Penelope Chapter Two
Chapter Two—Johnny
Johnny closed the door and placed the few groceries on the table, sighing wearily. It had been days since he had seen his Penelope and the apartment was beginning to look insufferably bare without her. Penelope had left on a field trip with her kids almost a week ago and they wouldn't be returning until tomorrow.
One more night without her, he thought, feeling lonesome as he began to put things away. But then he brightened when he remembered that she would be back soon and then they could spend time together. Once he had everything stored away, he began to clean up the apartment. Want this to look the very best when she comes back, he thought.
While he wasn't the best at cleaning, he had enough experience from his job at the club to know how to sweep and dust. Sadly, Johnny was also easily distracted and he had only cleaned half of the room before he felt like "taking a break" to play on the piano. Sitting at the bench, he bent his head over the piano and his fingers flounced somewhat clumsily over the keys as he tried desperately to remember the chords that Penelope had taught him.
If only she were here, he thought again, remembering the feel of her fingers on his. It was like the first time they had played together, a long time ago when she was still locked up in her house and he was posing as a suitor to earn gambling money. He shuddered inwardly at those times when he was still caught in that vicious cycle of getting money and then gambling it away every night. Never would he have thought that a girl he was trying to scam would end up changing his life—or his heart, for that matter.
Snapping himself out of the flashback, he closed his eyes in concentration and imagined that Penelope was with him. He imagined that she was standing over him, her small figure shadowing his back, and her fingers leading his as she spoke each chord aloud. After a moment, his hands began to move on the keys and coherent (although halting) music began to sound from them.
He then opened his eyes and continued playing in this way until he hit a sour note and gave an audible noise of disappointment. This was where she had last left him. He returned to that thought. This was literally where she had last left him. The first time they met was at a piano, and the last time he saw her was when she was tutoring him on how to play before she gave him one last embrace and rushed to the waiting car outside. Then she was whisked away for a four-hour car ride with sixteen little kids. They were going to the next city to attend a science fair and to watch the cherry blossoms grow.
Penelope would love that, he thought. She loved plants so much and she adored teaching her kids so even though it pained him to let her go for a week, he kept up a brave front and told her to go ahead. She'll be back soon, he thought comfortingly. Then he took a look around the half-cleaned room. She'll be back soon! he thought, turning frantic. With newfound vigor and determination, he quickly closed the piano lid, got up from the bench, and continued his cleaning. If he didn't finish, he thought, scrubbing away at the table top, she would call him the pig.