AN: Well, my computer has completely and officially died, resulting in me being only able work on the school computers until my new one comes, in another week (at least). Thus, I can't say when the next update will be. Still, this chapter should appease you until then. Enjoy, because I think it will be one of my favorites in this story.
Joanne was standing alone in the subway terminal, waiting for the train back home to arrive. Work that day was too long, and she was looking forward to putting her feet up.
While she was waiting, her attention was drawn by a young woman in her late twenties, who was studying a subway map that hung on the wall. The young woman had that familiar look about her. The type you would usually see in someone who'd just arrived in New York and was feeling overwhelmed by the bustle of the city and the change in surroundings. Taking pity on the poor girl, Joanne went over to offer some help.
"Is this your first time to New York?" Joanne asked kindly.
"Um, yes. Sort of," the young girl replied, appearing slightly distracted about something. "I once came here after high school graduation with my now-ex-boyfriend, but that was a few years ago. But that's pretty much while I'm here. I've wanted to get in touch with some of my old school friends lately, and I heard that my ex was living in the city. So I came out here to just see how he's been doing. But this map is just so confusing. How do New Yorkers manage to keep track of where they're going? You've got blue lines, green lines, red lines, and it looks as if some of them even split off into two directions.
"Well, here, let me give you a hand," Joanne offered. "Where exactly are you trying to get to?" For the next few minutes, Joanne helped the young girl figure out how to get to where she was going. As the lawyer's train pulled up, the girl had finally seemed to have a basic idea of what to do.
"Thanks for your help, um…" the girl trailed off.
"It's Joanne."
"Well then, thanks, Joanne. I'm Hannah." After flashing a grateful smile, Hannah headed off in another direction while Joanne got on the train home
Outside, it was on a warm spring night, and despite the cloudy sky which gave the eventual promise of rain, James and Penny were seated at one of the outside tables at the Garage Restaurant and Bar in Greenwich Village, simply chatting with one another
"Seriously, James," Penny began. "We didn't have to come here. Everything's so expensive. The clam chowder alone costs 8.50!"
"Sometimes, Pen, I think you spent too much time living under the Bohemian lifestyle your parents led," James chuckled. "For tonight, try not to worry about things like prices. This is your night, remember? Just let me take care of everything."
"Under one condition. Don't make this a common occurrence, okay?"
"I promise. This is just a one-time celebration of you turning 26."
In the end, James ended up ordering the chicken and smoked mozzarella ravioli while Penny chose the linguini with tomato, basil, and ricotta salata. As they finished their meals, shortly before the waiter returned with the bill, James reached out to lay a hand over Penny's.
"I almost forgot. It's about time for your birthday present," he announced softly.
"James! This dinner was more then enough," Penny tried, without much success, to hold back a sudden wave of embarrassed but flattered giggles."
"What kind of guy would I be if I didn't spoil my girl once in a while?" James challenged. "Especially when that girl is someone as wonderful as you?" Penny's blush grew even brighter as James took out a rectangular parcel wrapped in rose-colored paper with a lavender bow, Penny's two favorite colors. Inside was a two-tone full heart pendant that mixed 14kt yellow gold with white gold perfectly. The moment she saw it, Penny felt her eyes widen in her surprise as her breath caught in her throat.
"It's…it's beautiful."
"Only the best that I can give you, Penny girl," James smiled as he moved from his seat to fasten the pendant around her neck. When he secured the clasp, James crouched down slightly so his eyes could be level with Penny's. For a brief moment, they shared a soft smile before, with James' hand cupping her cheek and Penny's hand resting on his shoulder, the smile shifted into an even softer kiss.
The rain had been falling for almost an hour. In the Condo, Rodolfo, Zack and Lucia had already gone off to sleep, as well as little Sammy, who was being babysat by Emily while James and Penny were out. With the four children sleeping, Emily was left to finish up some last-minute chores before heading off to bed as well. When she was just finishing up with securing the window to keep it from blowing open during the night, the door opened, allowing an exhausted Mark to return home.
"You know why they call it stand by?" Mark asked without hesitation. "Because you stand by the gate all night while everyone else boards the plane."
"Welcome home, Mark, sweetie," Emily smiled widely as she went up to greet Mark with a quick but loving kiss. "I was wondering how late you'd be when you called to say you'd be home later then you thought."
"Don't tell me you were actually waiting up for me," Mark found himself holding back a small chuckle, knowing full well that was most likely exactly what she was doing."
"Nope, I just wanted to do some tidying up before bed, that's all."
"Liar," Mark couldn't hold back a laugh this time. "You were purposely looking around for things to do while you were waiting, weren't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Emily replied with a wink. "But come on, enough about that. You must be worn out after your flight."
"Yeah, a little," Mark admitted. "The children are already asleep, aren't they?"
"Except for Penny," Emily explained. "She's out with James. He was taking her out in celebration of her birthday tonight."
"And they're still not back yet?" Mark raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the clock on the wall.
"You're not worried, are you?"
"No, not at all." This time, it was Emily's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe I'm a little worried, but I couldn't call myself Penny's father if I wasn't, could I? Besides, I know James won't let anything bad happen to Penny. I trust them both."
"Good," Emily nodded. "Now come on, come to bed. You'll need plenty of rest for tomorrow. We both know Rodolfo and Zack will be assaulting you with questions about your trip in the morning. You better be well rested for them."
The raindrops fell steadily on the already soaked window pane, creating a steady, soothing rhythm that filled the room, which was only partially illuminated by the streetlamps outside. On the side of the room furthest from the window, a shirtless James let out a tiny breath, glancing down at the person who was snuggled perfectly between him and his bed, dressed only in a bra and panties. Penny's eyes closed halfway as James rested a hand on her cheek. For a few short moments, neither of them moved, but then James bent down to lay a series of small kisses on Penny's forehead, neck and shoulders, while he took pleasure from the feel of her fingers running through his auburn hair.
When James finally lifted his head to kiss her lips, a pleasured moan echoed through Penny's throat, and she slid her hands down his bare back, allowing her fingers to lightly drum along his spine. In retaliation, James glided his own hand over Penny's waist until it found a place on her hip. The other hand was allowed to skim up to tenderly cup Penny's breast. When no resistance was given, James moved his fingers under the material of her bra to lightly stroke against the sensitive nipple. In an instinctive response, Penny arched her back with a soft groan, her abdomen brushing against the growing bulge in James' pants.
The moment this action occurred, James' eyes snapped open, and as if he'd just received an electric shock, he pushed himself away to sit at the foot of the bed, holding his head in his hands, breathing heavily. It took a few moments for Penny to work past her confusion from James' sudden and unexpected actions to slowly crawl over and place a gentle hand on his shoulder. The moment she did, James looked up to face her, the faintest hints of tears in his eyes. When James looked up at Penny, he couldn't fight the mental kick he gave himself. He could easily see Penny wasn't angry at him for stopping so suddenly, but she was still confused. It was with a terrible, guilty blow to his heart that James began to realize she was probably thinking she'd did something wrong.
"Pen, it's nothing you did," James quickly assured her. "Believe me, I do want this. I want this too much, and that's just the problem. This…what we were about to do. It's a serious step to take. A very serious step. And that's why I had to stop."
Penny sat in silence, just listening to James speak. She could tell that he was having trouble saying all of this, and knew that he'd have an easier time saying it if he wasn't interrupted.
"Penny, I really like being with you," James continued, tenderly taking her face in his hands, subconsciously stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. "I like it more then I could ever say. And because of that, I don't want to do anything that could hurt what we have now. If we were to make love like this, then it would change things completely. Anyone who denies that fact is just fooling themselves. And if the changes were to go wrong, you could end up getting hurt. That's something I can't let happen. Because I love you."
For a brief moment, James continued to gaze at Penny's face, the honesty of his words plain to see, but then he moved away, his body hunched over, with his folded hands resting between his knees. Silence fell in the room, until it was broken by the rustle of bed sheets as Penny wrapped her arms around James from behind.
"I love you, too," she whispered into his ear. The small tremor that passed through James' body at these words could not visibly be seen, but Penny could feel it. Responding to the mutual confession, James turned slightly to pull her into a loving embrace. For the longest time, they remained where they were, holding on to one another at the foot of the bed, with James occasionally placing the tiniest of kisses into her hair.