A/N: Earlier this week Terrible Waitress had an interesting tweet mentioning Penny and Red Bull. I thank her for the prompt.
This takes place right about now, just before The Table Polarization (although the way I;m writing Amy is more like Season 5-sorry). Enjoy, reviews are always welcome.
The Red Bull Reaction
Leonard opened the door to apartment 4B slowly, even a little sheepishly. He had knocked softly and had an immediate response from the occupant: "In. Come. Now."
"Uh. Hi. How are you?" He asked, quietly. His hands beginning to work at themselves in front of him. It was a habit that he had slowly broken himself of, but seemed to fall back into when he was nervous about any controversy having to do with his girlfriend.
I'm great. Just great. How are you?"
The response came rapid fire and staccato, but there was no anger behind the words. She did not stop to look at him, which was unusual. Her greetings to him nearly always included some display on the physical side. She had always been one to show him affection through direct physical contact. Different from anyone he had ever known, or had been with before.
"I'm good. I'm okay" he answered quietly, still fidgeting.
She had her vacuum cleaner out and was unwinding the cord. The room was neat and extremely tidy. He thought he could smell several different cleaning products in the air. Again, unusual.
"Sooooo." He drew out the word to help him think of how he would go about asking her what the heck she was doing. An extreme cleaning event in her apartment at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.
"Yeah? Soooo what?" She returned, again short, but with no real emotion behind the response.
"I just thought I would come over, since I heard you up and about. Do you want to go out and get some breakfast?"
She stopped short, dropping the electric cord to the vacuum and finally looked directly at him.
"Shoot. What time is it?" Now she walked toward him and put her hand on his arm. Before he could answer, she touched her lips to his and moved her hand from his arm to behind his neck. It was soon joined by the other and both played with the curls that formed naturally at his collar.
Breaking the kiss she said "I'm sorry. That wasn't a warm 'good morning' greeting before at all."
"Oh. No. No. It was fine." Leonard immediately furrowed his brow and asked "are you alright?" He drew the question out, as he noticed her eyes looked a little dilated and her breathing was a little short. He moved his hands down her arms and held her left hand at the wrist. He noted that her pulse rate was elevated.
"No. Yeah. I'm good" she answered. Again the words came quickly.
He looked around the room and his eye caught the likely culprit. There were four cans of Red Bull lying on the drain board-upside down, having been rinsed, because they were, of course, empty.
Motioning to the kitchen sink with his head, he said "Penny, did you drink all of those last night?"
Turning to follow where he was gesturing she replied "what? Oh. Yeah. Well between last night and - well really, really early this morning. And. Um. Yeah. The other four in the recycle bin too."
"Penny!"
"I know. I know-"
"Have you been to bed yet?"
"Um. Well. No." Now she was the one playing with her hands. Her head lowered, not meeting his eyes. "I-I may have closed my eyes for….well for maybe a few minutes." Her voice was quiet, like a school girl who had not done her homework the night before. "But I've been peeing a lot" she added hoping to lighten some tension.
"I'm sure you have. That's a lot of stimulant to have in your body."
"I know, I know, I know. It's just that I have that reading tonight and I wanted to make sure I had everything memorized. Wanted to go over everything and make sure I had it down, just how I want to present it." She now was looking at him, biting her lower lip. This nervous gesture of hers had always made him melt. He found it (and her) completely adorable.
She had put a lot of effort into a production that was running for only one night at the Pasadena Playhouse. Her agent had clued her in to the fact that there were going to be casting people from two agencies involved in national commercials that were looking for "fresh faces." She had been going through two different scenes with Leonard and with Bernadette and Amy over the last few weeks and had her role to what the three thought was as near perfection as possible. The director had also given her extremely good feedback during rehearsals. She wanted to be more than perfect. She wanted the representatives from the agencies to remember her. She had no idea what they were looking for. She just hoped that it ended up being her.
The fact that it was a reading and not an entirely produced play would be helpful. No need for costumes or overly excessive make-up. No blocking for scenes. The actors would be standing on stage at podiums. They could even read the lines from a script if they like, however, the director said, if they did more than read, they would receive a better reception from an audience. Penny agreed and thought any production staff from either agency would notice if an actor was ready and prepared. Penny felt she was and wanted to shine.
"I think we should get some food into you." She nodded and said "that's probably a good idea right about now."
"Good" he returned. "You get yourself into the shower and I'll run the vacuum through real quick for you."
"Well you really don't have to" she answered, and then continued. "In the middle of the night, I swept up pretty good and ran the carpet sweeper, so yeah. You don't really need to do anything." Her turn now to be sheepish.
"Then I'll just wait for you here" he said, smiling at her.
"If I ever forget to tell you how sweet you are to me, can you remind me about today?"
"Done. Now get in there. I'm hungry" he said, as she kissed his cheek and ran into the bathroom.
Two hours later, they returned to Penny's apartment. With a full stomach, the effects of the energizing beverage were beginning to wear off. She found herself extremely tired.
"I think I need to lay down for a few minutes sweetie" she said.
"Um hold on" he said pulling her by the sleeve as she made her way to her bedroom.
"Leooonaaaard" she whined "I'm tired. I just need to sleep."
"I agree, but you need a lot more than a nap" he tried to reason with her.
Suddenly her sweet demeanor vanished. She stood before him with her hands on her hips, her lips pursed and her eyes shooting daggers at him.
"Wait. Before you go 'all Nebraska' on me, hear me out." Her expression did not change at all. Now she began tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.
"Okay" he said slowly. It's like 9:45 a.m. You have the performance or presentation or whatever they are calling it at 7:30, but you probably need to be there a couple of hours before hand, right?"
Her body language changed slightly from that of confrontation to interest. She leaned forward a bit and her hands left her hips and fell to their sides. "Whew" he thought. "She's listening."
He continued. "So you should be out of here and on your way downtown by - " he shook his head and put his hands out, palms-up.
"5:00 at the absolute latest, but, yeah earlier than that" she said, her voice now completely calm. She realized he was working for her now and reached out her hand and took his. "Go on" she said; her mouth turning up at the corner into a smile.
He returned the smile and brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. "So why don't you come across the hall and sleep in my room? It's at the back of the building and won't have the street noise. Also I have those room darkening window blinds that will make it easier to sleep."
"Are you sure you don't have something else in mind?" she asked, swinging their clasped hands back and forth. Being playful.
"As fantastic as that would be, and fantastic does not go anywhere near enough to describe it, I think it would be best for you to get some real sleep now."
She nodded her head in agreement. "Will Sheldon mind?"
"He better not. Besides, he is out with Amy this morning. They're going to the zoo. He said he needed a trade off if he was going to some 'hippy dippy dramatic reading' "
"That's our Shelly" she said, following Leonard across the hall.
By the time she had settled down (and Leonard had fought off her amorous advances) it was just after 10:00 a.m. As he pulled the bed sheet and blanket up over her, she had to admit he was right. It was much darker in Leonard's room and it would probably be easier to sleep here.
"Now get some sleep" he said giving her a kiss on the forehead.
She immediately grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in for a much, much more passionate and enjoyable version that left both smiling broadly.
"I'm gonna tell you all the details of the dream I'm about to have Dr. Hofstadter. And be sure, you will have a major role." Again she bit her lip, although this time the look was not quite as shy.
Clearing his throat, Leonard replied "Yeah. Well. I better go. Now. Sweet dreams."
"Leonard?" she called as he went to leave his room.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Thanks for being you."
"Get some sleep" he said quietly and closed the door.
Leonard spent the rest of the morning cleaning up around the apartment. After that task was done, he spent some time on an online game, read some emails and generally just killed time.
At 1:15, the door to 4A opened with Amy and Sheldon's return from the zoo.
"Oh Leonard!" Sheldon exclaimed, his mouth formed into a broad grin.
"I see you had a good time. If I'm remembering correctly, that is your koala face."
"It is Leonard. It is!" the taller man's exuberance evident.
"We arrived at just the right time and the keeper allowed Sheldon to feed the koala" Amy explained the reason for her boyfriend's uncharacteristic explosion of joy.
"His tongue tickles" Sheldon added, smiling not unlike a cub scout just returned from a field trip. He accepted a wipe from Amy and scrubbed the palm of his hand for undoubtedly the 87th time since the occurrence.
"Even thought it is always pleasant to see you Leonard, may I ask where your other, blonder half is?" Amy asked.
"As a matter of fact, I was just going to ask you both if we could keep it down out here" he stated in reply.
"Keep it down?" Sheldon countered. "If I was to 'keep it down' as you put it, that would imply that 'it' would have to been up at some point. I can tell you, sir that my voice, while resonant and melodious, is always at a volume that is neither loud nor soft and is completely conducive to a delightful and intelligent adult conversation."
Thinking it would be best to put his point directly to his roommate, Leonard said "Penny was up all night, studying and preparing for tonight. She didn't get any sleep, so I thought it would be better for her to take a nap here, since my room is quieter and darker during the day."
"So your girlfriend, who lives directly across the hall, stayed up partying, carrying on and lord knows what else all night, feels the need to 'take a nap' in my apartment because she is trying to impress some nameless, faceless advertising types in a performance that may well benefit from her typical mindless demeanor?"
"Sheldon" Amy said. "That was unkind to say the least."
"Unkind is me having to tip-toe around my own home while Sarah Bernhardt is lying down having a siesta."
"Shhhh" Leonard said.
Sheldon then whispered "unkind is me having to tip-toe around-" Amy put her hand on Sheldon's shoulder and asked him quietly "Please Sheldon. Stop."
"Thank you Amy" Leonard said. Addressing both of his friends, he went on. "This is really important to her. She is a little nervous and I think she is really putting a lot of her faith in what happens tonight. This is the first real chance she has had since she left the Cheesecake Factory."
"We completely understand Leonard. We will both keep our noise to a minimum and we look forward to her performance tonight. Don't we Sheldon?"
Giving out a sigh, the tall man replied "I suppose we do. I'll refrain from either using my train whistle, or practicing my throat singing."
"Well I appreciate that Sheldon. Besides, after the 8 Red Bulls she had last night, if we wake her up too soon, it may take us another two hours to get her back down."
"8 Red Bulls?" Amy exclaimed unbelievably.
"Yeah. I heard her rummaging around her apartment at 7:30 this morning. I went over and the place was immaculate. After going through her lines a few times, she had all that extra energy and figured 'why not'? I don't think I've ever seen her place so clean"
Amy still shocked at the amount of the stimulant Penny ingested questioned Leonard further. "Does she know that isn't a good idea?"
"Well she does now" Leonard replied.
"Is she all right? Did she seem okay?"
"When I first saw her she was a little hyper; well more like bouncing off the walls. Her pulse rate was slightly elevated. I took her out to get some air, had her eat something and when we came back here, she had calmed down considerably."
"Once you got back did you get her to sleep?"
"Yeah. It didn't take much effort. I think being out helped. And getting something substantial on her stomach."
Amy nodded her relief. "Do you think it is okay if I go and check on her?"
Leonard looked at his watch: 1:45. "Yeah, just try not to wake her. She should sleep until about 3:00.
Amy nodded and quietly walked toward Leonard's room.
"Leonard" Sheldon said in a questioning voice.
"Yes" came back the reply.
"Do you think Penny got inside information that the national commercial was for Red Bull and she wanted to try the product under different test situations?"
"Um. No Sheldon." Leonard said, trying his best to contain any terseness coming through in his voice. "I don't think Penny was testing the results of an over indulgence of Red Bull."
"Oh. All right. Just a thought. Do you think she has the 'Red Bull monkey' on her back and is in need of an intervention?"
"No Sheldon. Unlike other stimulants, Red Bull is not addictive. I think Penny will avoid it in the future."
"Have you thought about slipping her Red Bull when her apartment returns to its usual unsightly condition?"
"No Sheldon" he replied, his annoyance just bubbling below the surface. "I am not going to feed my girlfriend a stimulant to urge her to clean." Just then Amy reappeared.
"She is sleeping like a baby. I checked her pulse rate and it seemed normal. I also timed her respiration. That seemed to fall within the usual parameters as well. Although she looks like Sleeping Beauty, she does happen to snore like a sailor. With a snootfull. After a night on the town. Without the unsightly chest tattoos."
"Yes. Um. Thank you Amy. We get the picture" Leonard said gently.
The rest of the afternoon passed quietly. Amy and Sheldon talked softly among themselves. Leonard read and checked some sites on the internet.
At 3:00 Leonard quietly entered his bedroom. He sat gently on the side of his bed and moved a strand of hair that fell across Penny's face, tucking it behind her ear.
Her eyes fluttered open and a smile spread across her face. "Hey, you" she said sitting up. She then put her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"Just 3:00. How are you feeling?"
"Well. I guess alright. Rested. Yup. That's it. Rested." Leonard immediately felt more at ease. Mostly because of her attitude and the way she delivered her sentence. Calm and more like herself instead of the earlier frenzied Penny he had experienced.
"That's my girl. Right there" he said, their foreheads still together, but each looking up into the other's eyes.
"I am aren't I? I'm your girl." She finished that statement with a deep kiss. When they broke she put her hand over her mouth and said "sorry if there's any 'wake-up breath'".
"None that I noticed" he said with a smile. Her hand came away from her mouth and rested on top of his head and moved vigorously around and through his hair.
"Oops. Your hair is all messed up!" she giggled.
"C'mon" he laughed. "You'd better get yourself ready" he said as he pulled her out of the bed and held onto her hand as he walked with her toward the doorway. "Amy and Sheldon are in the living room.
"Um. Wait a minute. I thought I had a dream, but-Did Amy come in here and play doc-. No. Never mind. Forget I mentioned it."
They moved from his bedroom out to the living room area. Still holding hands, Penny also reached across her body with her other hand and held onto his bicep.
"Well hello Penny" Sheldon said in his typical formal way of greeting.
"Hi Sheldon. Hey Ames" she returned.
"Despite what Leonard said, I want you to know, I am fully available to intervene on your behalf against that demon Red Bull menace that is haunting you" Sheldon said from his spot on the couch.
"Oh sweetie, thank you so much, but you know, I'm good. Realizing that I was wide awake at 7:30 a.m. and was cleaning my apartment-that just 'scarred me straight'. You will never see or hear of me anywhere near Red Bull again."
"Just the same" Sheldon stopped speaking and gave an overemphasized wink Penny's way, causing Leonard to shake his head.
"I'm glad to see that you are up and about and none the worse for wear" Amy added.
"Aww. Thanks Amy." Penny countered.
"And by the way, you will be happy to know that I checked in on you and your pulse rate and respiration are both back to normal. Also, you show no sign of a fever. In short, you seem to show no ill-affects from the stimulant."
Um. Okay. Thanks" the reply came back a bit slower.
"Oh and by the way" Amy added, "next to the Swedish Chef, Cookie Monster is my favorite Muppet." She then raised her eyebrows Penny's way.
"Oh. Wow. Leonard, why don't you come with me next door. I can go through my lines one last time while I'm getting ready" she said as she took her boyfriend by the hand and walked quickly toward the door and apartment 4B.
Once they got out into the hallway between apartments, she turned around and looked at him "I love those two to death, but sometimes, I just don't know!"
Leonard laughed in return "I'm sure they say the same thing about us."
"Holy crap on a cracker" was the only reply she could think of.
Leonard dropped Penny off at The Pasadena Playhouse at 4:45 and returned home so that he could ride with Amy and Sheldon. Raj, Bernadette and Howard met them at 2311 North Los Robles Avenue and drove their car separately, Leonard with Penny would return with the Shamy after having a small celebration at a local restaurant that they had reserved for the purpose earlier in the week.
To say that the event was a success would have been an understatement. The theater was full, the crowd enthusiastic and all the performances were well received.
Her friends (and the entire audience through their applause at her curtain call) thought that Penny was superb. She was extremely well prepared and did not miss a single line or cue. Her agent seemed pleased with things he had overheard.
The celebration was a howling good time. Although not over raucous, they all had a grand time eating, drinking and toasting their friend's triumph.
When the party had broken up, it was nearly 2:00 a.m. Amy, Sheldon, Leonard and Penny all made their goodbyes to Raj, Bernadette and Howard and all returned home.
Leonard suggested that Amy spend the night in his room, since it was so late. Penny added "That would work out perfect, because Dr. Hofstadter will be spending the night with his girlfriend, the former waitress, soon to be actress."
"There are sections in both the Roommate Agreement and the Relationship Agreement that deal with both of these situations. I trust, Leonard and Amy, you are both familiar with those areas of your agreements?"
Looking over his shoulder as Penny took him by the hand and led him to 4B, Leonard called back "um. Yup. Got it. 'Night".
"I believe the section you are referring to, Sheldon, discusses a hearty handshake as a way of saying goodnight as well as establishing the order of bathroom use both during the night and in the morning.
"You are correct Amy Farrah Fowler."
"May I suggest as a result of the occurrence of….how can I put it…..your impressive and knee weakening display of kissing skills on Valentine's Day, we might want to try to replicate said kissing as a replacement to the aforementioned 'hearty handshake'?"
With one arm crossed in front of his abdomen, and the other elbow resting on that hand his chin rested in the palm of the other hand, Sheldon considered Amy's proposal. His answer came back in one word: "Agreed".
Leonard opened the door and said "don't mind me I just need to get my phone ch-" and stopped dead in his tracks as his roommate and said roommate's girlfriend were in an embrace that included a deep, deep kiss. Luckily, Penny was right behind him and yanked Leonard out of the room and softly closed the door.
"Oh. My. God. I saw it with my own two eyes and I still don't believe it" she said squeezing Leonard's hand so hard it caused him to say "ow, ow, ow ouch" as he gently removed it from her grasp.
"Sorry baby, but Oh. My. God." She then collected herself and looked sweetly into his eyes and said "come with me I need to show you something."
Following her into her apartment he shut the door. As soon as he did, she engulfed him in an embrace and kissed him deeply with an excitement that would put what was going on across the hall to shame.
"What was that for?" he asked smiling broadly from ear to ear.
"That's for having faith in me and standing by me and believing in me."
She then picked up her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Swiping to her text messages, she expanded the most recent text and handed the phone to Leonard.
It was from her agent. Leonard read aloud "I hope you are sitting down. As soon as the crowd began to break up, representatives from BOTH agencies approached me asking when we could schedule both appointments AND auditions. I will call you on Monday to let you know the details."
He began to speak before he looked up from her phone "Oh Penny. I knew it. I am so, so proud of you-." Then his eyes met hers. There were tears of absolute unbridled joy running down her cheeks.
"Leonard. Oh Leonard. It's happening, isn't it?"
"Yes. It is." He smiled and cupped her cheek in his hands, then took her into his arms."
"I love you" they both said it at the same time, causing each to laugh. After a deep and long kiss, they looked into each other's eyes and both said it again, separately.