Sheldon Cooper was busy working in front of his laptop when Leonard came rushing in with a bag full of grocery items.
'Sheldon, I'm borrowing our apartment tonight for a very special occasion.' He said as he entered the apartment. He walked straight to the kitchen counter and placed the bags.
Leonard Hofstadter is also a physicist like Sheldon. They have been roommates for almost five years now. They used to constantly bicker and be at each other's throat about five years ago. But over time, he warmed up to him and he now considers Leonard as his best friend – though he'll never admit it to his face.
'And may I ask what that is?' Sheldon stopped what he was doing and inquired as he turned to face Leonard.
'I'm going to propose to Leslie.' Leonard said in a whimsical voice, walking closer to where Sheldon is sitting.
'Oh.' Sheldon said, suddenly uninterested. He returned to face his laptop and continued, 'While I commend you for starting to have - as they say 'balls' - to engage a shift in your relationship paradigm, I clearly must say no. You are making a mistake, Leonard. Based on my observations, you and Leslie are only compatible sexually...'
'Hey! That's my girlfriend we're talking about.' Leonard said in an attempt to defend himself and his girlfriend.
But Sheldon still continued not minding Leonard's words, '... and anything beyond that will be deemed as fruitless.'
'Pfft. As if you know anything about relationships. As far as I know, you have never been in one.' Leonard interjected irritatedly.
'Leonard, I have an IQ of 187. I certainly have the working knowledge of anything in the universe.' Sheldon stated as-a-matter-of-factly.
'Yeah, but...' Leonard said challengingly then suddenly sighed dejectedly and instead, pleaded. 'Please, it's 'Anything Can Happen Thursday.' For once, go outside and play by yourself.'
'But Leonard...'
'No buts Sheldon.' Leonard said in a commanding voice. 'And believe it or not, you have to accept the fact that maybe I have to move out sooner.' Seeing a twitch in Sheldon's face, Leonard added '...or later.'
Sheldon stopped and think carefully. He faced him. 'Alrighty. But you owe me.'
'Fine. I'll buy you comic books.' Sheldon glared at Leonard unsatisfied. 'And action figures.'
Sheldon smiled triumphantly. 'Haha. I'll have that life-size stormtrooper replica for my Star Wars collection without costing me a buck.' He thought as he went back to work.
Later that night, the Academy Awards is happening in the Kodak Theater.
Penny slid out of the limousine and was welcomed by the flashes of cameras of the photographers. She walked on the red carpet in a dazzling green dress that matched the color of her eyes. Her earrings dangled and on her neck was a heart-shaped pendant. Her hair breezed through as she paced towards the entrance. There has been an ongoing buzz that the young actress would win the most coveted 'Best Actress' award. She smiled and posed for the cameras before completely going inside the venue. But her eyes are saying something else.
In the apartment, Leonard nervously marched back and forth as he set-up last minute arrangements for the romantic evening with Leslie Winkle. Who would have thought that the physicist had it in him? The room looked very different – much to Sheldon's annoyance. It looked cozy and is filled with romantic ambience.
'Thanks for your help Sheldon.' Leonard said to his best friend sincerely.
'You're welcome.' He replied somewhat impressed but didn't quite show it. 'Just make sure that when I come back here, there would be no sign of this great disturbance.' He quickly added before Leonard could notice and left the room.
As Sheldon was about to go down, he saw Bernadette going up.
'Hi Sheldon.' Bernadette warmly greeted him.
Bernadette is their neighbour who works part-time in the Cheesecake Factory. She waitresses in the establishment to pay for her graduate school studies. She moved across the floor a year ago.
'Hello Bernadette.' Sheldon returned. 'As luck would have it – though I don't believe in such occurrence since everything can be explained well by the realms of science – it's a good thing I ran into you.'
'Why?' Bernadette inquired.
'Since Leonard will try to shift his affiliation with Leslie Winkle to an 'advanced' relationship paradigm and seeing that it's also 'Anything Can Happen Thursday,' do you have anything else to do tonight?' Sheldon asked expectantly.
'Wow. He is really serious about her, huh?' She voiced out.
'I don't think so. He just really thinks with his penis.' He replied.
Bernadette laughed at his comment. Their relationship has really improved much. About a year ago, Sheldon wouldn't have considered asking her, let alone talk to her. 'Well, I would love to, Sheldon, but I'm working double shift tonight. I will just change my clothes.'
'Oh. Too bad.' Sheldon said. 'It looks like I'm Han Solo tonight.' Bernadette looked at him quizzically.
'Bazinga.' He uttered and let out a breathy laugh. Then, he dashed off out of Bernadette's eyes quickly.
'And the award for the 'Best Actress' goes to...' Brad Pitt announced at the podium, '... Penny Larkin for the movie 'The Ghost and the Swordsman.'
Penny was stunned on her seat. Tears fell suddenly from mixture of her shock and happiness. 'This is just a dream.' She thought to herself. 'Someone pinch me.' Everyone was congratulating her. She was hugged by her director and castmates. The entire hall was applauding for her. Her knees felt wobbly as she stood up and walked towards the stage. Her hands were cold as she accepted the trophy and shook hands with Brad Pitt.
'Uhm. Thank You,' she said on the microphone as she wiped her tears and cleared her throat to speak. 'Thank you to the Academy for giving me this award. Thank you to my director who has guided and taught me well. To my fellow cast and crew whom I became accustomed with as the filming progressed. We did it my friends.' She looked and smiled to them. 'Thank you to my family who continues to support me and lastly,' she paused before continuing, 'to that person who gave me courage and told me to never give up when everything else was falling apart.' She smiled again and bowed before everyone. 'Thank you.'
The room was once again filled with a round of applause as Penny exited to the back stage and the next presenter was called. She felt like fainting.
Leonard led Leslie in front of the apartment and put a blindfold in her.'
'Leonard, what is this?' Leslie asked him.
'You'll know in a bit.' Leonard whispered in her ear.
'Is this some sort of foreplay?' She seductively replied.
'Not exactly, but comparable.' He grinned. 'Wait here for a moment. No peeking. Count until 30 then, take off the blindfold.' Leslie followed while Leonard put a post-it on the door and quietly entered the apartment then went to his room.
The Academy Award ended with the movie 'The Ghost and the Swordsman' winning most of the major awards. They held a victory party after. Penny tried to have fun but was clearly not in it because she's waiting for someone the whole night. She went to the balcony for some air when she was startled when her phone rang.
'Hey Penny, where are you?' Howard, her manager, called.
'Howard, I'm in the balcony. Getting some fresh air.' She replied as she wiped a tear that slid on her cheek.
'You're still waiting for him, huh?' Howard said thoughtfully.
'I know, it's stupid but still he has never really broken a promise.' She chimed in.
'But Penny you know that you'll have to...' Howard started but was cut off by Penny's voice. 'I have a call waiting.' She checked the caller id and continued, 'It's him. I'm hanging up.'
'Hey.' Penny said excitedly.
'Hey. Congratulations. Let's meet up and celebrate.' The man on the other line said.
'Sure. Where are you?' she asked.
'I'll wait for you at the parking lot.' He said and hang up.
Penny went back at the party and looked for Howard. She approached him while smiling and saying thank you's to the people who congratulated her endlessly along the way. 'He's here. Cover for me.'
Howard looked at her and sighed. 'Fine. Just don't get caught. It would be a big media fiasco if you were.'
Penny squealed with glee and kissed him on the cheek. Before leaving, Howard grabbed her arm and Penny looked at him confused. He gave her his car keys and said 'Use my car.'
'I'm really sorry for her.' He thought for a second as Penny exited the door before going back to party-mode.
Back in the apartment, Leslie was counting down. '...28, 29, 30.' Then, her phone rang. She took the blindfold off and answered it.
'Hey baby. Are you ready?' Leonard said.
'Sure.' Leslie said with feigned excitement to hide her annoyance. 'I clearly remember I said to him never to call me 'baby.' She thought.
'Okay, Pick up the post-it note on the door and read it.' Leonard said on the line. The note read 'Come in.'
'I'm coming to get you. Rawr.' She said wildly then hang up. She's actually expecting Leonard to be standing naked inside, so it's really quite a shock when she saw what's behind the door.
'What the...' she muttered under her breath.
The room smelled like fresh roses. Red and white rose petals were everywhere. The bookshelves and other things were covered in white clot. There was a pathway made of lighted candles from the door to the center of the room. At the center lies an odd big box.
She walked toward it cautiously. When she opened it, she found a key with another post-it note saying, 'To my room.' She chuckled and called Leonard seductively. 'Hey big boy. I'm gonna find you.' She called out as she walked towards Leonard's room.
Penny walked towards a man sitting on the hood of his red Ferrari and patiently waiting for her. As he turned his gaze up from his mobile, he saw Penny and marched towards her. He met her halfway.
'Congratulations, Penny. I know you're gonna win that award.' The man said as they hugged each other longingly. 'And I've missed you.' He whispered in her ear.
'Thanks sweetie. I've missed you too.' Penny replied as she returned the hug and kissed his cheek. 'Now you'll have to buy me a nice dinner just like you promised.' They walked back towards the car with his hand on Penny's shoulder and her hands on his back.
The man is Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali. He is the son of the founders of Koothrappali Medical Group (KMG). They own some of the big hospitals in L.A. and investors in many pharmaceutical companies. They came from India but moved to America when he was a kid. Though they have been living in America for years, his parents never forgot the Hindi culture and raised him that way which is why, against his wishes, they also arranged him for an engagement with the daughter of the Ambassador of India.
He replied, 'Sure. I'm starved. Where do you want to eat?' and sweetly returned Penny's smile. He motioned for her to enter the car when Penny interrupted. 'Howard let us borrow his car.' She handed him Howard's car keys.
He laughed and said, 'Typical Howard. Cautious as always.' They rode a blue Vios. A man hiding behind the shadows saw them. Before he could set up his camera, the car already drove off.
With a mischievous grin, he thought to himself. 'I knew something fishy is going on between those two.' He started his car's engine and set out to follow them.
On this clear night, Sheldon was walking alone on the busy streets of Pasadena. He just got out of the restaurant after the waiter messed up his order five times. It was annoying – but maybe more annoying for the waiter's part as he didn't even get a tip.
'Well. I have to say that it's nice to take a walk by myself once in a while. I get to observe the different social paradigms and broaden my knowledge of the human interactions without interruption.' He thought and grinned at himself satisfactorily. Being in solitude really unwinds him. What could possibly go wrong tonight?
'I see that you're wearing the necklace I gave you.' Raj said. He eyed her for a second then glanced back in front.
'Well, since I won, I don't have to return it to you.' She teased him. 'This is mine now.' She smiled as she touched it.
'Good. Seeing how happy it made you.' He glanced at her then quickly returned his eyes on the road. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes when he caught a car on his side mirror. It looked like it was following them. Raj shifted uncomfortably and darted his eyes between the side mirror and the road.
After making sure that they were really being following, he whispered to his companion. 'Someone's tailing us.'
Penny was broken from her thoughts and worriedly replied. 'What? Who's following us?'
'I don't know.' Raj replied anxiously. 'I think it's that reporter. Hold on. I'm gonna run for it.'
Raj stepped on the gas pedal and sped away beating the red light. He manoeuvred the car skilfully and swiftly glided between the approaching cars.
'Hmm... You can run but you can't hide.' The reporter smirked on his seat.
Penny looked back behind them. The reporter stopped following them and they clearly made a mess.
'Are you alright?' Without slowing down, Raj glanced at her and asked when Penny loudly screamed, 'Raj look out!' He was startled and quickly saw the van approaching. He swerved the car to the right but lost control when one of the tires burst.
Sheldon was lost in his thoughts and didn't hear the honking car speeding very fast towards him while back in the apartment, Leslie slowly opened the door to Leonard's room.
A/N: This is loosely based from a KDrama I recently watched. This is also my first time writing a fic, so please bear with me. Please read and review if you want me to continue. Thanks! :D