Chapter 616: Tangers LIV—Desperate Plea
After a tough, well earned win, I desperately wanted to go home and have a nice relaxing night with Penelope. She hugged and kissed me when I met with her outside of the locker room and she ran her soft hands down my cheeks and told me how smooth they were, but how manly I smelled! I blushed and shrugged my shoulders but discreetly sniffed myself when she wasn’t looking just to make sure that she hadn’t politely told me that I stank. As far as I could tell, I didn’t smell bad at all…but apparently, I smelled manly?
Patty hogged most of the press that night so we made it to the parking lot fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the parking lot was full of railbirds and Penelope and I were not exactly an incognito sort of couple. “It’s Alex Tanguay! ALEX!” a group of teenaged girls cried out. I smiled and waved at them and told them that I was tired tonight, but the other guys might sign for them if they waited, and Penelope tugged on my arm.
“You’re not that tired, are you?” Penelope murmured.
I raised my eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Mm, go on. Go on. Your adoring fans wait for you!”
I don’t mind signing for fans and stuff, but sometimes they can make me really shy, especially if its groups of young ladies. It gets kind of embarrassing because honestly, I don’t see what the fuss is about! But if only for Penelope’s sake, I marched straight over to those girls and signed autographs. It didn’t take long for them to notice Penelope, however.
“So it’s true? You guys really are dating?” One girl exclaimed.
“We are really good friends,” Penelope replied.
A couple of the other girls asked for autographs from Penelope and she kindly provided them with one. It made me feel so proud to be linked with a famous woman who didn’t treat fans as if they were annoyances! We exchanged smiles.
“Hey, Alex, can I ask you something?”
I looked at the girl who asked. “Sure.”
She frowned, “Why is your hair blue? I mean it’s cool and everything but it seems so surprising that you would do it?”
“Ha, ha! Joey did it.”
The girls laughed, none of them believed that for a moment.
“You were so nice to sign autographs for all those girls!” I said.
“I shall never be mean to your fans,” Penelope replied, and she reached over and tickled my scalp as I drove. I giggled. “Oh, why did you dye your hair? Eh? It is growing out but I have wondered this.”
“Oh, I told the girls, Joey did it.”
Penelope laughed. “No! Really!”
“Really…Joey did it.”
We drove in silence for a little while, and Penelope stretched and yawned. “Are you really that tired, Alex?”
I glanced at her before looking back at the road. “Um…kinda?”
She grinned, I could see her perfect white teeth gleaming in the dark. “Are you sure?”
HELLO! The hair on the back of my head and arms stood up and I almost jumped out of my seat. “Oh…I don’t think I’m that tired! Why…did you have anything in mind?” Could this really be happening? Finally? My big night with a movie star, the one thing I thought would never happen to me, not in my wildest fantasies? Should I propose to her afterwards? Should I just call Danny right now to gloat even though that wouldn’t be the nicest thing to do?
“Oh, let’s just get home, eh? And then we’ll see what happens?”
I almost floored the car but I reasoned that getting arrested for simple traffic violations would not be the most intelligent way to start off this new crux in our relationship. But I think I did hold my breath the entire time because I was really dizzy as I unlocked my front door. When Penelope wrapped her slim arms around me and kissed me, I almost passed out! We didn’t even make it to the bedroom, we just fell on the couch, and she kept whispering to me in Spanish and I kept saying things to her in French and it just went so wildly good and then….
The phone rang.
It startled both of us. And we both laughed nervously. And then it kept ringing. I swallowed hard and reached for it. Penelope grabbed my hand. “No, let it ring! Who could it be at this hour? They should be more considerate!”
“Well…I probably should answer it, Penelope. Someone calling this late might need something really important.”
“Oh, stop!” Penelope grumped, and she let go of my hand and crossed her arms. “It cannot be so important that they cannot call 911.”
I squinted. Well…she had a point there.
So this time, I leapt upon her and we re-commenced kissing passionately, that is, until the answering machine began to play the call.
“Alex, this is Michele…”
“What is she doing calling you at this hour?” Penelope exclaimed.
“Shh!” I sat up and held out a finger.
“…and we are having a serious problem with the children…”
I jumped to my feet, my heart racing, imagining the worst scenarios possible, a serious accident, a rush to the hospital, the need for someone to be with the children during this most difficult time!
“…it is difficult to explain, Alex, but we would appreciate if you could come over. If you hear this message please call us…”
I couldn’t take it anymore! I picked up the phone. “Michele? This is Alex!”
“Pfft!” Penelope snorted and she crossed her legs and crossed her arms. “She can take care of her own children, you are not her nanny!”
I shook my head. “What can I do?”
“Oh, Alex, please, only if Penelope doesn’t mind. It’s just…it’s just…so hard to explain! It might be easier if you can come over. If it is no problem, yes?”
“No, no, it’s no problem.” I said quickly and I made a pleading face to Penelope who sniffed and stalked off to the bathroom. “I’ll be right there.”
I hung up
and I gulped. “Honey! Flower! I’m…there’s been a
problem with the
Penelope blinked with her large doll eyes and she pressed her fingertips together, turning to me. “I am not a bitch, Alex!” She gasped. “I will not force you to not help a friend in need. But…” She didn’t finish, instead she began to braid her hair.
“But what…”
“Is nothing…” she sniffed.
I started to walk away, but I couldn’t just leave it alone. With my heart strangled in fear, I went back to her. “But, what? I promise I won’t get mad.”
“Well…” Penelope pursed her lips and shrugged. “It is just strange, I think, that she call you so quickly because of the children. It is strange. She knows you are not a single man anymore. It is almost unreasonable of her to ask. It is not unreasonable of you to help. But like I say, she is strange.”
“Oh no!” I tried to assure Penelope, “Michele really felt bad about calling me. She doesn’t want to be a burden. She wouldn’t on purpose. She has a good reason, I’m sure of it.”
“Hmph,” Penelope replied and she commenced leaning into the mirror to check her flawless complexion. “I do not think she like me too much. I wonder if she is… well, I would wonder about her interfering with us.”
I sighed, but did not answer.
“Oh, this
better be a good reason,” I muttered to myself as I started the car and began
heading towards the
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