My favourite thing about you

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Truthfully, Penelope was pretty certain that Charles was taken aback by the amount of people it took to get her ready for an appearance. Before now, he'd only met Jane or heard her talking to her manager Britney on a phone call. But now, as they made their way to the Ferrari HQ with Penelope's entire team in tow, his eyes were so wide that she thought he might have fainted. 

"Who are all these people?" he whispered to her as they walked through the doors. 

"Well, you see the woman walking with Jane? That's my makeup artist, Gigi. In front of them is Bobbie, he's my hair stylist, and that's his intern Amy. Nadine, the tall lady at the back, is my stylist, she does wardrobe and stuff with Kylo, the guy next to her."

It took Charles a moment to process all of that. "What about the big guy at the back?"

"Oh, you mean Trev? That's my security guard. He came to Bahrain, I think, or maybe it was Monaco. He's always around."

"He keeps looking at me," he said uncomfortably, shifting his weight as if he were preparing himself to run if it came down to it. 

"Everyone says that. He's just protective."

"Has he killed anyone before?" Charles enquired, and Penelope got the vibe he wasn't joking. "Any of your boyfriends, perhaps?"

Penelope raised her eyebrows playfully, kissing his knuckles. "Only the ones that broke my heart."

"Damn. There goes my plan, then."

Penelope poked his side, pulling a face. "You're not funny."

"Really? I disagree."

Charles winked at her just as a short woman wearing large glasses and a big smile emerged from a door on their left. She opened her arms when she saw Charles, hugging him tightly. "Welcome back!" she told him, patting his cheek as he blushed. "And you've been staying out of trouble! I taught you well."

"Hi, Becky. I missed you too."

Becky beamed again, now turning her attention to Penelope. "Oh my gosh!" she mused, clasping her hands together like she was praying. "You must be Penelope, I've heard so much about you." Before Penelope could react, Becky was hugging her, her arms surprisingly strong. When she pulled away, she turned back to Charles, even more excited than before. "Oh, Charles, she's even prettier than the pictures! Look at you, you're just so happy. What a beautiful couple."

Charles was really blushing now, but his hand slipped into Penelope's with a sense of pride, like he couldn't quite believe that she was his. "Penelope, meet Becky. She was my PR manager before she relocated to L.A. Becky, this is my girlfriend Penelope, please don't scare her off."

Becky stood up straight, giving Charles a little salute. "Sorry, I just get so excited. It's been so long since you introduced me to anyone."

Penelope's attention was captured by that last statement. Charles had never mentioned anyone from his past, but she wasn't stupid enough to think that there'd never been anyone before her. Every time she tried to bring it up, he changed the subject or kissed her in a way that he knew would put her mind on other things. She wasn't the type of girl to google her boyfriends, she'd learnt that lesson the hard way in the past. She'd just figured they'd have the conversation when they were ready to, but that seemed to never come to pass. 

"I bet he used to bring a lot of girls to you," Penelope joked, testing the waters. 

Becky laughed, patting Penelope's arm. "When he was young, of course. Then he met-"

"Becky," Charles interrupted suddenly, his face red. "We should probably get started, right?"

"Oh, yes!" she said, as though she was finally remembering why they were here in the first place. "Come, the studio is this way. Penelope, your team can set up down the hall, Charles there's a room next door that you can use. We have an hour till we shoot. That okay for everyone?"

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