Strictly Roommates

Two Weeks Later

Jon’s POV

“Are you okay, dude? You seem kind of unfocused,” Patrick asked his best friend and teammate.

Jon nodded slightly. “I’m fine, man.” He stepped in the shower and turned the water to the hottest temperature to try and wash away the events of the last two weeks.

It had been two weeks since Jon came back from Vegas, alone. He had gone back to the hotel that night and Penelope was gone. She hadn’t answered any of his phone calls, and her voice mail was full thanks to the many he had left her.

He knew he went too far. But for her to accuse Lindsey of cheating? That was low. Then she had to spring on him the fact that she was not only dating, but dating one of his teammates.

He wanted to talk to her. But he knew that she needed space. So he decided to wait until he was back in Chicago, giving her a day or two to calm down and think about things. He ended up giving her too much time to think, as he returned home to a half empty apartment and a note on the kitchen counter.

Jon,

By the time you read this I’m probably not mad at you anymore. I just don’t think we’re fit to be roommates.

See you around,
Pen

The “see you around” she added at the end gave Jon an aching feeling in his chest. It was like her way of rubbing in his face that she was dating his teammates and that they’d still be seeing lots of each other, but that she was now Brent’s plus one.

Jon put his suit jacket on after his shower, frustrated at his performance. It was one thing for Penelope to be making an emotional mess out of him, but for it to affect his game? That pissed him off even more.

The worst part was, he always looked forward to going home to Penelope after a loss. She just had a way of making him laugh, even on his worst days. Guess that’s why they were best friends.

On this particular night, Jon returned to an empty house instead. Lindsey said she would be coming over later, but Jon felt distant from her ever since Penelope accused her of cheating. However, he didn’t want to bring it up. One annoying female in his life was enough for him.

He opened the door to his apartment and for the first time since Penelope left, Jon walked into her room. The walls still lingered with her familiar scent, a mix of vanilla and something fruity that Jon could never quite figure out.

He opened the drawers, half expecting to find something Penelope left behind. But she seemed to have done a pretty good job emptying out her room in the short time she had left Jon behind in Vegas.

He walked into her closet. It was her favorite part of the apartment, and Jon even let her paint the walls purple herself. Without anything on the racks, the purple room made Jon feel even more empty than he already did.

He was about to go back to the living room when something tucked away in the top shelf caught his eye. Jon walked over and pulled the box out slightly. It was a plain, brown storage box with no label.

Strange, Jon thought. Why wouldn’t she just throw it away if she didn’t want it?

Jon tilted the box slightly to pull it down, but the lid came flying off and the contents spilled out violently.

“Shit!” Jon yelled as he watched a perfume bottle smash onto the hardwood floor.

Immediately, the scent spread across the room and Jon was hit with a wave of nostalgia. Where had he smelled that before? Penelope didn’t smell like that. All he knew was that it smelled damn good.

He went through the rest of the box, but only found old yearbooks, a stapler and a couple empty picture frames so he boxed everything back up and swept up the broken perfume bottle. No matter how he cleaned, the scent lingered in the room and it so badly reminded Jon of something but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Jon picked up the box and brought it to his car. Here was his chance to finally talk to Penelope again.

--

Penelope’s POV

“Brent, stop!” Penelope giggled. “Babe, there’s someone at the door-“

Brent smiled against her skin. “It’s okay, we can ignore it-“

The pounding on the door got louder and more impatient.

Penelope sighed and climbed off the bed. She quickly grabbed Brent’s dress shirt and started down the stairs. “I’m coming!” she yelled.

Brent grabbed her by the waist. “Not if I get there first!”

Penelope screamed as Brent carried her down the stairs with one arm. “Brent, put me down!!”

Brent set Penelope down right by the door. “You’re an ass, babe, you totally could have dropped me!!” She slapped him playfully as she pulled open the door.

“Jon,” she breathed out gently.

“Hey, Pen.” Jon said, his chocolate brown eyes boring into hers. “Brent.”

“Sup, tazer. Come on in.” Brent waved his hand.

Jon shifted from foot to foot. “I’m not going to be long, can I just talk to Pen for a minute?”

Brent looked at Penelope and she gave him a silent okay with her eyes. She stepped out and pulled the door close behind her. Suddenly she felt self-conscious wearing nothing but Brent’s shirt and a pair of lace panties. She tugged the ends of the shirt to make it stretch a bit longer down her thighs.

“So umm… you left this box at the house,” Jon started awkwardly.

Penelope glanced at the box and froze. Did he figure it out?

Jon started to lift the lid. “There was a bottle of perfume in there, but I accidentally dropped it… can you tell me the name of it? I’ll buy you a new one.”

Penelope shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, I never liked that perfume anyways.”

Jon nodded slowly. “Well, here are the rest of your things.” He handed the box over to Penelope.

When the weight shifted from Jon into Penelope’s arms, she felt her heart sink a little bit. It felt like Jon was handing her heart back to her. Maybe it was time to let go.

Penelope smiled. “Well, thanks, Jon. I didn’t really want this stuff anymore but it was nice of you to bring it over.”

She was being polite. She and Jon were never polite with each other. That’s how she knew how much their friendship had changed.

“No problem…I guess I’ll see you around, Pen.”

She watched Jon awkwardly. She knew he wanted to hug her, but probably felt uncomfortable doing so since she was wearing so little. Another indication that times have changed. They had seen each other in far less clothing before.

“Good night, Jon.” Penelope called out as she watched him walk back to his car.

She tried not to cry. For the longest time, she wanted Jon to figure out the pieces of that night. But now, she was glad that he hadn’t. At least now, as awkward as it was, they could at least remain friends.