Crash

Red

By the time they arrived back in Monaco, it was late. Charles kissed her goodnight before collapsing in a deep slumber, his chest slowly rising and falling as he snored softly. She never understood how he could sleep so easily when there was so much going on. In that sense, they had always been total opposites. Charles was too relaxed, while she worried too much. Together, they tended to form a happy medium though Penelope wasn't feeling the benefit of that right now. 

Penelope was no stranger to a late night. She was used to little sleep, to staying up until the sunrise trapped in her own thoughts, wasting the hours away until she felt Charles stir beside her. Normally, she'd sneak out into the lounge, sitting in her cosy chair overlooking the city as it slept, the streets illuminated by the warm yellow light of the moon. Tonight was no different, for a while. 

All she could think about was the state that they were in. Everything was such a mess. More than anything, Penelope hated losing control. She liked things to be organised, to be calm and collected, but right now the scales were tipped against her favour. Like a caged animal, she was surrounded. A single flower in a garden full of thorns. 

Realistically, what could she do? Like a fool, she'd signed that PR contract, trapping her in the Ferrari spiderweb in both her personal and professional life. It was no secret that she loved Charles. Mattia knew that, also, and he would exploit it until his last day in that office. She was in too deep now to ever leave. It was strange, really, how sometimes, love felt more like a curse than a blessing. 

Maybe she could convince Charles to just run away. They could leave Monaco, leave the public eye, go live out the rest of their days on some deserted, exotic island far, far away from here. That way, whatever terrible secret or dark past Mattia was holding over Charles would never find them. They could live in a little hut somewhere, lost in nature, just the two of them and Luna. Then, as the years past, that two would become three, then maybe four. That family she'd always dreamed of could become a reality, their white picket fence a string of bamboo trunks with the sea to look out on at night as the sun set. They could raise their children in peace, like something from an old movie, a ridiculous and far-fetched fantasy, but perfect all the same. 

Of course, that's all it was. A fantasy. In truth, they'd never really be free. Not as long as Mattia was in charge, watching over them like a lion waiting for them to slip up to go in for the kill. But why? What did he have on Charles that was so awful that it scared him so much that he was terrified to make one wrong move? And why wouldn't he tell her what it was?

Just as she was starting to slip into despair, Penelope felt something cold nudge against her hand. When she looked down, she found Luna staring back at her, head cocked to one side like she couldn't understand why her mommy was out here and not asleep besides daddy. 

"Hey, buddy," Penelope said softly, her eyes filling with a strange mix of sad and happy tears. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that this was her life. "I think daddy forgot to put you in the crate, hm?"

Luna pressed her nose against Penelope's hand, like she was asking to stay. There was something so comforting about that. With loving arms, Penelope lifted Luna onto her lap, running her fingers through her fur as the dog made herself comfortable. "What are we gonna do, hm?" Penelope said, almost to herself. "Sometimes I wish there was a button I could press, to fast-forward through all this and get to the happy part. But you wouldn't understand that, would you?" she sighed, "Because you're just a dog."

Big, sad eyes stared back up at her as Penelope ushered her to the floor. With a comfortable sigh, Luna led herself down on top of her feet, like one giant furry hot water bottle. "Fine," Penelope said, patting her head. "You can stay there tonight, but don't tell daddy."