The Dark Side of the Romantic Comedy Ch. 01

Penny nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "I know that Mom. He's a great man and I love him. It's just...it's just that I guess I've always had feelings for Kenny too and...well, being home with him right now, makes it hard. You know? Hard to bury that old relationship completely."

Mrs. Miller looked at Penny with sympathy and concern. "I understand baby, I do. But you need to get your head on straight. You're getting married tomorrow honey. Getting married to a fine young man who deserves the best. You remember that."

Penny agreed vaguely with an absentminded nod, still fingering the pendant wistfully.

*****

That night, Penny had been lying in bed for over an hour, wide awake, staring at the shadows cast by the dim light of the moon when she first heard the music. It was so soft at first that she couldn't tell where it was coming from, but as it increased in strength, she came to the strange realization that the music was coming from outside her bedroom.

She climbed out of her bed cautiously and shuffled to her window where she saw a group of 5 musicians gathered on her lawn, 2 guitarists, a bassist and a clarinet player, producing a decidedly uneven, out of tune version of the Elvis hit "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You".

She had half-expected some sort of a pre-wedding prank by her friends and laughed as she opened the window to shoo away the band. But as she stuck her head into the night air, some movement just to her right caught her eye. She turned and in the dim light was able to make out the figure of Kenny, sitting cross legged on the roof over the front porch, just to the side of the window. He smiled broadly and began singing the words to the song along with the band.

Penny was frozen in place seemingly unable to move or to speak, listening in open mouthed surprise to Kenny's off key musical confession of love when she heard her father call through the bedroom door.

"Hey Penny, what's that noise? Is something going on in there?"

Penny pulled out of the window and shouted at her door.

"No Dad...it's...it's just a prank, some guys playing some music on the lawn is all."

"Well, damn it all. It's past midnight for crying out loud. I'm going to go down there and chase them away."

The realization that her father might see Kenny on the roof somehow panicked her and she stuck her head back out the window and told him to hide.

"Where?" He asked, his hands spread in a questioning gesture.

Seeing no reasonable place to hide and recognizing that the way back to the lawn involved a path tortuous enough that he would surely make the lawn around the time her father opened the front door, Penny turned to Kenny with clenched teeth and motioned toward her bedroom, hissing out a quiet command.

"Quick, just get in here. Hurry."

Kenny responded with alacrity and a smile, climbing through the window and shutting it softly behind him before turning to face Penny.

"Hey Penny. Funny meeting you here." He said with aplomb.

She tried to maintain a stern, unhappy, exasperated expression, but his greeting completely disarmed her and she could only laugh before sitting on the bed, shaking her head.

"God Kenny. You are going to get me in so much trouble."

Kenny casually reclined beside her, still smiling, his back resting against the headboard, his hands clasped behind his head.

"With an angel face like that you can get out of any mess babe. Any mess at all."

"What a bull shitter you are Kenny."

"I wouldn't bull shit about that, babe. You know I mean it." He nodded his head and raised his eyebrows to add emphasis and then his eyes caught the pendant around her neck and he gestured to it.

"You're...you're wearing the opal."

Penny lifted it with her hand as she looked down at it briefly before returning her gaze to Kenny.

"Yeah. Yeah I am. It's really a sweet gesture. A beautiful thing for a friend to do Kenny. Thanks...thanks so much."

Kenny moved away from the headboard, shimmying closer to Penny on the bed and raised a hand to cup her cheek.

"Is that what we are Pen? Friends? Because, truth be told, I feel differently about you. What I said last night...I meant that."

Penny raised her hand to Kenny's, holding it as he caressed her cheek. Her eyes searched his as if she was looking for an answer, any answer to the question to how she felt about the man who sat on her bed so early the morning of her wedding day. Words didn't come, but the look of longing and affection she was giving Kenny was enough for him and he closed the distance to her until his lips were brushing hers.

"I love you Penny." He said with a husky, breathy voice.

"I love you too." She replied before turning her lips to his and beginning a long, deep, passionate kiss, their arms sliding around each other smoothly, tightening their hold until their bodies were pressed firmly against each other.

It wasn't long before Kenny released his hold and stepped away from Penny, standing in front of her as she sat on the bed. He pulled his shirt over his head and removed his jeans and underwear and then stood transfixed for a moment, naked, glistening with a minimal amount of sweat, his firm erection moving slightly with his heartbeat. He stepped toward her and reached to the hem of her night gown, pulling it up and under her thighs and bottom, gathering it at her waist. She raised her arms languidly above her head in cooperation as he pulled the nightgown off and threw it to the side before gently pushing her back on the bed.

He lay partially on top of her, his right side overlying hers, his right thigh between her legs, his hands cupping the back of her head. He resumed kissing her, first her mouth and then her neck and shoulders until his lips traveled down to her breasts were he kissed and licked her nipples until she squirmed and arched her back. He moved his hands down her sides and gently grasped her panties, pulling them down over her thighs and ankles, moving with them until he was kneeling before the bed and Penny. From there he started kissing her again, this time starting at her knees and moving up the inside of her thighs to her pubic mound, and then, ever so slowly to her soft, wet folds and the pearly hard stub at their crown. His kisses turned into licks and the licks became sucks and it wasn't long until her hips were undulating under his mouth, pushing harder and harder until she pressed her pelvis forward and began to moan, her legs quivering slightly, her breath coming in low, deep gasps.

He moved over her then, chest to breasts, face to face, hands clasped above her head and they watched each other's reaction as he entered her, with exquisite slowness, until he was fully inside. And then they started to move together, her legs wrapping around his lower back, pushing and shoving as vigorously as they could without making enough noise to wake or alert anyone else in the house. Through it all, they never broke eye contact, taking in the other's expression with each and every movement until, with a long, low moan, Kenny emptied himself into her.

Slowly he rolled off her and took her into his arms whispering "I love you" one more time before she laid her head on his chest and they drifted off to sleep together.

*****

When Penny awoke, she was greeted with the sight of Kenny Bailey snoring softly on his side and the sound of her mother's voice coming through her doorway.

"Penny honey, you'd better be getting up sweetie. It's getting late."

Penny, in a sudden panic, struck Kenny several times on the shoulder to wake him and then quickly threw her hands over his mouth when he started to speak, gesturing frantically to the bedroom door and her mother's voice.

"Penny, did you hear me?"

"Uh...yeah Mom, I'll be right out in a minute..."

"Sweetie, I've got your dress right here, let me bring it in and put it on your bed so you can get it on as soon as you're ready."

"Wait...wait mom." Penny practically screamed as she shot out of the bed and started for the door, picking up the nightgown and wrapping it around her torso. "Don't come in...I've...I've...I've got really bad gas...I think...don't..."

Her mother's voice took on a quizzical tone as she began to open the door. "What? Oh, don't be ridiculous. I'll just come in and put the dress on your bed and..."

"NO MOM." Penny shouted as she slammed her shoulder against the door to keep it from opening completely and then came face to face with her befuddled mother as she still stood in the hall, her way into the bedroom blocked by her obviously disturbed daughter who seemed to be babbling incoherently.

"Seriously mom, it's just really bad in here...super bad, I can barely stand it myself and...well, this is just so...so weirdly embarrassing...you know...and...and...and I'll be right downstairs in a minute and I can put the dress on there..."

All through her disjointed monologue, Penny kept glancing back at Kenny, who was quietly racing around the room, gathering his shirt and underwear, but apparently unable to find his pants. Penny angrily motioned for him to go and Kenny ultimately opened the window and practically dove through, jumping off the roof to the lawn below, running away from the house and out of the neighborhood clad only in his boxer shorts.

During his scramble, Penny had been able to keep her strange conversation going, continually citing the relatively toxic atmosphere she'd created in her bedroom, essentially forcing her mother to stay in the hall until she was certain that Kenny was safely out of the room. At that point the tone of her voice changed and she abruptly opened the door, inviting her mother in.

"Ok Mom, if you insist you can come on in, but I warned you." She walked briskly across the room to close the window and, spotting Kenny's pants near her dressing table surreptitiously kicked them under the bed.

Meanwhile, her utterly confused mother crept slowly into the room, sniffing the air carefully before allowing herself to take a deep breath.

"Penny, I don't know what you're talking about...it smells fine in here..."

Penny smiled nervously at her mother. "Really? I think it smells awful. Must be the wedding day jitters."

"Yes...yes I suppose so." Her mother said in a vaguely worried tone.

*****

Penny sat on a hard cushioned, straight backed chair in the preparation room immediately adjacent to the chapel. Her flawless wedding dress flowed around her in perfect white waves, her hair up in exquisite little romantic ringlets, her hands folded in her lap as she looked sightlessly out the window.

Just then she heard the door open followed by the quiet sound of footsteps on the carpet.

"Please...please...I'd like to be alone for a few minutes." Penny announced without checking who the intruder was.

Then her mother's voice came to her, soft and gentle, loving and kind. "It's me Penny."

Mrs. Miller quietly sat in a chair opposite her, looking carefully at her daughter, a look of pain and sympathy on her face. She was holding Kenny's carefully folded jeans and his wallet.

"Pen, honey." She said raising the jeans. "I found these under your bed. Do you...do you want to talk about it?"

Penny looked at them dumbly for a moment and then burst into tears.

"Oh...Oh God Mom. What...what am I going to do? I...I don't know what to do..."

Penny's mom set the jeans on the floor, scooted her chair closer to Penny and took both of her hands, looking into her face intently as she spoke.

"Penny, honey. What do you want sweetie? Who do you want? Because that's...that's all that matters."

"It's...it's hard to say what I want. I feel like I'm at war with myself Mom. When I'm with Jason it feels right, everything about him is just so...just so perfect. But Kenny...Kenny has a hold on my heart that I can't let go."

Penny bit her lip, her troubled expression becoming even more clouded as fresh tears made new tracks through her makeup. "Oh...Mom. This is just going to kill Jason. How...how am I going to do this?"

Mrs. Miller reached up and brushed a tear away from Penny's cheek, gazing at her daughter with love and concern.

"Well, sweetie, I don't know exactly what to say here, but I know you can do it. And, no matter what, you know you've got my support and my love. And my blessing, if that matters."

*****

Jason Bright stood in the groom's preparation room, barely able to overcome his excitement in order to stand still while Brian Huet carefully adjusted his tuxedo, brushing off lint and fixing the tie, making sure the groom was absolutely immaculate.

While Brian was straightening his tie, Mrs. Miller and Penny shuffled into the room and Jason's face broke into a wide, broad, excited smile which immediately dissolved into a mask of concern when he saw Penny's her pained expression accentuated by red eyes and tear tracks.

"Penny...what's wrong sweetie? Are you ok?" He stepped away from Brian and took two steps toward Penny, intending to give her a hug, but Penny stopped his progress with an upraised hand.

"Jason...Jason, we need to talk." She said simply as Mrs. Miller motioned to Brian to follow her out of the room.

"Sure honey. Sure. Tell me...what's wrong?"

Penny shook her head slightly and looked away from Jason, fresh tears appearing in her eyes. Without looking back she began to speak again, softly, hesitantly, with a voice filled with pain and regret.

"Jason...I've got some...some bad news...some really bad news. And...and I don't know exactly how to..."

"Honey, whatever it is, it will be ok..." Jason started to say as he took a step forward, but again Penny raised a hand and turned her gaze directly toward him, now looking directly into his eyes.

"Please Jason, let me finish. Because it won't...it really won't be ok." Penny swallowed hard twice, looked away and then back to Jason before beginning again.

"Jason...I can't...I can't marry you. I'm sorry, I love you and I know you love me, but I just can't do it." Her voice had lost some its emotion, becoming nearly robotic as if that was the only way she could deliver the message without breaking down.

Jason shook his head and managed a semblance of a smile, intended to be reassuring, but only more heartbreaking because of the fear and vulnerability that lay behind it.

"Penny, honey, if you're having cold feet, I understand. We can...we can put this off. We can take our time and..."

Penny was shaking her head violently now, hot tears now running down her face which was developing a look of determination.

"No Jason. No. I can't marry you now. I can't marry you ever. It would be a mistake for both of us. I can't be your wife Jason. I just can't. I'm so...so sorry."

Jason spread his hands in supplication and took another step forward. "But Penny..." He started to say, but she only sobbed as she tugged off her engagement ring and gave it back to Jason, one trembling hand to another. And then, breathing in ragged, painful gasps, abruptly turned away from him, nearly tripping on her dress as she stumbled out of the room.

*****

John Bright was standing in the foyer of the Church, just outside the Chapel when pandemonium broke out. He'd seen Penny's mother walk out of one of the preparation rooms with Brian Huet, talking earnestly, her grim face at odds with what he'd expected from a bride's mother on her wedding day. As she talked, several women had managed to sidle over and eavesdrop on their conversation until they'd apparently gotten the gist of the message, at which point they began scurrying through the church to create a chain reaction of gossip.

It wasn't long before men and women alike were milling about, discussing things in an excited manner, pulling the sleeve of any passerby to exchange more information. By now, Brian's conversation with Mrs. Miller had nearly concluded and had clearly become unpleasant. Brian was red faced, his nostrils flaring as he made some firm, final point with Penny's mother before he turned and started heading back to the groom's room. John took several quick steps toward him.

"Hey...Brian, what's going on?"

Brian looked at John and shook his head in disgust. "It's off." He said flatly. "The wedding is off."

"Wait...what? That can't be..." John answered as he walked with Brian toward the preparation room. But any doubt he had about the veracity of Brian's information was erased when he saw his son essentially staggered out of the room with agony on his face, his tuxedo disheveled, his previously perfectly combed hair now an unruly mess, his eyes wet with tears.

"Oh...oh God son. Son what...what happened..."

Jason could only look at his father and shake his head, effectively rendered mute by the devastating news that his former fiancé had just given him.

Just then, Kenny Bailey burst into the Church without coat or tie, half dressed in suit pants and an untucked white shirt, demanding the attention of the first person he came across, a mousy little woman in an oversized formal dress.

"Where is she?"

The woman excitedly nodded toward an archway that led to the reception hall and Kenny immediately took the cue and rushed in that direction.

John watched the scene with squinted eyes, glanced back to Brian who had a disgusted look on his face and then back and forth between Jason, who still had a stunned, incoherent look about him and the archway through which Kenny had disappeared. John's face deepened into a beefy red color and he started to clench and unclench his fists as he began a march toward the reception hall, pushing through the crowd until he reached the hall itself.

There, amidst a milling crowd of happy, chatting onlookers, Kenny knelt before Penny who, still in her wedding dress, sat in a straight backed chair, nodding happily through dried tears as Kenny held her hands and spoke to her with a broad, reassuring smile.

Shaking in an irresistible rage, John took one long, malevolent look at the couple and exploded.

"What the hell is this shit?" The words shook the attention of the entire crowd that turned as one to look at John with surprise and distaste, but their disapproval didn't faze John.

"Are you telling me that this...that my son's heart got broken because of this loser?" He gestured toward Kenny, an incredulous look on his face. Penny was starting to cry again and Kenny looked back with gritted teeth and began to rise, while, off to the side, Penny's father was quickly making his way through the crowd to John.

"Look, I'm asking all you people who seem to be enjoying yourselves here so much while my son is fucking eating his heart out...I'm asking you if it's true that this bitch here..."

As soon as the word 'bitch' left John's mouth, Penny's father launched his fist and the blow struck the corner of John's mouth like a thunderbolt, causing him to stagger back a step. John wiped his mouth with his hand and glanced down at the blood before returning his attention to Penny's father, a look of murder in his eyes, his mouth forming a grim, bloody smile. With clenched fists, he started toward Mr. Miller who, evidently surprised at how little effect his blow had on John, began awkwardly retreating backward. But just as John reached striking distance, Jason's voice, tired but hard and insistent stopped him.

"Dad...no. It's not worth it. He's not worth it. None of this is worth it."

John looked to his suffering son and the rage on his face melted, leaving a look of quiet understanding. Brian arrived and put his arm around John and they began making their way through the crowd and out the Church, the guests giving them a wide berth as they left. But Jason lingered a moment, looking around the now silent crowd before letting his eyes rest on Penny, whose face was painted with painful anticipation. He reached into his pocket and, in a smooth motion, tossed the engagement ring underhand toward Penny. It hit the tile floor with a loud ping and then bounced twice before coming to rest beside her foot.