Penelope groaned as she sat up in bed the next morning, her head pounding. After the first bottle of wine had gone down so smoothly, she had opened two more that were just as quickly downed by them. Though Strauss hadn't wanted to talk much, which Penelope completely understood, she had spoken a few times, letting Penelope know that she was dwelling on what Mark had done to her. They had blown through two lighthearted comedies, and it had been good to hear Strauss laugh, even if it was short lived. Now that it was morning, she was regretting how much she had drank, and she knew that Erin would be feeling it worse than she was, since she had had some drinks before she had come over.
Rubbing her eyes to clear away some of the sleepies, she slipped out of bed and padded over to the bathroom, relieving herself before washing her hands as she took a look at her reflection. It was clear that she had forgotten to take off her makeup the night before, and she let out a soft sigh as she pulled out a few cotton rounds and washed off her makeup before making her way into the kitchen, only to find Erin already in there, standing in front of the stove. "What are you doing?" she asked, her voice sounding fuzzy to her ears.
"Making breakfast for us. I heard you get up and thought that you might be as hungry as I am. I hope you don't mind that I snooped around in your cupboards for everything."
"That's fine, I don't have anything to hide in my home." She gave the woman a tired smile as she collapsed onto a chair, pillowing her head on her arms as she closed her eyes once more. "So, let's just make brunch lunch, because it is going to take me longer to feel human than I want."
"Is your head aching as badly as mine is?"
"Yeah, but you're still cooking. I don't think I could do that right now and still keep everything in my stomach."
Strauss laughed a little as she stepped away from the stove and poured a glass of water before placing it down in front of Penelope. "Drink that entire glass, and then fill it again and drink another. You need to rehydrate. I got up in the middle of the night, and did that before I went back to sleep. We should have been drinking water last night, but we didn't."
Penelope lifted her head and let out a small groan as she picked up the glass and sipped at it delicately while she watched Strauss go back to making pancakes. There was something soothing about the motions, and she felt herself tear up as she imagined the woman making breakfast for her children, and that she wouldn't have the opportunity to do that anytime soon do to her evil ex. "It's just so not fair!" she burst out suddenly, and Strauss turned a little to look at her, a questioning look on her face.
"Why are you crying?"
"Because you should be making breakfast for your children, not me!"
The woman clucked her tongue before adding another pancake to the stack next to her and then coming over to her side and patting her shoulder gently. "Your heart is the best thing about you, I do hope you realise that."
Penelope shrugged as she smiled up at her. "There are times when my heart gets me in trouble. And you're not so bad yourself, I hope you know." Strauss returned her smile before squeezing her shoulder once more and heading back to the stove to finish up with the pancakes.
She finished off her water and brought the glass back to the sink, pouring another glass before grabbing plates and utensils for the meal and setting the table before taking a seat once more. Strauss set the platter in between them before taking a seat across from her, a softer look on her face than normal. In that moment, Penelope felt like she was really getting to know who she really was, outside of the pressures of work, and she felt a wave of longing sweep over her heart. "You're staring at me, Penelope."
"Sorry. I was just going down a rabbit hole of thought. I, I really want to be your friend. And I understand that my team hasn't treated you with the respect you deserve very often, but I think they're reacting to the mask you wear at work. Of course, you are still my supervisor, so I'm certain that it would be frowned upon, and it's more of a pipe dream than anything, but I really like this place we're at right now. Because you went to bat for Aaron and me, though, I just have a tender spot in my heart for you. And I also know that this is probably the hangover talking, since I tend to have excessive bursts of truth when my inhibitions are lowered, so you get to see me at my worst?"
Strauss laughed a little as she served herself, nudging the plate over to Penelope. "You're adorable, and you remind me a lot of my high school best friend. I suppose that it might be nice to have a friendly face in the bullpen. And when we're outside work, you can call me Erin. If you want."
"I very much want, yes," she replied as she reached across the table and took hold of Erin's hand, squeezing it warmly as she also tried to ignore the frisson of electricity that ran up and down her spine the moment she was taking hold of her hand. "Though you have to be warned," she said as she pulled her hand back and started to cut her pancakes into bite sized pieces, "my friends usually end up with a nickname. Aaron is Boss Man, Derek is, well, the best one to tell you is Hot Stuff, Rossi is my Italian Stallion, JJ is Jayje. Only Emily doesn't have a nickname, and that's because I can't think of one to suit her. All I know is that she's one of my best friends, one of those people who it would destroy my heart if they died. You know?"
Erin dipped her chin a little as she swallowed her bite of food. "That's what Lexie was to me. I thought that we'd be friends forever, and raise our children together, but I made a horrible mistake and she hasn't talked to me in close to a decade at this point. I never thought that I would lose her, but some mistakes aren't fixed by a simple sorry."
A jagged silence filled the room as they continued to eat, and Penelope found herself watching Erin very closely, trying to learn the way her features moved when her mask wasn't in place. Finally, the meal was over, and they washed the dishes together before heading back into the living room. "Well, I feel like we need to get dressed and head out somewhere."
"Where are you thinking?"
"It's a bit of a drive, but there is a really beautiful nature center in Maryland that we could head to, and walk around the trails. It would be really easy to eat there, and then head home. I have a call to accept from Aaron later this evening, but other than that, my entire day is free for you." She smiled softly at Erin, watching her mull over the proposition. "Well?"
"It will be a little cold, but the brisk air might do us both some good. As long as you don't mind if I drive. I might be a little controlling, and that is one of the things that I like to have under my control, when I can."
"That is fine by me! Let me load the address into my phone, and then we can get dressed and go."
Erin nodded as she went into the living room, picking up her bag before disappearing into the bathroom to change. Penelope grinned softly as she tapped away at the phone and got it ready to go before scurrying over to her bedroom and hurriedly dressing, knowing that she could probably finish before Erin was done. When she was finished, she took a seat on her bed and did a light face of makeup before brushing her hair and braiding it into two plaits, since they would be out walking, and it would fit under her hat better, too.
"All right, I'm ready to go."
Penelope looked up to see Erin standing in the doorway. She looked different, and it took her a moment to realise that she was wearing jeans. Skin tight jeans that made Penelope blush a little as she swallowed and fought to keep from staring. "A-all right. Let's head out." She rose to her feet and brushed past Erin to head over to the door, slipping her feet into her sneakers before kneeling down to tie them and then pulling on her coat, scarf, and hat. "Do you need a hat?"
"That might be nice, since it seems I didn't bring mine."
Penelope nodded and handed her one that she had made, watching her pull it on before they left the apartment and made their way down to the car. Somehow, she knew that it was going to be a great day, she just had to make certain that she didn't get caught checking out her boss and new friend.
