Page 19 of Persuading Penny
I’m so excited to write to you today. I’ve been looking at my calendar and at my schedule and I can only hope that your schedule resembles mine. If it does, then I believe we could be facing the perfect circumstance by which we could get together for a week or so.
To say that I long to see you, to hold you in my arms, is the biggest understatement imaginable. I dreamt of you last night, a dream so hauntingly real, yet so dismally unsatisfying.
Say you will see me, and I will book the flight.
I re-read those words over and over again. He’d been planning a trip to London. While the invitation for me to visit him in the States was always open, he knew it was difficult for me to leave home and therefore always made the trip to come see me.
How many people knew this side of him? How many saw beyond his rugged good looks to see the sweetness of his character?
I’d had the privilege of seeing that sweetness again and again. And I’d responded to that sweetness in the most horrendous way. Riddled with guilt, I struggled to breathe. Could I have done more? Could I have disobeyed Aunt Sally? Ignore my father’s feelings about dating someone like Cliff?
Now, more mature, surer of myself, I know that I could, but back then; I trusted Aunt Sally, and this was what it’d brought me.
Cliff’s sweetness towards me was completely gone, and I had no one to blame but myself.
Sighing, I tilted my head back, leaning against the side of my mattress. In time, as our paths crossed, as I was sure they would, would he soften that harsh gaze on me?
“Penny?”Mum called through the door as she simultaneously knocked. “Penny, are you coming down? We have a visitor.”
A visitor? No. My excuse to leave the cast dinner had been just that; an excuse. I was in no mood to socialize with one of my parents’ friends. I was in no mood at all to pretend that I was happy.
“Penny?”She slowly and gently turned the doorknob, pushing me to set the letters aside and jump to my feet before she opened the door. “Are you all right, dear?”
“Yes,” I said meeting her at the door. “Who is visiting?”
“It’s Aunt Sally. She’ll be staying for dinner.”
“Oh,” I muttered, unenthused.
“I was hoping you’d change your mind and join us, if not for dinner, at least for dessert.”
I hesitated. Could I face Aunt Sally? Could I look at her without recalling every word she had me write to end it with Cliff?”
“Well, dear? It’s rude to keep her waiting.”
“Yes, Mum. I’ll be right down. Give me a minute to change for dinner.”
She looked me up and down. “You look perfectly fine, dear, but...as you wish.”
She backed away as I closed the door.
She was right. My clothes were amply appropriate for dinner with Aunt Sally. But I felt the need to shed them all the same. I put on a simple white V-neck sweater and tan pants. I looked in the mirror and decided to quickly pull my hair back into a bun.
“Penny!”Mum called from downstairs.
“Yes,” I called back on opening my door. “I’m coming.”
Aunt Sally was quick to greet me as my foot touched the last step.
“Oh, Penny. I’m so happy to see you.” She pulled me in for a tight hug. “I’ve barely seen you since you’ve moved out here.”
Together we walked back to the dining room.
“Your mother tells me that you’ve started working on a movie,” she said with much interest. “It must be so fascinating. You must tell me all about it.”
Dad, seated at the head of the table, glanced up at us and grunted as we took our seats on either side of him.
“There really isn’t much to tell,” I said. “I’m at the financial end of the project. Nothing very fascinating there. Just a lot of numbers.”
