BREAKING POINT

Joey’s hands slowed. He didn’t even lift the plate that was now perfectly clean under those soap suds. Penny’s voice was so quiet now it was almost a whisper.

“Joey? Do you understand?” she asked.

Joey swallowed hard. Then he turned to face her, his hands dripping water as his eyes met hers. He looked…. Mad.

“I understand, Penny” he said huskily. His hands made a fist, like he was willing them not to reach for her and grab her, then he brushed past her and out of the kitchen.

——————

“Is everything okay with you Audrey” Penny asked Audrey as she joined her in the living room after putting away the dishes Joey had left behind.

Audrey looked up from her phone and stared at Penny, “I’m fine. Everything is fine. Why do you ask that?” she replied.

Penny took a seat beside Audrey. “You have been coming home late for a week now” she said. “Two days ago, you didn’t even come home till the next morning. It’s like I’ve been seeing less of you lately. It’s unlike you so I’m just checking to see if you are alright”

“Fine” Audrey said, dropping her phone on the table and turning to face Penny. “I guess I can tell you about it now….” she paused, then added, “I have been seeing someone…. For like three weeks now”

Penny’s mouth formed an ‘O’, and she would have screamed in delight if Audrey didn’t stop her by putting a hand over her mouth.

“Don’t yell” Audrey said, her eyes darted in the direction of Joey’s room, like she was afraid that he’d hear their conversation. “Joey doesn’t know yet”

“Alright. Alright. Who is he?” Penny asked excitedly.

“It’s a guy from work. His name is Raymond” Audrey said, and Penny could almost see the happiness radiating from her. Guess that is what happens when you are in a relationship where you are completely happy, Penny thought.

“He moved here two months ago.” Audrey was saying. “He has actually been asking me to go out with him for a while now and I have been saying no because we work together and I didn’t want to complicate things for myself. But after a while and a….. llllot of thinking, I decided to give it a try. He seems like a nice guy and he makes me happy. I’m so sorry I didn’t told you and Joey about him since, I just didn’t want to get too excited about something I wasn’t sure of”

“Oh you silly thing. It’s fine” Penny said, pulling Audrey into her arms and hugging her tightly. “I’m happy for you. That doesn’t matter at all. I understand really. You are happy and that’s all I care about. Hopefully you will let me meet him soon?”

Audrey grinned as Penny released her. “Of course” she said, “Least I forget, I couldn’t help noticing some tension between you and Joey since I got back. Is everything alright with you two”

Penny stared at Audrey. She could understand why Audrey hadn’t come to talk to her about Raymond since, because she felt the same way right now. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk to Audrey about the fact that she kissed her brother. At least not yet. Even she wasn’t sure how that had happened just out of the blue. She had to keep her feelings in check.

She felt Audrey tapping her, bringing her back to reality, and  she shook her head, as if trying to rearrange her thoughts.

“I guess this thing about him moving to his new house is affecting all of us in some way” Audrey said.

Penny’s eyes widened in surprise. Joey was moving? He had a house now? Since when? “Wait a minute” she said. “Moving? He’s moving? To where? He got a house? When?”

It was then that it dawned on Audrey that Joey hadn’t told Penny yet. Being such a nice person and coupled with his feelings for Penny, he was probably waiting for the right time to tell her, and she hated that she’d done it first.

“Oh I’m sorry, I thought he’d already told you about it” Audrey said, sighing deeply. “I just found out yesterday too. He has already bought the house. He’s moving in a week. I was really pissed that he kept the whole thing to himself but I guess he has his reasons…. However stupid they sound”

“He didn’t tell me” Penny replied. “I only know that he passed his exam and got a promotion. That’s all he told me”

Penny felt sad and angry. He hadn’t even bothered to tell her. How long did Joey plan to keep it from her. Was he planning to move without letting her know or something? She was going to miss him. Howard was going to miss him as he was like a father to her baby. He’d become such a huge part of their lives that it was going to weird not having him around as much. She was still thinking when Audrey stood and announced that she was going to bed.

“I’m sorry honey. Maybe you two can talk about this in the morning. He’s going to kill me for telling you…. I know that. So please, go easy on him”Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Penny nodded and told Audrey that she would stay down a bit longer as she wasn’t sleepy yet. Audrey bid her goodnight and went up to her room.

Penny paced the living room till she lost track of time. Her head was filled with thoughts of Joey that she found it hard to think about anything else. She had feelings for him. She couldn’t deny it or fight the thought anymore. That kiss that afternoon had proven it.

She’d told him, they couldn’t be more than friends, even when she knew that she wanted to be more. It was torture. But somehow the bad memories of how things had ended with Jeremy held her back. When she was with Jeremy, she’d been so infatuated with him that she couldn’t see through her feelings. What if she was doing the same thing again?

It couldn’t be. She shouldn’t doubt Jeremy after everything he and Audrey had done for her, she reminded herself. They had been amazing friends to her, and her relationship with them was so important to her that she couldn’t bear the thought of doing anything to put it at risk.