One For Penelope

Nathaniel And Penelope.

Nathaniel slowly walked into the room, taking in his surroundings. Over in the far left corner was a piano, then most of the walls were littered with books, there was some furniture in the middle, and a large mirror that hung above a fireplace. Overall the room felt comforting, which helped Nathaniel calm some.

"Hello?" He asked, walking over to stand in front of the couch and keeping his eyes on the mirror, staring back at himself. There was silence, he couldn't even hear movement from the other side of the mirror.

Nathaniel didn't like being tricked, "Well... I guess I'll just go." He walked over the door, doing all of this deliberately.

"No! Wait! Take a seat at the couch!" The loudness of her voice took him off guard and Nathaniel took ahold of the door with his hand to keep himself from jumping.

Nathaniel walked even slower before, and took a seat on the couch. He glanced above the mirror and noticed a small speaker, that's why she was so loud. "Do you have to use a speaker?"

"No." Her voice was much calmer, pretty even. That made Nathaniel curious, if she was pretty surely she didn't need to hide.

"So... is thus some kind of interview or even an interrogation?" He let out a laugh, trying to come across as comical.

"No, it's supposed to be a date." He could hear nervousness in her voice. Either she's had a bad experience doing this or she was new to this.

"It is a date," he hoped that he had made her smile after saying that, "A date doesn't always have to be that lame traditional restaurant setting, you know?"

"Absolutely! I enjoy this much more." Penelope was lying, this was the only kind of date she had ever experienced.

"So you've done this before?" Nathaniel squinted at the mirror, wondering what was wrong with this girl.

"More than I've wanted to, but sometimes finding the right guy isn't easy." Nathaniel heard the sadness in that statement, and felt sad himself.

"Why has it been so difficult for you? Intimidation?" Nathaniel stretched out his arms and rested them on the back of the couch.

He could hear Penelope laugh, "No," the enthusiasm left her quickly, "It's because of... my..."
She fell silent.

"Because of your what?" Nathaniel knew that he might of been invading her privacy, but he also knew that getting to know a woman would eventually earn her trust.

"Because of my appearance." Penelope wiped a tear away from her eye, hoping that Nathaniel hadn't heard the quiver in her speech.

"Rich people. They can be the worst really." Nathaniel heard a chuckle from the hallway, he knew he'd get that from his friend.

"Aren't you one of them?" Penelope asked, curious why he would speak down on himself.

"I can be from time to time." He said, laughing at himself.

...

"Looks like things are going like usual." Wanda said, watching the TV monitor and taking noted on her laptop at the same time.

"It always goes well, until they meet her." Franklin said, snacking on a bag of Lays chips.

"Oh Franklin, you shouldn't talk like that! Maybe he's the one!" Jessica said, practically leaning over the TV monitor. Franklin just continued on his chips, having heard that one too many times.

...

"So you're telling me that you're different?" Penelope asked, getting a little excited with hope.

"I like to think that I am. What do you think?" Penelope was took off guard by the question, most men wouldn't allow themselves to be so vulnerable.

"I don't know, there's still something I don't know about you." Nathaniel smirked, there was probably plenty that she didn't know about him.

"What could you mean by that?" Nathaniel hopped up from the couch and walked over to the mirror, both hands on his hips.

"We'll find out soon enough." Penelope said, ready to change the subject. "Let's play some chess."

"Oh no. You aren't changing the subject." Nathaniel had gained all of his confidence back, expecting full well that this girl was simply nervous.

"Why not?" Penelope whined, not expecting to sound as whiny as she did.

"Because I have to know why you're hiding behind this mirror." Nathaniel tapped on the mirror a few times with the back of his knuckles.

Penelope touched her pig nose, and really thought about it for a moment before stopping herself. No matter how much he talked, he wasn't ready to see her. "Why do you have to know?"

"Because I'm a selfish arrogant man. I have to know." This drew a good laugh from both of them, he was sure he heard her snort too.

"Are you sure?" Penelope stood, looking over at the door into the living quarters.

"Yes." Nathaniel figured keeping an answer short was the best idea.

"Are you absolutely certain?" Penelope took a step towards the door, her heart beating at an uncontrollable rate.

"Here," Nathaniel walked over to the couch and sat again, "I'll close my eyes while you enter."

Penelope looked back and sure enough, his eyes were closed. She took a deep breath and walked over to the door, slowly pushing it open. His eyes were still closed as she closed the door. Next she tiptoed her way over and sat in a chair next to the couch. "Alright, I'm here."

Nathaniel opened his eyes and glanced over at her, his heart sinking into his shoes. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Oh no. I just got this page. I have to go!" He jumped to his feet and jolted out of the room, terrified by what he had seen.

"Nathaniel!" Penelope stood their for a moment, before retreating back to her room and slamming the door shut.

...

"What on earth?" Austin asked, looking after Nathaniel as he vanished around a corner. He had never seen his friend so freaked out in his life. He was also concerned with how he ran out of the room and heard that girl yell after him like that, Nathaniel wouldn't just do that.

Austin walked over to the room and looked inside, surprised to not see anyone.

How about that! Nathaniel's a nice guy, he really is I promise lol. If you've seen the movie then you know that he exited in a manor similar to the other men but at least he was somewhat nice about it. What about Austin staying behind? What will become of that? Did Jake catch Nathaniel? What will Wanda and her parents think? Will Austin tell one too many jokes? The next chapter will tell all.