The Girl He Had To Marry- An Arranged Marriage Story

Chapter Twenty One: The Drive Back

"Come on! My car is this way," He says turning he back away from her. 

She didn't move, he could feel that for sure. 

Penny got comfortable around him at lunch; however, someone else was there with her. His behavior was checked by his sister. Now that they are alone, he could say and do whatever to her. 

Her palms started to become moist, so she wiped them frantically on her pants. She managed to say to him, "It's okay. I don't mind walking back. I don't want to be a burden."

He turns around and walks back to her. Penny's heart begins to be erratically, as if it's going to burst out of her chest. She can't help back take some steps back, while her face is frozen in terror. Quentin stops once he realized what he did. The thing is he doesn't know what he did. 

He was not a comforting presence for sure. He was hard, cold, and emotionless to the average viewer. He can only hope that she isn't average, "You are not a burden to me." He starts off slow, not moving from his spot on the sidewalk. "We are both going to the same place and we are pretty far from the place. I can tell that you are uncomfortable with my presence and I want to fix that." 

Penny was a little hesitant. Okay, maybe more than just a little. She one hundred percent did not trust this man. She doesn't know him. The only things she knows are negatives. She knows about his mood swings that cause disruption in relationships. However, this is the first time she has heard him in a soft, calming tone. If she closed her eyes and heard those words without knowing who said them, she would feel safe and warm. 

This is reality. She would open her eyes to a monster trying to manipulated her into feeling safe to only then pounce. 

Quentin wasn't prepared for what she would say next, "I do not feel comfortable around you. Ever since I met you, I have been nothing but polite, calm, and pleasant, but you have been incredibly rude. I don't know what I did to you, but I'm sorry. It's not like I wanted this either, especially with you acting like this." 

With getting that off her chest, she quickly turns around and walks in the opposite direction of Quentin. She doesn't really now how to get back to the apartment, but she can just hail a cab. Penny didn't expect for her husband to chase after her. 

"Penny, wait! Let me explain." He yells, as he walks swiftly down the street. "Please, I'll drive you back and we can actually have a real conversation for the first time. After that, you get to call all the shots on what you want our relationship to be."

Penny pauses, still not looking at him. She takes a moment to think. She has a chance to have some power in a decision. But this could only be a chance to manipulate and hurt you. Penny turns around to look at him, right in his grass green eyes. He doesn't look like he wants to hurt you. He doesn't look like he was joking. 

"Fine," Penny huffs out. "Don't talk to me until we get to your car."

She isn't up for any bullshit, Quinn thinks to himself. He barely knows the girl, but he really wants to. He was proud of her for being so vocal about her opinion of him. Again, he barely knows her, but he feels like this attitude isn't usual. 

Penny, on the other hand, didn't know where her honesty and confidence came from. She was very pleased on how she stood up for herself. She is holding her ground for the first time in her life. Right now, she feels like a stranger in her familiar body. She knows the basics, what her favorites and least favorites are. However, she doesn't know her personality, how she would react to disappointment, to failure, to happiness. She doesn't know what she would do if she was successful, or angry, or in love. 

Who am I?

She didn't have a moment to ponder more on her mental crisis, because now she has to face a physical one..with Quentin...in his car.