Thanks for your reviews! I know it took a lot of time to write the next chapter but it is hard for me and I really need to work on it! So please feel free to write my mistakes and your opinions! I hope you will enjoy it! Oh, and of course I don't own the character's of Big Bang Theory.
Penny made the finishing strokes on her make-up. A little lip-gloss and she would be ready. She watched her clock, it was 6.57 pm, so she had three minutes before Sheldon would show up.
Penny looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a long, strapless dress in light pink color, of which corset heightened her slim waist. She let her hair loosen so the blond, wavy curls touched her shoulders. She smiled at herself in the mirror. She looked forward to a wonderful night and she decided enjoying herself. And she barely could wait for dancing. She sure would have one dance: last Thrusday she had kicked Sheldon's ass at Halo and he had to promise dancing her once during the evening.
Knock, knock, knock. „Penny." Penny smiled at the familiar voice and stepped out her bathroom.
Knock, knock, knock. „Penny."
Knock, knock, knock. „Penny."
Penny opened the door and she saw Sheldon standing in front of the door in his great black suit they had bought together. Penny observed how fantastic he looked if he dressed up normally and she found out that the most sexy thing in her strange neighbour was that he knew nothing about it.
"Hi, Sheldon. You look great."
"Thank you, Penny. And you also look very acceptable for the evening." Sheldon said while he observed the girl upside-down. Penny observed delightly that Sheldon's pupils widened and he gasped his breath rapidly. Altough he couldn't express it, his body told the truth to Penny. She saw satisfied with the result.
"I brought you something, as the common decencies dictats." Sheldon said and he gave a little package to her.
Penny was amused. "It's sweet but you don't have to." When she opened the package, she dropped her teeth, because there was a Penny Blossom in it.
"Oh, sweetie, it is an amazing surprise! I don't even think about that you kept one of those."
"I recall it as a nice memory. And I remember they were good accessoires in your hair. I assume it isn't intrusive if I ask you to wear it in your hair tonight."
"Oh, you're so sweet, of course, I will wear it." Penny said and she put the flower in her hair. She smiled at Sheldon and she was amused watching Sheldon smiling back at her in a very naturally way.
"Hey guys, if you're ready we can leave." Leonard said behind Sheldon from their apartment.
"We're ready" Penny answered and she left her apartment.
Leonard gulped when he saw the stunning and glowing girl and he said honestly:
"You look really beautiful."
"Thanks, honey." Penny smiled at him. Leonard started to regret that he had accepted Leslie Winkle's offer so fast and it wasn't him who invited Penny to the ball.
„Penny, may I offer you my arm?" Sheldon asked és held out his arm toward the girl. Leonard raised his eyebrows and Penny opened her mouth because they both knew how Sheldon hated human touch.
"Thank you, sweetie, I accept." Penny said and she hooked on Sheldon. "But why do you let me touch you?"
"Penny, as I said before my mother had forced me to attend danceschool. I was taught that a real gentleman had to offer his arm to his lady in a situation like this. And no one can say about Mary Cooper's son that he isn't a gentleman."
Penny chuckled and Leonard sighed as they were descending the stairs.
They went to the university by Leonard's car, with Sheldon in the front seat and Penny in the back seat. In their way to the university they picked Leonard's date, Leslie.
She wore a long green dress with a plunging neckline. She made her hair and make-up and she had contacts in her eyes. Leonard's eyes immediately went wide when he noticed her and Penny had to admit herself that she could understand why the boys had a crush on that girl. Until she opened her mouth to greet them.
"Hi Leonard and hi Dr. Dumbass. And look" she turned to Penny "Miss Blondie or have Sheldon finally made himself a woman-like robot?"
Penny sighed but when she was Leonard smiling she looked daggers at him in the rear-view mirror.
"Just to inform you, I work on that project but professor Siebert didn't allow it. He said that I am obliged to attend the ball with an actual real girl or he won't give a damn for my expenses."
Leslie chuckled. She turned toward Leonard and they spoke about their research while the other two rested in silence.
When they arrived they were greeted with a glass of champagne. Penny accepted it relievedly but she heard a voice next to her.
"Penny, why do you believe that alcohol is the standard start for an evening?" Sheldon asked. "Sometimes I wonder if you are an addicted. Perhaps you should see a specialist."
Penny got angry. "I'm not addicted to alcohol. I can spend an evening without it. And to prove it to you, I'm not goint to drink a glass tonight!" She said and gave back her glass to the surprised waitress. Sheldon smiled like he did when he reached his point.
They saw Bernadette, Howard, Raj and an unkown girl waving toward them. Bernadette wore a drone long dress while Howard wore a suit with a drone turtleneck sweater. Raj was impressive in his expensive suit as always. The girl next to him was tall, slim and she wore the thickest glasses one could imagine.
"Hi" Bernadette greeted them. "We just reserved a table for us at the other room."
"Great" Penny said and turned to their Indian friend. "Raj, would you like to introduce us your date?"
"Of course" Raj said with one hand embracing his date and in the other hand an empty champagne glass. "She is Nicole and she comes from Netherlands to study here."
"Hi" Nicole greeted them shyly. "I don't speak English too well. I'm just new. I'm happy to be here. Raj is so nice."
They all smiled at the girl while they were going to their table. Penny and Sheldon were the last of the group. Suddenly a voice made them stop.
"Dr. Sheldon Cooper?" Sheldon and Penny turned to the sound and a very tall, brown-haired handsome man stood in front of them.
"Yes, and you are..."
"Dr. Marcus Anthony Stapeton" The man said and shaked Sheldon's hand. Sheldon looked nervously down their shaking hands and Penny knew he was thinking about the nearest rest-room where he could wash his hand.
"Nice to meet you" Marc Stapeton continued. "I think we are going to meet each other more than once in the next months to discuss our standpoints related to the string theory."
"Do you mean to find the point where your theory goes wrong?" Sheldon asked.
The other laughed loud at this moment, flashing his perfectly white set of teeth.
"No, I mean to prove that you're wrong." He answered and looked deep inside Sheldon's eyes.
Oh, dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper you've just found your man, Penny thought. She cleared her throat to incur the two men's attention to herself."
"Oh, I'm sorry" Marc Stapeton said while turned toward Penny smiling. "Dr. Cooper, would you mind introduce me to your lovely girlfriend?"
"I'm Penny and I'm definitely not his grilfriend." Penny answered instead of Sheldon. Sheldon was confused because he didn't understand why Penny's quick answer bothered him. "Penny, he is dr. Marcus Anthony Stapeton."
"Enchanté" The other scientist said and he grabbed Penny's hand to touch it with his mouth lightly. Penny went pink and she wondered why she felt herself a princess from the words and gestures from this handsome man when the same words and gestures were so disgusting from Howard Wolowitz.
"My friends call me Marc."
"My friends call me Penny" she said.
"And does Penny stand for Peony?" Marc asked.
"Penelope" She answered. It was strange for her saying loud her full name. She never was Penelope she was just Penny.
"Penelope, the patient, faithful wife of Odysseus, whose return trip from the Trojan War took ten long years. I will call you Penelope." Marc declared and suddenly Penny felt a strange feeling in her stomach. "If you're interested in, I can show you some day my researches and achievements."
"It will be wonderful, you know, I'm a hige fan of you, I've read your book, I..."
"Excuse me, Penny" Sheldon interrupted her "but how have you read dr. Stapeton's book? You didn't buy it."
"I borrowed Leonard's." Penny answered. "He has just bought it last week. It was a really great reading. Now I can understand better the whole universum-thing."
"No, you can't." Sheldon said again. "You can't understand the universum better because you've read a book which presents the physics like it would be an easy hokum to understand."
"But this hokum makes more money than you can imagine" Marc said. "And as I know, your university has some kind of financial problem about your research that's why I'm here who could afford anything he wants."
Penny saw that Sheldon was about the point where he would explode, so she excused themselves and led Sheldon toward their table.
During the diner, the girls were talking about the place and the dresses of the others while the boys were arguing about whether there would be any ball on the planet Klingon. Leonard was busy with Leslie's mouth.
After the diner the orchestra started playing. Howard and Bernadette went dancing as well as Raj with his new date. It seemed that for this foreign girl, Raj was an exotic creature, the Indian who had come to America to accomplish his dreams. She said she liked America very much for such things.
Penny asked Sheldon when he would keep his promise and dance with her, but Sheldon pointed out that it wasn't his choice whether he wanted dancing or not but the when was his choice. Penny sighed and watched the others dancing.
It was until the famous song 'Sway' from Michael Bublé when Sheldon asked: "Penny, may I ask you to dance with me?"
"Why now?" She asked first.
"Because this song has mambo rythm and I am well trained in that."
"Okay, honey, let's dance." Penny answered with a smile. She grabbed Sheldon's hand and they walked to the dance floor.
There was a little tension between them first because they were a little embarrased about the situation. Penny knew that Sheldon didn't like human touching and it was awkward when he put his hand on her back. It was a little too much distance between them when they started dancing. After they found the right rythm Penny had to admit herself that Sheldon indeed could dance. He felt the rythm and he was the one who led. Comparing to Leonard who always missed the step and never could lead it was a bit surprise. And the surprise became bigger when Sheldon pulled her on himself and she could smell Sheldon's perfume. It was mannish. Penny closed her eyes and gave herself to the music to the rythm, to the sway... to her partner. It was a strange feeling that she could just let Sheldon lead her but she was sure she could rely on him. About everything. She was a bit sad when the dance finished and Sheldon led her back to their table.
"Thank you for the dance, Sheldon, you are really a good dancer." Penny said.
"Of course I can dance, I had to attend the 'cotillon' like I said before." Sheldon answered and Penny smiled at her genius neighbour.
After a few minutes Professor Siebert stepped to their table.
"Dr. Cooper I want to introduce you dr. Marcus Stapeton from Princeton University" he said.
"I've already intoduce myself to dr. Cooper" Marc said. "And we've already reached our first impasse on our theories."
"It's fantastic"Professor Siebert said. "I know you two will get on well with each other. And you'll have plenty of time to discuss your researches since you'll be in the same office for four months."
"What? Why would I be in the same office with dr. Stapeton? I've already had an office." Sheldon said.
"Yes, you have dr. Cooper. But I had to give an office to dr. Stapeton and since he has given a lot of money to our university I offered him your office so you could have returned to your former office with dr. Koothrappali."
"But I said to the professor that I could share an office with you so you don't have to leave your office" Marc said. "There's no need to thank me dr. Cooper, it will be a pleasure for me sharing an office with you. Oh, and I've already ordered my furniture so it will be delivered on Monday.
"So, we've discussed it, good. I'll leave you two to talk." Professor Siebert said and left them. Sheldon was so nervous that his mouth was twitching. Marc Stapeton turned to Penny.
"May I ask you for a dance, Penelope?"
"Of course" she answered and they left Sheldon.
It was a slow ballad and they rocked to the music. Penny was smiling. Two good dancers during the same evening! While she was dating with Leonard she couldn't even dream about it.
"Can I ask you a question, Penelope?" Marc asked and Penny nodded. "Where do you know dr. Cooper?"
"Sheldon is my neighbour for five years" she answered.
"And during that time didn't you go out with each other? If I have a neighbour like you I will ask her out at the first day."
"No, we never went on a date. However once he asked me out but just to make his former girlfriend jelaous. Why do you think we were on a date?"
"Because I saw you two dancing and you seemed like an accustomed couple."
Penny laughed.
"Really? Sheldon and I? It was the first time we even dance with each other." she answered. „And it was only because I kicked his ass on Halo."
"Wow, do you play Halo?" Marc asked flabbergastedly. "Now I'm definitely sure I need to call you on a date."
"Really? Is this your technique how to ask someone to go out with you? Is it working?" Penny asked flirting with this handsome man. She was really enjoying this dance and this conversation.
"Usually there would be more questions but the result would be the same. I will pick you up... let's say... Tuesday at 7 pm at your apartment. If you're the neighbour of dr. Cooper than I can find out your address easily."
"Oh, okay, sure, 7 pm will be fine." Penny said. She knew how it worked because she was a Big Ol' Five, but Marc was rapid fast altough she didn't care a bit.
The music stopped and they parted from each other. Marc bowed toward Penny and said:
"It is indeed nice to meet you, Penelope." He said leaving a confused but actually glad Penny after him.
"What are you crooning, Penny, because I think you're out of tune." Sheldon asked her when she returned to their table. Penny was amused. She didn't even notice that she was crooning.
"Just the last song which I really like." She answered.
"Interesting" Sheldon said looking confused but didn't say another word.
At the end of the ball Sheldon and Penny caught a cab to drive them home since Leonard had left the university earlier with Leslie. They both knew it would happen therefore Sheldon had ordered the cab the previous day after he had discussed the type of the cab, the technological details of the cab and the hygiene inside of the cab. On the road to home they were sitting in silence.
Once they arrived, they ambled along up the stairs together. Penny was so happy because the evening went fantastic, more fantastic than she had ever imagined. Sheldon was tired and he tought that his whole REM-cycle was upset and how he could handle this tomorrow.
"Sheldon, thank you very much to invite me to this ball. I really enjoyed myself. Without alcohol." Penny said with a little smile when they reached their floor.
"Well, I assume that the evening met your expectation." Sheldon said.
"There's just one more thing that could make this night perfect" Penny said.
"What is it?" Sheldon asked curiously.
"A good-night kiss." Penny said leaning forward to Sheldon, touched his face with one hand and kissed his lips softly and lightly. "Sleep tight, honey." She said smilingly and entered her apartment.
Sheldon stood in the hall for a long time and he was looking after the girl through the closed door.