I do not own Pepe or Penelope (or Keds, but you should know that.)

I do own Aurelie Laurent and Coligny Dax and Penelope's family. This was not easy to write, so I apologize if anything is out of character Looney Tunes-wise.

Chapter Three

"How Sentimental."

Penelope was escorted back to Orleans in tears by her father after she told him how rudely her suitor had treated her. She was too afraid to tell him about her near experience of being used. This was not too surprising for anyone who actually experienced such pain. Even Penelope did not go through with it; she did have the affects of her frightful call.

She even had nightmares about those two thugs and what they could have done. She would sometimes end up screaming out loud because in her dream she would be screaming.

To get over her fright Penelope stayed in her suite everyday, but on Saturdays she would venture out a little to remind herself that it shouldn't keep her back from her life.

On one Saturday she went into a perfume shop and it was there that her whole life would change.

The perfume shop was empty of customers and employees except for two. One who had her or his feet propped up on the cashier counter in jeans and had a newspaper covering most of them. The shoes were messy Keds with one lace loose. The other was a light brown rabbit with a nose ring on her left nostril and was wearing a red and black mini dress with ankle boots in black. She was cutting out coupons to buy food with.

"You want somezhing?" she asked. She sounded crabby.

Penelope was about to answer, but the girl cut her off.

"Just look around zhere's not too much to see." Then the girl polished her name tag which read her first and last name: "Aurelie Laurent."

Penelope shook her head and went to the far part of the little shop where there was a glass case that was empty, an empty counter and a few shelves of perfume. Penelope sprayed on the samples, but there was nothing that she liked.

"Aurelie! Pepe! You two knuckleheads what are you doing?!" thundered a voice.

Penelope turned around fast and saw a short little man with red hair and a moustache come in. He wore a business suit and carried a briefcase full of papers. Penelope could not really see the employees because the shop was basically two rooms and the walls blocked the employees from where she stood.

There was a thud of someone falling out of a chair, 100% it was the other employee who fell down. Aurelie shot up from her place and shoved the coupons away from her with her foot.

"You two no good sardines!!" yelled the man. His name was Coligny Dax, a perfume maker and seller. Yet, his business was not good because he was going broke.

Penelope turned around to mind her own business. She did not see the employees get their daily and boring lecture about their laziness from Coligny. She did not even understand what he said since he was yelling in French. Then she heard another thud, because Pepe had lazily sat back in the chair and Coligny had jerked the chair out from under him.

"Ah," said Coligny suddenly in a pleasant tone. He saw Penelope. "Mademoiselle, see anyzhing you like?"

"No," said Penelope politely. "I am just looking."

"Oh well, you should try zhis one, Snow Blossoms." said Coligny. "Zhis eez a perfume all zhe way from Casbah. You seemply pour eet on after you bathe for a fresh scent. Don't ask me why you put eet on after you bathe, my jerk of an employee Pepe was told to tell me."

Pepe turned around to give a nasty glare at Coligny when his heart nearly stopped. There she was, the same girl he saw in Casablanca. In a pretty red blouse, black high heels and black skirt she was right there with Coligny trying to sell the product he had mentioned.

"What are you looking at?" demanded Aurelie.

"What?" he said.

"Zhat femme fatale?" asked Aurelie. "Eet's like my granny would say, 'How sentimental.' She leeved een San Diego, California you know."

"Well, she eez an attracteeve woman," said Pepe eyeing the cat.

"Maybe, I've seen better," said Aurelie. "When I mean better, I mean me."

Pepe felt defensive from that comment. Like he should make Aurelie apologize for her rudeness. Why did he feel that way?

"Here," said Aurelie scooting a big box to him with her free foot after she sat down on a lone chair to cut out her coupons some more. "Coligny weell want you to take zhat to zhe storage closet."

Pepe kicked the box away several times to move it to the closet and missed the girl pay for the perfume and leave the shop in the process.

It was about ten minutes later that Coligny who hated having red hair spoke up:

"Has anyone seen my hair dye bottle?"

It was only an hour later, around eleven-thirty when Penelope came back to the store. With fright and shock all over her face.

Aurelie looked at her oddly and realized she had seen her before.

"Oh my!!" she gasped at what she understood.

Penelope was in a red t-shirt and blue jeans in her black flats, but she was a little damp. The shocker? A white stripe was on her tail!!

It started from the back of her head, down her neck, down her back and to her tail. She had gone back to her suit and took a quick shower and poured the perfume down her back before getting dressed. The dye had quickly set in once poured on.

Penelope looked like she was about to cry as she looked at Aurelie.

"Oh don't worry," stammered Aurelie. "Eet'll wash out for sure."

"No eet won't!!" cried Coligny a few minutes later. "That hair dye eez permanent!! Eet won't wash out!! Why do you theenk I got zhat hair dye for me? I hate my hair color!"

Penelope trembled in fear. She was worrying about what her family would say especially her mother!

"May I go off to cry somewhere?" she asked with a sob starting in her throat.

"Of course," said Coligny gently. "Just don't let Pepe see you. He goes mad over skunk women!"

"She doesn't look too much like one," said Aurelie. As sorry as Coligny and Aurelie felt for Penelope they were hungry and left for a lunch break.

Penelope sat in the glass case which she could fit perfectly into and shed tears. This was the worst thing that could happen to her!

Pepe, who had run home shortly after Penelope had first left to take Joan, his little sister, to her soccer practice, came back. The shop was so quiet and lonesome to him. He wandered into the part of the shop that Penelope was at. On the counter was a bottle that was white, he sniffed it and coughed. The smell was too strong for him. Penelope heard him coughing and shivered it was him! When she saw the nametag on his white t-shirt she grimaced. Figures he had to be here! She felt her emotions crumble upon her again and she sniffed. She could smell suddenly his skunk like scent which made her want to stay in the glass case more.

Pepe heard the sniff. The girl was in the glass case with her knees drawn up to her chest.

"What are you doing in zhere?" asked Pepe who had never seen a person in a glass case before. He knelt in front of it to look at her.

"Back off!" said Penelope. She didn't mean to sound mean, but she was upset with her chaotic events.

"Oh come out," said Pepe. "You'll suffocate een zhere."

Penelope shook her head. Pepe tried reasoning with her as if she was one of his sisters.

"Please come out. I'll give you a hug." It sounded comforting to him, but insulting to Penelope who answered back.

"No! I'm staying in here!"

"You come out!"

"No way!"

"Why?"

"Because you are annoying and you stink!"

"Me?!"

That was the spat between the two and then Pepe stood up went behind the case and kicked the wall hard to startle Penelope. It worked! It sounded like a gunshot to her and she knew glass was not safe around guns. She slid the door open and ran out and up the stairs where Coligny sometimes lived in when he was not with his mistress.

Pepe followed her up. She slammed the bedroom door and locked it. She was glad door knobs came with locks. Pepe on the other side rolled his eyes and gripped the door frame with his fingers and heaved himself up. The window over the door was pushed open and he crawled in.

"Come darleeng," he said. He didn't mean to call her darling it just sounded better than "Miss." "Act like a grown-up here, what eez your problem."

Penelope scooted away from him.

"Wait a meenute!!" said Pepe noticing her tail. "Weren't you hear weeth a-"

"I was, it is hair dye!" said Penelope quickly so Pepe would leave her. "Here is my receipt!" She tossed the crumpled paper at Pepe who easily caught it.

"Penelope Pussycat?" he said. He smiled at her. "Your name eez Penelope? What a lovely name for a lovely lady!"

Penelope felt flattered and nervous and leaned against the open window.

"I zhink you look nice weeth zhat stripe," said Pepe getting closer to her. Finally he was near enough to her. "You should learn to like eet."

Penelope immediately thought about jumping out the window to escape.

"Well I will not learn to like it." said Penelope. She got ready to climb out the window, but Pepe reacted fast and grabbed hold of her arms.

"What are you doing?!" he asked. "You can't be zhat upset!"

Penelope jumped up on the window ledge and Pepe did the same. Then Penelope lost her balance and fell down with Pepe after her since he had been holding on to her. He let go of her arms and fell down the short drop into a crate of blue paint cans. Blue paint splattered his clothes, his hair, face, arms and tail. He crawled out of the crate and shook himself. Penelope poked her head out from the rain barrel she had hit. She was drenched and sneezed. The water was very cold.

Aurelie had just passed by with her lunch in a takeout box.

"Should I know what happened?" she said thinking something scandalous had been going on and they had both taken a tumble from it. "Oh you poor mademoiselle!"

Aurelie had noticed that Penelope was shivering. Pepe grasped on her hands and pulled her out. Penelope shrieked as she was being lifted out and was nearly held bridal style by Pepe who gripped at her waist to lift her free from the barrel.

Aurelie looked sadly at Penelope.

"I guess zhat eez permanent." Penelope saw that the new stripe had not washed off and she felt hot tears form. Then she ran down the street covering her face with her hands.

Stunned Pepe watched her go. Aurelie glared at him as if he done something wrong. Then Aurelie went back into the shop to eat.

Pepe just stood there as the paint clung to him and even ran off from his fingertips.

He knew her name, Penelope. What a beautiful ring that name had.

His thoughts were shattered from Coligny who had just got back and saw him.

"Clean off before you come back," he ordered briskly.

Pepe did. Once at home he scrubbed the paint over his kitchen sink. Since he was not completely covered in paint there was no need to take a full shower. As he scrubbed the paint off of his arms he thought of Penelope.

In the meanwhile she was back at her suite taking another shower to scrub out the stripe.