Something's Gotta Give

Chapter 15

The next three weeks had seen a return to her and Dr. Evers's friendly but impersonal daily interaction. He continued to go out with Celeste on the evenings that he had off and it meant that he was barely ever at home, and when he was home he was always locked away in his study with the door shut to the rest of the world.

Penny continued to run the house as seamlessly as possible and, thankfully, Celeste was happy to let her continue on as she always had. The woman was actually chipper in her manner towards Penny and Penny continued to keep her serene appearance firmly in place.

Sentry had grown and was no longer small enough to fit into her pocket, but she was a good cat and kept to the kitchen and her room, content not to wander into the rest of the house. As far as she knew Celeste was unaware of her presence.

Her group study sessions had moved to a local coffee shop and everybody was making the best of the situation. Penny hadn't felt comfortable inviting everyone back into Dr. Evers's house. She knew Celeste would be unhappy with it and she wasn't sure that Dr. Evers would back her up if it was needed.

The biggest change was that she not only called Sam, Dr. Evers, she had also gone back to thinking of him as Dr. Evers as well.  She found that it caused a lot less confusion in her mind. It was nobody's business that at night, after she had turned out her light and before she fell asleep, she let herself remember his kisses and shed a few tears at the fact that she would probably never have another one.

She sensed that he was unhappy and tired but it wasn't her place to say anything about it. He had made that clear to her with his rejection. So she kept her mouth shut and did her job, doing her best to keep her covert and longing looks to a minimum, and she never noticed that Sam would give her a similar look when no one was watching.

Plans for the party, which was the following day, were in hand and everything would, hopefully, go smoothly. Celeste had insisted on hiring caterers but wanted Penny to keep everything and everyone organized during the party.  Penny had spent the last week deep cleaning the house and her hands were cracked and dry from all of the scrubbing that Celeste was insisting on having done.  Who was she to say that people wouldn't be looking for spots on the crown molding and on top of the ten foot door trim?

Now she was sitting in the coffee shop with Carla, Marie, and Jason as they were winding up their study session with a few jokes about the teacher and tips for the next test. Marie quickly made her getaway and Carla went to get another coffee for the road, leaving her and Jason to finish packing up their stuff.

"Can I walk you to your car?"

"No thanks, it's not necessary," Penny said as she stood up swinging her bag over her shoulder making for the door as quickly as possible. Jason had gotten more brave and a lot more handsey in the last few weeks, so Penny had been doing her best to avoid him.

As she pushed her way through the door and landed on the sidewalk outside he threw his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. Penny tried to move away but his arm was like a steel band as it wound around her shoulders.

"Oh, look over there, isn't that the man you live with? Who's that with him?" Jason asked it in her ear as if he was whispering secrets and it gave her the creeps.

She looked at the square across the street from where they were standing and saw Celeste and Dr. Evers talking to another man. Celeste spotted them and waved tugging on Sam's sleeve and pointing in their direction. Sam looked over at them nodded and turned back to the man he was talking with.

"Let go of my shoulders Jason or I'll scream!" she said firmly, wrenching herself away from him as hard as she could. She almost fell as he released her.