Slining Doors

Secrets

The next day Colin armed himself with holy patience to find Penelope alone.  Colin thought he could find a way to get close to Penelope without anyone seeing him, but it wasn't as easy as he thought.  He had been walking around the City with her mother all morning, and then he saw her sister Eloise walking up to her, hugging her and taking her arm.  And he undeterred ran after him like a little dog, waiting for the right moment.  But nothing....he was starting to get impatient.  He wanted to drink.  He looked at his hands, they were shaking.  But what had he become?  He was ashamed of himself.
In the life he had before, now he too had doubts that it had really been realized, he wasn't like this.  He drank, yes well in fact lately he drank often and usually it was because of the jealousy he harbored for Penelope.  Hell, he'd never said that before.  He was jealous of her.  Not only because of her success but because he spent so much time with other men, for work, that is.  Colin couldn't stand it.  He laughed with them, sometimes he had lunch with them and he was not accepted in his circle because he had to take care of the children and the little things that Anthony let him handle, as agreed with Penelope.  In his old life he wasn't fulfilled but he had Penelope, here he was fulfilled but he didn't have Penelope.
He wanted to bring his two lives together.  He could try.

"How's Colin?"  Penelope asked the only person with whom he spoke freely and who knew the truth.
"How do you think Pen, a wreck. He collapsed yesterday, he gave us a damn."
"It had been months since he had come near my house, I thought he had gotten over it."
"Did you Penelope get over it?"
"You know what condition I'm in, the queen was no longer thinking, I think several times that maybe if I had said no to her request, our life would be different"
"And will you marry Penelope?"
"I have to do this. This is what I promised the Queen to get Colin free. The Queen is looking forward to a woman who becomes famous, it would open up a big breakthrough for the woman, not only in the UK but maybe in other countries as well." countries. If I am to marry the one man who can help me do this, the answer is yes."
"Perhaps it would have been better if Colin had paid for what he had done to your fiery suitor"
"I'm not very lucky with men, am I? Let's go home I need a good tea."  said Penelope taking the way home.