by M. Sembera
Feeling a tension headache coming on, Seth set his phone on his lap and rubbed his temples. Telling himself that he was a twenty seven year-old grown man. A man with a career that he'd worked hard for all on his own. But it didn't stop the surge of pain to his brain and instant stomach cramps the second his cell phone rang.
Before Seth could say 'hello' his father stated, "Nice you finally decided to answer."
"I..." was all Seth could get out before Leonard informed, "Your mother and I will be there at noon to see your apartment."
Seth started to say 'Yes Sir' but the call disconnected before he had the chance.
~
Curled up in her comforter on the couch, Penny had spent the majority of her day spying on Seth out of her peephole. At one point he had two guys helping him move furniture up the stairs but they left right after they finished. Aside from that it was just him carrying boxes up to his apartment. In a way, she kind of felt bad he was moving practically all by himself but then again she couldn't really remember him having a lot of friends either.
What Penny remembered of Seth from high school was that he was shy and mostly kept to himself. He actually took an F in English class instead of reading his essay in front of the class. She was really surprised when he asked her out on a date. He'd never even spoken to her before then. When she said 'yes' all he said was 'okay, great' and didn't say another word to her until he came to pick her up. After Auggie and Braden scared the crap out of him, he hardly spoke to her. When he dropped her off two hours before she had to be home, he walked her to the door then quickly back to his and left. He never spoke to her after that.
She had always thought Seth was cute. A tad on the dorky side but that made him even more adorable. He had grown up very handsome. Too bad he was still so shy or just didn't like her. It was just as well since Penny had decided to swear off men for a while. Still they were neighbors and it would be nice to at least say hello.
Three
As spacious as his new apartment was, with his parents nitpicking every inch of it, Seth felt like it was too small for the three of them. He'd already gotten sick twice waiting for them to arrive and now that it felt like the walls were closing in on him, he needed to get some air.
Stepping out onto his balcony, Seth tensed when the apartment door next to his opened. There was a sense of relief when a beautiful blonde walked out instead of Penny. It was Charlotte, manager of The Dog House bar that his boss Jackson Thomas owned. She had to have been the one that Liv said was taken. Seth realized this as he made the connection between her and Penny. Of course they were roommates. She was engaged to Penny's oldest brother Auggie.
Seth watched Charlotte close the door behind her before she glanced over at him.
"Small world," he greeted.
Charlotte replied, "Sure is," before asking "How do you like it here so far?"
Seth smiled as he said, "I just moved in yesterday."
Nodding she started to say, "So a..." when Seth's parents walked out.
As he started to make introductions, his mother blurted, "Charlotte Roberts."
Giving a polite smile, Charlotte greeted, "Mrs. Chevalier."
Seth watched as his mother placed one hand on her chest and the other against his father's arm informing, "She's Society," before assuring Charlotte, "Please, it's Linda."
Her smile was a bit forced now as she replied, "Actually, my sister Silvia holds a seat. I opted out."
Seth watched his mother quickly mask a frown as his father asked, "You are Emerson and Amila's daughter?"
Charlotte gave a quick nod before Linda shared, "Your wedding is going to be the event of the season."
"Thank you," Charlotte replied before saying, "I believe the invitations will go out soon."
"I received your 'Save the Date'. I'm not sure I know your fiancé. Is he a business owner?"
The corner of Charlotte's mouth curled up into a smile as she answered, "No, he's a bartender."
Seth could see the displeasure on his mother's face as she questioned, "Oh, does he live here with you?"
"No, he owns his own home," she replied in a short tone.
Suddenly nudged forward by his father, Seth gave an apologetic smile to Charlotte as Leonard stated, "A young woman needs someone to look out for her in a place like this. Your father should not have allowed you to move here alone."
Charlotte appeared as though she was going to lose it when suddenly, Liv appeared at the top of the stairs.
Wearing black and white plaid slacks with a white tank top and tennis shoes this time, Liv stopped to look everyone over before focusing on Seth.
Snapping her fingers, she pointed at him, saying, "Lurker, hope your day got better."
Seth closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head trying not to laugh.
"Penny inside?" she asked.
"In the kitchen, Liv."
Already knowing his parents disapproved of someone like Liv, they didn't acknowledge her at all before or after she stepped into the apartment.
Linda quickly questioned, "Penny?"
"My roommate," Charlotte snapped glaring at Seth's father.
"Would I know her?"
Charlotte looked directly at Seth as she replied, "I doubt it. Penny is Augustus' sister."
Seth could feel himself tense at the mere mention of her name.
"That's so sweet of you to let her live with you."
Giving his mother a dirty look, Charlotte replied, "Yea, especially since she pays half the rent."
"What is her profession?" Leonard questioned.
"She works for Liv's husband at Legacy Ink," Charlotte answered.
"Is that a print company of sorts?" he inquired.
Standing up tall she stated, "No, it's a tattoo shop."
Charlotte gave a sarcastic smile as if she was just waiting for his parents to make a comment.
The balcony was silent for a moment before Leonard stated, "Give your father my best," as he pushed past his wife and made his way down the stairs.
Glaring at Linda, Charlotte replied, "Oh, I'll be sure to tell Emerson."
Her reply seemed more like a threat than anything else and Seth watched his mother give Charlotte a weak smile before following after his father.
Charlotte's family was pretty infamous. Her grandfather basically owned the town before he died and although her father Emerson chose a different route in life, the name Roberts still carried just as much weight.
With his parents gone, Seth felt like he could breathe again.
Leaning against the balcony, he looked at Charlotte saying, "Sorry about that."
"Eh, don't worry about it. I'm used to dealing with snotty people."
Seth laughed, asking, "How long have you lived here?"
"It's getting close to a year now," she replied before sharing, "After the wedding, it'll just be Penny here."
Nodding at her, Seth could tell she knew something.
Rolling her eyes at him she smiled, offering, "If you get bored or want some company, your welcome anytime. I'm not here a lot lately, but Penny is."
Seth nodded at her again as she turned and headed down the stairs.
~
It was hard for Penny to understand why Seth would talk to Charlotte and Liv but not her. She never personally did anything to him. Not to mention how ridiculous it would be if he was holding something her brothers did ten years ago against her. They were just being big brothers and seriously, how could he have believed them.
Liv appeared sympathetic as she said, "Sometimes things like that just stick with a person."
"One of the crosses said RIP Mr. Flufferton."
"Hey, you could have had a thing for hairy British guys."
Penny laughed almost spilling her little pot of beeswax on the kitchen counter.
"What can I say Pen, boys are dumb and they get even dumber when they really like a girl."
Agreeing with her, Penny nodded asking, "Speaking of dumbass boys. How's Braden?"
>
"Same. He shows up every Thursday at the house for beer and pizza but doesn't say much." Penny could tell Liv was upset over Braden behavior lately as she quickly changed the subject, asking, "What flavor are you doing this time?"
Pulling her hair up into a knot on the top of her head, Penny walked to the kitchen table that was covered in little slide tins where Liv was sitting and replied, "Fair's coming up. So, cotton candy."
"Yummy, I love it!" Liv blurted.
Feeling excited too, Penny said, "I'm making a few batches, how many do you want?"
"All of them," she laughed before saying, "But since I'm not the only one obsessed with your homemade lip balms, I'll try not to be stingy and take five."
Penny giggled as she shared, "I'll bring yours to the shop tomorrow."
Liv kicked her feet up on the chair in front of her as she watched Penny fill the tiny slide tins.
Once Penny was finished she left the lip balms on the table to set up while she and Liv sat on the couch in the living room.
Penny was back to dwelling on her new neighbor when Liv interrupted her thoughts by asking, "When are you going to bite the bullet and let Kieran tattoo you?"
Grabbing one of the throw pillows off of the couch, Penny set it on her lap and then leaned forward and buried her face in it.
Liv tapped her on the shoulder assuring, "Kieran's not going to change his mind."
Springing back up she blurted, "He might!"
"How long have you known your cousin?"
"Ugh, why do I have to get one to learn how?"
Liv cocked her head to the side as she insisted, "No self-respecting client is going to let some girl that doesn't even have a tattoo herself, go to work on them."
"Can't I just pretend to have them and say they're hidden?"
"You could, but Kieran will know you don't and won't teach you."
Penny felt ashamed of herself as she admitted, "I'm scared though."
"There's nothing to be afraid of."
"Well, that's easy for you to say, you have a million of them."
"Ha!" Liv blurted before correcting, "Thirty-five, thank you very much and I started with just one."
"Which one?"
Liv gave a soft smile but it seemed more to herself than at Penny as she pointed to the guitar on the inside of her upper arm.
"Does it stand for anything?"
Penny noticed a far off look in Liv's eyes before she gave a loud laugh answering, "Yeah! Being young and stupid."
"If your first one was because you were dumb, why are you advising me to get one?"
With a heavy sigh, she griped, "The tattoo symbolizes when I had my head so far up my ass over a boy, I couldn't think straight. But this isn't about me Pen, it's about you. You wanna station at Kieran's shop? Then stop being scared."
Penny shrunk back a little saying, "Geez, alright."
Reaching over Liv hugged her before standing up as she said, "You can't go around being afraid of what you really want." Penny looked up at her as she continued, "When you have the opportunity, take it. It's no guarantee things will work out the way you want, but you never know until take that step."
Nodding at her, Penny knew she was right. At the same time, it felt like Liv was talking about more than just getting a tattoo.
When Liv left, Penny sat on the couch thinking. She had been in a rut for a while. Without realizing it, all the days that had passed along with various guys she dated had turned into years of the exact same thing. She still needed to work up the courage to get a tattoo but there were other things she could do and she was going to start first thing tomorrow morning. Tomorrow Penny was going to wake up and do things differently and it was going to be awesome.
Four
Bending over the kitchen counter Penny inhaled the delightful scent of her freshly baked cherry pecan muffin as the butter melted on top of it. The smell was just as invigorating as the four cups of coffee she'd already had since she woke at five this morning. As the oven timer echoed throughout the kitchen, she took a quick bite before slipping her hands into a set of oven mitts.
After pulling out her second batch of muffins and setting them on the cooling rack, Penny looked up to see Charlotte standing in the kitchen scowling at her.
"What on earth are you doing?" she questioned, clearly still half asleep.
"Baking muffins!" Penny cheered before offering, "Want some?"
"It is six-thirty in the morning..."
"So, you don't want any muffins?"
Charlotte let out a slight huff before saying, "Well, I'm up now."
Smiling wide, Penny grabbed a plate and set two muffins on it before handing it to Charlotte.
Penny waited for Charlotte to finish her muffins before deciding to let her in on her plans.
"Would you like to know why I'm in such a good mood?"
"You're always in a good mood."
Trying again, Penny asked, "Would you like to know why I'm extra happy today?"
Smiling, Charlotte replied, "Sure."
"I've decided not to have sex anymore."
Practically choking on her cup of coffee, Charlotte questioned, "And that makes you happy?"
"Well, no, but I'm happy with my decision."
"And now you're going to dedicate your life to baking muffins?" Charlotte teased.
Rolling her eyes, Penny laughed, "The muffins are for our new neighbor."
Charlotte started to nod then snapped, "Wait! What?"
"I'm going to make friends with him."
Narrowing her eyes at Penny, Charlotte said, "I thought you were giving up sex..."
"Oh, I am. I've never been friends with a guy before we had sex so I thought Seth moving in next door will be the perfect opportunity to try it out."
"You want to make friends with someone who won't speak to you and practically runs away every time he sees you?"
"Unhunh," Penny replied, taking four muffins, setting them on a plate and walking towards the front door.
As Penny set the plate of muffins on the little table next to the door, Charlotte asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to watch for him to come out so I can give him his muffins."
There was a hint of sarcasm in Charlotte's voice as she warned, "You know, there's a fine line between friendly and stalker."
Penny shot her an absurd look before staring out of the peephole.
~
Of course Seth was running late for work, it had been one disaster after another since Friday afternoon. Now here it is, Monday morning he was late for work because his phone died in the middle of the night. Then to make matters worse, he had to change his suit after spilling coffee all over himself in a rush to get ready. Finally, he grabbed his briefcase and hurried out the door.
The moment he stepped onto the balcony, he froze. Penny was standing right in front of him with a plate of muffins in her hand.
"Good Morning!" she cheered, blocking his only exit.
Seth stared at her wondering why she was standing there.
Holding the plate out to him, she informed, "I baked you some muffins."
Shaking his head at her, Seth thought 'who does that?' as he waited for her to get the hint and move out of the way.
Persistent with the muffins she shared, "They're cherry pecan."
"I... a... I'm running late," he finally forced out.
Pursing her lips into a smile, she assured, "No problem, you can take them to go," as she revealed a small paper sack from under the plate.
Seth watched her place the muffins in the paper sack thinking 'she is crazy'.
He carefully took the bag from her as she encouraged, "Have a nice day."
The second she stepped to the side he raced down the stairs.
Making it to his car he quickly hopped in and locked the doors. Taking a moment to catch his breath before he started the engine, he set his briefcase in the passenger seat and set the bag of muffins on top of it. He was starving and they smelled great but th
ere was no way he was going to eat Crazy Penny Muffins. Because seriously, who does that?
~
Skipping into Legacy Ink, Penny felt good about how her morning went. It may not have been great but it was a start, and went better than she had expected.
Kieran stepped out of the back. Giving Penny a head nod, he continued to his station in the corner of the shop. Penny watched him as he turned on the lamp and sat down to work on the back piece design he was trying to finish. Liv walked in from the back marched over to him and she stopped in front of him with her arms crossed.
"Conversation's over Liv," he stated without looking up at her.
"Why? Because you say so?" she snapped at him.
Kieran set his pencil down and looked up at her answering, "Yes."
"Oh! Hell! No!"
Kieran picked his pencil back up, looked down at his drawing and said, "Get outta my shop Liv."
Without being able to help it, Penny gasped. She couldn't believe he said that to her.
"Screw you and your shop," Liv blurted before storming off to the back.
Penny heard the back door slam shut.
Kieran placed his forehead in his hands, closed his eyes and shook his head.
"That was mean," Penny griped.
Without looking up, he asked, "You wanna get out too?"
Shrugging her shoulder at him, she asked, "Do I still get paid?"
Wheeling his chair back, he gave a laugh while shaking his head.
"She wants to have a kid."
Penny's eyes lit up as she cheered, "Really?"
Standing up, Kieran walked to the other side of the room, "I said no."
Instantly disappointed, Penny asked, "Why?"
"Because, one minute she's talking about babies and in the next getting her nipples pierced."
