The Price of Penny

by T. C. Rybicki

  “Nice, that’s not too far from my place. After the wedding, you should stop by some night if we ever get all these gifts sorted. They’ve already started coming in and we’re still over two months away. Don’t worry, I will order out. We wouldn’t want to put your life at risk by allowing Maggie to attempt cooking.”

  “Thanks, guys. I might do that. You’re all welcome to come to my place sometime too. Maybe Penny and I will cook a meal together. I have a really great kitchen.”

  Maggie and Keats pretended to be civilized this evening and nothing like the sex-starved maniacs from the night before. They both had easy conversation with Chet, who also fielded many questions about his career by pretty much everyone at the table, even Daddy. He didn’t seem to mind discussing it, but when he did, I felt slightly distant from him. I guess I’d never thought about what a famous person is like in everyday life. He was normal, just a guy, but then he wasn’t at the same time. This night, in the slightly more upscale restaurant, several people noticed him. A few people thought nothing of coming up to our table while we were eating. Chet didn’t blink an eye. He promised to take a photograph after dinner in the foyer to a rather bothersome female.

  “If you’re still here when we’re done,” he added before flashing that perfect, movie star smile. She left us in peace for the time being. I knew there was no way she was leaving without her photographic evidence even if we sat there for five courses and a two-hour lecture about Daddy’s bird watching habits.

  We were waiting for coffee and a dessert sampler tray to share when Chet’s fingers sought out my hand underneath the table. He held my hand over the top portion across my knuckles and gave me a little squeeze. He lowered his voice. Everyone else was engaged in some other conversation. “Hey, you got quiet. You okay?” I smiled and told him I was. He leaned over a little more and his breath tickled my sensitive skin under my ear. “I’m doing well, aren’t I?”

  “Yes.” That’s all I said. He was doing better than good. Chet didn’t stop at so-so, that was obvious. Was it part of his personality to need everyone to fall over loving him? My parents were extremely taken; Maggie and Keats thought he was great. Seriously, my dog liked him better than me. She practically whined when he left last night. She put her legs at the fence and barked as if to say don’t leave me, come back, Chet.

  I was slightly torn. He and I were getting along once I stopped with the attitude I had in the beginning. However, I wasn’t like everyone else. I never had been. I found myself thinking about how maybe I should tell Chet to stay away, just the opposite of Pepper. I truly didn’t want him to stay away, but judging from the thoughts I’d been having recently, even the dreams I had no control over, it might be for the best if he and I didn’t hang out too much more.

  There was a little debate about who would go where and with whom. Penny’s parents were staying nearby and they were happy to walk to their hotel. Maggie planned to stay with Keats. I volunteered to take Penny home. Of course, I didn’t want our night to end so soon. There was no way I wanted to miss out on my plans to stare at her a little while longer in that dress. Ugh, the dress. It was the perfect color for her and it hugged all the right places but also left enough to my imagination that I couldn’t stop thinking about her secret attributes. She exposed just enough skin to encourage me to want to see more, but not so much I threatened to lose all control.

  Once again, she had me stumped. I thought dinner went well, but toward the end, Penny clammed up. I got a terrible feeling she wished it would be over soon. Her family was actually good company. I wasn’t nearly as petrified of her father as I convinced myself I should be. For some reason, I even imagined her family and my family sitting at an even bigger table for a special occasion one day. That thought came out of nowhere, but I thought they’d all get along.

  The valet brought up the car. I opened the door for her and Penny slid down in the seat and buckled up with her common stance, hands in her lap, facing forward, feet firmly planted on the floor mats. We started back to her place with no words from her. The radio on low barely cut through the silence.

  I felt blood pounding in my skull and my palms sweated against the leather of my steering wheel. I had either misread the entire evening or I misunderstood her current demeanor that indicated she was upset. Maybe I was wrong on both accounts. This woman had me twisted in knots. I wasn’t accustomed to these types of panicked thoughts or anxieties. I had to say something soon. I’d have her home soon. We couldn’t go the whole way without a word between us.

  “I like your parents. That was pretty mild as far as family dinners go. You had me worried for no reason.”

  “Yes, I guess so. Sorry they accused you of being an alcoholic.”

  “No one did if I remember correctly. Your mother just inquired if I wanted wine with dinner. I wanted your parents to like me. I would never overdo it in front of them. I mean, a glass would’ve been fine, but I wanted a clear head. I guess I should admit I’m an obnoxious drunk. I don’t really like myself when I drink.”

  “Well, now I’ve heard everything. There are actually times when you’re not perfect. This and the poor vision reveal in one night is almost too much. Who would’ve thought?”

  Wow. There was hostility behind her statement even though she tried to sound playful. I knew I’d been completely sincere all evening. “Oh, so we’re back to the self-absorbed thing again. Excuse me for trying to be respectful to your family. I guess I wasted my time since it didn’t impress you much.”

  As quick as she could get mad, Penny could turn sad even faster. The next thing out of her mouth sounded slightly emotional. “I’m sorry, Chet. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I don’t know how to execute a joke. You’re right. My parents like you. Who could blame them? You’re very charming, sweet and interesting. I’m just a little tired is all. If you don’t mind, I’m going to head straight in.”

  I pulled in behind her SUV. Penny was already unbuckling herself with the other hand on the door. I reached for her arm. “Wait. Talk to me. I understand if you’re tired, but I’m worried I did something wrong. Whatever it was, I swear I didn’t mean it. Can I come in for just a few minutes?”

  “I don’t think so, not tonight, Chet. I’d rather not get Pepper wound up.”

  “Pepper? The dog? You can’t be serious.”

  She got out. I wasn’t satisfied with her answer. She was upset and I needed her to be honest with me. I followed her up the driveway. She turned around. “Bye, Chet.”

  “No, tell me what’s going on. I thought we were cool. Come on, Penny. I like hanging out with you.”

  “We’re fine and I had fun tonight, honestly. It’s just . . . I think I need a little break. I don’t know about you but I don’t see my friends every single day.”

  “We’ve seen each other four days out of our entire lives; I didn’t think I was overwhelming you.”

  “Well, you are, so please respect my boundaries.”

  “Okay.” She frustrated the hell out of me. I wanted to enjoy another long talk with her, maybe add goodnight kisses to one of our friendship rituals and here she was kicking me to the curb for no apparent reason.

  “Chet, I like you.” That was a relief, at least. “But we’re pretty different. I don’t even know how far friendship can go for us. You’re very popular and I know you enjoy that. I’m not and I wouldn’t like it by any stretch of the imagination. So you see, we look at life differently and I don’t think we should pretend. It’s not healthy and I think I told you from the start, I don’t do fairy tales.”

  “Is this about the fanpic? That really bothered you, didn’t it?”

  “No, of course not. You have fans and I’m sure your popularity has something to do with how you treat them. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship.”

  “Yes, that’s one way of putting it. I know you’re not too keen on this business, but success doesn’t just depend on talent and hard work. That popularity you spoke of has a lot to do with it. However,
I do say ‘no’ sometimes. I don’t let people make demands on me or invade my privacy in every situation. If you want me to decline fan interactions when you’re with me, I will.”

  “Absolutely not. This is why our association is not a good idea. I’m different. You shouldn’t change for me. That’s wrong. I’m not asking you to change.”

  “I know you’re not, but maybe the real truth of the matter is, I was contemplating a few changes in my life and it just so happened to be the day, I took cover in a fancy dress boutique. I don’t believe in coincidence, Penny. I think the two instances are connected. I wanted something different and you walked out of nowhere in a wedding dress. I was bummed that the prettiest woman I’d ever laid eyes on was about to get hitched to some bozo that probably didn’t deserve her, but then life threw another curveball.” It was dark out, but I swear I saw a tear glisten in her eye. I didn’t mean to make her cry. I needed Penny to know how I felt at that moment. “Come to find out your sister is a nut and you weren’t getting married, so I don’t have to spend my existence hating some nameless, faceless sap.” I found that certain tear and whisked it away. “Penny, we met for reason and you know it, same as me. That’s why you’re running.”

  I took both my hands to hold her still in front of me, so she’d have to look me in the eye to tell me I was wrong. “What would you do if lifted you up right now and kissed you like crazy? Would you finally admit we have chemistry?”

  “I’d bloody well slap you or kick you or bite your lip, I imagine.”

  I made a rawr sound at her. “You can keep your slaps and kicks, but I’ll accept biting any day.”

  “Go home, Chet. Friends don’t grab and kiss each other.”

  I attempted to keep up the playful persona to get her to chill out. We’d gotten far too serious in this little chat. “Sometimes they do. I mean, I’ve had friends that do way more when the urge took over.” I thought it was a joke, that she might crack a smile, but the joke was on me. Penny didn’t like that comment one little bit.

  “You think this is a game. I told you one of the most difficult secrets I carry. I shared my family and a good portion of my painful history with you and you’re boasting about how that entitles you to be a friend with benefits.”

  She jerked her arms free, turned around and went through the gate. I called to her again. I apologized, but she walked briskly to the door and went inside without another word. I knew she needed to let the dog out, but waited for me to be out of sight. I didn’t need to be told twice that she wanted nothing more to do with me. I got back in my car and left immediately.

  I called Wayne soon after. I didn’t give him a chance to argue. I hated arguments. I told him to get dressed that I’d pick him up in half an hour. At first he asked about Penny. “Man, forget her. You know I’m not ready to settle down. That chick’s too clingy. Let’s go have some fun.”

  “Really, you want me to party with you guys?”

  “Sure man, you’re my best friend. You don’t come around enough.”

  “That’s because you rarely invite me and you know I’m scared of LA freeway traffic. Okay, but are we going out or is the party at your place? I need to know if a shower is called for or if I can just add deodorant.”

  “My place, I don’t feel like going anywhere else tonight.” I didn’t add I was sick of people, including myself. That made zero sense because I was about to send out the necessary texts that would bring fifteen people over to my condo within the hour.

  “Sure, that’s cool. Will there be females or is this guys’ night only?”

  “Of course, bro. There will be plenty of females.” I hung up knowing I could have first pick of any females that showed up once a few of my friends realized we were partying. I was determined not to let it bother me my actual first pick acted like she never wanted to see me again.

  I rolled over, so unpleasant. I rolled the other direction, even worse. A bright light made my eyes water before I even opened them. What the hell was that irritating noise?

  “Chet,” resonated in my mind. Louder, “Chet.”

  That was it. If he said it again, my head would split wide open. I reached toward the voice and grabbed onto what I could get my hands on. “Stop talking.”

  “Sorry, but I have to get home. Mom’s off and I promised to go to church with her.”

  Was he serious? He dared bring up church to me after the night we’d had. Oh well, I wasn’t sure what kinda night Wayne had. I remember he accepted one drink, but then started to feel uncomfortable with the crowd so he asked about hanging out in the office. I hope he didn’t stay in there all night on the computer. I invited him to a party. We should’ve hung out, but we didn’t.

  I took a few strained breaths because of the dry, parched ache in my throat. I wiped my burning eyes. “I need coffee and a shower. How long we got?”

  “A little over an hour.” I could sober up in an hour, I’d done it before. Wayne had one more question. “What about her?”

  Her. I drank far too much, didn’t get enough sleep and had a throbbing headache so I wasn’t catching everything. Her? He was looking at something. I slowly turned figuring I should also be looking as well, but my eyes were having trouble focusing. I also felt completely clueless.

  Holy fuck. There was a girl. This was not unheard of, but seriously, a girl I absolutely had no memory of bringing back to my room, sound asleep, in bed with me. Did I even know her? She stirred. The moment of truth.

  She looked a bit young in the morning light. I hoped that was only because her makeup had worn off. Her lips broke out in a wide grin. “Oh, hey, you. Morning . . .”

  Instead of giving me a chance to respond, Wayne answered for me, “Morning.”

  A surprised, mildly horrified scream came from my guest’s mouth. She pulled the sheets to her chin, but I saw clearly she wasn’t nude. After full awareness, I however was. Ugh, seriously, I went forever without sex and now that I had some, I had absolutely no memory of it. My life currently sucked ass.

  “Get out, who are you?” The woman yelled directing all her anger at Wayne.

  Wayne said with confidence, “I’m Chet’s best friend, Wayne Watson. Who might you be?”

  Random girl sat up with her arms over her chest. That’s when I remembered. I did know her. She was the younger sister of a friend of Xavier, my pain in the ass co-star, aka my other best friend for the public eye. I was right; she was young, but legal. I remember her talking about freshman year in college last time she showed up with Xavier and Mark. I was on a roll now, her brother was Mark and she’d been around multiple times, but she wasn’t my type. She never hid her major crush for me either. She would bat her eyelash extensions at me or giggle even when I didn’t say anything remotely funny.

  She was one of those touchers too, always reaching out to touch me for every little thing. “Chet, do you have juice?” Touch to the arm. “Chet, you want me to wash up the dishes in the sink?” She’d grab my knee on the way off the sectional even though I wasn’t sure how she finagled her way next to me in the first place. I knew all these instances, but I sure as shit didn’t know her name. I’d heard it probably fifty times, but it had vanished from my mind. Poof, the knowledge disappeared somewhere between the vodka and the gin.

  No Name stared back and forth between me and Wayne. She sat up in the middle of my uncomfortable bed waiting for a proper introduction and for some reason, I couldn’t give a single fuck. I would normally appear charming or follow a certain code of ethics, but that no longer mattered to me. “Wayne, could you give us a minute?”

  “Oh sure. Bye, girl in Chet’s bed.”

  She looked at me again. “Why aren’t you introducing me to your best friend?”

  I tried to spare her feelings, but she asked for it. “Wayne this is Mark’s sister. I’m sorry, what was your name again? I think it starts with an L, but I might be wrong.”

  That was by far the fastest I’d ever seen someone jump out of bed and get dressed. She shrieked
the entire time. She insisted she’d been over at least ten times. “You said I was special.” I highly doubt I ever said such a thing, wasted or not. She wasn’t hideous, but she was most definitely not special. Maybe I didn’t actually do anything with her, but I leaned over the bed and saw the wrapper on the floor. Damn, I was more disappointed in myself than this screaming chick and she was pretty pissed.

  Wayne apologized for me at the door, said I was normally a gentleman. He asked her name again. She screamed, “Amberlie!”

  I snapped my thumb and middle finger in front of my face. “Amberlie, that’s it.”

  Wayne looked perplexed by her mixture of names. “How do you spell that?”

  She turned back and glared at me. “It’s spelled fuck you, Chet Parker. You’re an ass.” The front door slammed seconds later. I grabbed the nearest piece of clothing off the floor and pulled them on under the covers. I needed that shower, so I told Wayne to get moving with my coffee.

  “Aren’t you worried she’s going to trash talk you on the Internet? That wasn’t very nice. I can’t decide if I’m super ashamed to be your friend right now or slightly proud. Dude, why didn’t you fake it? I would’ve played along.”

  I dug through my drawers finding something to wear. “Because I don’t care about that girl and I didn’t have the energy to pretend I did. How does one fake knowing a name? I can’t believe I got so wasted, I don’t remember a damn thing. Why didn’t you stop me from that colossal mistake? Some friend you are.”

  Wayne looked down at the floor. “I tried to get you to slow down. I wanted to talk about what was bothering you. I knew Penny must have done something that made you act out, but you told me to fuck off and I quote, ‘why don’t you go play games on the computer since you’re not trying to fit in with my crowd?’ They all thought you were really funny. No doubt about it, my friend is a star. I’m very impressed how quickly you can shift roles. Well, I’ll leave you to clean up. You need it.”