Chapter 13: Regret in Many Forms

Rule 4: If you don’t show up to a meeting with a boss, and do not inform said boss, any punishment they perform will be well within reason.

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Penelope and Marlene arrived on time at the basement pub, but the door was locked. Penelope could already feel herself getting agitated. She knocked on the door a few times with no answer and stood there huffing.

“Unbelievable. Right, when I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, he decides to be late.” she shook her head.

“Maybe it’s just for a little bit Miss. We can wait for a little if you’d like,” Marlene offered.

Penelope mulled over the decision then leaned against the wall, “We’ll wait for now, but if he keeps me too long he’s going to get more than just an earful.” she patted the pocket holding her pistol.

***

It was past three when Penelope got fed up. Even Marlene was ready to shoot someone. They stormed off to James' office and were stopped at the door by Tommy.

“I’m sorry Miss Eve, but Mr. Brooks is in a meeting right now.” he held up his hands.

“That’s funny, I was under the impression that we had a meeting,” she snapped. Marlene looked closer at Tommy and could see that he was trying to hide the pain in his eyes.

“Miss, maybe we should come back later,” Marlene put a gentle hand on her, but Penelope shook her off.

“Absolutely not. Why the hell was he not there today?” she asked. Tommy took a deep breath and was about to lie when the door opened behind them. Beatrice walked out with a satisfied grin and adjusted her skirt as she looked at Penelope. Penelope felt her anger rise as she looked at James then to Beatrice.

“Penelope, it’s been so long. I’d love to chat, but I held Mr. Brooks up longer than planned. Talk later?” she tittered, stopping next to her.

“Perish the thought you blonde waste of skin,” Penelope spat.

“Touchy. Someone needs to get laid more,” she laughed.

“Beatrice you know as well as I do, that I have eyes all over London, and if you want to leave without a bullet in your knee cap, you will go,” Penelope glowered.

“Threaten me all you want. I still won,” Beatrice skipped off.

Penelope kept her eyes on her as she walked out the door. When she looked in front of her, she saw James closing his eyes in anguish. His tie was off and his hair was messy, giving her an idea of what took place. She glanced at Tommy who in turn kept his eyes on the ground.

“Mr. Brooks can see you now,” Tommy cleared his throat.

Penelope swallowed hard before she looked off, trying to conceal her tears, “That’s alright, I don’t need to talk to him anymore. Have a good day, Mister?”

“Thomas.”

“Thomas. Have a good day Mr. Thomas. Let’s go, Marlene,” she walked off. James ran after her but didn’t reach for her.

“I’m so sorry Penelope, please can we talk?”

“I’m done talking. We had an agreement, you broke it, and now we’re back to square one,” she stated. She kept her eyes on the exit, as the eyes of James’s men snuck glances at the drama. In front of them.

“Penelope, please,” he jumped in front of her. “Please just let me talk to you,” his voice was pleading. Every shred of regret that he risked for Beatrice was beginning to collapse on him.

“You had a chance to talk to me today and you didn’t. You could have picked any other day to be an asshole and you didn’t.” her voice was starting to shake and he wanted to hold her tight. But he stood there as tears began to stream down her face. “I have to keep telling you that we can’t associate with each other on any personal level, because you, James Brooks, can’t get it to the back of your fucking mind, that when we try to do this, I end up here, talking to a jackass who can’t keep it in his fucking pants,” her voice strained to stay calm.

“I’m sorry,” James shut his eyes tight.

“Why am I even yelling at you about this? It’s not like we mean anything to each other,”

James opened his eyes in bewilderment, “Because of that, right there.You keep saying that we don’t mean anything to each other, but here you are screaming at me in my bloody shop,” his tone was turning hostile.

“Don’t fucking turn this on me Brooks. This was your idea after I repeatedly told you that we are nothing more than rivals,”

“And I’ll believe that when you do,” he retorted with venom.

“Fucking excuse me?” she glared. Marlene took a few steps back so that she wasn’t within striking distance of her boss. Tommy put his hand in his pocket and wrapped his hands around a gun.

“You heard me. If you believe your own words, you wouldn’t be yelling at me with tears in your eyes looking at me like I just fucked someone that wasn’t you.” his tone was low.

“Well after today I guess I’m not a hypocrite anymore,” she conceited. She pushed past James and he felt a crack in his heart when he heard the door swing.

***

James returned to his desk and placed his head on his desk. He tried to push her out of his mind, but her words kept echoing “It’s not like we mean anything to each other.”

Meanwhile, Penelope continued working on her product for the sugar trials. James’ voice prodded her over and over “I’ll believe it when you do.”.

“Fucking ridiculous,” they both thought. Penelope called the alley cats for some deliveries and made their bags of candy.

“Good Afternoon Miss Eve,” they greeted.

“Good Afternoon girls. I have a special assignment for you today.”

***

Tommy was cooking dinner for James when he received an urgent call, James could hear his tone shift in the next room and was preparing for the worse.

“Sir, we have a problem,” Tommy ran in the room. “Many of our men are hospitalized.”

‘What?” James' eyes opened wide with alarm.

“It appears many of them were poisoned by some candy they ate. It can’t be ours, not with how many are sick”

Tommy paced back and forth as James poured himself a glass of brandy and downed it instantly.

Only one name came to James’ mind.

“Penelope.”