Disclaimer: I really own nothing. I'm just borrowing some awesome characters.

Aspiration Corroboration

She was going to get this job. She had to. She hadn't had an actual acting job in months - not that she'd been to that many auditions. She chastised herself for this - how was she going to get discovered if she didn't get out there? Being too busy with work and her friends was not an excuse - she could do that back in Nebraska. Even if her friends here were pretty much the best people she'd ever met, and she needed to waitress to pay her rent if she didn't get acting jobs...

She shook her head, and with a deep breath, she ran over the lines in her head, and double-checked them against the script she held in her hand. Perfect. The blonde let herself smile, but then regained her focus. She was auditioning for an older teenage role in a sitcom. It was a bit of a stretch, considering she had only been cast in very minor or background roles before, but she figured she might as well try. Or do. She remembered Yoda's words from the last movie night she had spent with her friends across the hall. They had all spoken the words with the Jedi master, causing her to smile to herself.

"Penny?" A brunette with thick glasses (they reminded her of Leonard's) called out. The other girls (and guy?) slumped as they realized it wasn't their turn yet.

Penny nodded and stood, dimpling as she did so. The other woman smiled warmly back at her, which surprised Penny. A lot of the castings she'd been to had been very brisk and unfriendly. This was one of the few that actually seemed like they wanted to hire people. This reassured her, and she stood taller as she followed the brunette (who introduced herself as Rachel). They walked down a poorly lit hallway into a room with boring walls, ugly carpet, and a lot of windows. It was kind of dingy, but clean and nice enough.

There was a table with a few people sitting behind it, all looking at her expectantly. They all smiled, and Penny shook their hands and introduced herself.

"I'm Penny. Nice to meet you all."

"You're here to audition for Bridget?" One man asked, looking down at his list. Penny nodded, and reminded herself to breathe. She still got nervous at her auditions, despite the fact she had been in California for a while now, and having gone to at least two dozen - of which only two had gotten her paying work. Quickly shoving these negative thoughts from her head, Penny went through her scene, feeling almost separate from herself as she acted.

Her scene was with the character's father, whose lines were being read by one of the people sitting at the table. It was one of those awkward teenager-parent moments, and actually kind of funny. Penny let herself relax into the role, recalling the first time she had gotten caught with a boyfriend on the couch.

When she finished the scene, her audience looked happy, and asked her a few more questions, to which Penny responded to. They promised to call her within a week, and mentioned that even if she didn't get the main role, they may have other work for her. Extremely pleased, Penny grinned and shook hands with all of them before following the brunette woman, Rachel, out the door and back down the hallway. They turned left into an office before the area where everyone else was waiting. Penny left her contact information and again received conformation they would give her a call.

Penny left feeling buoyant and light-headed. She practically skipped down the three blocks she had to walk to where she had managed to wedge her car in between a wall and another car. She clambered in her car and sat there for a minute, reveling in the feeling of happiness.

Grabbing her phone, she sent a mass text out to her entire contact list, saying, "Audition went great! They seemed happy - they'll call within a week!"

Immediately, she received a text back from Bernadette, Sheldon, and Leonard. Bernadette and Leonard's texts were full of compliments and promises of a celebration, while Sheldon's text was a little... less congratulatory.

It read: "Please do not bother me with your unconfirmed job opportunities."

Figures. Sheldon never considered her job at the Cheesecake Factory or her dreams of becoming a star as anything more than frivolous. Still, it made her smile. She ignored a (probable) creepy message from Howard - how had he got his number back into her phone? She thought she had blocked his number ages ago. She quickly searched through her phone, and found he had somehow re-added himself to her contact list. Probably stole it sometime when she had been over for Halo or Thai. Penny considered deleting him again, but figured he'd just add it again anyhow, so left his number in her phone, but labelled it as 'DO NOT CONTACT' and made a mental note to bring up privacy laws. And restraining orders.

Slowly, and carefully, Penny maneuvered her car out of her parking spot and plugged in her iPod and turned on her favorite song. She sang the entire way back to her apartment.

"Hi Penny, it's Rachel Burdent calling. You auditioned for us a few days ago. We're pleased to tell you that you've got the job for Bridget! Now, as we told you, it is just a potential pilot, but we're hoping to get started shooting in a few weeks. I'll contact you as soon as the schedule is firmed up."

Penny was grinning from ear to ear as she replayed the message for Leonard. She was bouncing up and down, hanging off Leonard's shoulder as she listened to the message again. She'd saved it from earlier that morning, after returning Rachel's call. She was still in shock - she actually had an acting job! It wasn't even for some little commercial either... it was unbelievable luck!

"I mean, it's just a pilot, the show isn't even picked up yet, but who knows? It's a job! I might actually make it!" Penny babbled as Leonard closed her phone and handed it back to her, grinning just as widely as Penny was.

He gave her a hug - longer than two mississippi's, but shorter than five. It was just long enough for both to wrap their arms around each other, squeeze - and then it was done. Leonard hesitated as Penny pulled back, and then he abruptly let go.

"Looks like we're gonna have a star on our floor. Don't forget us when you're all famous." Leonard said, awkwardly, adjusting his glasses.

Penny laughed and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"I'd never forget you Leonard. And I've tried to forget Howard, and even Sheldon sometimes. Not so easy..."

Leonard laughed, and leant against the couch. "Come on, Sheldon is difficult, but he isn't that bad. Unless he's sick," he added, quickly, remembering the horrible, awful times that Sheldon had been ill.

"Or you're stuck with him in the North Pole..." Leonard went on. "Okay, maybe he's like a complex physics problem - you only realize you like it after you've figured it out. And Howard, well. Yeah. He's that bad. To women, anyhow." He chuckled.

"Aw, you know I love Sheldon. He's a sweetie. Except when he's sick." She agreed, and mock-glared at Leonard, remembering the time he had abandoned her with a sick Sheldon. Bouncing over to the couch, she flopped down and deposited her phone in her purse on the coffee table. She sighed happily, and leaned back against the cushions, grinning up at Leonard.

"So should we go out for dinner? Thai? Chinese?" Leonard asked her, turning a bit so he was directly facing her. He was really happy for Penny - she hadn't been this excited, particularly for her job, in ages. He really hoped the show actually got picked up, and that everyone loved her - well of course they would. That was a given, at least in his eyes.

"Sure! Just us for dinner, or -"

Leonard suddenly looked scared, "Oh, no! I didn't mean as a date, just uh -" He rubbed his hand on his head and shrugged at her, smiling sheepishly, in response to her smirk.

"Well why not? Let's go 'just us'. I can celebrate with everyone later. Sound good?" She jumped up, grabbed her bag and hooked Leonard's arm with her own. Leonard grinned over at her, and they walked (well, nearly skipped) out of the apartment. They conveniently did not let apartment 4A (who were waiting for Leonard to return with dinner plans) know where they were going.

AN: So this is my first Big Bang Theory fic. I have always liked the show, but just recently really gotten into it. I haven't written fanfiction (or any real creative writing) for a while now, so do forgive me. I tried to keep the characters 'true' and to make Penny less fixated about Leonard/any other boy and keep her concentrated on her job. Yes, I used 'Bridget' intentionally. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Also, this is intended as a oneshot, but I'm not sure. I could go on, if there is any interest. Anyways, thanks for reading! =)