Penelope is getting ready to go on her morning jog, when she hears her phone chime. She sets down her toothbrush and grabs her phone off the table.
One new message from: Josie
Penelope takes her phone into the bathroom, and reads the text while she continues brushing her teeth.
J: Are you still going jogging today?
P: Yes.
J: Same route as usual?
P: Yes...why?
J: No reason. Have a nice time :)
Penelope looks at her phone suspiciously for a few moments before putting in into her pocket. After she's finished getting ready, she sets out for jogging.
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Lizzie stumbled down the stairs, rebounded gently off the wall and turned left into the kitchen. Hope, watching with amusement from her perch at the kitchen island, didn't think Lizzie opened her eyes once the whole time.
"Coffee," Lizzie mumbled, making a bee line for the coffee pot that had performed heroic, near-permanent duty on their kitchen counter for the last three years. "Coffee, coffee, coffee."
"Good morning to you, too, Liz," Hope said, and flicked to the next page in the Sun Times, waiting for the moment of realisation.
"Coffee, coffee." Lizzie opend the pot into the jumbo-sized mug that she kept for lazzy mornings like this one. It took her at least ten whole seconds to realise that no matter what angle she held the pot at, no Kona would come forth. "Coffee?" She asked, sounding so bewildered that Hope bit back a laugh out of pity.
"We're all out," Hope explained. "No coffee," she elaborated, when it seemed like that was too complicated a message for Lizzie to understand with a brain that had been hijacked with the last night interrogation and some other activities.
"Coffee," Lizzie said in miserable acknowledgment, shoulders slumping and mug dangling from suddenly limp fingers. She was a picture of dejection, standing there in the middle of the kitchen in her bare feet, striped pyjama bottoms hanging from her hips and her hair tangled.
“Liz, I'm sure you can live one day without coffee”Josie says tieing her shoe laces.
“NO. No, I can't you better than anyone else know that how I become without coffee”
"Fine." Josie said, standing and picking up her wallet.
"I'm going to run down to Starbucks and get you the biggest cup of the darkest roast they have, and I'll be right back, okay?"
"Coffee," Lizzie said, perking up, and the smile on her face was the broad, brilliant one that always made Hope's toes curl, just a little.
“Wait a second. Where do you think you are going? This early in the morning?” Lizzie asks coming to her senses.
“Umm. Nowhere. Just as I said Starbucks. Yeah Starbucks. Okay. Bye.” Josie says running out.
“ what's up with her? ” Hope asks
Lizzie crossed the room in two big strides, picked Hope up and kissed her, firm and hot and loving, and Hope reached out blindly and tossed newspaper in the vague direction of the counter—the coffee could wait for a while.
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Penelope enters in the kitchen only to find two lovebirds being lovey-dubey.
“Guys! My eyes. I need holy water now.” Penelope says rubbing her eyes.
The couple move apart. Both embarrassed. Hope is smart enough to change the subject as soon as possible.
“So how was your jogging? I hope it was fun” Hope says rambling
“Yeah it was. But not as much as yours I guess” Penelope says smirking. Hope blushes really hard while Lizzie try to not look towards Penelope.
“Anyways I'm hungry. I guess you guys already ate” Penelope says laughing by the look she received from the other two.
Lizzie leaned against the doorframe, face pensive.
"What's on your mind, Liz?" Hope asked.
Penelope scooped another mound of cornflakes and milk on to the spoon, using her thumb to keep it from spilling over. Hope watched her struggle with the cornflakes, pausing slightly, lips twitching, then shook her head and shrugged.
"I have been thinking, when we make love, last night, you derive so much pleasure from being penetrated..."
Penelope choked on her cornflakes, fist pressed against her chest as she coughed. She snapped her head to look Hope already embarrassed.
Lizzie continued, nonplussed, "So, I was-"
"Liz," Hope rasped.
"Babe, can you not say it like, that?"
Lizzie huffs, "Well, isn't it a true statement? Are you saying you don't enjoy when I pound-"
"Woah, woah, right, yes, Liz, very much so yes, okay," Hope's face was flushed red, with embarrassment and also now arousal, at the thought of Lizzie bending her over.
She snapped her head around to see Penelope laughing her freaking face off.
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“Got a surprise for you.”
Penelope turned around from where she sat looking over the her diary, she was completing her draft for next story. She see Josie with a wicked grin plastered across her face, cradling a small cardboard box in her arms.
She raised an eyebrow, uncertain. Josie's voice was playful but also scheming.
“What...sort of surprise?”
“Well this one you keep your clothes on for,” she shot back with a wink.
Penelope wasn’t sure she’d ever not be impressed with just how straightforward Josie was. She grinned and shook her head.
“Are you sure I’ll enjoy it then?” she asked, dropping her voice low and fixing the girl with her best smoldering stare.
“Damn I hope so, I had to take the train upstate for this.”
“That’s where you were all day?” Penelope asked, her flirtatious front dropping as she processed the scope of this surprise.
“Jojo, you didn’t do this just for -”
“Wait. Sorry to interrupt but did you guys also did yesterday night.” Lizzie asks curiously.
“NO. We have NOT” Penelope says quickly with a shade of pink cheeks.
“But I wish we had” Josie mutters to herself.
“Ahmm. Can I also ask something? Who the hell is Jojo?” Hope says hugging Lizzie from behind.
“Thats. Umm. I gave her a Nick name” Penelope says trying to hide the blush.
“Awww” both Lizzie and Hope said chuckling.
“Anyways. C’mon, Pen,get over here and I’ll show you,” Josie said, changing the topic,and grinning, the excitement evident in her voice.
Penelope stood and started across the room, suddenly halting in the middle of carpet. She’d been a little short on sleep last night because her parents left an hour later after dinner. She really missed them and on to top of that hope spend her night with Lizzie.
But even that shouldn’t have been serious enough for hallucinations - because she could have sworn she’d just seen that box in Josie's arms move of its own accord.
“jojo...” she said slowly.
“Come ON, Pen.” Josie bounced a little, impatient, and waved her over.
“Come see!”
“That box....it just moved, again.”
“I sure hope so.”
Penelope shook her head, utterly perplexed and a bit concerned.
“josie, what did you -”
“Oh for the love of - just come look, will ya?”
Slowly, a little warily, she did, and when she was at Josie's side, the girl let out a little squeal of delight and swept the lid off the box.
A puppy poked its head out and snuffled the air, eyes bright.
For several long, long moments, Penelope simply had to stand there and process, while the puppy and Josie both stared at her with expectant, barely contained excitement.
“Josie...is that...?”
“The most adorable puppy ever! He is your Snappy!” Her grin threatened to take over her whole face.
As she slowly regained her ability to think and to move, she reached out a cautious hand to stroke the impossibly soft brown and white fur on the dog’s head. The puppy seemed to grin too, and licked Penelope's hand with reckless abandon.
“Where did you - how - what - ?” Normally so good at asking questions, Penelope could hear herself completely failing at this one.
Josie just looked more and more pleased with herself.
“It's my sorry gift for you.”
“Sorry. Sorry for what?”
“Uhmm. Firstly for our date which got ruined. And secondly for letting your parents getting the idea that I'm your girlfriend”
Penelope kept petting the dog, shaking her head out of continued surprise but part of her no longer caring about the specifics. The puppy seemed to be in absolute heaven.
“But why...?” she asked again, more out of instinct than a real need.
“Well, I heard you asking hope earlier to keep him. So I got you.”
Penelope stared at her for a moment before she became simply overcome and she rushed forward to kiss Josie's cheeks. The kiss was short, as her movement had caused Josie to fumble the box and the puppy yelped slightly as the box slid a short distance to the floor.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”
“Nah, he’s all right,” Josie said with a smile, watching the puppy begin to scamper around the room, sniffing every inch of carpet and furniture as she went.