The Girl He Had To Marry- An Arranged Marriage Story

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Frustration and Growth

Mugging

As soon as he wrote it down he crossed it from his list. The Marshall girl is smart and would get a form of protection right away, especially if she was coming home this late every night. 

Poison

This was a for sure no. When would he do it? He would have to be close enough to supply her food with the poison, which can be traced back to him. He could hurt his family if they are with her. Lastly, someone might recognize it and she could be saved. DR only wrote this idea down because he likes a little spice in life. Obviously, he can't get it. 

Accident at work

This was an interesting one. He could sneak into the stage and rig something to fall on her. However, like the poisoning, someone else could get hurt. This will also take time as he doesn't know when she will move to the stage, or even what stage it was. 

There was only one thing left that came to mind. 

Car Crash

It was risky, especially in the city where camera's line each corner. The Company can supply him with a car. He will be able to him his appearance. It will be easy to only hurt her and make sure the girl dies on sight. 

DR stared at the only two words not crossed out on this list. He is dreading the day the girl dies more and more each day. But he has too. In his own opinion, it will always be his life over another. DR puts himself first in everything, and that is how he has survived this far. He won't let this girl mess it up. 

He contacted his boss, telling the details of the plan and what he needs. He is instructed to wait until the car arrives the next week. 

***

Sunday was a relaxing day for Penny. She looked through the script, already memorizing some of her lines and cues. She also started listening religiously to the music, which the director gave a digital copy of to all the cast members. 

She can confidently sing along with the music in her solos, but the group numbers and harmonies would have to wait until she meet with the music person. 

Quentin was suppose to be in his office getting ready for work the next day, but he couldn't help putting his ear to the door every time the music turned on. It didn't matter if she was just humming or full-blown belting to the music, he had to listen. Maybe it was a little obsessive, but it only felt natural with his ADHD. He was truly fixated on her. In the past, it would bother him how absorbed he became over these young woman because he didn't feel like it was necessary. They were just girls, in his opinion, nothing worth fixation. Therefore, he would fight it so hard. 

Now, with Penny, he didn't care. She was worth everything, not because there was a time when she did have anything. He is not obsessed with fixing her, ending her depression and preventing her from facing past traumas. Right now, he just wants to make her make her happy. Falling in love might be the goal for Quentin and Penny, but right now, the "L-word" scares him a little bit. 

Quentin is perfectly okay just staying in the shadows and doing what he can. 

It sounds a little creepy, but he's also her husband, so it's okay. 

Penny felt free and happy. It was a strange feeling for her, since she was barely loved and never had a place she called home. She thinks back to time in local theater in San Francisco and can barely put together the name of her cast members. She remembers though how she felt...unfulfilled. There was something missing in her life and she tried so desperately to use these characters in the show to fill a gaping hole. A brick wall stood in front of her the whole time. Sure no one could climb the wall to get inside, but more importantly, Penny couldn't climb out. She put on a facade to make other people happy. 

Now, in a new city, with new friends and family, and a new job, she is finding out what makes her happy. Surprisingly, it is landing on a certain person. Whenever, this thought, or any like it, cross her mind, she scoffs and brushes it aside. 

Penny also thinks back to her moving to New York and how much she doesn't remember. She obviously remembers the Romano family and who they are, but she can barely remember how her first audition in the city went or her whole month she spent in a deep depression. Nothing much happened, but it is still a memory that is gone from her brain, only leaving brief pictures of what happened. 

Penny was happy, for now. The unsettling nerves set in, wondering when the depression will be back, wondering how she will screw everything up, wondering when everything will fall apart. She would zone out while reading her script for the tenth time that day, thinking about how can all come crashing down. 

Once again pulling herself from this, she decides that it was time to socially interact with the other people in the house. 

Meaning, asking Quentin to read the script alongside her. 

She walks over to his office, knowing that he was in it, and knocked on the door. She heard a breathy, "Come in." Unbeknownst to her, he again was at the door listening to her practice. He had to run to his desk to make sure it looked like he was doing work (that he was suppose to be doing). 

"Hey," she smiled at him. "I was wondering if you will help me run lines."

"Yeah, I'm not to busy." Lie. "This is the second day you have the script in your hands, and you can already run lines? I am quite impressed." He compliments her. He doesn't know anything about acting, but he knows that it takes sometime to learn lines. 

"The ever-so successful businessman, Quentin Romano, is impressed, by me!" She teases him. 

"You're just that special," he tells her. "Why don't you sit down and we can get started."

She starts to walk to the chair open across from his desk, "Now that's the attitude I expected!" She softly sits on the chair, tucking a foot underneath her bottom. "The strict and fiscal business man."

He ignores her last comment, but chuckles under his breath. When did she become really funny? He wondered. It wasn't like there was a point that she was complete unfunny and terrible at comedy, but she was never one to crack jokes. Now, and including last night, she is just making fun of him. Flipping through the flimsy paper script-book, he ask, "So where do I start?"

She takes the book from his hands and flips to a page, "You are reading for everyone except Scarlet." She plops the book back into his hands. 

His eyes adjust to the page, and says his first line. 

It took much longer for them to finish the script than it should have. It basically took the rest of the afternoon and evening. It was all because of Quentin. He would switch the characters voice to something ridiculous, which sent Penny laughing. When did he get this funny, she wondered, too. 

Finally they made it through the script and Penny memorize anymore than she had before she entered the office. But that didn't matter. Now she is sitting in the kitchen, on the counter specifically, watching Quentin cook them dinner. She listen intently as he told stories and describe his work for the next day (which completely bored Penny out of her mind). She watched him gracefully work around the kitchen, but constantly forgetting an ingredient or looking for that utensil he misplaced again.  

Sure, it was chaos, but it was their chaos. 

In that moment, while Penny plated the dishes and Quentin set the table, she truly felt the bonds of marriage...

And it didn't scare her.