Broken Friendships

5.6K 120 26
                                    

After returning from Monaco, Penelope's life followed its regular pattern for a few days. She skated in the morning, putting up with Jaspers intrusive questions as he quizzed her about her trip. It unfortunately didn't help when he noticed her new jewellery addition, which she caught him staring at at least five times. When he asked, she told him she'd paid a visit to the race course there, and she'd picked it up from the souvenir shop. It was a reasonable lie, and he didn't question it again. 

Her afternoons were filled with table reads and scene shoots, which mostly involved late nights sitting around with Logan and Charlotte waiting for their cue. The night shoots, like the one they were doing today, were the hardest. The outdoor set was freezing, but they were dressed for summer, bar the massive winter coats they'd been provided by production. Despite that, Penelope was still shivering, her fingers white from the cold. 

The scene they were shooting tonight was a long one, with a lot of moving parts. Each of them were needed for different shots, being switched out with stunt doubles in various frames. It had already been hours, and they were barely halfway through. Penelope was taking a break, huddled in the corner texting Charles about how her day had been just as he was waking up to start his. She knew she wouldn't hear much from him today because he had gym and simulator, which didn't leave a whole load of free time. 

Her conversation was interrupted by Logan, who plonked himself down on the floor next to her, holding a bag of potato chips. He held the bag out to her, nudging her shoulder. "Hey, stranger. Chip?"

She glanced at the bag, trying to read the packaging. "Flavour?"

"Salt and vinegar. Figured you'd want one."

Penelope gave him a grateful smile. "You know me too well."

"Yeah well I've been stuck with you for ten years. It helps."

Logan cried out in anguish as Penelope threw a crisp at him. "And you've loved every second of it."

He shrugged. "Maybe. How was Monaco, anyway? Feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Don't be dramatic. It's been like five days. And Monaco...Monaco was good. Really good, actually."

"Yeah? That's good then. Bout time you actually had some fun."

Penelope weighed her options. She trusted Logan and by that logic, she trusted his opinion. That weekend in Monaco had shown her that she definitely wanted something more with Charles and for that to become a reality, she had to start feeding the people in her life at least some crumb of the truth. Logan had known her for years, was a close friend, non-judgemental (most of the time) and wanted the best for her. She figured he was a good place to start. 

"Remember that guy I met at the Ferrari thing a few months ago?" she asked, keeping her tone light. 

Logan frowned. "Which one?"

"The driver. Charles."

"Charles Leclerc? Yeah, of course I know him. What's that got to do with your trip though I don't understand."

She swallowed. "I've been seeing him, sort of. Nothing serious, but that's why I flew out there. It's been helping to take my mind off work and Frankie and shit."

Penelope turned to her friend, expecting an answer, something quick and witty. But surprisingly, Logan was silent. He faced forward, his expression stony, like she'd said something to upset him. Unsure of what to do, Penelope poked him with her foot, trying to recover the playful tone they'd had just moments ago. "You gonna say something?"

He looked away, staring at the sound crew who were struggling to carry the microphone across the set. "You like him?"

"He's the first guy I've cared about since Harry."

Logan smiled bitterly, shaking his head. "Right. I have work to do." He clambered to his feet but Penelope stood with him, grabbing his wrist. 

"You okay?" she asked, unsure of what was going on. 

Logan pulled his hand free of hers, and her heart sank. "Fine," he muttered. "See you later."

He strode off towards the trailers, not looking back. Penelope let out an exasperated sigh, her head spinning. "Logan!" she called after him, but it was no use. She wasn't sure what she'd said or what she'd done, but it was pretty clear that he was far from being happy with her. 

"Oh dear," a different voice said from behind her. "Trouble in paradise?"

Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "You tell me. He's impossible. One minute he's fine, then the next he's storming off."

Charlotte pulled a face, rolling her eyes. "Look, Logan can be a dick, but he's got a soft spot for you. He doesn't just flip out for no reason."

"But I didn't say anything, Charlotte! He asked about Monaco, so I told him. That's all."

Above them, a clap of thunder boomed. The sky was becoming more overcast by the second, surely meaning that rain was long over due. Secretly, Penelope was hoping for it. If it rained enough, the shoot would be called off and they'd all get to go home. 

"What did you tell him about Monaco?"

"Just that I met a guy out there. That's all. When I was with Harry we'd talk about this stuff all the time, not like relationship talk is new."

Charlotte just sighed. "I'll handle it. I think Li wants you on set. You should probably go see what's up."

"What do you mean you'll handle it?"

"I just mean I'll talk to him, okay?"

"Thanks. Let me know?"

Charlotte nodded, but she didn't make eye contact. "Sure. See you later."

"Yeah. See you later."

*****************

By the time Penelope finally got home, it was 2:30am. Li had made her shoot the same two minutes of footage nearly 20 times, so safe to say she was exhausted. Logan had been in the sequence with her, but when she'd tried to make conversation, he'd practically ignored her. Penelope had asked Charlotte if he'd said anything but she said her probing had left her empty handed. 

When Li had finally dismissed them, Penelope had chased Logan down in the carpark. Normally, he would have waited and the two of them would have walked back together, but today he'd left without her. That pissed her off, too. 

"Hey!" she yelled, wrapping her jacket tighter to keep herself warm from the night chill. "Logan! Wait up." He didn't stop, but he slowed down enough for her to fall in line with him. "You didn't wait?"

"It's really late. I just want to go home."

"Okay? I'm not stopping you, I just want to know why you're so pissed off at me."

"I'm not pissed off at you."

"You think I'm stupid?"

"Maybe."

She grabbed his wrist again, and this time she refused to let go. "What's that supposed to mean? If you have something to say to me, I suggest you spit it out."

Logan's eyes flashed with anger. "I thought you were done dating guys who didn't care about you."

"That's what you're so mad about? You don't even know Charles!"

"I don't need to! I was there when you cried and cried about Harry. Now you're gonna put yourself through all of that again and for what? Some guy you met two months ago?"

Penelope dropped his wrist as though it burned to the touch. "He's not like that."

"Right. Harry wasn't like that either until he slept with his assistant."

By now, the two of them were starting to attract the stare of a group of bystanders, watching on with fixated eyes. If they weren't careful, the story of this fight would be all over TMZ by the morning. 

"You're being mean, Logan," Penelope said quietly, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from welling up. 

"Yeah, well...maybe I don't care anymore."

With that, he turned his back on her. Penelope shook her head, hands shaking, and turned in the opposite direction, neither of them making any effort to look back. 

******************

CrashWhere stories live. Discover now