Pen Pals

Prologue: T H R E E

Penelope Bryan

"Um...Ma'am?" I was snapped out of my gaze. Oh my Lord his eyes are gorgeous, and his voice is like velvet. Wait, did he call me ma'am? I quickly look at my uniform and see that I forgot my name tag at home. I clear my throat before I respond suddenly realizing I wasn't breathing.

"Please call me Penn. And here are your menus." I say placing them in front of him. "I'll give you a minute to look over it." I go to the bar and grab a washcloth and start wiping down tables again. After I wiped two down I went back with my notepad in hand. "So, what can I start you off with to drink?" He looked over his menu again and responded. "I'll just have a water please." He said handing me the menu. I hear the door open and Sal steps inside just like he said he would. "Hey Penelope, is your special soup ready?" He calls out licking his lips and rubbing his hands together. "One minute Sal it's about ready!" I say as he makes his way to his signature spot in the bar. Turning back to the customer at hand I ask "And what can I get you today." with a smile. He smiled back and said that he'd have what Sal is having. 

I made my way into the kitchen where Sal's tomato soup was ready for me to serve. After I poured it into a bowl and added the basil I quickly started to make another bowl. Making my way to Sal I grab the broom so I can sweep while I wait for the soup to finish. "You're the best Penn" Sal said with a smile. I gave him a brief smile before beginning to sweep. Sometimes I wonder how this place runs without me.

About fifteen minutes later the floor was swept and mopped. During my cleaning I kept stealing glances from the only other guy here. He caught me few times but I wasn't the only one observing, I'm pretty sure I found him looking at me too. After embarrassing myself enough for one day I figured the soup would be ready. "Here you go, one special tomato soup!" I say proudly looking at my creation. "Your name is Penn right?" He asked surprising me. "Sure is, short for Penelope." "Well than in that case Penelope would you like to join me?" He motioned to the booth in front of him. My stomach does that cliche fluttering thing and I check my wrist watch. My smile fades just as fast as it came. "I still have another hour.." "Another hour? It's already getting dark outside, please tell me you have a car." "Uh, n-no I take the bus home." "The bus? How far away do you live?" He questions me. "I'm sorry I don't think I should give that type of information to a stranger." We were in an uncomfortable pause for a few seconds before he spoke again. "How about if I sit up there," He gestures to the bar. "And talk to you for the rest of your shift. Then we wouldn't be strangers?" He smirks. "What's your name?" I scoff. "Finn, Finn Sinclair." He puts his hand out for me to shake. "Well mister Finn Sinclair," I put my finger on my chin and think. "You have one hour." I shake his hand and he smiles. 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"So, What's with the uniform? Marines?" I ask as I restock the napkins. "Air Force actually." "That's really cool, are you being deployed soon?" "No, I'm headed to Basic Training I leave tomorrow afternoon." Another awkward silence crept its way into our conversation. "So, what about you, do you always work so late?" I smirked at his question. "Trying to figure out my routine so you can kill me?" I joke. "So working late is routine for you?" 

"Oh my gosh are you being serious right now?" I hit him with a handful of napkins playfully. I check my watch and I had a good twenty minutes before my shift ended. "Oh hold on I gotta make a chicken salad really quick." I say pushing past the kitchen door. "Oh, I see gotta make sure you feed your boyfriend?" Finn asks. "Um, no I don't have a boyfriend. This is for my little brother." I peek up through the food window at him. "How is your family?" "Well there's me, my six year old human garbage disposal of a brother Owen, and my father." He didn't ask about my mom, to which I'm grateful for. "What about you? Have a family, or girlfriend?" I mumble the last part. "It's cute how you're nervous to ask me about my love life." He grins. "I don't really talk to guys much.. so what about that family?"  "I have two very loving parents and an annoying older brother." He laughs. "And how are they taking the whole military thing?" "Pretty well I think, my mom is hesitant though."  

Thinking about overprotective moms brought me back to when she was still around. I remember when I was about nine years old she was teaching me to cook. We were cooking stir fry and I wanted to cut the vegetables, she wouldn't let me hold the knife myself in fear I'd get cut. 

"Always respect the knife Penny, it's not a toy."

To this day I hear her voice in my head. Always trying to keep me safe, to keep her children safe. Even in her last moments she wanted her children together to keep each other company. I wish Owen got to meet her, she was my role model. Correction; she is  my role model. 

I was brought out of my thoughts when my phone's alarm went off. "Penny." I jump when I noticed Finn was standing beside me in the kitchen. "Are you okay?" He asks putting a hand on my shoulder. "Uh, yea why wouldn't I be?" He takes his hand off my shoulder and wipes my face from the tear I didn't know I'd shed. I back away and find a to-go box. "You aren't supposed to stand in the kitchen." I say pointing to the door. Finn puts his hand up in defeat and steps out. After packing Owens salad I place it in my emergency bag and begin to close up the diner. "Well, it's about time I head out." I glance toward the front door. "So, you gonna let me walk you home?" I gesture to Finn's bags still in his booth. "I think you should take yourself home Finn." "How would I know you got home safe?" I give him a quizzical look. "If this is some sly way to get my number-" He cuts me off. "I just want to make sure you're okay, if getting your number is the way I do it then I guess I got lucky." He smirks. I quickly write down my number on a napkin and give it to him. "Okay I gotta go before I miss my bus. Perhaps I'll see you around Finn Sinclair." 

As hard as it may be to believe Finn had me smiling the entire way home. 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Penny! Penny!" Owen screamed excitedly as I entered the doorway. "Hey squirt I got you food." I pulled out his salad and a plastic fork. "You can put this in the fridge and heat it up for dinner tomorrow it should still be good by then." He ran off to the fridge and my dad came down the stairs to greet me. "Hey Penn, how was work?" He asks hugging me. My mind instantly goes to Finn and I find myself smiling. "I made a new friend today." "Oh, by the look on your face I'm assuming it's a boy?" I laughed at how ridiculous I must look. Dad rubs his eyes when I notice the bags under them. "I'll tell you more about it tomorrow, both of us need sleep." I say before I yawn. "Yea, sleep sounds good right about now." He says headed towards the stairs. "Oh no you don't. You mister need to go into that kitchen and heat up some dinner." I point to the kitchen. He just nods and walks to the fridge. "You need to take better care of yourself dad." Worry strung into my words. "Alright, alright." His voice fades as he gets farther away. 

I decide to quickly shower before heading to bed. Scrubbing myself clean, making sure to get the smell of the diner out of my hair. After showering I dry myself and change into some fresh pj's. It was now eight o'clock and time to put Owen to bed. "Owen! Bedtime, if you want a story you'd better brush your teeth fast!" I call down the stairs. He dashes up the stairs and into the bathroom at speeds I question if humanly possible. I swear I think he has a crush on little red riding hood because I'm always forced to read it. 

I keep reading until he's fast asleep. Having to widen my eyes to stay awake. I make my way to my room quietly and tuck myself into bed. I check my phone one last time and I see an unknown number sent me a message. 

Can I see you tomorrow? -Finn