章 33: She Was Screwed

Darren was expecting Penelope and told her to come in before she could even knock. He was a potbellied man in his 50s with a receding hairline and intelligent gray eyes who smiled at her from behind the desk.

"Have a seat. I was sorry to hear about your need for emergency surgery. Your husband was the one who emailed me a copy of your doctor's note because you were unconscious. How are you feeling?" he asked kindly.

"Much better," Penelope assured him. "I don't even need the pain medicine anymore so I'm allowed to drive again and everything."

He shook his head at her indulgently. "I know what you're getting at; you're trying to get your spot at the conference back while you're still recovering."

Darren saw through her so quickly! He must know the other Penelope really well after working together for the past four years. His words weren't reassuring; they made it sound like he was going to refuse.

"Please, I know the limits of my own body and I can do this. I worked really hard to be chosen for this conference and can't afford to miss out on this opportunity," she said as firmly as she could without sounding like she was begging.

"…is your husband okay with this? He sounded very concerned about you when he emailed me."

Penelope inwardly cursed Roman for caring so much. That was exactly why she had to go! She needed time away from his doting to harden her heart so it wouldn't be affected by his love.

She put on her most convincing smile. "Of course he is! We've already talked about this."

That was a lie but it wasn't like Darren was going to call her out on it. She should be safe.

"He's a hospital administrator, correct? If he thinks you're in a good enough condition to go, I'll let you. Call him," Darren instructed. "I'd like to talk to him myself."

Penelope's heart dropped to her stomach. She was screwed.

Knowing she was going to be paying dearly for this later if he actually did answer the phone, she dialed the number and pleaded with the heavens for him to not pick up.

===

Roman was in the middle of some very tedious paperwork when his phone started ringing. A picture of Penny from a few years ago when Percy dragged both of them to a science museum filled his screen and made him smile nostalgically.

She had her hand on one of those static electricity generators and almost all of her hair stood straight up because it had been cut to her shoulders at the time. She was cracking up over it when he snapped the picture.

She absolutely hated it because she thought she looked like an idiot but it was one of his favorites and he refused to replace it as her contact photo. It captured her essence: bright and full of laughter.

"Hey, Penny. What's up? I thought you were at work," Roman greeted cheerfully.

Hearing from her was infinitely better than dealing with the worst parts of his job. He would gladly drop whatever he was doing to hear her voice.

"I am," Penny replied slowly. "My boss wants to talk to you…about me going to the conference. Remember how you said it was okay that I could go?"

Roman rubbed his forehead and sighed. Had he ever met anyone else this stubborn? He knew exactly what had happened; she tried to insist she was fine and lied to her boss about him saying it was okay for her to go but had been called out on it.

He knew his wife's career was the most important thing to her. It had been a thorn in his side for the past two years. She likely wouldn't forgive him so easily if he didn't back up her story.

She was doing a lot better. She was completely weaned off the pain meds and only needed one nap per day now. But was that really enough to be traveling and on her feet a lot for a week? She was supposed to be taking it easy.

With a resigned sigh, Roman accepted her silent plea. They would be having a talk about this later. He was not happy about it.

"Give him the phone," he said grumpily.

Without another word, Penny handed it off because a masculine voice spoke up next. "Sorry to bother you at work. I wanted to verify that Penelope is ready and able to go to this conference. I trust you are well aware of her current condition."

"I am," Roman replied. "As she said, we have already talked about this and I believe she is feeling well enough to go as long as she is able to rest adequately. Will there be any downtime available during the conference?"

"Yes, there will be a few hours in the afternoons where nothing important is going on. I will be sure she goes back to the hotel then so she is able to participate in the rest of the activities," Darren reassured him.

He sighed. That was the best he could hope for from the obstinate woman he loved.

"Thank you. That was my only concern."

They exchanged polite farewells and Roman went back to his paperwork with a slight headache forming. Penny was always like this, charging full steam ahead into anything she set her mind to.

It was one of the things he originally loved about her. Her tenacity was so unlike his passive acceptance of everything around him. They do say that opposites attract.

But there was a point where being a human bulldozer was too much. They were supposed to be a team; why did she continue doing things like this without even consulting him? Roman didn't want to pick a fight right now when they had reached a rocky sort of peace but he had to let her know that what happened today couldn't happen again.

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