There's Nothing Stopping You

If she was going to successfully feign being Penelope Cross, she would need to know things like passwords and PIN numbers. What would her PIN even be here? Back home, it was the last four digits of her high school student ID number.

That was the problem with coming to a parallel world. There were so many tiny differences that had to be accounted for.

Roman might know her PINs or passwords but then she would have to explain why she was asking. Saying she forgot probably wouldn't cut it.

Penelope sighed and gave up for now. She opened her phone with touch ID—she didn't know the pin for that either but at least their fingerprints were the same—and started checking everything she could for more information about her doppelgänger.

There were a few familiar apps like Facebook and the ones that were automatically installed on iPhones. Mypix and a few other apps that looked like they had something to do with social media were inside the same group. She saw a weather app, some banking apps, and some unfamiliar phone games as well.

She decided to check the phone's camera roll and found that a good chunk of the photos were either of her and Roman alone or consisted of large groups of friends. Percy and her parents appeared frequently too but she didn't recognize anyone else.

Checking Mypix or Facebook would probably be more helpful because these strangers' names might be included there. Penelope opened up Mypix and found some tagged people whose names matched ones mentioned in more recent journals.

She thanked her lucky stars that the other Penelope seemed close with her coworkers. Several of them appeared in pictures on here so she could match names to faces and hopefully not make a fool of herself on Monday.

She was still looking through things trying to stuff as much information into her head as possible when Roman came home. He seemed exhausted and flopped down on the couch wearily after loosening his tie, resting his head against her shoulder.

"Rough day?" Penelope asked sympathetically.

"I hate my job."

The journals hinted at Roman never wanting his job in the first place so she was fairly certain it wasn't said arbitrarily. There were people she knew who said they hated their jobs when they felt like complaining even though they didn't mean it. He probably did.

He had gotten his MBA about five years ago and had been the director of White Cross Hospital ever since. That's a long time to stay with something you hate, even under threat of being disinherited.

"Why not quit?"

"You know my parents would kill me," Roman complained. "I'm the only person who could have possibly inherited and they insist on keeping it in the family."

Penelope frowned. In her mind, that wasn't a sufficient reason to continue doing something that's draining the life out of you. He had an MBA; he could do all sorts of business-related things that had nothing to do with a hospital.

Did he even like business at all though? If he didn't, choosing another job in his field wouldn't fix the problem and would only upset his parents. In that case, he might think it was better to stay where he was at.

"If you could have any career, what would it be?" she asked curiously.

Roman seemed surprised. "You've never asked me that before."

Really? His wife was aware of his situation better than she was because she knew his parents well. How could she have quietly worried about him in her journals but never bothered to ask such a basic question?

"I never really thought about it," he said honestly. "Hospital director was the only option I was ever given. Maybe something with animals? I do like them though my parents never let me have pets."

Why hadn't he gotten one after moving out from his parents' house then? It wasn't like Penelope was allergic to them. She couldn't think of a reason not to get one.

"…Roman, there's nothing stopping you from getting a pet now," she pointed out.

"We both work full time. How sad would it be to leave an animal alone all day? They wouldn't be happy."

This had to be the most considerate, self-sacrificing man she had ever met. Not only was he a perfect husband, he cared about the well-being of animals he had never seen. People like him didn't exist in her world as far as she knew.

But having a full-time job didn't prevent people she knew back home from having pets. Her next door neighbors owned a dog and Jack had two cats.

"You do know there are ways to work around that don't you? I know people who work full time with multiple pets and they're happy, well-adjusted animals. If you want a cat, get an older one who spends most of its day sleeping and play with it after work.

"If you want a dog, hire a dog walker to come over during the day or spend your lunch break at home. It's that simple. Have you really never considered that before?" Penelope asked incredulously.

She immediately shut her mouth, realizing that prompting him into getting a pet when his real wife might be coming back and not want one might not be the best idea. It wasn't her place to say such things.

Roman sat up to look at her, a slightly perplexed expression on his face. "I didn't. Are you really okay with having a pet though? You never mentioned anything about it before."

Penelope cursed herself internally. In her world, her parents thought pets were too expensive. Percy had whined about getting a snake to study it when he was around 10 and they vehemently refused because of how much it would cost.

They owned their condo but other people living in the complex rented and weren't allowed to have pets so she didn't have much experience with them growing up. Missy's family didn't have any either.

She had never really considered getting one until Jack frequently showed her adorable cat pictures. Since she had been single so long, she wondered if she should get a cat or two to keep her company once her chance for marriage and children passed her by. If she could ever afford it.

Her neighbors had to pay a hefty pet deposit to allow the dog to live with them. There was no way she could scrounge up $500 on top of buying an animal and all the things it would need.