Blood in the Golden Palace

Chapter 2: Penny-2

Penny tilted her head. “It really does draw your eye.” The piss yellow paint was to thank for that. Penny smiled. “You almost done with it?”

“Soon, I think.” Vivian wandered back to her stool and splashed her snubbed paintbrush across the messy canvas. “I think this will be the one, Penny, I can feel it in my bones. The big sale.”

“Should I call up the Louvre?”

“Oh you hush.”

Penny chuckled and headed back to the kitchen. “I’ll get started on supper.” She opened the fridge door and frowned. They’d need to hit the supermarket up soon; all they had currently was a carton of eggs, old milk, a half case of seltzer water, a quarter bag of shredded cheese, an open box of chicken stock, and some questionable vegetables. “Hm.” She checked the cupboards. Flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, half a bag of chips, a can of spam, a few packs of ramen…She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Oh! Is there butter in the freezer?” She checked. Sure enough, she’d thought to put a stick of butter in the freezer door a few days ago. She grinned and whipped around. “How does quiche sound for dinner, Viv?”

“Sounds good to me!” came Vivian’s answer.

And so, Penny set to work. First, she took the frozen butter and cubed it, working it into a simple flour and salt mixture, and eventually adding ice water to make a pie crust. Once it was kneaded thoroughly, she rolled it out and over a pie tin, which she weighted down with dried beans on a sheet of aluminum. While the crust was baking a bit, she began to work on the filling. The rest of their eggs, cheese, salt, and—lucky enough—a salvageable bag of spinach later, it was ready. Once the crust was pre-baked, Penny took it from the oven, poured in the mix, set it inside, and started the timer on her phone.

“Oh hey, Vivian,” she called, cleaning up her baking mess.

“Hmm?” Vivian had wandered out for a glass of water.

“You’re not going to need me Saturday night, are you?”

Vivian’s eyes lit up. “No. Why? You got some big plans?”

“Daisy’s dragging me out to a club. Probably all night.”

“Well that sounds like fun!” Vivian clapped her hands together. “What are you gonna wear? You meeting anyone? You need me to make myself scarce if you decide to come home with a date?”

“Vivian, come on,” Penny laughed. “Relax. I’ll probably just go, have a couple of drinks, and babysit Daisy while she gets plastered and slobbers all over her boyfriend. Then I’ll Uber us home and go to bed.”

Vivian clicked her tongue. “Youth is wasted on the young, I swear.” She sat at the table and cleaned off her most recently used brush. “You’re at least gonna throw on some makeup or something, yeah? Put on some eyeliner…Maybe a little rouge for those pale cheeks of yours.”

Penny rolled her eyes. “I swear you’re as bad as Daisy.”

“Hey!” Vivian defended. “At least Daisy got herself a man, didn’t she?” Penny laughed; there was no arguing that point. Once the quiche was done, they ate together, and Penny took a look at her closet while Vivian went back to painting. She thumbed through what she had. A few old dresses. One from high school, in fact. Nothing that screamed “club.” Maybe a nice pair of jeans would do instead? Though she wondered if Daisy would have an aneurysm if she showed up in pants. As if she had heard Penny’s thoughts, her phone lit up as a text from Daisy came in:

We’re going shopping after work.

* * * *

It was a cold night that Saturday. The kind that made Penny wish she’d stayed home, curled up in front of her laptop with a nice, warm tea. But instead, she was clinging desperately to her jacket as she followed Daisy toward the front door of the Golden Palace. The fact that she was cold was only half the reason why. The other half had to do with the sparkly silver number that Daisy had convinced her to buy and bullied her to wear. It was definitely not Penny’s usual fare: a backless, spaghetti strap slip dress with silver sequins, barely reaching to her mid-thigh. She was thankful, at least, that her coat made it to her knees.

“I swear to God, where the hell is he?” Daisy looked at her phone. Unlike her compatriot, Daisy was perfectly comfortable in her two piece crop top and flared skirt, complete with pump heels and a feathery jacket which probably didn’t insulate quite as well as it should have. They stood away from the rest of the line, Daisy texting furiously. “I swear, if he’s not working tonight…”

“Relax,” said Penny, “I’m sure he’s around.”

“Yeah.”

“Penny?” The two turned to see none other than David smiling their way. He wore a casual shirt and jeans, with an athletic coat zipped half way. He grinned. “Hey, glad this wasn’t a prank,” he joked.

“There’s still time,” Penny said wistfully.

“Oh! He finally texted back!” Daisy rounded to the pair of them with a grin. “Come on, this way.” She took Penny’s hand and dragged them both over to the left side of the main entrance. The bouncer eyed them, but did nothing, as they were far enough away from the rope not to cause a disturbance. While Daisy did her best to watch for her boyfriend, David and Penny stood awkwardly beside one another. Penny wondered if she should try and make small talk, but considering that she was a small fish out of anything resembling water, she found herself tongue tied. Fortunately, David did the work.

“So,” he began, “are you into the club scene or anything?”

“Who me?” Penny said with a nervous smile. “Oh no, not really.”

“Oh?” David c****d an eyebrow. “Then why are you here?”

Penny’s stomach did a back flip. “Well uh…It’s Daisy, she—she’s really insistent. And I’m kind of a pushover,” she finished with a laugh.

David’s smile remained ever so attractive. “A pushover, huh?”

“Yeah. Have been all my life.”

“There you are!” Daisy’s words brought them out of their conversation. Milo, Daisy’s boyfriend, trotted towards them. He wore a security uniform which fit well over his stocky build. Between his bulging biceps and the tattoos crawling up the side of his neck, it was easy to see why Daisy liked him. Without any kind of decorum, Daisy flung her arms around Milo and kissed him far too intimately for a public setting. Not bothered, Milo pulled his head back and addressed the others.

“These your friends?” he asked.

“Oh yeah.” Daisy took Penny’s hand. “Penny, this is Milo. Don’t worry, I told him all about you. And that’s David. He’s one of our regulars at the shop.”

“Hey,” David greeted politely. “So how does this work? You sneak us in through the back of what?”

Milo laughed. “Come on, let’s get you checked in.” Boldly, Milo swat Daisy’s backside and walked them towards the front. The bouncer let them both in, and Milo lead them to the coat check. “Ladies? Feel free to leave your coats and bags here.” Daisy removed her jacket without hesitation, though Penny only clung tighter to hers.

“O-oh. Um. I’d rather just hang on to mine…”

“Sorry,” Milo said. “You gotta check your stuff here.”

“Why?”

Milo shrugged. “I don’t ask questions. But rules are rules. No coat check, no entry.”

“Well!” Penny said. “Then I guess I can’t go in. Darn, I’ll just head on back home.”

“Pennnnnnyyyy,” Daisy moaned, taking her arm. “Come on, don’t do this to me! We’re inside! Just leave the coat, girl.”

Penny hesitated. “What about my phone? This dress doesn’t have pockets…”

“Just stuff it in your bra like a normal person.” Daisy demonstrated, and Milo laughed, flirtatiously prodding at her sides.

“Hey.” Penny turned to David. “I’ll carry your phone and stuff. Don’t sweat it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

With her nerves twisting up in her gut, Penny undid the belt of her jacket and handed it off, making sure to keep her wallet and phone in hand. She tried to ignore Daisy’s grin as she took her number and shoved it into her billfold.

“Hot damn, girl,” Daisy teased, “you look even better in that under all these lights.”

Penny smiled awkwardly, keeping her arms folded in front of her. Heart palpitating, she glanced over at David. His eyes hadn’t left her, and he smiled.

“Wow,” he said, eyeing her up and down. Penny felt practically naked with all the attention. David shook his head and held out his hand. “Here.” Penny handed over her things, trying not to look too embarrassed. David shoved the phone and wallet into his jean pocket. “You look awesome, Penny. Seriously.”

“I told you,” Daisy sang. She whipped around to Milo and took his arm. “Now let’s get this started! I’m dying for a drink!” With that, the four of them headed out to the floor, and Penny looked around. Occasionally, she’d catch a glimpse of detail on the walls or against the high ceiling. It certainly lived up to its legacy. Hell, even the name “palace” was apt; this place was huge. Daisy immediately dove for one of the bars, and Milo opened up a tab for the four of them. Penny didn’t envy the credit bill he’d get after tonight. They started with a few shots, and then migrated to cocktails. Penny resolved to nurse her singular vodka cranberry for the rest of the night. But eventually, Milo had to go back to working, and Daisy insisted that Penny dance with her. Leaving David to watch the drinks, Penny and Daisy gyrated into the crowd, eventually finding a pocket of air to dance in. Now, Penny never considered herself a dancer, but from the look of the rest of the crowd, she didn’t exactly have stiff competition. Mainly due to the sheer volume of alcohol that left the bars at any given time.

The night went smoothly after that. Despite the Palace not really being her speed, Daisy’s enthusiasm eventually made the night worth it. Not to mention the fact that David was there, and very much in the mood to keep Penny engaged. Once Milo went on his next break, David and Penny found a quiet-ish spot on the couches to chat while their hosts went off to grind on each other.

“Are you having fun?” David asked, leaning in a bit so that Penny could hear.

“Surprisingly,” Penny answered. She stirred the very much melted ice at the bottom of her empty glass. “My feet really hurt though. I think I want to relax for a little bit.”

“You know there’s supposed to be a pool on the roof,” David said. “You want to go see?”

Penny lit up. “Sure!” Maybe she could even dunk her feet into the water to help soothe them. “Though…it’s January. Are people seriously out in the cold at this time of year?”

“There’s supposed to be super powerful heaters set up everywhere,” David explained. “I overheard somebody talk about it.” He paused, noticing her empty glass. With a smile, he stood, and motioned her to follow. “Why don’t we get you a new drink?” He placed a hand on the small of her back, and Penny’s gut twisted. She wasn’t sure if that was a good twist or a bad twist, but it was definitely a twist of some kind. After a quick stroll to the bar, David realized how difficult it was going to be to worm through the crowd for a new drink. He looked around and spotted an opening on the other end. He turned to her. “Hey, chill out here for a sec. I’ll be back.” Penny nodded and watched David brave the crowd to try and catch the bartender’s attention.