Chapter Text
Penelope scanned the crowd around her. She was in the middle of a concert, yet somehow she felt strangely out of place amidst the sea of people, standing there all alone. She was about to step back when she looked up and locked eyes with a man.
He stood around six feet tall, with dark brown hair and the most remarkable shade of deep blue eyes.
Colin.
He tilted his head to the side as he looked at her, causing a smile to spread across her face. Colin smiled back, flashing his pearly white teeth. It was as if the crowd around them disappeared and the noise seemed to fade into nothingness. Neither of them even noticed as they slowly drifted closer to one another.
When they finally stood face-to-face, they rested their foreheads together. Both smiled with their eyes closed, savoring each other's breath. Slowly, they leaned in even further. Only a few inches remained between them before their lips could finally meet when—
"And... cut!"
The director's shout made both Penelope and Colin snap their eyes open. They immediately pulled apart before exchanging amused smiles that quickly dissolved into laughter.
"That's a good shot! Nice job, Penelope and Colin. You're really good at this." The amusement in Will's eyes made Penelope shake her head.
"You're inflating our egos again, Will. But thank you." She grinned just as she felt Colin sling an arm around her shoulders.
"She carried that scene, Will. It's all Pen," Colin praised. Unused to compliments, Penelope jabbed him lightly with her elbow.
"Oh, shut up. If we're going down that road, it's both of us, Colin." His only response was a charming smirk.
"Penelope's right, Colin. I praised both of you," Will said with a wink. "That's what makes you two so good. You bring out the best in each other in every scene. That's what makes Polin work." The mention of their ship name earned matching smiles from both of them.
"Thank you, Mondrich," Colin replied with a genuine grin. Will merely waved them off before turning his attention back to the production team handling the commercial they had been filming all day. It was for a toothpaste endorsement set to launch during the upcoming Miss Universe pageant. No wonder their jaws ached from smiling at each other for hours.
Since Colin still had an arm draped over her shoulders, he naturally guided her toward their dressing room. Penelope reached up and lightly held the hand resting on her shoulder as they walked. And despite their sore jaws, neither of them could stop smiling at the staff members they passed along the way.
"Alright, lovebirds, time to change. You're scheduled to record your single next." Penelope's manager, Alice, greeted them as soon as they entered. Meanwhile, Colin's manager, Bertram, simply handed Colin his tumbler, patted him on the shoulder, and left carrying some of the items from the shoot.
Penelope grimaced. Not only because she had been reminded that they're about to record a remastered version of a song for their upcoming movie, but because of Bertram's behavior. She had long since accepted that Bertram Fife disliked her as Colin's love team partner. But the way he openly ignored her simply because of that dislike was bordering on unprofessional. It wasn't the first time, yet somehow, it still stung.
"That fucking asshole," Colin hissed, dropping his arm from around her shoulders. "Anthony choosing him as my manager is something I'll never understand. I swear, I need to free us from that man." Still visibly annoyed, he walked toward the dressing table.
"What do you mean us?" Alice shot back. "That's a you problem, Colin. Penelope is doing just fine being managed by me." The irritation on Alice's face because of Fife's disrespect quickly disappeared, and was now replaced by a grin as she helped Penelope gather the clothes she'd be wearing for the recording.
"Alice, I know. Honestly, I'm jealous she has you. I wish you could manage both of us." Colin sighed as he began unbuttoning his shirt. Heat immediately rushed to Penelope's face the moment he took it off completely.
She looked away immediately and grabbed the yellow summer dress she'd be wearing for the recording. Almost three years into their love team and Penelope still wasn't used to Colin's insistence on sharing a dressing room. In fact, it had been his idea, he constantly argued that they were childhood friends and were already comfortable around each other. But when she had first agreed, she'd been thrilled by the idea of having Colin around every time they prepared for a shoot.
But now? There was a small part of her that regretted it, because she still couldn't stop herself from getting flustered whenever he casually changed clothes in front of her. To be fair, Colin had asked for her consent. He had asked if she was comfortable with it and she had immediately said yes. Not because she was comfortable, but because she was hopelessly and irrevocably in love with him, and everything he did left her flustered. Biting her lower lip at the thought, she spoke.
"Then why are you dragging me into the mess that is Bertram Fife?" The loud bark of Colin's laughter followed her as she stepped into the small bathroom attached to the dressing room. She couldn't help smiling at the sound.
"God, I love you, Pen. What a fucking barb!" Her heart immediately sped up. She quickly removed the red, fitted, sparkly dress she'd worn for the commercial and changed into the much more comfortable yellow summer dress.
As a friend, Penelope. He loves you as a friend.
She repeated the reminder to her foolish heart.
"Well, he is our problem," Colin called back. "Because I can't keep letting him disrespect you like that, Pen. He's my manager. That means he should give you the respect you're owed." The irritation had returned to his voice. She even heard Alice exclaim, "I know that's right!" from somewhere outside the bathroom.
Standing before the mirror above the sink, she ran a hand through the red hair that had been styled into silky waves for the commercial instead of its natural curly auburn texture. At first, her smile looked strained whenever she remembered there were still people who didn't want her paired with Colin. Eventually, though, it began to look natural.
She might be a rookie in show business, but she knew damn well how to act and appear unaffected. Well, being Portia Featherington's daughter tended to teach a person that skill. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the bathroom. A teasing smirk now played on her lips.
"As if Anthony would actually let you switch managers just because your current one doesn't like me." Colin sighed and shook his head.
"Pen, you know my family loves you. Honestly, I think they love you more than they love me. Anthony's no different. The second I tell him how Fife treats you, he'll have someone replacing him immediately." He spoke while packing away some of his things. Beside him stood Annie, his personal hair and makeup assistant, who was tidying up the products she'd used on him earlier.
A sad smile tugged at Penelope's lips. "But we can't tell him, Colin." She looked away and retrieved her phone from the tote bag Alice had given her.
"We still have something to prove to Anthony. I want him to see how successful you've become on the path you chose. You picked show business over joining your family's company, and I want him to see you doing so well that you won't have to rely on him for anything anymore."
She glanced at herself in the vanity mirror. Through the reflection, she saw Alice and Annie silently signaling that they were heading out first, she nodded with a smile and waited until they had left before facing Colin again.
"I still remember the day he belittled you in front of your entire family for wanting to become an actor. I'm still angry about what he did to you." Her voice remained firm. "It was your birthday, for God's sake. So no, we're putting up with Bertram until he eventually gets tired of us himself."
She watched Colin's expression soften. Without warning, he crossed the room and pulled her into a hug. Because of their height difference, he accidentally lifted her off the ground for a moment when he straightened, making her squeal before bursting into laughter.
"Colin! Put me down!" He immediately set her down again before gently cupping her cheeks. When their eyes met, she noticed the faint sheen of tears in his. Her own gaze softened.
"Thank you, Pen," he said fervently. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you for being here." He sniffed and reluctantly let go.
"Honestly, I've started feeling insecure. Even after everything Anthony said during my birthday dinner, I still had to go to him for help in finding a manager. Sometimes it feels like I don't know what I'm doing, and Anthony's the only one who can help me. So I ended up swallowing my pride and asking for his help anyway." Penelope immediately shook her head.
"No, Colin." Her voice was firm. "He owed you that help after humiliating you like that on your birthday. Helping you find a manager was the least he could do." She crossed her arms. "And frankly, he still managed to fail at that. Because just look at the monstrosity that is Fife." She rolled her eyes and Colin burst out laughing before pulling her into another hug.
"Thank you, Pen," he murmured against her neck. "I really don't know what I'd do without you. I'm so glad you're the one I'm partnered with." Penelope rested her chin on his shoulder, rising onto her toes slightly to make up for their height difference.
"I'm so glad it's you too, Colin," she whispered.
ⓉⒽⒺ ⓄⓃⒺ ⓉⒽⒶⓉ ⒼⓄⓉ ⒶⓌⒶⓎ
As the final notes of remastered Endless Love faded from the studio speakers, Penelope pulled off her headphones and finally exhaled. Across the recording booth, Colin flashed her a thumbs-up through the glass, a charming grin spread across his face. She couldn't help smiling back.
Even after years of working together, singing with Colin still felt effortless, despite her not being confident about her singing. Their voices blended together naturally, as though they had been performing duets their entire lives. Though Penelope could argue about that entire lives part.
They had practically been attached at the hip ever since Colin crashed his bicycle when he was nine because of a ridiculous hat. Well, technically, because of her hat. Or rather, Prudence's old hat that Portia had forced six-year-old Penelope to wear. It had been far too large for her, and a strong gust of wind had promptly carried it away before smacking directly into the face of an innocent Colin Bridgerton, who had simply been minding his own business while riding his bike.
The rest, as they said, was history.
"That's a wrap!" The producer's voice echoed through the room, pulling her back to the present. "Fantastic work, you two. We're done for today."
A chorus of congratulations followed from the sound engineers and staff. Colin immediately threw an arm around her shoulders when he got near her.
"See? Told you we'd nail it." The pride in his voice made Penelope roll her eyes.
To this day, she still had very little confidence in her singing abilities as she had only recently started taking vocal lessons, after all. It's because the singing was simply part of the contract. Well, as long as they remained a love team, they would continue recording duets together. Duets to songs that are not even their original and were just remastered to add for the nostalgia factor.
"You say that before every recording." She answered playfully while his grin only widened.
"Because I'm always right." The smugness in his voice made her wince dramatically.
"Uh, debatable. Tell that to the sound engineers who probably had to drown my voice in enough auto-tune to make me sound decent." Colin barked out a laugh at that which earned him a jab from Penelope using her elbow.
"Ow!" Before she could think of another comeback, Alice appeared beside them holding a tablet.
"Sorry to interrupt this riveting conversation, but your schedule for tomorrow is packed, Penelope." Penelope groaned dramatically. She was already exhausted just by thinking about it.
"Can I have one day where I don't work?" Her pout earned nothing more than a raised eyebrow from Alice.
"No." And the woman actually smirked.
"You're a terrible manager." She whined like a spoiled child, which earned another chuckle from Colin.
"I know." Alice shrugged unapologetically.
"Damn, Alice. I take back what I said earlier about wishing you managed me too." Colin finally dropped his arm from her shoulders and picked up his bag from the black leather sofa.
"At least I'm actually present for the person I manage," Alice shot back. "You? Where exactly is your manager?" Colin immediately grimaced while Penelope couldn't stop the snort that escaped her. Alice grinned triumphantly before glancing back at her schedule.
"Penelope, my poor overworked child, you have to film an interview tomorrow afternoon with Emma Chamberlain for her podcast. You'll be discussing the upcoming movie, of course." Penelope simply sighed and nodded.
"After that, you're heading to the fitting for your premiere gown." At that, she immediately perked up.
"Now that's the important part." Her excitement was so sudden that she accidentally smacked Colin's shoulder. "Aww," he teased.
"Of course it is," Alice agreed enthusiastically. Seizing the opportunity, Penelope immediately asked the question that had been tormenting her for weeks.
"Can I know who designed it?"
"No."
"Alice."
"No."
"Please, Alice."
"No."
"Alice!"
"No."
"Just tell me if it's Genevieve Delacroix."
"No."
Penelope let out a dramatic whine while beside her, Colin snorted.
"You sound like a child." She immediately pointed at him.
"You're one to talk. You're the same person who cried when production refused to tell you what color your costume was for our movie poster shoot."
"That was entirely different. I wanted to make sure we matched." He immediately defended.
"It absolutely was not." She crossed her arms. "You wanted to wear yellow while I was wearing blue."
"Well, yellow and blue have been partners forever!" Penelope rolled her eyes. "There's literally no rule that says blue and yellow have to be paired together all the time." She answered.
"Well, in my book there is." He pointed at her as if making an irrefutable argument. "Yellow and blue are partners for life. Those were the colors we were wearing when we met, fyi. They're practically our official colors now, Bridgerton Blue and Featherington Yellow."
"I never read your book."
"Then you should."
"I don't want to accept my family's official color that only you appointed, either."
"You don't get a choice." Colin looked entirely too pleased with himself. "That's part of our history now, Pen."
Children, Alice thought. Her gaze moved between the two childhood friends, she opened her mouth to say something when her phone suddenly rang. Her expression immediately changed when she saw the caller ID. Will, her husband.
"Sorry, hold on." She stepped away to answer. The debate over yellow and blue finally paused as both Colin and Penelope turned to watch her. A few moments later, Alice's eyebrows furrowed.
"Oh, for God's sake." Penelope frowned as Alice ended the call and turned back toward them. The concern on both their faces made her smile reassuringly.
"I need to deal with a situation downstairs. Apparently my husband and children are attempting to surprise me for Mother's Day." She sighed dramatically. "Which would be lovely if Mother's Day wasn't next month." The fondness in her expression outweighed her irritation which made Penelope giggle.
"Of course, Alice. Go ahead without me. I'll just finish packing up my things and head out after." Alice frowned at that.
"Are you sure?" With that, Penelope nodded. "Yes. I'll catch up later." Before Alice could reply, Colin draped an arm around Penelope once again.
"Yeah, Alice. Go ahead. I'll look after your favorite client." Penelope snorted. "I've been taking care of her longer than you have, thank you very much." Alice rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, Bridgerton. Why don't you just become your own manager while you're at it?" Colin laughed and Alice then squeezed Penelope's shoulder.
"Go home sweetheart, and take a rest, you've earned it." Penelope smiled and nodded.
"Alright. See you tomorrow. Give my love to the children and Will." Alice's smile softened.
"Will do." A moment later, she hurried out of the recording studio. The second she disappeared, Colin smirked down at Penelope.
"Well, Featherington, looks like I've got you all to myself again." Penelope looked up at him. She was just about to respond when his phone rang.
"Damn it. Attention-seeking menace." He pulled his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants with irritation before answering. Penelope bit back a laugh as she packed up the rest of her things.
"Fine. Fine. I'm coming." His tone was irritated enough to make her glance over. A few seconds later, he ended the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket. His frustration was obvious.
"Fife wants me upstairs. Apparently Sir Cowper wants to speak with me." The annoyance in his voice immediately made Penelope frown and instinctively, she checked her own phone.
No messages. Which was strange because whenever Colin was called in for something, she was usually called in too. That was one of the realities of being a packaged love team. But for now, she simply shrugged.
"Go ahead then. I didn't get any message asking for me." She nonchalantly said as she zipped up her bag. "Maybe it's something related to a solo project." Colin sighed.
"That's odd." She smirked when she heard that. "Exactly what I thought." She said. Still, she offered him a reassuring smile.
"But go. I'll wait for you in the parking lot so we can head home together." The smile that immediately spread across Colin's face made her chest warm.
"You're the best, Pen." Before she could react, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Which made heat instantly flood her face.
"Please wait for me," he said, already backing toward the door. "I'll see you later." Then he hurried out, carrying his bag with him while Penelope remained frozen in place, flustered. Hopelessly flustered.
After a moment, she finally shook herself out of it and gathered the last of her belongings. Get yourself together, Featherington.
Once everything was packed away, she said goodbye to the remaining staff, who had very wisely chosen not to interrupt her earlier conversation with Colin, and left the recording studio to head down the hallway towards the elevator.
XYZ Entertainment's headquarters were unusually quiet for a Wednesday. Normally, on days like this, producers, managers, directors, and executives would be rushing through the halls, moving from one meeting to another in an endless cycle of pitches, negotiations, and approvals.
Tonight, however, the hallway she was walking through after leaving the recording studio was eerily silent. Perhaps most of the staff had already gone home for the evening. The soft click of her shoes echoed against the polished floor as she passed rehearsal rooms, editing suites, and executive offices.
She was almost at the elevators when she noticed something odd. One of the meeting rooms was slightly open, but the frosted glass walls prevented her from seeing who was inside. Normally, she would have continued walking but then, she heard Colin's name. Penelope froze.
"...I'm telling you, Colin Bridgerton deserves better." The voice belonged to Bertram Fife, and immediately, she stopped moving. Because she knew damn well that whenever someone started talking about Colin deserving better, they usually meant one thing. They were talking about her.
Slowly, she stepped backward, then she carefully pressed herself against the wall beside the door. Thankfully, the opening was narrow enough that she remained hidden from view. Inside the room, another man chuckled and the voice was instantly familiar. Nigel Berbrooke, one of the company's most trusted casting directors.
"I agree completely," Nigel said. Penelope swallowed as she felt her stomach dropped.
"What exactly are we doing then?" Bertram asked impatiently. Nigel sounded far too pleased with himself when he replied.
"Simple. I've already spoken with President Cowper and we've come up with something more believable to the people." Penelope felt her pulse quicken. "And?" Bertram asked impatiently.
"And I've convinced him that Colin's current love team has reached its ceiling." A knot immediately formed in Penelope's chest as she felt her eyes immediately began to sting. They hadn't even said it outright yet, but she already knew. She was about to be replaced.
Bertram laughed. "Fucking finally!"
"Let's be honest," Nigel continued. "Colin has leading-man looks. The height, the charm, the family name. Audiences adore him." There was a brief pause. "I'm still amazed Agatha managed to convince Cowper to pair them together in the first place. They're childhood friends, that's all. The audience only got attached because they'd spent months watching Penelope during her Big Brother UK run." Penelope clenched her jaw.
"Exactly," Bertram agreed. "And now we've gotten everything we can out of that story." Then he laughed. "Imagine having all of that good qualities, and he's standing next to Featherington." The two men laughed together, and Penelope's fingers tightened around the strap of her bag.
She wanted to leave. God, she wanted to leave. Every morning, she spent far too much time staring into a mirror and convincing herself that she deserved to be here. That she belonged in this industry, that she had earned every opportunity she had been given to. And listening to this conversation was undoing all of that work. Yet she stayed. Not even for herself, because she's no glutton for hearing someone disparage her, but for Colin. Because if they were planning something involving him, she wanted to know.
Nigel sighed dramatically. "It's not even a believable visual pairing. Colin is too attractive for her. Half of her supporters only like her because she's standing beside him and because people nowadays insist that everyone is beautiful."
Bertram snorted. "Look at their promotional photos."
"Exactly." Nigel laughed.
"Colin towers over her. She's too short, too soft-looking, and too ordinary." Bertram scoffed. "They want aspirational couples." Neither man sounded remotely ashamed and Penelope felt her throat burn with that.
For a brief moment, she wanted to storm into the room and scream at both of them, but she couldn't. The scandal alone would be catastrophic if someone is to report that to any media. And if she caused a scene, Colin would inevitably be dragged into it too.
Colin. Was that why he'd been called upstairs? Had President Cowper already decided? The thought made her eyes burn. She wanted nothing more than to go home and cry herself to sleep.
"She's lucky she got paired with him in the first place," Nigel continued.
"She really made use of their friendship, huh." Bertram's voice dripped with contempt. "She's mediocre at best. The only reason anyone notices her is because she's standing next to Colin."
The words landed like physical blows and Penelope swallowed hard. She knew not everyone liked her, and she knew she wasn't the industry's preferred image. She was shorter than most actresses, her face was covered in freckles that makeup artists constantly tried to hide, her hair was too curly. And above all else, she wasn't thin enough to fit neatly into the beauty standards the industry worshipped. She had always known that.
And she knew their love team's popularity was often credited to Colin. Colin, who was tall. Colin, who was effortlessly handsome. Colin, whose deep blue eyes that seemed capable of speaking entire conversations on their own. Colin, who came from one of the most beloved families in the country. But more than anything—Colin, who was genuinely kind.
She knew people talked, but hearing it spoken aloud like this hurt in a way anonymous online comments never could. Inside the room, Nigel continued.
"And above all else, the replacement is perfect." Penelope's stomach twisted. She had expected this from the very beginning. Love teams ended all the time, actors got replaced, new pairings were created. But it still hurt. Mostly because she knew it meant her days with Colin were numbered.
"Why settle for Penelope Featherington when we can have the perfect Clara Livingston?" The name hit her like a punch.
Beautiful Clara Livingston, who was already known since her birth because she's the daughter of one of the biggest actors of the nineties. Immediately, Bertram laughed. The delight in his voice was unmistakable when he spoke.
"Now that's a star." Nigel hummed approvingly. "Beautiful. Elegant. Sophisticated." A low whistle followed. "And she actually looks like someone who belongs beside Colin." Penelope squeezed her eyes shut, a painful lump formed in her throat.
"She's nearly his height too," Bertram added. "The visual balance alone is miles better." Nigel chuckled. "Not to mention she fits every beauty standard audiences want right now."
"That's fucking right." Something sharp lodged itself in Penelope's chest. She had expected this, she really had. But expectation did not lessen the pain.
"People want glamour and romance," Bertram said. "They don't want..." He paused. "...whatever that Featherington girl is supposed to be." Nigel laughed again.
"Colin and Clara will sell themselves. The chemistry is already there, and visually they're perfect together." His voice practically dripped with arrogance. "They'll have a much easier time than trying to convince audiences that Colin Bridgerton would ever fall for Penelope Featherington."
The room erupted into laughter and Penelope stopped listening. Because suddenly all she could hear was her own heartbeat and the cruel comments she'd spent years pretending didn't bother her. The social media posts, the comparisons to other love teams, the endless discussions about whether she was pretty enough.
Thin enough.
Tall enough.
Good enough.
She had learned to smile through all of it while pretending none of it mattered. To convince herself that talent would always matter more than appearances. Even when she spent countless mornings trying to convince herself she looked good enough standing beside Colin. Yet standing outside that room, listening to powerful men discuss her as though she were a problem to be fixed, as though she were some embarrassing burden attached to Colin, hurt more than she wanted to admit.
A tear finally slipped down her cheek. For one awful moment, she found herself wondering if they were right. If Colin would be better off with someone like Clara.
Clara who is taller, prettier... sexier. Clara, who fits neatly into the industry's impossible standards. Someone who wasn't her.
The thought hurt more than anything else. Because despite everything, despite every reminder she gave herself, she was hopelessly in love with him. And she was terrified of the changes that were about to come. Hearing strangers discuss replacing her in his life felt far too much like losing him. Even if he had never truly been hers to begin with.
Before the sob lodged in her throat could escape, Penelope hurried away from the door. She turned sharply toward the elevators. She needed to leave immediately. She also needed distance and time. A chance to teach herself how to accept what was coming.
That Polin would soon come to an end and that she would soon be replaced.