"I've never been around animals much so I didn't give it much thought," Penelope said half-truthfully.
Roman laughed. "Are you not counting Copernicus because you're afraid of him? I know you hated when he let it out of its tank while you were living at home."
So Percy did end up getting a snake in this world. Figures. That was the name he had chosen for his fictitious future snake while begging their parents.
Back when he was super interested in reptiles, he told her that ball pythons (one of the most popular breeds used for pets) only lived about ten years in the wild but lived twenty to thirty in captivity. It made sense that he would still have it.
"Snakes are creepy and should not be kept in people's houses," Penelope said stoutly. "I've never understood that boy's obsession with reptiles. It's a miracle he didn't strong arm my parents into letting him have an entire reptile exhibit in his room."
"Didn't he have a red-eyed tree frog and a tarantula at one point too? I think they both died before he graduated high school," Roman mused.
She had absolutely no idea but it sounded like something he would do given the means. "Yeah," she said, trying to sound confident in her answer. "I didn't like those either."
"Of course you wouldn't. You'd want something cute and fluffy that you could pet based on how much you love soft things."
Penelope couldn't even deny that. Fuzzy blankets and pajama pants were her weakness. Not wanting to encourage him, she simply nodded and made a small noise of acknowledgement.
There had to be a way to change the subject and fast! She didn't want to make any waves here in case there was a chance she would be able to switch back. She imagined the other Penelope would be confused and possibly upset to come home to a random animal.
Roman spoke up before she could think of anything. "So do you want to get one? A pet, I mean."
"Not right now. I'm still not really able to bend over easily or lift anything heavy," she said, grateful to have a perfect excuse at hand. Having a post-surgery body had come in handy more ways than one!
"Ah, right. Stupid of me to forget that."
"You're not stupid, you just had a long day. Why don't you go get changed into something more comfortable? I'm feeling pretty good today so I can make dinner," Penelope offered.
Roman smiled. "It's been a while since I've had your cooking. Sure thing."
He kissed her sweetly on the lips before heading upstairs, unknowingly leaving her in a tailspin. It was nothing more than a peck but she thought she might faint. No other kiss had ever affected her this much!
Penelope shook it off, firmly telling herself that she was only reacting because nobody this handsome had ever kissed her before. She slapped both of her cheeks simultaneously to come back to her senses and headed into the kitchen to make dinner.
===
The surprise Roman planned for Saturday was not what Penelope expected at all. She had asked him what the nature of the activity would be so she could dress accordingly and all he said was that she should have close-toed shoes.
She ended up wearing a three quarter sleeved white and navy blue baseball tee with jeans and matching striped alpargata shoes. Going casual was the right choice because they pulled up to the most rural-looking place she had ever seen about an hour away from where they lived.
Three llamas hung out in a pen out front and the parking lot wasn't fully paved. She had no idea they had places like this anywhere near L.A. She had heard rumors of rural areas in central and northern California but had never visited them, only driven by on the freeways while going to San Francisco and back.
"Uh…Roman? What are we doing here?" Penelope dared to ask.
He smiled at her with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "Didn't you read the sign when we drove up?"
Sign? She hadn't seen any signs. Double checking, she found one that blended in with its surroundings rather well that said 'Somis Cheese and Specialities.'
Penelope burst out laughing, unable to help herself. She regretted it instantly because it kind of hurt to laugh still. "You drove all the way out here for a cheese store?"
"Not just any cheese store. They offer factory tours where you can see the cheese made and offer free samples! And you can feed the llamas too; I checked the website," Roman said proudly. "Surprise!"
This was absolutely not the kind of surprise she would expect from a rich man but she couldn't deny that the prospect of seeing how cheese was made was intriguing. She had watched a documentary on the making of Parmesan cheese a while back and thought it was cool.
Free samples sounded good too. Penelope had always loved cheese but her parents tended to buy the cheap generic kind because it could get pretty expensive. She never had fancy cheese before.
"This is an awesome surprise," she said with a snicker and pumped her fist in the air, oddly enthused. "Let's go sample some cheese!"
The tour only consisted of checking out the back room because the place wasn't all that big but it was still interesting. Cheesemaking was not only a science but an art.
She thought Percy would probably love this and then experienced a pang of sadness upon realizing she might never get the chance to take him here. Even if she did make it back to her world, this place might not exist there. And there was still no guarantee she would ever see her Percy again…
Penelope shook those thoughts free. No. She couldn't think about that right now. Besides, she still had a Percy even if he wasn't the one she grew up with. And had threatened her the other day.
She didn't manage to get her mind off of that depressing topic completely until it was time to sample the cheeses. She couldn't decide which was her favorite, the garlic gouda, garden herb gouda, or smoked white cheddar. They were all so good!
Roman liked the cheese with small pieces of jalapeño in it best. Penelope didn't even dare try that one because she couldn't handle spice.
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Penelope was practically drooling over the cheeses after sampling them, trying to decide which one to buy. She could only afford one—wait. That wasn't true. If she could afford multiple Prada bags, she could definitely afford three wheels of fancy cheese.
Unfortunately, she hadn't brought her purse or wallet with her because she didn't know which cards were credit vs debit and still hadn't figured out the PIN situation. Debit cards required PINs while credit cards didn't but sometimes needed a zip code.
She sighed. So much for her cheese dreams.
Roman noticed where her eyes were and chuckled. "Penny, if you want cheese that badly, I'll get you cheese. You're staring at it like you've never seen food before."
Penelope gave him a sheepish smile and tried to engage in the kind of banter that normally existed between husband and wife. "Guess there's no hiding anything from you. I do want cheese. Can I get three different kinds though?"
"It'll take you ages to get through all that by yourself but sure. Cheese has a long shelf life in the refrigerator. This jalapeño kind is really good too so I guess we're going to have four wheels of cheese. I hope you have some good recipes in mind to use some of this up."
Recipes with cheese…she salivated at the very thought. She could check online to find some that would make good use of it.
Now that she wasn't completely drained from two jobs and had a second person to cook for, she didn't mind it nearly as much as she did before. She always managed to cook something nice when Percy came over back home since cooking for two felt different than cooking for one.
Roman mussed her hair and laughed at her enthusiasm, making her scowl. Now her hair probably looked terrible! As if bright red hair didn't stand out enough on its own, it just had to be made frizzy.
Penelope's ire was immediately forgotten when he bought some food to give the llamas. She hadn't fed an animal like this since going to a petting zoo when she was a kid.
Roman poured some into her cupped hands and she held them out for one of the llamas. It tickled so she squealed out of reflex, making him laugh. He snapped a picture of her pulling a face while feeding it.
Oh. This was the first picture of her taken in this world. It was actual proof that she had been here, if only for a moment.
Nobody would ever be able to tell the difference. They would think that it was a picture of Penelope Cross not Penelope Logan. Only Percy would know the truth if things ever went back to normal and he saw the date on the timestamp.
Her heart sunk; the high from feeding the llama immediately gone. She wasn't sure why the thought of no one realizing she was here hurt. She didn't even know anybody here on a meaningful level. Even her family members had different memories.
"Penny, are you okay? Did it nip you?" Roman asked in concern.
She couldn't let this get to her. She put on her brightest smile. "Nah, I'm fine. I am a little tired though. You take your turn feeding one of them and then we can go home so I can nap."
His brow furrowed. "Are you sure you're ready to go back to work on Monday?"
"Yes. I can't sit around the house all day and the doctor said I could go back because I cut back on my pain meds."
Penelope had been looking forward to working at a real graphic design job, even if it was only on a temporary basis. She might never get the chance again with how much debt there still was to pay.
Her father's chemotherapy bills cost around $900-$1100 per month and on top of that there were hospital stay costs to contend with. Since he wasn't able to work anymore, the Logans only managed to pay those in full with their savings for about six months.
Penelope quitting school and working part time close to home while still being sure to spend time with her father helped a little but it wasn't enough. The remaining four and a half years resulted in a lot of debt and then there were funeral costs to contend with. Penelope's hard work resulted in paying off about $16,000 but there was roughly $21,000 still owed.
With all the interest that continued accumulating, she doubted she would ever be able to pay it off. All of her dreams had been shattered. She had no future in her world.
Knowing that, she had to take advantage of the opportunities she had been given here if only for a short while. She didn't know when or if the spatial disturbance that brought her here would send her back.
"Are you sure? I don't want you to overexert yourself. You always work so hard," Roman worried.
Penelope smiled to reassure him. "If it is too much to handle, I'll come home. I'm sure my boss will understand since I did just have surgery and have a doctor's note. I might be able to work from home if necessary."
He accepted her words with silent resignation but ended up holding her hand for the first time all day. He needed physical reassurance that she wouldn't push herself too hard.
She let out a barely audible sigh. Penelope Cross was a lucky woman to be loved this much.
Had anyone ever been this concerned about her? She led a relatively simple life as a child so there was no reason to worry about her. Percy was the troublemaker in the family because his experiments could go wrong in 0.2 seconds.
When Penelope was sick or injured or worn out or grieving her father's death, no one had bothered to take care of her. She was always looking out for everyone else. Being watched over like this by a concerned party was strange.
She wasn't used to it but part of her wished that she could get used to someone caring about her well-being enough to check in on her. If there was just one person who bothered to ask her how she was doing and actually mean it…it would make such a huge difference in her life.
She didn't mean to complain. She had accepted her lot in life long ago and tried to face it with optimism as best she could but sometimes she got tired and wished there was someone to lean on.
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