Page 63 of One Breath After Another

Penny smiled back. “Everything clear?”

She didn’t actually wait for a response.

“Great,” Penny said, snatching her coat from the back of the chair. “I’ll be waiting outside.”

She turned to slide between the chairs and head out of the office.

“Penny,” Roz started to say.

On the other side, where Naz had been seated, he quietly said, “Just let her go, babe.”

Penny didn’t stop long enough to say thanks. She didn’t want to leave just because she showed her mean streak. No, she simply wanted distance between herself and the caseworker because she truly couldn’t stand the sight of the woman at the moment. It had been a long couple of months since Amanda started suggesting Penny be removed from the home, and she finally hit her limit.

At least she knew it.

Wasn’t removing herself from the equation—even if she did throw a tiny fit first—some growth? Penny thought so. But who knew?

She didn’t bother to stop and talk to the principal waiting outside the office with her assistant, instead opting to slip past the women and leave the outer section of the reception as well. In the hallway, empty of students as classes were in, she found a bench and sat. Pulling the phone from her bag, she stuck EarPods into her ears and within seconds, music filtered through the small speakers straight to her brain.

Everything disappeared, then.

It was just Penny, and the piano.

She still didn’t play as much as she used to—or as much as she should, according to Roz. And when she did sit down to play, it was only because she wanted to now. The piano wouldn’t be a source of pain for her ... not if she had anything to say about it.

It was a few minutes later when a familiar presence joined her on the bench. She didn’t even need to glance up from her lap to know it was Naz just by the scent of his cologne. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him fold his hands in his lap and lean forward a bit. At first, he said nothing, seemingly content to sit in silence beside Penny until Roz joined them.

Where was Roz, anyway?

Despite the music filtering through the ear pods, she still heard Naz clearly when he did finally speak. Only to say to her, “You know throwing threats doesn’t actually help us here. You don’t need me to tell you that, Penny.”

She shrugged.

What did he want her to say?

“Even if it is only you trying to get your way,” he added, chuckling like he found the whole thing amusing.

She dared to glance his way.

Naz grinned. “You don’t need to attempt to blackmail the caseworker—emotional blackmail never works very well, anyway, unless it’s someone that really gives a fuck about you. It wasn’t needed. The blackmail, I mean. I already had that side of things handled. I went the bribery route, of course.”

Penny opened her mouth to respond. He arched a brow to keep her questions silent.

“She put on a good show, though, didn’t she?” he asked.

“I hate her.”

“Yeah, us too.” Then, Naz stood from the bench, adding, “You’re not going anywhere. I promised, remember?”

“I remember.”

“Good. I always keep those.”

Penny still wondered ... “Does this mean everything goes back to normal now? Is this over?”

Naz smirked, saying, “Well, normal for us, anyway.”

Yeah, but she liked their normal.