"Look since she's already drunk, this early in the afternoon, why don't you go back to her for ten minutes then send her home in a taxi, that way you are being a good friend and also being responsible, then you come back to me".
Penelope beamed at Arthur, he was clever, not a silly man obviously, clearly wanting her to stay with him. She must admit to herself, 'that is a bloody good idea', but she hesitated.
"I can't just ditch my friend, she asked me for a drink to make me feel better"
"Why, what's wrong?" Arthur said in genuine concern.
"Nothing now" Penelope said without thinking, her face now red again.
'Ah that's because of me, why does that feel so good...?' he thought to himself as he crossed his arms, not realising he was smiling at her. Penelope couldn't help herself, she was in a good mood all of a sudden, so she decided to kiss his cheek, her first random act of affection.
Arthur's eyes grew wide, 'what the fuck, did she just kiss my cheek?!' Before Arthur could respond, Penelope giggled and spoke.
"I'll be back in ten minutes" she smirked as she walked back towards the pub.
Arthur was dumbfounded, he just stared where Penelope was stood, and found himself put a hand to where Penelope kissed his cheek. 'She actually kissed me, what the... she's cheeky', Arthur then found himself smirking, 'she's got bottle then'. Although they got off to a rocky start (no pun intended), they had utterly connected, and although Penelope was slightly defensive towards Arthur, she couldn't hide her humour and smile from him for very long.
He knew she liked him, her rosy cheeks was something she could not stop even if she tried, and her heart rate was deafening to him. But regardless of this, he had to break through all her barriers eventually, which meaned he needed as much time as possible with her. After all, Arthur wasn't a patient man in life, even in dreams...
Penelope walked back through the pub and went back over to Fiona out the front, only to realise that she was sat with a man.
"Fi?" Penelope approached Fiona cautiously.
"Oh Pen yayyyyy this is my my my Dan" Fiona hiccuped, Dan had since got another drink for Fiona.
"Alright" Dan nodded to Penelope, uninterested.
Penelope had an almost cold response, but her facial expression stayed neutral.
"Well no, my friend was clearly drunk before that drink, she doesn't need anymore, it's only one in the afternoon.
"It's none of you business" Dan huffed in response.
"Oh it is my business you have known Fiona for two minutes I've known her for years" Penelope crossed her arms.
"Guyyss guysss play *hiccup* play nice".
"Fiona you need to go home, I'll call a taxi" Penelope said with a concerned expression.
Before Penelope could get her phone out of her bag, Dan stands up and moves away from Fiona.
"So are you going to come back with us?" Dan smirked menacingly.
"No thanks I'm good" Penelope replies, short and sweet.
"It'll be a shame to see you left here all alone" Dan looks Penelope up and down.
Penelope already knew she hated this man, not just by the way he acted, by the way his face looked, she hated his fucking face... You can almost always tell if you are going to like someone by their face, some people have nice faces, this was not one of those nice faces. Granted, he wasn't a hideous man, but he just had that, you know, face you wanted to punch. 'Weaselly little shit' Penelope thought, straight away. But regardless of her own opinion, she was worried mostly for her friend.
"I won't be alone thank you", now she couldn't help herself, she was scowling.
"You are a nippy bitch you are, I should teach you a lesson" Dan began to walk towards her.
"I warn you back the fuck off" Penelope raised her voice at him.
Arthur had heard her entire current altercation with Dan, even though he was in the pub garden, he could also sense it was getting dangerous, he began to briskly make his way to the front of the pub, where Penelope, Fiona and Dan were.
"Ooohhhh Penelope come join, we can have a *hiccup* sexy sexy time together hahahaha" Fiona was out of it, one more sip of alcohol, she would become paralytic.
Before Penelope had returned to Fiona but not long walked from Arthur, he decided to call a taxi for Fiona, not just because Arthur wanted more time with Penelope, but he could sense that something was going to go south, and he had a hunch it was to do with Fiona, this is the moment that confirmed he was right. The taxi pulled up behind the table Fiona was sat on, but no one saw this, because one of them was drunk, one of them was a creep, and the last one was now fearing for her life.
"See even your good friend wants a party, come and join in love", Dan had walked Penelope backwards so much, her back was pressed against the wall of the pub.
"Leave me alone Dan" Penelope spit, half scared half angry.
"Oh no way, you are coming with us, we will have a great time" Dan at this point now grabbed Penelopes waist and pull her against him while grunting, causing Penelope to struggle.
"GET OFF ME" Penelope started to scream.
Without saying a word, Dan let go of Penelope waist, but grabbed her wrist and started dragging her to the taxi, Fiona stubbled into the taxi already.
"NO GET OFF GET OFF" Penelope screamed louder, dragging her feet along the concrete, she was now crying.
All of a sudden, like a flash of lightening, Dan was knocked to the floor, almost dragging Penelope down with him. He had scraped his hands and face on the floor, whincing.
"SHE SAID GET OFF".
Arthur was now on the scene...