wanted to open up to her a little about my family.
"Penny, would you like to go for a walk?"
"Always in personal trainer mode, huh?"
I chuckled. "No, I just want to take a walk with a beautiful lady. I wanted to talk to you about some things and I thought we might as well get some air and exercise."
"Is everything ok?" Her brows furrowed and her lips were turned down into a frown.
I rubbed my hand along her thigh to help calm her.
'Yes, everything is fine. It's nothing to do with us, we're good."
"O-okay then. Let me go change and we can head out."
****
It was another beautiful spring day. There were only a few cotton like clouds floating in the blue sky. The sun was shining making everything seem more vibrant. I held onto Penelope's hand as we walked through the streets of her neighborhood to the nearby park.
I felt my heart beating rapidly in my chest. My hands felt a little clammy. I hoped that Penny would blame it on the heat. My mind was reeling trying to decide what to tell her first and how much to tell her today. There was no way I would be able to tell her everything today. The memories were too painful.
"Let's sit here."
There was a bench that faced a small pond in the park. A mother duck was leading her ducklings around in the water.
"Oh, my goodness they are so cute!"
The little squirts were pretty adorable. We sat and watched them for a while before I gained the courage to speak up.
"So you remember when you asked me about my parents?"
"Yes, I remember. You told me they passed away when you were thirteen."
"That's right. I wanted to tell you a little more about that and my childhood."
"If you’re ready and willing, I'd like to hear that."
I inhaled a deep breath filling my lungs and blew it out through my mouth. I took our intertwined hands and placed them in my lap.
"My parents were a very happy couple. They were high school sweetheart married right after graduation. They went to a community college and rented a small apartment in their hometown."
I looked up at Penelope. She smiled but didn't say anything. She was giving me her patience.
"Since my parents got together when they were so young they couldn't really afford a honeymoon. They had a small church ceremony. No big extravagant wedding. The year I turned thirteen was the year they celebrated their fifteenth anniversary. They’d finally saved up enough money to go on their dream vacation. We had gone on vacations as a family to places like the grand canyon and the beach, but they were finally going to have their honeymoon."
Penelope squeezed my hand in a gesture of support. I needed it to go on with the next part.
"They’d decided on France. My mom was in love with the idea of visiting Paris. We stayed with my Uncle Dwight while they were gone. They were supposed to be gone for a week. We couldn't really talk to them while they were there because it was expensive to call from out of the country."
I felt the familiar burn behind my eyes. It had been many years since I cried tears for my parents. Mostly because I didn't talk about them much anymore. There was a time when I cried every night.
"The day my parents were set to fly home we saw reports of a plane crash on the news. The news wasn't confirming any information about the flight because families had not been notified. Uncle Dwight seemed on edge, but I didn't worry. Maybe because I was young and naïve. It ended up being our parent's plane."
"Oh, Reed. I'm so sorry. You had to have been so scared."
She scooted closer to me and wrapped her arms around my body. It felt nice to have someone just hold me like that. No one had held me since
my mother had died.
"It was scary. I was confused and lost. We had to move with our Uncle Dwight and his wife. Thankfully they were willing to keep us so we didn't have to be split up in foster care. They treated us well, but it just wasn't the same. Your parent's love can't be replaced."
Penelope continued to hold me in her arms rubbing her hand up and down my back. We were silent while she let me quietly mourn.
"Reed, thank you for opening up to me. I know it had to be hard."
"Thank you for listening. It felt good to talk about them."
"May I ask a question?"
"Sure, Penny. Anything."
"You kept saying we. Was there more than just you?"
Make it Official
Reed exhaled a long breath. I could tell that he was emotionally spent. The fact that he trusted me enough to open up meant more than I could ever say. I had to admit that I was curious as to who the other part of "we" was, but I didn't want to pry.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I know that this has been hard for you so far."
He lifted his gaze to mine and held it for a long time. He leaned his head into mine and placed a gentle kiss on my lips.
"Thank you. Thank you for listening to me and not judging me. I want to tell you. It's just not something I talk about, ever."
"I understand, you can tell me later or you can decide to never tell me. I'll respect your decision. Just please know I'm here for you if you need me."
"I'm scared to tell you. I don't want you to look at me differently after I tell you the rest. At the same time same time I just feel a connection to you. I feel like I can tell you anything."
"I can't promise what my reaction will be because I don't know what you’re going to tell me. What I can promise is to have an open mind and try to understand."
"Ok, I can live with that," Reed nodded his head.
"I have a sister. Her name is Abigail. She was born fourteen months after me. We were really close as kids. We did everything together because we were so close in age. When our parents died we both went to live with our uncle."