"You okay?" Grant asked as they buckled into their first-class seats, Penny having been quiet during the ride to the airport.
"Yeah, just...it's not easy for me, either," she said, sighing. "Is Mom okay?"
"She'll be fine," Grant assured her. "She had her tears, but I kept her distracted the way she likes."
"I'll just bet you did," Penny said, laughing. "Lucky her."
"Lucky me," Grant said, smiling.
With the time difference, it was still mid-morning when they landed at Heathrow Airport in London where a limousine from The Londoner hotel was waiting for them. Located on the southwestern corner of iconic Leicester Square in the middle of the theater district, with bars, pubs, and restaurants everywhere, The Londoner is the epitome of 5-star luxury.
"Mr. and Mrs. Studder, welcome to The Londoner," the manager at the reception desk greeted them when they arrived as he accepted their passports. "We have the Tower Penthouse Suite ready for you."
"Let them think what they want," Penny said, giggling as they rode the elevator up with the bellhop, feeling her father's chagrin.
"With the compliments of the house," the bellhop said, indicating the bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin La Grande champagne in a wine bucket and a platter of assorted patisseries. "Would you like me to put your clothes away?" he asked.
"No, thank you, we'll manage," Grant replied as they looked around.
"Would you like me to open the champagne for you?" the bellhop inquired.
"Yes, please," Penny replied, smiling at Grant.
"It's the middle of the morning," Grant said.
"It's early evening to us," Penny pointed out. "This place is incredible," she said, standing at the window looking down over Leicester Square. "What a view!"
"I should make some calls, find out what our schedule is going to be like," Grant said.
"Would you please just sit down and enjoy the champagne with me for a minute?" Penny asked, dragging him down onto the sofa. "We're in London. All work and no play makes Grant boring."
"We're not here to play," Grant pointed out, leaning back. "We're here to work."
"There's no reason that we can't do some of both," Penny said. "This is good, but it's making my head spin," she said as she drained her flute of champagne. "And I'm still suffering from jet lag. Mmm, this place has a spa," she noted, looking through the book of amenities on the coffee table in front of them. "Maybe I'll treat myself."
"It might help with your jet lag," Grant suggested.
"A massage wouldn't hurt you, either," Penny pointed out.
"Maybe later," Grant said. "You go ahead. Today's a free day. Tomorrow you're going to start earning your paycheck."
Penny found The Retreat in the sub-basement, an entire floor dedicated to wellness. She enjoyed a body scrub, then a hydrotherapeutic treatment, followed by a full-body massage and a facial before returning just over three hours later to the suite where she found Grant on the phone.
"Feel better?" Grant asked as he finished his call, smiling at her.
"Much," Penny replied. "I don't feel like death warmed over anymore. But I need a nap now. Wake me for dinner, okay?"
"Another two, three hours," Grant said, looking at his watch.
"That sounds great," Penny said.
Undressing and crawling into the huge, king-sized bed, Penny was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the soft, feather pillow, only awakening when Grant shook her shoulder. Rolling over onto her back, the sheet slipped from her upper body, her naked breasts and their large ruby nipples pointing at the ceiling.
"You want to sleep the night through or get up and get something to eat?" Grant asked.
"No, I should get up and eat something," Penny said, sitting up and stretching. "I'll never adjust to the time change if I just sleep now. God, I needed that nap," she said as she got to her feet. "Give me a few minutes to dress," she said, going over to open her suitcase, Grant shaking his head when she bent over, giving him an unobstructed view of her starred rosebud and pussy from behind, her long inner lips pouting apart invitingly.
"You like?" Penny asked when she appeared in the living room dressed in a short skirt with a pale pink blouse, her breasts visible through the sheer material and her large ruby nipples poking out.
"You look great," Grant replied, getting to his feet.
They went down to The Londoner's signature restaurant, Whitcomb's, located on a terrace overlooking Leicester Square.
"I'm hungry, but I don't want to stuff myself," Penny said, ordering escargots to start, then appetizers of tuna tartare with confit egg yolk and Ossetia caviar, and yellowtail carpaccio with citrus and miso salt. She also ordered a side dish of garlic-baked mushrooms, while Grant also ordered escargots, along with Dover sole. "I think that I should take it easy on the alcohol until my body clock is better adjusted," she said, ordering a bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling water, while Grant opted for iced tea.
At Penny's insistence, they took a walk around Leicester Square when they finished, taking in the energy of the thronging crowd of people out for an evening of fun.
"I think that I'll stay out for a bit," Penny said when Grant indicated a preference to return to the hotel. "Suddenly I'm wide awake."
"Don't stay out too late," Grant warned. "We have an 11:00 meeting in the morning."
"I won't," Penny promised, hugging him before watching him return to the hotel.
Wandering around the square, Penny stumbled upon Waxy O'Connor's, an Irish pub that seemed to be full of partying people. Entering, she noticed that everything was wood, the walls, the tables, creating a very warm feeling, especially full of boisterous people. Making her way to the bar, she ordered a glass of white wine and then began to explore, realizing how big the place was, with a total of four bars on six different levels.
"Easy there, cute thing," a muscular, shaven-headed Black man said in a heavy English accent, catching her when she ran into him.
"I'm sorry," Penny said, collecting herself.
"American, are you?" the man asked, smiling.
