The golden double doors swing open with a flourish. In steps Penny, a vision of designer pink from head to toe. Her glossy blond hair flows in soft waves, eyes glinting like sapphires under perfect lashes. She's the picture of a real-life Barbie—if Barbie had a diamond-studded phone case and a personal glam team.
She tosses her purse on a marble side table like it's made of paper
"Big Daddy!Mommy!I'm home! And oh my GOSH, someone better have drawn my bath. I had to WALK around the sale racks at Dior today. SALE, Daddy. Can you imagine?" Penny shouted
Silence echoes in the grand foyer. Unusual. Too quiet.
Then she hears it—muffled voices in the sitting room. Her heels click as she walks through the glittering chandelier-lit hallway, eyes scanning the place like a queen returning to her palace
Big Daddy was sweating through his custom black suit, he sat on the leather chesterfield, hands clasped, looking ten shades paler than usual. Camille his wife, in an elegant red dress,was standing beside the window, her martini untouched for once.
Penny walks in, her brows furrowing "Okay. What's going on? Why do you both look like you've just seen a Versace outlet?" She said
Big daddy sighed deeply and said "Pumpkin… come sit down."
"Big Daddy, you're sweating. Are you dying? Is it a heart thing? Is it gout again?" Penny said dramatically but concerned at the same time
Camille gently gestures to the couch "No, darling. Sit down." She said gently, oddly gentle
Penny sits, reluctantly, legs crossed just so, waiting for someone to explain.
"It's the company, sweetheart. We… we're in trouble." Big daddy said
Penny blinks a few times looking at her dad "Oh! You mean like that one time you forgot your PayPal password? Daddy, thats not--"
"No. Real trouble. Bankruptcy. It's over. " Big daddy interrupts taking out his handkerchief from his pocket and sliding it across his forehead
A beat. Silence falls. Penny blinks again, not comprehending.
"I'm sorry, what? " Penny said
"The investors pulled out. The government contracts fell through. The private jets are... gone. Penny, the mansion is being repossessed next week." She said dramatically putting a hand on her forehead sighing
Penny's mouth falls open. Her perfectly glossed lips gaped
"You mean like... the whole mansion? Even my walk-in closet?" Penny asked
"Especially your walk-in closet. It's technically the size of a guesthouse." Big daddy said
Penny bolts to her feet.
"Are we... poor?" Penny asks
"No, darling. We're transitionally liquidationally challenged. But yes." Camille said ,she too was refusing the statement of them being poor
Penny falls back into the couch "This is a hate crime against fashion." She said softly
"We have to send you abroad. It's the only way. You'll stay with your aunt in Switzerland. They have a house there,You'll be taken care of." Big daddy said
"Switzerland?! Daddy, I don't even speak Swedish!" Penny said
"They speak French and German, dear. And you'll pick it up. Or you'll make friends with a translator. You're very... adaptable when you want to be." Camille said
"But I don't WANT to adapt! I want to stay HERE, with my things, and my friends, and my skincare fridge!" Penny said
"Pumpkin, if I had another option, I'd take it. But the creditors are coming. They're taking the cars. The wine cellar. Even the koi pond." Big daddy said
"Not the koi pond." She said
"I don't want you to go live with your sister either, Penny. She already thinks she's better than us because she shops at Whole Foods and takes public transportation. If she finds out we're broke, she'll write a memoir, and she'll call it "My Spoiled Sister: A Tale of Pink and Pain." Camille said dramatically
"We just need a year. Let us rebuild, rebrand, do something... tech-related. Everyone's doing that." Big daddy said
Penny folded her , pouting like a little child. "I don't want to go." She said
"Neither do I want to pack up this house in tears, Penny. But sometimes... life doesn't care about how good your contour is. Sometimes you just have to carry your designer bags into the unknown and pretend you're not sobbing inside." Camille said
Penny looks at them both. Her perfect pink world is crumbling like a cookie under pressure. But under all the fluff and sparkle, she has a heart.
"Fine. But I'm taking every pair of Louboutins and if I have to learn German, I swear I'm making it fashion." Penny said
"That's my girl." Big daddy said
"If you meet a prince, marry him. No prenup. Be strategic." Camille said
"Obviously." Penny said