"You mean there are people here who are richer than us?" Cheryl Blossom asked her mother in front of their large hand-carved fireplace.
"They're not richer, Cheryl." Clifford, Cheryl's father made clear. "They're just...New Yorkers."
"That means they're richer, Dear Father." Cheryl smiled, folding her hands down in front of her. "Oh, my bleeding heart can't wait to mean Veronica Lodge. Jason, can you imagine being friends with a New Yorker?" She smiled at her twin who was seated on the chair near the coffee table.
"Moose Mason went to Syracuse once." Jason pointed out.
"Oh, Jay Jay, that's not the same thing. New York City is the richest city in America. Other than Hollywood, of course...Oh, to be on Broadway and in Times Square." Cheryl said in a dreamy voice.
"There she goes again." Clifford chuckled.
Penelope rolled her eyes. "Cheryl, get your head out of the clouds. The closest you'll get to that will be becoming a Chicago actress."
"I will never be a Chicago actress, Mother. I'm going to be big. You'll all see." She did a twirl in her scarlet red dress before sitting down on the sofa and taking a sip of her tea.
"I wonder what Hiram Lodge would be doing back here anyway." Clifford said aloud. "If New York City really was all that great and he was as powerful as they say there, why on Earth would he come back here?"
"Why don't you go over and ask him?" Penelope asked with annoyance, rolling her eyes and taking a sip of her Maple Brandy. "Mmm, this batch really is divine, Clifford, dear."
"Thank you, my love." Clifford smiled at her.
Penelope faked a smile back at him before he turned his head and she took that moment to roll her eyes again, hating it when he called her things like that.
The room grew silent as Cheryl continued to daydream about being a famous celebrity one day and her brother had romance on his mind, causing him to sigh, interrupting the silence in the air.
"What's the matter, Jay Jay?" Cheryl asked in a soft voice.
"You're not still thinking about that Cooper girl, are you?" Clifford asked him with frustration.
"I can't help it. I love Polly." Jason said sadly. Cheryl placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before pulling it away.
"Well...you cannot be with her. It would not be right." His father stated.
"It's not my fault you never told us we were cousins. Had you not kept that a secret from us...we would not have fallen in love. And now it's too late and I miss her."
"We're sorry, son. We never expected you to disobey us and sneak around with the Coopers after we raised you into knowing they were off limits." Clifford said, getting himself a glass of brandy.
"Don't you ignorant halfwits know that telling children NOT to do something only makes them want to do it more?" The elderly woman nearby in her wheelchair said.
"Not today, Mother! Not today!" Clifford warned.
"Shut up, you old bat." Penelope downed her drink and stood up. "It's almost five o'clock. I'm going to work."
Penelope used her self-diagnosed super power to tune out the rest of her family as she went upstairs to grab a few things and she headed out to her car. The voices of her husband and her children sounded warped as she walked passed the living room to the door to leave. Her mind was blank the whole way into town as she made her way to The Maple Club, which was legally run as an overnight hotel, but moonlighted as a secret brothel.
For years, decades actually, Penelope had felt numb. So numb that she had lost all feeling in her mind, body, soul, and heart. Nothing anyone did or said meant a thing to her. It all started back when she was in love in high school. A part of her should have been able to sympathize with her poor son, but the numbness she felt prevented her from feeling the sympathy.
Almost as if she were a robot doing a daily routine, she stepped out of her car, closed the door, walked into the hotel and up the stairs to the top floor. She went into her office and sat at her desk, read over some paperwork and stood up again. A few of her brothel girls showed up for work. The cocktail girl removed the booze from its hiding place and brought it to a serving table. The other girls got dressed in their loose, thin clothing and began to drink the night away. Everything seemed to move around Penelope as she felt stuck, hating this life more and more.
Penny Peabody interrupted the red head's empty thoughts as she approached her with an eye roll. "There is a man here demanding to see you and only you."
"Tell him to take a hike." Penelope replied shortly.
"I've already tried and he's refusing to leave."
"What's his name?" Penelope rolled her eyes.
"He didn't say, ma'am." Penny responded.
Penelope sighed, rolling her eyes again before following Penny out into the lobby amongst the other guests of the club and everything that moved around her stopped upon seeing her guest. For the first time in years, Penelope Blossom actually smiled a genuine smile as she approached the well-dressed man whose clothes actually seemed poor but nice enough to fool others.
"Penelope Blossom." The man said as he stepped over to her, taking off his hat.
"Clyde Barrow!" Penelope's smile grew as she hugged him tight. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you, doll face." He replied as they broke the hug. "You look fantastic!"
"Oh, don't butter me up. How come you never wrote to me like you said you were going to?" Penelope asked, taking him by the arm and leading him back toward her office.
"I got busy. Nellie, my life is chaos." Clyde chuckled as he stepped into her office and Penelope closed the door. "How's my fiery Blossom doing?"
"Well...I had to marry my annoying adoptive brother." She rolled her eyes.
"Hell, Nell. Which one?"
"Clifford. Claudius ran off after high school and Mama Rose did everything she could to keep me here. Lord, all I wanted to do was drive off and find you. Remember all the dreams we had of traveling together?"
"How could I forget?" He chuckled, looking around the room. "You own this place?"
"I do. This is my baby. My escape from the dreadful place that is Thornhill Manor." Penelope stepped around her desk to sit down.
"Do you have any real babies?" He wondered.
"I do. Two fiery red head twins." She admitted, though a part of her wished she hadn't told him that.
"How old are they?" Clyde wondered.
"Just a month shy of eighteen." She said as she took a sip of her drink.
"Oh, what's that?" He asked, pointing to the glass.
"Our company's signature Maple Brandy. Want a glass?" Penelope kindly offered.
"I'd love one. It's been weeks since I've been able to find a good place with a stiff drink." He went over to sit down in the chair across from her desk.
"You should check out Pop's speakeasy while you're here." Penelope poured Clyde a glass of the brandy and slid the cup across the desktop, over to him. "So why are you really here? You always said you'd never come back."
The dark-haired man wrapped his fingers around the glass once it was in front of him. "I've just been reminiscing about you and I and wondering how you've been. I wasn't sure if you'd left or not so I decided not to send any letters in case your witch of a mother got it first." He admitted before finally taking a sip of the brandy with a hum of approval. "Very good. Do you have a hand in making this?"
"I taste Clifford's batches and give him pointers." The woman replied before taking a sip herself.
"How on Earth have neither of you been caught in your lines of work? He makes and sells alcohol. You make and sell girls. All I've done is neglect to return the car I rented last month and J. Edgar Hoover is sending the Feds after me."
"Clyde." Penelope sighed. "You stole a vehicle?"
"I said 'neglected to return.' No one said anything about stealing. I WAS going to return it. When I was done using it. But now, the police are after me so I can't show up and turn myself in, can I?" He had another sip of his brandy.
"Oh, sugar bear." She shook her head with disappointment.
He smiled. "It's been a while since you've called me that."
"So why are you really here, Clyde?" She ignored his remark.
"I-...I need a place to lay low for a little while."
Penelope sighed. "I can let you stay here for a week or two. But any longer and I'll have to ask you for rent."
"That's fine. I'll try not to be here too long. I promise….Thank you, Nellie."
She softly smiled at him with a small nod before taking another sip of her brandy. "So...got any new girls?"
"Mmm, there's no one right now. But I've had a couple girlfriends over the years. None as special as you though, doll face."
"Good." She smirked, taking another sip.
"When I leave...why don't you come with me? We can travel like you always wanted." Clyde suggested.
Penelope looked around, thinking about it. "I don't know. I can't just leave my kids."
"Come on. You'll be happier with me. You'll be happier out of this town."
She looked down at the desk, the room falling silent for a while as she thought about how true that was. She wasn't numb with him. He was her first love and letting him go a second time might as well kill her. She bit her lip, thinking a bit harder before she finally spoke again. "I'll have to think about it."
Clyde shrugged a little. "Don't think too long. I'd love to have my partner in crime back." He winked, taking another sip of his drink.
Penelope playfully rolled her eyes before taking another sip as well.