The woman who interrupted their usual lunchtime argument was probably not a scientist. Her dark hair was pulled into a neat bun. She wore slacks and a fashionably green twinset; her colorful scarf was just right. "Sorry to interrupt your lunch. I'm Rosalind Wald, from the English department, and some undergrads pointed me in your direction. I'm looking for Dr. Hofstadter and Dr. Cooper; I'm told you can answer some questions about comic books." Leonard and Sheldon raised their hands; she put hers out to shake. Sheldon shook his head, so she nodded at him, unfazed; Leonard stood a little to reach over the table to her, and introduced his Howard and Raj. She shook hands with them, too, repeating names as she was introduced.
"So, you're from the Humanities…" Sheldon began, but she interrupted him. "I know, I know, scientists think the Humanities a complete waste of time. But can't we all agree that the folks in the Linde center can't put together a readable sentence and move on?" Her swipe at the business faculty amused everyone and averted an argument, much to the relief of everyone besides Sheldon. A pretty woman was talking to them, and they intended to make it last as long as they could. "So, what did you want to know about comic books?" Leonard prompted her.
She crouched down at the edge of the table and pulled a bit of paper and a pencil out of her bag. Making a note on the top of the paper, she began her inquiry: "Well, I've been doing some work on dystopias and utopias and gender, and I've realized that I have a huge gap in my repertoire as far as comics, or graphic novels, or manga, or whatever – words and pictures – go. So I'd love some reading suggestions. I'm looking for dystopias or utopias, especially ones where gender is an issue – Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is a touchstone for me – but I'll take any suggestions you have. Someone's pointed me to Y the Last Man, and, while more apocalyptic than outright dystopian, that's been a pretty useful series."
The men all stared at the center of the table, momentarily stumped. She looked from face to face, a mild smile on hers, patiently waiting. Suddenly, Raj had an idea, and leaned over to whisper to Howard, who agreed, "Oh, yeah, definitely. Raj says The Watchmen." Everyone nodded, agreeing, yet Rosalind didn't write it down. Instead, she was looking quizzically at Raj, who was on her right. From her position at the edge of the table, she had to look up into his face. Before she could ask, Howard jumped in, "Raj doesn't speak to women, unless he's drunk. Social anxiety."
"Well, that's unfortunate," she said, and laid her hand on his arm. "Thank you for the suggestion, Raj." She bent down to write, glancing sideways towards him all the while. "Anyone else have any ideas for me?" But before anyone could answer, a cafeteria tray carelessly handled knocked her in the head, and Rosalind lost her balance and fell in Raj's direction. Raj, eyes wide, caught her before she hit the ground, and helped her to her feet, straightening her scarf for her while she rubbed her head. "Ow. That smarts. I – Ow. Thank you for – thank you," and she gripped his upper arm before moving her hand, again, gently to his forearm. Meanwhile, the other men were looking for the perpetrator, shouting, "Kripke!"
She was clearly a bit shaken, but trying to maintain her composure. She remained standing, and patted her bag and hair absently. "Well, I suppose I should go before anything else untoward happens. Thanks for your help," She turned to Raj with the last comment, but he leaned over to Howard and whispered to him. Everyone paused for the whispered conference, waiting for Howard to speak: "Raj thinks that we should get together later. Maybe if we had a little time to think, we could come up with more than one title between us."
Leonard nodded, catching on. "That's right. Why don't you come over to our apartment. We'll have dinner, and we can sort through some comic books together." Sheldon started to protest, but Raj caught his eye, and he chose, instead, to sigh dramatically.
"Well, that would be great. I wouldn't want to impose…" everyone but Sheldon shook his head vigorously. "Well, then, would Wednesday be all right? That's my night off." Everyone switched to nodding affirmatively, except Sheldon, who sighed again.
"Am I imposing on your schedule?" She asked him.
"Well, as a matter of fact, you are, but I guess I will allow it just this one time," was Sheldon's relatively gracious reply.
"Ok, well then, thank you for the invitation – oh, I've got to get to class – here, can you just text me your address for Wednesday?" she said, checking her watch and writing a phone number on a slip of paper, which she left on the table when she left, still rubbing her left temple. Sheldon returned to his lunch; Leonard and Howard stared at the phone number; Raj watched her as far as the door before turning to the others.
"Did you see that?" he said, smiling broadly.