A/N: Thank you to all the reviewers and followers. The response to continue was very kind to say the least. I hope that you continue to enjoy where this is going.
A big "thank you" to Terrible Waitress for catching an awful spelling/usage error in the prior chapter!
Leonard & Penny: A different introduction:
Chapter 2: A first conversation
Once they were inside the coffee shop, Penny dragged her new friend toward the rear.
"They have table service here. C'mon." she said. Taking the lead once more; she pulled him along by the hand.
Scooching into the booth furthest away from everything, Penny smiled once more. He slid in and was seated across from her.
She began talking about the shop; about the coffee they served and about different pastries and food items they sold. Leonard meanwhile could not get what had just happened before they entered the shop out of his mind.
A beautiful woman. An actress and model, had actually given him the best kiss he had ever received in his life and was now acting as if it were nothing unusual. 'Got that out of the way' was how she put it. As if it was a checklist item: Kiss the nerd until he is floating on air? Check. She had now stopped talking and was looking at him again with those amazing green eyes.
"I'm sorry. What were you saying?" he asked.
She laughed and said "Silly. Are you alright over there? Was it the kiss?-Was it a little too much?"
"Um. No. No it was fine. Just maybe a little unexpected."
"I knew it. I'm sorry-….." she was off again he thought. He began to smile broadly and then began to laugh. She stopped speaking and looked at him with a confused look on her face.
"What? What's so funny?"
He stopped laughing and stood up. He cleared his throat and said "excuse me. I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Leonard Hofstadter." He then offered her his hand to shake.
Not missing a beat, she took the hand, shook it warmly and said "well Mr. Hofstadter it's - - - "
"Um." He interrupted. "Actually it's Dr., Dr. Hofstadter."
"Oh. Pardon me Dr. Hofstadter. It is such a pleasure to meet you at long last. My name is Penny. Would you care to join me?"
At this point, they both started to laugh boisterously. Regaining his composure, he said "don't mind if I do. Is this seat taken?"
"Not yet. Not until you sit in it" she returned. He then returned to the seat across from this fun and seemingly wonderful woman.
Neither of them had noticed the waitress that was standing behind Leonard.
"Can I get you two anything?" she asked, a little bit annoyed at having to wait for their shenanigans to cease.
"I'll have a black coffee" Leonard said.
"Make it two, but can you bring some skim milk on the side?" she asked.
"Very good. I'll be right back." The waitress then turned and went to pour their coffee.
"So a doctor huh?" She said, pretending that she didn't get a little of his information from Mrs. Warren. "What is that like?"
Just then the waitress returned with their coffee and the skim milk she had asked for. She poured some into her cup and began to stir. "Would you like some?" she asked as she held up the small container.
"Um. No. I'm good." He watched as she tapped her spoon against the rim of the coffee cup three times. She took a napkin from the holder on the table and placed the used spoon on top of it. She then wrapped both of her hands around the cup as if she were trying to take in the warmth emanating from the ceramic it was made from.
Ducking down her head to capture his attention again she said softly "Leonard?"
Looking back up at her, he blushed and apologized.
"I'm…I'm sorry Penny, but this sort of thing does not happen to guys like me."
With her brow furrowed into a wrinkle, she shot back at him "what do you mean 'guys like you'?"
Looking at her directly now, he began.
"Penny. I'm a nerd. I don't dress like this" he made a motion with his arms, stretching them out as if to present himself as Exhibit A in his opening statement to the court.
"I don't dress like this to make a fashion statement. This is who I am. I like science fiction, video games. My collection of comic books is embarrassingly vast. If you go to my apartment you may feel as if you are visiting your 10 year old nephew instead of someone - - - Well someone you're acquainted with. I guess what I'm trying to say is, women like you aren't usually friendly with guys like me."
Her voice rising slightly, she said "what does that mean-'women like me'?"
At the harsher tone of her voice, he paled.
Immediately reacting to the change that came over his face, she reached out her hand to take his across the table.
"Sorry" she said quietly. "Like I said before, sometimes I come off as a little brusque. Don't take it personally."
He nodded. Releasing his hand, she sat back in the booth.
"And actually, it's not always easy for a 'woman like me'." Flexing her fingers she made air quote marks. Then, imitating Leonard, she spread her arms out on either side, presenting her defense.
"A lot of people tell me I'm cute or say that I'm beautiful. Fine. I'm cute. But some of the things that come with that are idiots and, pardon my French, but douche bags constantly hitting on me and getting pissed off and hostile if I don't fall into their arms and say 'take me now you hunk of man'."
Continuing, she said "and then really nice guys, like you Leonard. Well, really nice guys either are put off and leery of even talking to a pretty girl 'cause they're afraid of being shot down or they have pre-conceived notions that we all must be bitches, thinking that we are soooo far above them and not worth even asking."
Then feeling the passion behind her opinion, she said bluntly to him "which one are you, Leonard?" Then in almost a whisper, she repeated "which one?"
Uneasily looking from her eyes to his hands on the table and back again he said "if you were to make me confess tell you, I'd have to admit that I'm the first; afraid of being shot down."
"Don't think that way ever again, okay?" she said, once again taking his hands across the table.
"Remember" she said bringing her arms so that each hand touched its opposite shoulder, the arms crossing in front of her. "All this on the outside is just a coating. Underneath, we're all the same. Sometimes you may think someone is full of confidence and belief in herself, but that is not always the case. Take from someone who knows."
Continuing, she said, "Leonard, when we slammed into each other earlier today and seeing you in the classroom, I felt - I don't know; some sort of connection with you. I'm not sure what is going on, but I think you feel it too. I have no idea what will happen or where this will go. I just think we owe ourselves the chance to become friends." He nodded his agreement.
Smiling back at him warmly, she went on "Now before I went off on this emotional sideshow I asked you what's it like being a doctor? Spill Doc!"
Leonard returned her smile and felt a return of the ease with which he had been able to speak with this remarkable person. He told her about his field of study and how he was an experimental physicist at CalTech there in Pasadena. She listened and was amazed at how he easily explained things to her that were clearly over her head, but in a way that didn't make them seem that foreign to her. He put her completely at ease.
"You know I have to admit that Mrs. Warren did tell me a little bit about you, plus, you aren't going to believe this, but I have a neighbor who is in the science thingy at CalTech too. Do you know Sheldon Cooper?"
He smiled at her turn of phrase 'science thingy'; then at the name of the theoretical physicist, Leonard raised his eyebrows.
"I know who he is, but believe it or not other than an occasional nod of recognition, I have never had a conversation with him. Word around the physics department is that he is a bit of an odd duck."
"Well 'odd duck' only begins to scrape the surface there. Oh, he's a nice enough guy and all but….." she stopped as her voice trailed off.
Looking to change the subject, Leonard asked her about herself. The blonde went on to explain that she had been in California for just over two years. That she had originally moved here from Nebraska with a now former boyfriend, who in her words was nothing but a "Neanderthal with a huge ego and a steroid problem, AND who would hump anything female that crossed his path". Sighing deeply she gave him a small smile and an even smaller whispered "sorry".
She went on to tell him that she was hoping to become an actress. She was presently a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory, but that was temporary until she got her big break. She supplemented that income with some modeling, mostly like she had done today, although she had done a shoot recently for a local dress shop's newspaper advertisement and was hoping for some additional work of that type. She had an agent who had some 'irons in the fire', as she put it and had hoped to hear about a commercial within the next few days.
They continued to talk about themselves, her telling him about growing up on a farm in Nebraska and how her father had hoped she would be a boy, and had called her 'slugger' until she was a teen. He related to her tales of his dysfunctional family and what it was like growing up in an academically aimed family on the east coast.
Before they knew it, the two had been talking for over three hours and drinking quite a lot of coffee. When they realized the time, Leonard apologized for keeping her away from what must be a busy schedule.
"Oh. Yeah. My calendar is just sooooo full. Places to go. People to see. She then swiped open her phone and hit the icon for her appointment calendar. Oh. Nope. I was wrong. Completely open!" She then giggled sweetly, which caused him to laugh as well.
Pulling her purse from beside her, she began to rummage through the contents, producing a small plastic case. She flipped it open and pulled out a card. She glanced at it, then handed it to him. "Here. This has all my contact info on it. Cell phone, email. Everything.
He looked at the card in his hands and then looked back at her.
"Give me a call in a few days and maybe we can have dinner, or something."
Seeing his blank expression, she said "this is the part where you say 'thank you Penny and here's my number'."
"Um. Yeah. I'm sorry."
She handed him another of her cards and said "write your number and email here."
Taking a pen from his pocket, he added his information and handed the card back to her. "Thanks Penny."
"September 24, 2007, the date Penny had to ask a guy for his number after giving him hers" she said, laughing hysterically. He smiled back with a slightly confused look on his face.
"Well, I've got to get going. Laundry to do tonight. All my work uniforms are filthy and I go in at 11:00 tomorrow." She stood up, as did he.
Reaching for her portfolio, he grabbed it first and held it for her so she could sling the carrying strap over her shoulder. She looked at him and said "thank you. Very gentlemanly like." He then picked up his belongings. She again began to fish around in her purse, but he picked up the check the waitress had left. Looking at it, he put cash on the table for the tip and went to pay the bill, saying over his shoulder "this one is on me for knocking you down."
"I think we need to go to the video tape to see who knocked down whom" she said, again smiling.
After finishing up at the register, they exited the coffee shop. Standing together on the sidewalk he noted that it was starting to get a little dusky, the early fall sky not so kind in its brightness at the early evening hour.
"Where are you parked, I'll walk with you" he asked.
She leaned her head toward the south, in the opposite direction from the parking garage where his vehicle was located.
Beginning to walk in that direction he said, "let's go."
She fell in beside him, putting her arm through his, looking straight ahead. He looked down at the spot where they were linked. "Don't get nervous there Dr. Hofstadter. Just one friend escorting another to her car" she said softly; not altering her glance, but squeezing his arm just a little tighter.
