Act One
Sheldon's Old Friend Shirley Tempo!
The gang was all at Leonard and Sheldon's place for pizza, and a Lord of the Rings movie-fest which would prepare them for the upcoming Hobbit movie. Leonard and Penny in their normal seat, the big chair, while Bernadette, her newly husband Howard and Raj all sat on the couch. Sheldon took the unusual choice of sitting in his computer chair skyping with Amy on his laptop. Both Penny and Bernaette were trying their hardest not to fall asleep while the boys were quoting along with the entire series.
Penny's phone rings. The song was an odd remix of Disturbia by Rihanna and Home by Three Days grace. Noticing the interesting song Bernadette's eye peered up at Penny. "That's a groovy song, what is it?" Bernadette inquired.
"Oh, you like it? It's this new DJ mash-up of Disturbia and Home, it's called Disturbed Home." Penny said answering her text.
"Oh, who's the DJ?" inquired Bernadette again.
"Her name is…"
"Shh!" the boys demanded.
"Okay, jeez it's just some dwarves with a ring." Penny stated earning cold, questioning stares from her nerd boyfriend and his nerd friends.
Slowly Sheldon turns halfway around to Penny and gives his own disappointing gaze. Shaking his head he questions his roommate, "Seriously, Leonard what do you see in her? Obviously her intellect is not high on the list."
"If you could see what happens in my room, you would understand my point of view." Leonard grew a lustfully smile across his face. Penny smacked his chest playfully and smiled taking his statement as a compliment.
"From what I hear during the late evenings, I would have to disagree." Sheldon said before returning to his own so-called 'girlfriend'.
It was not long until there was a knock on the door. The boys were so into Lord of the Rings they ignored the sound, Sheldon was in too deep of a conversation with Amy to care, and Penny and Bernadette were drifting in and out of sleep to even hear it. Another knock, Sheldon turned to the group and said, "Well the door is not going to answer itself."
"Why don't you get it?" questioned Leonard.
Taking a deep breathed Sheldon was about to quote the infamous 'Roommate Agreement', but Leonard quickly stood up and headed for the door muttering, "Yeah, yeah I know somewhere in the agreement it says I have to get the door, apparently…"
Opening the door Leonard was looking at the back of a short woman. The woman had giant violet headphones over her ears and wavy brown pixie-cut hair. She wore a sleeveless white shirt with elbow black and white fingerless gloves, a pair of loose black jeans with white studded belts and two white shoulder straps that were hanging down her legs. Turning around she had graying blue eyes and two long locks of hair hanging from each side.
Stunned by the beautiful woman, and by her unique appearance, Leonard took a moment to take it in then asked, "Can I help you?"
The woman took off her headphones and smiled with a nervous twitch, "Hello, um, is Sheldon here?"
"Who?" Leonard questioned with a puzzled expression.
"Um…Sheldon? Is there a Sheldon Cooper living here," she asked digging in her pocket she pulled out a piece of paper and looked at it, "I'm sorry sometimes I can barely read my own handwriting. Sad, huh?"
"Well, I mean there is a Sheldon here, but I doubt it's the one you're thinking of." Leonard looked back at his roommate then back at her.
The woman rubbed the back of her head and spoke, "Um, I do believe he's a doctor or something now. Um, he's really tall, lanky and has like an IQ of 180 or something."
"187 actually," Sheldon corrected. Turning around Leonard stepped aside, and quickly he stood up with a blank expression upon his long face, "Shirley…?"
Rubbing her left arm nervously Shirley smiled softly, "Hey there Shelly."
Suddenly Sheldon buckled over making an odd sound before hurrying to the bathroom forgetting about Amy who was still on Skype. Gaining everyone attention the gang all stood to their feet and gathered around Shirley.
"Hello? What's going on?" Amy called from the computer, unable to seeing who or why everyone was at the door.
Leonard rubbed his forehead, "Ah, who are you exactly?"
"My name is Shirley Stonehill," answered Shirley. Standing on her tippy-toes she tried looking where Sheldon went.
"How do you know Sheldon? I mean you look normal enough." Penny stated amazed that such a woman knew even who Sheldon was.
Shirley seemed more worried about Sheldon she had to double take Penny's question. Back flat on her feet she said, "We, we were childhood friends."
Everyone was so stunned that they all thought Shirley was mistaken. Surely she meant Missy's, Sheldon's twin sister, but if not why would Sheldon not tell anyone about her. Was she one of Sheldon's many childhood bullies? Was she a crazy childhood stalker?
"Um, did you say you were friends?" Leonard repeated with a joint questionable expression from everyone.
"Yeah I did," Shirley reached in her wallet and pulled out a gold card then extended it to Leonard, "look I need to be across town in like thirty minutes, so if you could give this to him and ask him to meet me that would be great"
"The Lone Lounge?" Leonard read the card. Quickly Penny's eyes widen as she snatched the card from her boyfriend's grip.
"Yeah, that's where I work. I'm heading over there now," Shirley put her wallet back into her back pocket, "that's a gold member pass, it can get anyone in on the list or not."
"Oh my God it's like the hardest club to get into," Penny exclaimed in amazement, "what do you do there?"
"I'm the new DJ," Shirley stated, "My stage name is Shirley Tempo…"
"Oh my God," Penny exclaimed again, louder this time, "I have like every mash-up you ever did! You're amazing!"
"Thanks, it's a gift." Shirley shrugged with a grin.
"So, er, this card says infinite pluses. W-what does that mean exactly?" Penny stuttered with excitement.
"It means just that, anyone with this card can get any number of people in," Shirley placed on her headphones and continued, "look even if Sheldon doesn't come, you all should. I start roughly around nine or so." Beginning to turn around she spun back around with desperate eyes, "But, if it's not too much trouble could you try to make Sheldon come. I would really love to see him again."
"Yeah, I'll try…" Leonard began, but was interrupted by Penny.
"Yes, he'll be there I promise!" the excited blonde promised.
With a slight smirk Shirley turned around, flipped her skateboard up and jogged down the stairs before heading on her way.
Leonard closed the door and looked at his girlfriend with a disbelief stare. "You promise? And how exactly do you plan on getting Sheldon Cooper into a club?"
"I don't care if we have to drug him or tie him up, he's going," Penny said with a disturbed voice, "Leonard, don't you get it? The Lone Lounge is the hot spot! Everyone who's anyone goes there!" She took hold of the nerd's narrow shoulders and spoke even louder, "If I went through I can get noticed, I can get an actual acting job! Leonard, I won't be just another failed actress waitressing in the cheesecake factory!"
Quickly grabbing Bernadette's hand Penny rushed them towards the door, yelling to Leonard, "We have to get ready, Leonard handle Sheldon!"
As the girls left frustrated Leonard threw up his hands in a fit, "And of course I always get stuck with the hard part."
"I'll take care of Amy," Howard said as he simply closed Sheldon's laptop.
"Ooo, I'm going to get wasted in the best club in town," Raj smiled awkwardly, "Oh, maybe I'll even hook up with an actress…oh wouldn't it be great if I hooked up with Justin Bieber?"
Howard gave his friend a questionable stare, "You do realize Justin Bieber is a dude, right?"
"Really," Raj asked confusedly, "he has really soft looking skin. I thought it was a lesbian trying to go butch like the lady who dated Lindsey Lohan."
"No, just no Raj." Howard shook his head.
Meanwhile Leonard had made his way to the bathroom door and knocked on it. Listening closely he could hear the shower running. He knocked again followed by a question, "Sheldon, are you taking a shower?"
"It just won't go down," Sheldon screamed painfully from inside, "why isn't the cold water cold enough?"
"Sheldon?" Leonard called worriedly. After another painfully scream coming from inside, Leonard hurried inside, "Sheldon, why exactly are you taking a cold shower if you can't handle the cold?"
The shower stopped. A long, lanky arm reached for a towel while a sigh of relief was expressed happily. Pushing the shower curtain to the side Sheldon was standing with a half-smile and a towel around his waist.
"It went down." Sheldon sighed.
"What did," Leonard questioned before realizing the answer, "Oh my God Sheldon!"
"Leonard, why are you in here?" Sheldon asked completely ignoring the pervious incident.
"You mean besides saving you from turning into a human popsicle," mocked Leonard, "that girl, Shirley, well she asked us to go the Lone Lounge."
"You mean Shirley Stonehill?" Sheldon asked. Leonard nodded. Quickly Sheldon began pacing back and forth, "Oh no! No, no, no. What can I wear? How should I act? What if I mess up?"
Leonard never seen his roommate act so, well human. Watching Sheldon pace back and forth he was forced to ask, "Who exactly is she?"
Sheldon stopped and looked at him, "She's Shirley Stonehill." He walked out and into his room leaving his short friend in a confused daze.
Arriving at the Lone Lounge 10:32pm Penny lead the gang to the front of the couple blocks line. Everyone they passed sighed pissed off watching them move up ahead which gave Penny a wider smile. At the door was a tall, wide, dark skinned man who stopped them and asked, "Names?"
"We're not on the list…" Penny began.
"Not on the list, not going in. Back of the line," he stated before being handed the gold card, "how many?"
"One, two, three" Penny counted down the gang, "six."
"Alright go on inside." he said lifting the velvet rope. They hurried through.
Once inside there were flashing white, red, violet, yellow lights coming from both the high ceiling and flashing floor. The booths were leather with marble table while the bar seemed to be a mile long with every kind of mixer, hard liquor, and beer that you could want. The waitresses were dressed in skimpy clothing, the male bartenders were topless with thick, beautiful muscles and everyone inside seemed to be extremely beautiful or perhaps it was just the flashing lights and fog like atmosphere that made everyone seem more ravishing than what they really were. And off in the far distance was Shirley up on a platform swaying as she mixes, scratching and free-styling the club's music.
Immediately Penny felt right at home, Bernadette was a little uncomfortable but still fine while the boys were totally out of place. Penny and Bernadette grabbed a glass of champagne from the walking by waitress then headed for the front of the club with their men latching on their arms. Sheldon closely followed them, sharply dressed in the black tuxedo Penny had picked out for him from before. Raj, on the other hand, stayed back and ordered a drink from the bar.
Up by the stage where Shirley was performing the crowd became thick and hard to navigate through. Soon Penny gave up and began dancing with her boy with her glass held to the ceiling. But Sheldon managed to break through the crowd, and standing in front of the stage he gazed up at the girl he once knew to the tee. A childhood friend, a childhood crush, a childhood love?
Getting bumped into Sheldon broke his gaze, but upon looking back up Shirley was already gone. He quickly looked around trying to locate her, but suddenly he was ambushed from behind. A soft silk cloth wrapped around his dull blue eyes, then his hand was taken as he was led somewhere. Pushing pass dancing fools, walking away the music was fading the further they went. Stepping into a back room where the ceiling and curved walls were mirrors, and in the center was a circle bed with silk sheets and many pillows.
With the sound of the door locking behind him, Sheldon soon felt a warm embrace. The sweet, almost intoxicating scent rushing into his nose was that of only one person. He removed the cloth seeing Shirley holding him tightly, and it was not long until he wrapped his arms around, closed his eyes and locked her into one of his rare embraces.