Strictly Professional.

“Penelope, you little minx!” Mauri’s voice boomed from Penny’s childhood bedroom as the two girls sat on the bed, discussing what had happened between Penny and Harry.
“Hush, he’s downstairs!” Penny loudly whispered, giving her friend a glare. Penny and Mauri had been best friends since they were in second grade. They met by chance and remained best friends by fate. They had immediately gotten along, so much that the other girls in the class were jealous and went to extremes to hang out with them. Penny and Mauri were never up for adding anyone to the friendship though; it was a sandbox love that was impenetrable. Mauri’s hair had always been light blonde, almost platinum. Her lips were plump and her jaw line was to die for. Mauri had gone the route of modeling; Penny had joined with her originally, but eventually found her calling in hair and makeup. Penny was short and petite while Mauri had legs for days and a toned tummy most girls would kill for. “You’re such a slut. Seriously, I hope you know you’re taking me to their concert tomorrow night and I’ll be backstage. I need to make my presence known with Louis.” She said with a smirk, applying sheer pink lip gloss to her pout. Penny let out a laugh, standing up from her bed and smoothing her hands over her thighs. “Okay, I think we’ve had a long enough makeup break and I’m sure my dad is giving Harry a review in the history of futbol.” Penny’s voice was mocking her father’s slight accent. The two girls made their way out of her room and down the stairs, ending in the main living room. Penny noticed a familiar laugh and felt her heart jump. “Shit. I forgot Silas was coming.” She spoke in a hushed tone, giving Mauri a look of sheer terror. She exhaled and shook her head before walking into the dining room. “Silas!” She called, her smile lighting up her face as she walked to him with arms open, embracing him in a hug. She inhaled the familiar scent of his Aqua Di Gio, pulling back to look at him. Penny had a type, tall and lanky-ish. Silas had definitely been working out shattering the lanky image he had, but he was at least a foot taller than the five foot three beauty. “Did you meet Harry?” She asked, turning to look at Harry whose face told the story that he had definitely known this was an ex.
“Yea, we met.” Harry replied, it was short and had a hint of ‘tude. Mauri coughed and then walked over, stepping in for a hug with Silas who had yet to get a word out.
“Of course you’re here.” Silas said with a laugh, hugging the girl back before looking around the room. Penny tried to clear her mind, she had a present to give her mother and everyone was here now. Food was almost ready and she was tired of waiting.
“Well, since we’re all here.” She said with a smile, walking over to her bag that was tucked away behind the table. She pulled out an envelope and walked to her mother, wrapping her arms around her and giving her a quick kiss on her cheek. “Happy birthday, Mom.” She pulled back and handed the envelope over. Evelyn’s petite fingers opened the envelope hastily, pulling out yet another pair of tickets. This time it was plane tickets. To Milan.
“What is this…?” Her mother asked, her eyes already filling with tears. Penny wrapped her arm around her mother’s waist and looked over to Mauri who was also beaming with anticipation.
“Fashion week and you’re taking Mauri.” She said softly, giving them each a smile. Mauri let out a squeal, running over and pulling them both in for a hug. She wouldn’t send her mother alone to the fashion capitol and she certainly couldn’t send her mother and not her fashion-obsessed best friend.
Dinner went smoothly, Harry didn’t really speak much to Silas since he was too busy winning over Penny’s dad. They were laughing and carrying on, speaking about golf and soccer when Penny began taking some dishes to the kitchen, looking out the window that lingered above the wink and inhaling happily. Things couldn’t be any better. She felt a hand on her waist and jumped slightly, turning to see who had come in. It was Silas, he had a look in his eyes that expressed he was hurt.
“Why didn’t you tell me about him?” He asked, tilting his head to the side, short blonde locks were stacked neatly on his head with gel. She had forgotten how he looked at her, always longingly and needing her affection.
“What do you mean? We’re just friends…” She lied, leaning back against the counter. She could tell he wasn’t buying it.
“Friends don’t look at each other like that.” He retorted, a bite to his voice now. He was always the first to get jealous; it was another reason why they had broken up in the first place. He was always reaching out to her and getting upset when she didn’t respond. She was busy though and he couldn’t understand that she wasn’t intentionally ignoring him.
“We are just friends, Silas. We haven’t put a label on anything.“ She hesitated before speaking, not sure that it was the right thing to say, but he needed to hear it anyway.
“I knew it.” He said shaking his head, he was peeved and wasn’t hiding it. He pulled his hands away from her waist, crossing his arms over his chest and giving her a shake of the head.
“You’re going to get hurt, Penelope. Do you not read about him? He’s a womanizer.” He had obviously done his research.
Penny arched a brow at him, frowning. “You’re joking right? You don’t think I know him better than a fucking tabloid?” She was getting defensive, he was out of line. She stood up straighter now, clearly getting upset. She didn’t have time for Silas to ruin her day.
“Why are you even here?” She spat, instantly regretting it. Silas’ lips pulling down into a frown.
“I’m wondering the same thing.” His voice was low, eerily calm, as he turned to walk back into the kitchen. She heard him telling her family goodbye and waited until the door had closed. She felt a stinging in her eyes, Silas had been one of her closest friends, they’d shared almost every first together and she was just dismissing him because of Harry. Speak of the devil, she saw him from the corner of her eye and blinked her tears away.
“What’s wrong babe, are you all right?” He carefully worded his sentence as he walked toward her, reaching out to take her hand in his own. Penny immediately wrapped her arms around him and sinking herself into his chest. She didn’t say anything; she just wanted a nice comforting hug. She pulled back and looked up at him, sniffling slightly. “I’m fine.” She didn’t need to say more, Harry knew she would tell him in time and he wasn’t going to pry. “Well, I believe a cake is about to make an appearance.” Harry said with a smirk, giving her an encouraging wink before leading her back into the dining room.

Notes

Whatta dick, amirite? Drama coming soon. :D