Chapter 1
1400 Words
Huge…
It was the first word that came to Penelope’s mind as she stared at the solid, broad back standing before her. She recognized him as the man from the end of the bar, Batman.
She will be able to tell Casey that Batman came to her rescue–literally.
“The lady said no,” said Batman. His voice was raspy with a soft edge to it, contradicting his rough demeanor. Penelope couldn’t see what look he was making, but he sounded apathetic.
“Are you a dog to force yourself on a woman who doesn’t want you?” he continued, his words were like razors.
“Have your dignity fallen so low?”
The blonde man scoffed as he looked away angrily, yanking his arm from Batman’s solid grip.
“f**k off,” he muttered, turning on his heels to disperse in the crowd.
Leaving her alone with Batman. The words must have hurt his dignity.
“T-Thank you,” Penelope said, hesitating, but only for a moment.
“I could’ve handled him; it isn’t the first time I've had to deal with men like him,” she continued, staring in the direction he ran in.
“I can see why,” muttered the man, his voice still sounding indifferent as he gazed at her.
Penelope turned to face him, surprised at the intensity of his gaze, and she almost choked on her words.
He was beautiful. If his side profile alone felt like something out of a painting, then his face was something divine. She instantly noticed his turquoise eye–yes, eye. One eye was turquoise.
The other eye was pitch-black as if she were staring into the abyss. It was like watching two sides of a coin at the same time; each side gave off a completely different demeanor. One seemed to represent warmth and clarity, like the reflection of the sunlight off the oceans, while the other was cold and dark, like a moonless night in the Sahara.
His heterochromic orbs were fringed with tall, thick lashes, curling out in the corners and casting a shadow on his cheeks. It was unfair for a man to possess such beauty. Penelope felt a shiver run down her spine when he gazed at her; he seemed to dive into her very soul. She felt naked before him.
When he raised his eyebrows, Penelope snapped out. If he was uncomfortable from her stares, it didn’t show. The man moved to dig his hands into the pockets of his trousers. He was wearing an all-black tuxedo without the blazer, the fabric of his shirt hugged him in all the right places, embracing the curves of his muscular arms.
Penelope gulped. Perhaps she wasn’t as sober as she thought she was.
“Anyway,” Penelope shuddered, snapping out of her trance. “Thank you for your help.”
“If you are truly thankful,” he started, never lifting his eyes off Penelope as if he were taking her apart. “Why not buy me a drink?”
“Excuse me?”
“Worry not,” said Batman, taking the seat next to her. Penelope wondered how someone could be so graceful sitting down. She had to question her sanity for noticing it.
“I’m not here to bother you, I just want a drink before leaving,” he continued, resting his elbow on the bar and tilting his head. “If you want me to leave, I will. All I ask for is good company.”
Before Penelope could reply, she saw Casey over his shoulder. She was stunned to say the least, before winking at Penelope and disappearing again. A second later, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.
‘I’ll leave first, Ben. Have a great night *wink* *wink* ', the message said.
Penelope cursed as she shoved the phone back into her pocket.
When she looked back up, he was still staring at her. It was a look she couldn’t decipher. She felt intrigued by this mysterious man. He wasn’t your typical Alpha male walking casually down the streets. Perhaps it was because of his unusual features or the dangerous aura that seemed to loom over him.
Penelope wanted to know it all; her curiosity was acting up again. Like the first time she studied the unknown galaxies in class, or the first time she looked through a telescope. The urge that drove her to know more.
He was a puzzle she wanted solved.
Only for tonight.
“Can I have two whiskeys, please. Neat,” Penelope said to the asian waiter, not letting her eyes off the man before her.
She noted the way his brow flinched before he straightened his back, amused.
“How did you know?”
“Not really,” said Penelope. “Your cup is still there on the counter. Whiskey neat.”
His laugh was muffled by the loud music. Penelope was taken aback; it didn’t seem to be one of his virtues to laugh like that, but it sounded nice to her ears.
“The name is Luca,” he said, a smirk touched the corner of his lips. “And you, Miss Little Red Hood?”
“Penelope,” she replied, noticing how he omitted his surname, not that she was complaining. She understood that he meant for this to be a casual, tipsy chit-chat.
“Like in Odysseus' wife in the Odyssey?”
It was Penelope’s turn to raise her eyebrows. “You read the Odyssey?”
The conversation stopped when the waiter placed their cups before them. Luca took a sip before returning his attention to her.
“A few years ago, yes.”
“Not many read the story,” Penelope confessed, taking a sip of her liquor, which burned her throat as it went down to warm her belly. “Not these days anyway.”
“So, you were named after Penelope from the book?” he asked, sounding as interested as he could get. Penelope had a hard time looking at his mismatched eyes without stuttering.
"It was a wild guess," he continued.
"Good thing you took the risk," she raised the corner of her lips in a smirk as she took another sip.
“My mother was obsessed with it when she was pregnant with me,” she added, a sad smiled found its way to her plumped lips. The memory of her mother passed in a flash behind her eyes.
“She used to say, ‘I hope you find a man to love you just as deeply as Odysseus loved Penelope’. Delusional, right?”
When Luca took too long to reply, she raised her head from her glass to look his way. Maybe she overshared, she thought. For a second, he felt too distant to reach, as if he was watching something past her.
“More like romantic,” he finally said, pressing the cup over his lips, his breath fogging on the glass.
Penelope couldn’t begin to understand this man. Despite his cold appearance, his words were gentle as if he were caressing her shoulders. She felt something tug within her, and she gulped it down with the rest of her liquor and asked for another glass.
The silence between them lingered. Penelope was halfway done with her second glass, and it was already getting to her. The music made her head throb. She lost count of how many drinks Luca had.
“Batman,” said Luca, breaking the silence. “Who’s that?”
Penelope giggled and thought she might as well tell him.
“You were sitting over there all in black. I could only see half of you if that made sense. The first thing that came to my mind was Batman.”
Luca scoffed a laughter. It seemed she wasn’t the first to tell him that.
“You want to know the first thing that came to my mind when I saw you?”
His mismatched eyes were shadowed in the dark; something loomed over them, sending a chill down her spine. The alcohol was enhancing the adrenaline coursing in her veins.
She gulped and nodded.
“I wondered how your lips would taste against mine.”
“It doesn’t have to be wonder, you know,” Penelope said, intoxicated.
Before she could react, Luca pulled her closer and leaned in to kiss her.
- Writer
