Crash

Monaco

In truth, Penelope was glad to be leaving LA. The moment she stepped onto the jet, her shoulders relaxed and the knot in her stomach settled, like a wave of calm had washed over her. Jane had decided to come along with her, sworn to secrecy about the real reason they were going abroad. 

When Penelope had told her the truth (or some of it, at least), Jane's mouth had dropped open into a perfect 'O'. "Are you kidding?" she'd wailed, practically bouncing with excitement. "Okay, tell me everything. Like, everything. Who is this guy? What does he do? How did you meet? What-"

Penelope held up a hand, laughing. It felt good to get this secret off her chest, but when Jane got excited she tended to get carried away. "Woah. I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. I mean it."

"I won't, I promise I won't."

Penelope smiled. "Well...his name is Charles. I met him a few weeks ago at the dinner party I went to with Logan and Charlotte. He's an F1 driver."

Jane pulled a face. "What? You mean Charles Leclerc? The Ferrari guy?"

"You're a fan?"

"My grandpa watches every race. He's always talking about the drivers and I don't normally listen but that Charles guy...well he's pretty hot! I can't believe you're dating-"

"We're not dating. We're just...well, I don't know what we are, actually. It's early."

Jane clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. "Oh my god, you really like him, don't you. You really like this guy."

"Alright, alright. Whatever."

"You're not denying it..."

Penelope shot her a harsh look. "He's nice to me. I like him, sure."

"Oh, Penelope. I'm so happy you're finally moving on. This guy better treat you nicer than the last one."

"Yeah. I hope so too."

A soft silence fell over the plane, and Penelope could tell that Jane was weighing up whether to ask any more questions. Curiosity must have gotten the best of her, because she said "Speaking of...have you talked to him lately?"

The clouds outside the window provided Penelope with a welcome distraction for her to stare at rather than having to make awkward eye contact with Jane. She knew that Penelope hated talking about this, but here she was asking anyway. 

"No. Not since the last time a few months ago."

"Good. I swear, if I ever get my hands on that guy I will pull the biggest Will Smith anyone has ever seen."

Penelope gave her a faint smile. "You sound like Abuela."

"Yeah, well, your abuela is a clever woman. She knows what's up."

"Yeah. She does."

Jane smiled before checking the time. Her eyes widened as she showed Penelope her phone. "It's only been an hour. This flight is like thirteen hours. You couldn't have picked a guy who lived closer?"

"Tell me about it. Maybe I should have taken that offer from Dave."

"The one from special effects? With the bald spot?"

"What? You don't approve?"

"Uh..."

Penelope's tone was dripping in amusement. "Don't worry, Janie. I can set you two up. Pretty sure he was only using me to get to you anyway."

"Don't you dare."

Penelope cupped a hand to her ear, frowning like she was trying to listen to something in the distance. "Do you hear that? Are those...wedding bells?"