Blooming Penelope Featherington

Mistakes.

"We are all fools in love." – Jane Austen.

Penelope woke up and checked her phone instantly. She still had no answer from Jake. She put it down to him maybe sleeping late, or he was really annoyed. Which worried her. She knew had to talk to him. So she jumped out of bed, and decided she'd head to his and then find out why he wasn't replying. She had to explain why Colin was acting like that, and why she walked away. She just wanted to apologise for being childish.

She shoved on her grey cotton shorts, sports bra, then she grabbed a plain white hoodie to fling over her, and then she put on her running shoes. She tied her hair up in a messy bun as it would take far too long to brush out. Gen would most certainly approve of the attire; Penelope had never worn anything like this until Gen. Her normally gym gear was an old tatty pair of joggers with an old band tee. But Gen had shown her there were flattering ways of wearing workout gear for women with curves.

Plus the shorts made her arse look great.

Penelope ran down the stairs, and she put her air pods. She ran out of the Bridgerton home on the way to the Fife residence. It was such a lovely summer morning, the flowers were in full bloom, the smells and crisp air of the countryside were perfect for a morning run. She knew that not a single Bridgerton (apart from Violet) would be up after that late night, so she had a while before the summer breakfast platter. Violet definitely knew how to sort a spread of delicious food. Penelope was looking forward to it.

As she ran along the road, she had hoped that Jake wasn't too mad at her, if it was anything it was her that should have questions for him. Why was she doubting herself? They had never really spoke about previous relationships, and he had never done anything like that to her... so how could she be mad over something in the past? She was angry at herself for allowing herself to be manipulated by the whole situation.

She was just insecure for a quick minute. But she's out of it now.

She got the Jake's driveway and headed for the gate. It was a beautiful old home with stunning iron gates, she looked through them to see if she could see any movement and just as she was about to press the button, that's when she saw it.

She couldn't believe it.

Her heart sank.

A woman coming out of his door in a short yellow dress, and heels. She was tall, had a small waist and a perfect smile. She was beautiful. However, she still looked like she had the same clothes on from the night before. That part was obvious. Penelope decided to watch for a moment longer, and that's when she saw Jake come out after her and smack her ass and then snog her against the door.

She felt physically sick.

She stood there watching him and the iron gates opened for the taxi that was picking her up. That's when Jake turned around and saw her. She stood there helpless, broken, and dumbfounded. How could she be so fucking stupid. The girl quickly sped off into the taxi that was waiting for her.

Jake was in nothing but a pair of boxers and the same opened shirt from last night. The one that matched hers, the one she had bought him just a few days before. His face dropped and he ran after her screaming her name over and over again.

She turned and started to jog away from him.

"Penelope, PENELOPE. Please just fucking stop."

She turned around with tears streaming from her eyes. She knew he didn't deserve her time, but she was exhausted, "What?"

"It's an ex-girlfriend that I bumped into last night, I'm sorry. It didn't mean a thing. I really like you, please this was a mistake, I'm an idiot."

She immediately stopped crying and looked at him, this time she really saw him. She saw the old Fife, he wasn't the 'Jake' that he claimed to be. He was still that boy that shagged everything and anything without consequences.