Something nagged Sheldon at the back of his mind, but as usual, he ignored it. If the thought wasn't important enough to bypass his primary thought processes, it wasn't important. The nagging drifted away as he focused on the equations on his whiteboard. When a knock came at the door, the nagging came back; this time a little stronger and he knew it had something to do with Leonard. Again, he pushed the thought away as he answered the door.
A woman stood at the doorway. She was moderately attractive, by Western standards, if a bit plain. Her straight, brown hair was cropped at her shoulders and thick, black-framed glasses slid down her nose even as she looked up at the tall Texan. She was wrapped in a large brown coat, which he thought was slightly strange for the warm weather California had been experiencing lately. Sheldon looked down at her, the nagging feeling back, but this time it was screaming up and down and jumping on his hippocampus. He still decided to ignore it.
"Hello," he said.
"Hi," the woman answered.
Sheldon waited. There was something he was supposed to do in a situation like this. He quickly accessed his backlog of information on social protocol. Ah, yes.
"May I help you?"
"You may," the woman smiled. "Is Leonard here? I was told to meet him here."
"Yes, he's here." Sheldon stood at the door waiting for a clue as to the next course of action. The woman stared back. They both stared at each other for 6.8 seconds.
"Can I come in and see him?" She finally asked.
Sheldon relaxed. "Yes, of course." He stood aside and let the woman come in. "Leonard," he called. "Someone is here to see you."
Leonard's bedroom door opened quickly and he stormed out, red faced. "Jenna! Lovely to see you. You're looking great. Long time no see. How's life treating you? Will you excuse me for a moment?" He grabbed Sheldon's elbow and pulled him into the kitchen. Sheldon stared down at his arm, annoyed at the breach of personal space.
"I told you to tell her I wasn't here and not to let her in!"
So that was what was niggling at Sheldon. He recalled Leonard saying something like, "Very important, blah blah blah, someone coming to see me, blah blah blah blah blah, let her in, blah blah blah blah, hey did you hear about the new Green Lantern movie?"
"Sorry, I wasn't listening."
Leonard's brushed his hands through his hair, his nerves at the brink. It was no use arguing with Sheldon, he learned long ago. He turned his attention back to Jenna, a woman who deserved undivided attention. She was squatting by the bookshelves at the back of the room, reading the spines of their collection.
"This is amazing," Jenna said when she sensed the two men had finished conversing. "Your mother told me that you were somewhat of a physicist, but this is…" She touched the array of scientific, philosophical and theoretical tomes. "You always were a genius," she said shyly, stood up and looked at Leonard, eyes shining. Sheldon snorted and Jenna's attention fell on him.
"Uh, yeah. That would be Sheldon, my roommate. Sheldon this is Jenna, an old…friend of mine," Leonard inched slowly behind Sheldon.
"Hello, Sheldon." Jenna moved around the sofa toward the taller man, her hand ready to shake his. "It's nice to meet you. Are you a scientist as well?"
Sheldon ignored her hand and gave a condescending smile. "Am I a scientist as well? Oh Leonard, how your friends do amuse me so. Yes, Jenna. I am a theoretical physicist at the forefront of my field. I am currently on the edge of a breakthrough concerning heterotic string theory which will eventually lead to a Nobel Prize."
"Oh, a future Nobel laureate. I'm honored," Jenna smiled and retracted her hand when she realized it was not going to be shaken. Leonard peeked at her from behind Sheldon, shocked that his display of arrogance and disdain didn't set her off.
"Here we are, we hope we're here before that mad, crazy-eeeeeeeee," Raj trailed off in a squeak as he and Howard walked through the front door. Howard stepped forward, almost by instinct heading toward the woman standing in the middle of the room. He stopped himself, however, realizing that this was probably the mad, crazy woman.
"Hey guys," Leonard said in a shaky voice and walked quickly toward them and closer to the door. "This is Jenna. Jenna, this is Raj and Howard they're friends of mind and work with Sheldon and me at Cal-Tech."
"Hi, there." Jenna walked toward the two fresh faces, hand extended. They shook it, though reluctantly.
"Please, take a seat," Leonard said and gestured toward the sofa. He sat down on the arm of the couch closest to the door. Raj quickly sat down next to him and Howard to the left of Raj, practically sitting on his lap. Jenna took a seat on the left side of the sofa and Raj let out an audible gasp.
"Not there," Sheldon warned.
"Why not?" Jenna questioned.
"Sheldon –" Leonard growled.
"That's my spot." Sheldon answered.
A thick silence descended heavily on the room. All eyes were on Jenna and they waited with baited breath to see what she would do to Sheldon. Leonard felt a bead of sweat fall down his forehead.
"Oh. I can see why. It's a good spot." Jenna stood up and started to sit in the chair before looking up. "Is this anyone's spot?" Leonard, Raj and Howard furiously shook their heads. Jenna smiled and sat down. Silence once again prevailed, but this time with an awkward quality.
"So, you have the new X-box, huh?" Jenna shifted uncomfortably in her chair, a goofy grin on her face. "You know, I have this theory that every household containing one or more male in a first world nation has some sort of video game system." She laughed nervously. No one else did.
"That would be a hypothesis, not a theory. A theory would need to be something that has thoroughly been tested and has yet to be disproved." Leonard tried to give him a warning glance, but as usual, Sheldon either ignored it or didn't understand it. "And it's doubtful this particular hypothesis has been tested. If one were to test it, one would need an extensive team of researchers. One would also need to take economic factors into consideration –"
"Sheldon!" Leonard quietly shouted through clenched teeth. "Let it go."
Jenna was staring at Sheldon with a slightly insulted expression mixed with a touch of awe and disgust.
"Is he always like this?" She asked Leonard.
"Not always. Sometimes he's asleep." Jenna let out a laugh that was a little too loud. The other men flinched.
The front door opened and a cheery blonde walked through, cutting the tension. "Oh my God! Guys, I have the biggest news!" Penny stopped short when she saw a strange looking woman in a large brown coat. "Hello. Who's this?"