P Is For Penny
Penny slid into the train seat and glanced morosely out the window. This was the start of a short weekend trip to visit an old friend, something which normally would delight her. She had gotten time off from her job at the Cheesecake Factory and that usually made her feel just like a kid anticipating the summer break.
Today proved the exception, though.
She rested her head against the window and played with the magazine in her lap. At the moment, she could not summon enough energy to skim through the pages of this current People to glean tidbits about celebrities.
Oh well! She closed her eyes in resignation and sank into her inner sadness.
A movement by her left arm and a soft cough alerted her to the fact that she would have a seat companion for the trip.
Nooo!
She could not even get to travel in peace, or wallow in her unhappiness alone!
Glancing up with an ill disguised unwelcome, Penny guiltily changed her expression when she identified a well built gentleman of around eighty.
Senior citizens deserved respect.
This one held a The Los Angeles Times and a cane, but set them down on the vacant seat to unbutton his raincoat.
Chastised and ashamed, she smiled a greeting.
"Good morning," he responded cheerfully, and Penny noticed that his blue eyes practically sparkled, and that his hair was a soft, snowy white. "I hope you don't mind company."
"No," she lied dismissively, "make yourself right at home."
Almost the second he settled the train began to chug, and no words were exchanged as it slogged down the first miles of the track. Once Pasadena faded in the distance, however, the man turned in his seat to face her.
"All right, my dear. Tell me a little about yourself."
Setting the cane on the floor in front of him, he used it as a stabilizer and leaned over it.
Annoyed at the older man's command, no matter how politely given, Penny spoke sharply.
"There's nothing to tell. My name is Penny. I work as a waitress, and I am going to visit a friend for the next couple of days."
She ran a hand through her blond hair and waited to see if he would respond.
"Oh my, how about that?" he replied, obviously not planning to take her rudeness personally.
"Right, how about that?" she repeated in a sing song tone as she drummed her fingers on the magazine's cover. Then eyeing him with suspicion, she added, "What's your name, anyway?"
He smiled, which in turn, made his blue eyes twinkle. "Dylan- my name is Dylan."
Penny shrugged. "That was my grandfather's name."
He settled back into his seat. "Really, now how about that? What kind of man was your grandfather?"
She thought several moments before she responded quietly. "He passed before I had any conscious memories of him. However, I know tons about him from all of the stories the family has shared with me. He was a family legend."
Dylan nodded to encourage some detail and motioned her to continue.
Despite her annoyance at travelling with a seatmate, she continued.
"He- my granddad- was a good man. His life mattered, if you know what I mean. After he died, he was remembered for his character, for his deeds." She sighed and regarded the scenery flying past the glass windows. "I guess I am his polar opposite."
"Polar opposite, how?" Dylan stretched his legs under the seat in front of him and rested his head against the upholstered headrest.
"He contributed something to the world while he lived. Besides that, he was missed. I have done nothing to improve the planet in my lifetime, and with the exception of my folks in Nebraska, no one would really miss me if I died tomorrow."
Shocked a bit by her own honesty she shook her head quickly and laughed self consciously. "Wow, that all just popped out of my mouth. Just excuse me for that."
Dylan rubbed his chin. "Tell me about your friends in Pasadena."
"Oh," she answered, relieved that he had chosen to ignore her self assessment and didn't plan to act upon any questionable statements. "Actually, my neighbors across the hall are friends, and their friends, I suppose, are mine, also."
"Tell me more." Dylan smiled encouragingly, tapping the armrest, and suddenly Penny began to feel herself relax under his watch.
What harm would it do to waste a couple of hours assuaging the apparent loneliness of an old man? It would kill time, anyhow, and keep her from dwelling on all the obstacles in her life.
"Ok, let me start with Sheldon. He's a nut job, a total nut job- obsessive, paranoid, conceited and childish."
"Oh goodness, this Sheldon sounds positively deplorable."
"No, wait-" Penny cautioned. "I haven't finished talking. Sheldon is all that, yes, but he is also absolutely brilliant, a leader in the physics field, and the man who drove me to the hospital when he really does not know how to drive or even have a license."
Dylan pursed his lips thoughtfully, "I see."
"Yes, and annoying as he can be, he is a good man at his inner core." She spoke with assurance.
"It seems that Sheldon has you to speak up for him. Angels come in many forms."
Penny nodded her head adamantly. "Step up and speak up- you are so right about that. No outsider from our group is going to run him down in front of me."
Penny spoke decisively, and a short lull followed before she continued.
"His roommate is named Leonard, and he is into physics, also. Remember that they are straight across the hall from me. Leonard and I used to be an item but I blew that relationship out of the water."
She glanced down at her lap, and began to pick nervously at the fabric of her top.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because," she grinned lopsidedly, "because I knew in my heart that he was so good at his core, at his soul, and at that time I was pretty immature. I knew I would hurt him irrevocably and I couldn't do that to such a good guy."
"You loved him enough to save him from future hurt."
"That's right, exactly-" Penny fingered the upholstery on the armrest. "and yet, now…"
She looked at Dylan helplessly.
"Yet now, now you have a different perspective." Dylan raised his eyebrows.
"I do. Now I know that if we got together today I have the strength of character to earn his respect and love, to deserve his respect and love."
Penny turned her head away and brushed irritably at her eyes. She had no intention of crying or of getting emotional at all.
Dylan interrupted, "What about their friends?"
Penny laughed, relieved to change the topic from Leonard. "Ok, we have Raj, and then we have Howard. Which do you want to meet first?"
Dylan pretended to give the question some serious thought. "Let me take Raj, then."
Penny moved in her seat so that she could tuck her legs underneath her. "Raj, Raj, he is just a doll baby. Females scare him so badly that he will not speak to them- not a word, not a syllable= nada."
Her listener laughed in surprise.
"That is absolutely right. I am not joking. If he wants to say something he will whisper it to Howard, or to Leonard, or even to Sheldon, and have them say it. The only way he can address a girl is if he is drunk, or almost drunk."
"That sounds inconvenient." Dylan chuckled at the description.
Penny nodded, satisfied that Dylan understood. "The thing is though, that he will one day make some woman the husband of her dreams. I sometimes think he will marry an Indian woman because that is what is expected of him from his family. American women intimidate him. Actually, that's not completely accurate, since all women intimidate him."
"So he's not strong enough to survive, huh?"
Penny snapped in irritation, "You have him wrong. Raj actually is the strongest of all of us. Over the years while everyone else falls apart he just absorbs it all and stays silent. But he is always there- in support, you understand? He has our backs."
"I see."
Penny shook her head. "I hope you do, because Raj deserves to not be overlooked."
"Definitely, you have made your point about him."
Penny settled against the seat, pleased that she had shown Raj's potential. "Good-"
"Will you tell me about Howard now?"
Penny rolled her eyes. "I never thought I would say this, but I am proud of the little weasel. He has turned into a man in front of me, and I like that he accepted responsibility for making a change."
"He must be doing better than he once did."
"You've got that right. I remember once this hot girl moved into the apartment upstairs and he went gaga over her. She played on that, and had him jumping hoops for her when she never meant it would go anywhere between them."
Dylan raised his eyebrows knowingly. "She used him, then."
"Not just Howard, but all of my guys. However, Howard was the one the most in her clutches, the one most vulnerable to her devious wiles."
"What happened at the end? Did she break his heart?" Dylan looked at her expectantly.
"No, she never got the chance. I had a little private, one on one chat with her, and after a bit of convincing, got her to see the wisdom in keeping her distance."
"So you rescued him from the antagonist."
Penny wrinkled her nose. "I suppose so."
"There is no suppose so. He was naïve, and she had him in her sights to exploit. You foiled her plans."
"If you say it that way, I guess that it's true. I mean, it did happen."
"Switch topics for a moment, Miss Penny. I want to hear about your job."
"Oh, well that's easy. I'm a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory, and it looks like that is all I will ever be."
She slouched in her seat. "I dream that I am an actress, but the reality is that I have been here for years and have only had a couple of temporary acting jobs."
Closing her eyes, she conjured up an image of the Hollywood sign.
"Do you get good tips, Penny, compared to the other wait staff?"
Penny wrinkled her forehead in concentration. "Actually, I do usually get more in tips than the others."
"Why is that, do you think? Does a personality trait give you the advantage? Or are you smarter, or friendlier, or prettier than your colleagues?"
"No," she answered honestly, "I don't think any of those apply at all."
"There must be something outstanding that sets you above the rest."
She hesitated before answering. "Sometimes I fill a void for them, for the customers, a need for someone to listen."
"So you have a psychological gift to share."
"I don't know if it's psychological as much as it's just the ability to listen. They confide in me about everything you can imagine, and ask for advice about everything you can imagine. Divorce, money, spiritualism, car dealerships- they run the gamut."
She paused several seconds and then jerked her head to regard him shrewdly.
He waited patiently as she reflected on the confidences of the past few minutes.
With a shy smile, Penny turned and regarded him. "Wow, when I boarded I was feeling pretty gloomy. You've gotten me feeling better, totally opposite. Thanks, Dylan."
He waved a forefinger in a mock reprimand. "That credit does not belong to me, young lady. When you began talking you insisted that you didn't matter as deeply to others as your late grandfather had so evidently done. Once you spoke and outlined your relationships, you realized the truth." He patted her arm. "You enhance people, and your presence is extremely valuable and very much needed. Your actions contradict your sentiments. You are loved, Penny, and you are needed."
Feeling a rush of emotion sweep over her and not trusting herself to speak, Penny laid her head on the window again and closed her eyes.
She heard the snap of the newspaper as Dylan opened it and began to read.
A few minutes later she fell asleep.
The slowing down of the train some time later combined with the noise of the brakes engaging made her jerk awake. Evidently she had slept soundly for quite some time.
She turned to speak to Dylan but found the seat empty. That disappointed her, and she rationalized possibilities of where he could be.
He must have gone to the restroom.
She checked under his seat. He had taken his personal belongings with him.
She swiveled and addressed the woman seated behind her. "Excuse me, but can you tell me how long ago my seatmate left to go to the restroom?"
The woman looked confused and sat up straighter. "Honey, no one sat beside you."
"Of course someone did," Penny contradicted, "an old man. He sat right here and got on right in Pasadena as we boarded."
The woman looked uncomfortable and worried then. She settled back against her seat. "Whatever you say," she added with a limp smile, then yanked her pocketbook from the floor and grasped it to her protectively.
Their conversation had concluded.
Penny turned around to regard the empty seat beside her and sank down slowly in her own seat.
She felt blessed, and loved, and special.
Rubbing the seat cushion beside her she smiled to herself and whispered softly, "Angels do come in many forms."