Crash

Baku

For the next few days, Penelope didn't see much of Charles. He spent most of his time at work, in meetings or running scenarios in the simulator. Penelope was working longer hours too, either training, planning out new choreography at the rink or reading through script revisions that Li had sent over. The final few episodes began filming at the end of the week, which meant going back to L.A. Originally, Charles had planned to come with her, but things had changed. He had too much work to do, and he had to be on his best behaviour after what happened with Pierre. He had sponsor dinners and meetings every single day until he left for the next race in Baku, and in all honesty, it was making him miserable. 

Whenever they did see each other, it was always the same story. He'd come home, they'd go to dinner with the team or for a PR event. He was fine with her, making her laugh, doting on her as he always did. Penelope would try to talk to him, ask him how he was feeling, but he'd give her some throw-away answer about being fine that she knew wasn't true. The loss in Monaco had crushed him, yet no matter what she did, he refused to talk about it. Even when they were alone, those rare hours at night, the only thing he wanted was sex. Sure, it was fun and exciting to feel wanted and desired, but she couldn't help but feel like they were going backwards. She'd always felt so aligned with Charles, like they understood everything about each other, but they didn't even talk anymore and it was making her miserable, too. 

Now, it was her last night in Monaco before leaving for L.A. She was up late, sitting in the office with the reading lamp on, casting a warm yellow glow over her while she worked. She was trying to finish annotating the script for the episode Li wanted to film over the weekend, but she'd been staring at it for so long that the words were all starting to merge together. She was tired and her head hurt, but above everything else she missed Charles. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to make the next race in Baku, which meant it could be a few weeks before they saw each other again. All she wanted was to be held like him, to feel like she was loved. As much as she tried to pretend that she wasn't, Penelope was lonely. 

It was sometime past midnight when she heard the apartment door open, footsteps echoing against the hardwood floor as he searched the house for her. A soft knock echoed as he opened the door, poking his head inside and smiling as he saw her. He was still wearing his Ferrari dinner suit, but he'd swapped his shoes for slippers, his reading glasses balanced on the top of his head.

"Hey," he said softly, still waiting at the doorway. "You busy?"

Penelope sat up straight, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she fought to stay awake. "No, it's alright. How was your night?"

"Ah, it was boring without you," he said, a twinkle in his eyes as he kissed her, tilting her mouth to meet his. He tasted like wine, though he didn't seem drunk.

"Did you speak to Mattia about getting some time off this weekend?" she couldn't help but ask hopefully, playing idly with his fingers to try and distract her mind.

She could tell straight away from his expression that it wasn't good news. "I'm sorry, Nell. I tried, but he said no. He doesn't want anything messing up my headspace for the race, and after all the mess with the sponsors and everything I didn't have any leverage, either."

"Oh. It's okay."

"You know I'd be there with you if I could."

Penelope tried to hide her disappointment. "I know. It's fine, really."

"But you'll be at Baku, right? So it'll only be a couple of days."

"I don't know, Charlie," she said. "Li wants these episodes filmed as soon as possible. I don't know if she'll give me the time off."

Instantly, his face fell. "But...but it's a double header. I have to travel again for the next week."

"Looks like we're back to doing long distance."