Spoiler Alert for S7 Ep14, The Convention Conundrum.
The Big Bang Theory is owned by Chuck Lorre Productions and Warner Bros. Television.
A/N: This story will have Penny's character very OC at times. This is my first attempt at writing anything like this.
It was Tuesday midday and Penny was lying on her couch with her laptop browsing the on-line acting magazines when something in an article caught her eye. The titles Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Battlestar Gallactica and Game of Thrones among others were all in this article.
'These are some of the guy's favorite shows'. She moved a few strands of hair away as her eyes moved to the top of the article. 'Writer/producer Jane Espson will be attending Comic-Con 2014 (I have no affiliation with Comic-Con). She was one of the writer/producers for all those shows. 'I feel so bad that the guys couldn't get tickets.'
Suddenly the wheels in her head started turning and a big smile came to her face. 'Some way some how I am going to get them tickets for that convention if it's the last thing I do. I only have two small problems' she thought as a frown came to her face, 'I have no money to buy them and where do I start looking'.
Again the wheels were turning and her beautiful smile returned to her face. 'Bernadette and Amy could help with the money but I'm not going to look on the internet, there are too many scams. Where to go, where to go?' Looking back at the laptop she typed into the navigation bar and hit enter. Then she typed in "comic con tickets 2014 San Diego" into the search bar, hit enter but nothing was found. 'That is odd. Maybe you're not allowed to sell them on ebay' she thought.
After looking around her apartment for inspiration no ideas came to her so she went back to the acting mags looking for auditions.
As she was scrolling through web pages her eyebrows went up, her head went back and she had what she thought Sheldon and Leonard would call an epiphany. "The comic book store…Stuart" she said aloud. It was too obvious to be an epiphany for Sheldon but not for her.
She jumped up, grabbed her jacket and keys, opened the door but stopped in the doorway. "Oh." She looked down at herself. She was wearing black leggings and a sky blue spaghetti strap tank top.
'This is not the right outfit for the comic book store especially since I'm going alone' she thought.
Men stared at her everywhere she went but past experiences in the comic book store proved it can get really creepy with all those eyes on her and what was probably going through their minds as they stared with mouths agape.
She went back to her bedroom, took off the leggings and put on sweat pants and put on a sweat shirt over the tank top. Then she pulled her hair into ponytail and put it through a Cornhuskers cap and left the apartment.
Stuart was behind the counter when Penny walked into the store. He looked up and noticed it was a girl but it took him a couple seconds to realize who it was.
"Penny, oh hey Penny you're here" he said loudly with bewilderment and shock.
"Hi Stuart" Penny said as she walked up to the counter.
"So Penny have you been out jogging today" he asked as he looked at her outfit. He thought she still looked hot even in sweats.
She smiled at him. "No Stuart. I came here directly from home in my car. I actually came here to see you. I thought it would be better to wear sweats and a hat so I wouldn't get all the, you know, looks."
Penny turned around to look through the store. There were three guys staring into comic books and not her.
"It looks like it worked" she said.
"So what can I do for you Penny" asked Stuart.
"Well I don't know if you heard but Leonard, Sheldon, Howard and Raj didn't get tickets to Comic Con. I feel so bad for them so I wanted to know if you can help me find tickets for them" Penny explained. "I mean who better to ask than someone who owns a comic book store. Also I don't want to look on the internet because there are too many scams."
Stuart grinned. "Oh ok, well that's not going to be easy especially without using the internet. How about internet bidding sites?"
"You know that was the odd thing. I could not find anything on ebay. Don't you think that's strange?"
Stuart thought for a moment. "Well there's not much not sold on ebay. Oh I know why, the badges were not mailed out yet."
"What are badges" asked Penny.
"They're not called tickets, they're called badges. I think they will be mailed out in a couple months" Stuart explained.
"If I wait until then it probably won't be a surprise because the guys will look on the bidding sites too. Ok Stuart, here is my number". Penny wrote her number down on a flyer on the counter. "If you know anyone or find out any other way to get the badges let me know."
Penny smiled at him and started walking towards the door "Thanks for your time Stuart."
Before Penny made it to the door Stuart yelled out. "Wait."
Penny stopped and turned around "What" she asked.
Stuart hated to disappoint Penny "Maybe we can make a deal."
"A deal, what kind of deal" asked Penny suspiciously as she walked back to the counter.
Stuart hesitated. "I bought four badges for myself."
Penny looked confused. "So are you saying you will sell them to me."
"Well here's the thing Penny. I was planning on having a special sale day at the store where I would raffle off the badges. The raffle would cover the cost of the badges and then some. This would bring in more customers including new ones hopefully. I am trying to have more events like that to drum up more business. I have not been doing that well lately."
Penny still looked confused. "So you want me to enter the raffle for the badges?"
Stuart shook his head. "No but I will give you the badges if you work here."
Penny's eyes went wide. "Work here. How long and how much would I have to work."
"At least until the convention and at least three days a week. The days can be flexible except for Wednesday". Four hours a day and not more than 20 a week."
Penny was having a hard time trying to understand this. "Stuart, I think I would be getting the better deal here. What little I know about comic books is not going to help your business."
Stuart nodded. "Well on the outside it does appear that way. What will help is a pretty girl in the store attracting nerds far and wide. So you get the badges and I get the business."
"Isn't that sexist" asked Penny.
Stuart countered. "Well they don't put women with giant boobs on the cover of comic books just to take up space."
Penny agreed. "You sound like a casting director. You're not thinking that I'm going to dress like that in the store?"
Stuart shook his head. "No of course not." He was trying to picture her in an outfit like that and was staring off into space.
"Stuart" Penny said and got no response. "Earth to Stuart" she yelled.
Stuart quickly turned to her "Oh ok, just wear what you would normally wear that day. I wouldn't hurt to add some black leather to your wardrobe given the nature of the business. You will be like a sales person. Do whatever you need to do to sell the most. I can help you with that. You would also work as a stock person and help me with inventory. I can only pay you minimum wage after you work off the badges but I can give you bonuses for large sales quotas. Of course if sales don't increase I won't be able to pay you at all but it's worth a try. So do you want the job Penny?"
Penny thought for a bit. "Stuart I still have to focus on my acting career and sometimes I will have to put it before the job."
"Not a problem Penny. You could work here around whatever you need to do for your acting career. The work schedule is flexible enough."
Penny smiled. "That is so sweet of you Stuart. Ok it's a deal. I'll take the job."
Penny put her hand out to Stuart for a handshake to close the deal. Stuart just stood there wondering what she was doing.
"What" Stuart asked.
"Let's shake hands on a done deal" said Penny.
"Oh duh" said Stuart slightly embarrassed and put his hand out to Penny and they shook on it.
"So Stuart when is my first day of work."
"Well tomorrow is Wednesday which is when new comic books come in each week so how about tomorrow" asked Stuart.
Penny smirked "I'm so stupid I should have realized that. The guys have been coming here almost every Wednesday for new comic book night since I've known them. So I guess you want me here in the evening then."
"Can you come in at 1:00 pm when the new comics are delivered" asked Stuart. "That way you can see how they get inventoried and shelved. After that you can leave and come back in the evening when more customers arrive."
Penny was thrilled about how this was working out. "Sounds good Stuart, I'll see you tomorrow" she said as she walked towards the door.
Before she got to the door Stuart again yelled "Wait."
Penny came back to the counter. "What is it Stuart."
"I'm going to be an exhibitor at the convention and can use your help selling. You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
"No Stuart I work for you now and I should be there. I am your only employed sales person. It might be fun working there anyway."
"Oh ok, great" said Stuart. "Are you ok with wearing a costume? Everyone wears costumes."
Penny looked suspicious. "I guess I can find a costume to wear. Why are you asking me this now?"
Stuart wasn't looking Penny in the eye and seemed to be hunting for the right words. "Well I thought it could be something specific."
Penny still looked suspicious. "Ok. No Wonder Woman and nothing slutty."
Stuart looked down at the counter. "I was thinking of Princess Leia."
Penny sighed and smirked. "The white dress or the gold bikini?"
Stuart was now relieved that she was not offended by his request and ended up turning him down to work the convention. "The white dress if sales are good, and the bikini if they're not. I will supply the costumes."
Penny shook her head and raised here voice a little. "I said nothing slutty. The bikini is slutty."
Stuart countered "If that were the case every woman on the beach in a bikini is a slut."
Penny stood there momentarily staring at him. "Stuart you men are all alike. At the beach or a pool it's a bathing suit for swimming and getting a tan. Everywhere else it's just slutty."
Stuart thought over what she just said. "Ok if you put it that way it makes sense. You don't have to wear the gold bikini."
Penny was a little riled up over this and how stupid men could be sometimes. "Bring the bikini anyway just in case. I don't want you to lose money". I'm going now. Is there anything else because if you say wait again I'm ignoring it."
Stuart thought she shouldn't talk to him like that. 'Who's the boss here anyway.' He wondered. "That's it Penny."
Penny headed for the door "Bye Stuart. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't worry I'll work hard and get your sales up."
Stuart imagined that with seeing more of Penny now will make something else hard and go up as well.
As Penny was driving home she couldn't wait to tell the guys all that happened today. They were going to comic con thanks to her. 'Leonard is going to be so happy and proud of me.' She tried to imagine their reactions.