Different picture

12.In the team

Some time has passed since my discovery and since I met Madame again. I spent most of my time either at work or at her place. In addition, whenever I had a free afternoon, Penny had one too, so while she innocently walked to the bus stop, I could release my hidden anger by taking a long walk to the edge of the forest where Madame lived in a small cottage. What was surprising was that not even one object changed its position, everything looked like it did when I came here as a child. It brought me a strange peace, and the sound of the forest as I kept Madame company in conversation calmed my anger and allowed me to return to Pontypandy, which was my true home.

But good things usually didn't last long and sooner or later I had to go back to the fire station for my shift, glad every time I didn't have to say a word to Penny. Usually we only passed each other in the corridor without saying a word, or perhaps exchanging a few sentences, giving the other one the information they needed to survive the next shift. But we didn't ask any questions, we just kept our reports short and sweet.
Fortunately, once this uncomfortable and unpleasant moment passed, I was usually able to find a lonely corner or something to do where I could be alone. Then I had time to think about my dream. I still didn't fully understand what made Charlie say his last words so confidently. Of course, I would have preferred to hear such a confession from Penny, or better yet, after I had finally found the courage to tell her how much she meant to me, but it was still enough to make my heart beat faster at each memory of that dream. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to hear what Penny replied to my brother's words because the dream was over, but Charlie still had to hear more, for example during an argument. I knew well that Penny couldn't lie, especially when she was nervous. So maybe there was some truth to it and I could have hope?

But there was still the problem that I was still in this world and the Penny I knew was in that Pontypandy world. Unfortunately, I was finding it increasingly difficult to stay in my dreams for long periods of time, and on top of that, I had been experiencing more and more dreamless nights lately. Could it have had something to do with the condition of that me?

I was afraid to think what conclusions I could come to if I thought about it a moment longer, but luckily, to my surprise, Ellie came to my aid by knocking loudly on the office door, bringing me back to reality.

"Meeting upstairs," she called out briefly, but I guess she noticed that I didn't even look up at her, as she added. "Mandatory."

I sighed and resignedly put my pen in my pocket as I followed Ellie up the stairs, but before we reached the top, I remembered one more thing.

"Just keep it short. I still have a lot of work to do and I have to hand it over to Station Officer Steele as soon as he gets back from Newtown," I excused myself.

Ellie only commented it with a skeptical raised eyebrow as she looked in my direction.
But the truth was different. It wasn't that I might not be able to do my reports, it was that I didn't want to sit next to Penny, and unfortunately even in this world, unfortunately for me, there was the same unwritten rule that me and Penny always sit next to each other. But to my surprise, when we joined the rest, Penny wasn't there. I looked around as I sat down in one of the three empty chairs, but Penny hadn't come. I waited a while longer, but the seat next to me was still empty, so I decided to ask.

"Where's Penny?"

Everyone looked at each other in surprise and while Elvis and Arnold smiled slightly while Ellie leaned forward a little to pat my shoulder.

"She was probably offended," she said with a forced smile.

"What did you get into her this time?" I asked, confused. I think Penny has been offended at something or one of us more times in my entire time in this world than in my world in the entire time I've known her. "It isn't typical for Penny to play the offended one" I said, but again it was met with laughter.

"Now you're talking as you wouldn't know her, Sam" Ellie objected and this time I thought her smile was real. "She always plays the offended one here."

"But she's been acting weirder than usual lately," Elvis remarked, continuing what Ellie had started before I had a chance to respond.

"Maybe she's sick?" Arnold asked hesitantly.

"Penny, sick?" Ellie snorted in surprise. "I sincerely doubt it."

"Can you find another explanation for her strange behavior?" Elvis replied.

It took a while for the atmosphere to calm down enough for me to join in the discussion. Previously, I only passively listened to ideas they exchanged, trying to hold back the smile that I couldn't help but it spread across my face as Elvis began to speculate that a third party might have had something to do with Penny's behavior.

"What is this discussion actually about?" I asked when I had managed to enter in a long enough moment of silence.

"Sam, are you even listening to us?" Elvis turned his face towards me. "It's about Penny. Maybe you know something about what's going on with her?"

"Maybe Ben has something to do with it?" I noticed, although their skeptical looks told me that they had probably already considered this idea at least once.

"Sam, I think the whole of Pontypandy knows that Ben and Penny are dating," Arnold explained, patting me lightly on the shoulder. "You don't have to look far to hear rumors."

I sighed internally with relief that at least Pontypandy was still the same oasis for information to spread at a dizzying pace. But something else caught my attention as Penny's words rang in my ears.

"But you know about it?" I looked at them with surprise, although it was hard to hide my smile when I remembered that Penny was under the illusion that we didn't know anything.

"Sam, what's wrong with you? You'd have to be blind not to notice that they're together," Elvis admitted.

"But Penny still thinks we don't know anything," Ellie laughed. "She tries to tell us that it's nothing, but we know very well that she thinks we're losers. It's a pity, but oh well," she shrugged indifferently.

"And it doesn't bother you?" I couldn't believe my eyes when Arnold and Elvis also nodded in agreement with Ellie's words.

"Penny has always been like that. She doesn't respect us, so why should we care what she says about us?" Elvis said.

"Elvis is right," Arnold nodded. "Even if we wanted to transfer, Station Officer Steele wouldn't agree on it."

Clearly Elvis wanted to add something else when suddenly the loud sound of an alarm bell brought us to our feet.

"So why did you say Station Officer Steele's name?" Ellie looked at Arnold, rolling her eyes before we all sprang into action.