Chapter 3 - The Nightclub
Even though they were a little early for the night, the club they went to was already filling up with patrons for the evening. However being early, got them a decent table not very far from the bar or the open air dance floor. Penny really was glad they met up with Leonard for obvious reasons, but now being brought to this really nice place was another reason that meeting him that day had been a great coincidence. The dance floor was large and in the open with palm trees around it, it looked like something out of a movie, and the tables were several deep surrounding it. The bars, there were two of them, were on both sides of the dance floor and the tables, so you didn't have to go far for a drink and the crowd was really getting large with lots of people their age already socializing and dancing. The girls even liked the music, which included some tropical songs, top ten, mixed with a few classics, and the sound system was just loud enough, but not too loud. The place was perfect and Penny couldn't help think that was in some part due to the man that was sitting at the table, with them.
The club filled up fast, after they arrived, with good looking men and women, so just when they got their drinks a man walked up Amy and asked her to dance, which made her smile and stand up to go to the dance floor with him. No sooner then Amy stood up, a very handsome tall man asked Katie to dance and while she turned to answer him, a very well built blonde man bent down to ask Penny to dance. Penny was about to tell the man no, when Bernadette jumped up and grabbed Leonard's hand to pull him to the dance floor with her, which stunned her for a moment as she watched Bernadette drag Leonard along with her.
"Would you like to dance?" the handsome man said again, and Penny just looked blankly up at him and slowly nodded, allowing herself to be led to the dance floor.
Leonard let Bernadette take him to the middle of the dance floor and began to dance with her, he really was surprised how things were turning out at the moment, he was on the dance floor with a beautiful girl and Bernadette's smile and personality were infectious so he smiled back as they danced. He had really thought he would be left at the table, as the much better looking men swooped down on the four pretty girls sitting with the nerd. Actually he was sort of use to other guys treating him like he wasn't there, when he was with a girl, and tonight had been no exception. He just had this fantasy, in his mind, that tonight would be different and he would have someone to slow dance with, their eyes meeting, resulting in them both kissing each other and the beginning of their love. He knew he was silly and pathetic, but just once in his life he had wished he could catch a break and have someone amazing too. However, even though he thought all four girls were out of his league, this cute adorable blonde, Bernadette, seemed to like him, so he began to just enjoy being with her and considered himself for once lucky. With those thoughts, Leonard started to pay more attention to her, smiling and laughing at her little jokes, she was telling him while they danced, he was having a good time with a beautiful girl in paradise, he didn't know how long it would last but he was determined to enjoy it.
Penny tried to see Leonard and Bernadette while she danced, catching only occasional glimpses of them in the crowd, as her dancing partner moved her on the floor. She couldn't believe how it bothered her, knowing he was with another girl, even if it was her friend Bernadette, who she was extremely jealous of right now. Penny stayed out for a second song, again trying to see her friend and Leonard, but when the next song, a slow one played she faked being tired and headed to the table. Her friends were already sitting down talking to their dancing partners, however, as Penny approached the table it became evident Bernadette and Leonard weren't there. She sat down thinking they would show up shortly and Penny decided right then she would ask Leonard to dance with her when the next song played, like Bernadette did before, but as she waited for him, a thought crossed her mind. She quickly stood to look out on the dance floor only to seen Bernadette pulled tightly in Leonard's arms, her head on his shoulder, a small smile on her face, slowly dancing to the romantic music of the song. The sadness Penny had felt before now got the best of her and she excused herself to go to the restroom, to lock herself in a stall, the feelings she were trying to control, now making her sick to her stomach.
Katie saw Penny go off and knew she was upset, she had grown up with Penny so she had seen all her emotions many times over, she was just happy no one else had seemed to notice. Katie looked at her guy, Steve, "Sweetie, I need to do my girl thing too, and you know us girls can't go to the bathroom by ourselves, so give me a minute." Steve just nodded and smiled at her, and Katie right then decided Steve was going to get lucky tonight, for his understanding.
It didn't take long for Katie to see Penny's sandals under the stall. "Penny are you okay?"
"Yes….I'm okay." Her voice cracked and she hated being so weak.
"Sweetie, what's wrong…is it that guy."
"No." Penny didn't give a damm about the guy she was sitting with and was too embarrassed to tell anyone she had a crush on Leonard.
Katie knew she was lying, "Okay then what's wrong."
"Nothing." Penny realized that was such a lie that she added, "I don't think I feel well….maybe my periods coming, or those allergies I had before."
"Oh, okay. Do you want to call it an early night?"
Penny now felt bad for another reason, her friends were having fun and she was ruining it for them, it was selfish and she didn't want to be that way. "No, I should be okay for a while, just give me a minute." Penny quickly got out her compact, luckily she wasn't wearing much make up, so it only took her a few seconds to fix her face, from a couple tears that had fell down her cheeks. She left the stall and looked at her friend a small forced smile on her face, "Okay, I'm ready lets go back." Katie just nodded while watching her friend suspiciously.
They had played two slow songs in a row, so Bernadette and Leonard were just walking back to the table when Penny and Katie rejoined the group. Penny couldn't help the hurt feeling while she watched Bernadette hang on Leonard's arm and smile up at him while they talked, Leonard's return smile just making that feeling worse. The rest of the night Bernadette kept Leonard occupied, making him dance with her and keeping his attention all night. The two guys that first asked Amy and Katie to dance stayed with them all night, buying them drinks and keeping them entertained. Penny was hit on by several guys, dancing with a couple of them and trying to be interested in what they were saying to her while she drank, drank a lot.
That night they were all having fun and feeling good, except Penny who slowly got drunk, the girls and Leonard having to get Penny home after a while, her being too drunk to take care of herself. Leonard felt sorry for her, she was going to sick tomorrow and he wondered why she had drinking so much, her friends seemed to be having such a good time. He had noticed the guys flocking around her all night and when you looked at the guys who wanted her, really all the girls, it confused him why she seemed to drink so much. However, he quickly put it out of his mind as he helped the girls with her, he had been trying to get to know Bernadette better that whole night, so he probably missed what all happened with her anyway.
Penny was miserable in the morning, and spent the first hour of her waking time in the bathroom throwing up. The girls gave her aspirin and water, to help her, but Penny mostly stayed in her room that day, moaning for them to put her out of her misery. Because of her condition the girls stayed around the beach house all day, only going out to get food, Leonard taking them to the best market in town. Leonard grilled them burgers for dinner on the outdoor grill and the day turned out to be both lazy and relaxing for them all.
Katie was amazed at how easy it was to be around Leonard, he was extremely pleasant, interesting and he didn't act like he was king stud, like a lot of guys did when surrounded by all girls. He was really nice and she had to admit she enjoyed him being around and she could tell Amy did too. They had only know him for less than two days but she had to admit he was their friend now and it seemed so natural that he was part of the group already. However, Bernadette and Penny were a different story, neither looked at him as just a friend, Katie observed, and she hoped something got settled between them before there was a conflict between them.
Leonard hung around after dinner, into the evening mostly sitting on the deck and talking to Bernadette and Amy about his work. Also, Penny finally came out of her room and joined her friends shortly after the sun went down and the temperature went down a little. Penny was still hurting so she just sat down on a deck chair, a cold bottle of water against her forehead, attempting to feel a little better, while she listened to her friends.
"Back with the living, Penny?" Katie teased
"Shut up." Penny responded, making everyone laugh.
"How did you drink so much in such a short time?" Amy asked.
"I don't want to talk about drinking. I still haven't decided if I want to go on living." Penny told her.
Leonard was just watching the banter between the girls, making him realize what good friends they were. He watched as Penny laid there talking with her eyes closed and the cold bottle against her forehead as her friends teased her without mercy. He really enjoyed just being there with them, it was comfortable and such a friendly atmosphere, plus what guy wouldn't like sitting around talking to a bunch of hot girls. Especially with a cute blonde pressed up tight against him right now in the large deck chair they were in. However as he listened to the conversation, it was hard to ignore Bernadette next to him, she was so distracting and if he was honest with himself he couldn't believe some one so pretty and nice wanted anything to do with him.
Katie had been watching Bernadette who was being so obvious, she wondered why she didn't just take Leonard into her bedroom and screw his brains out. However she reminded herself this was Bernadette, not her, so that probably wasn't an option for Bernadette right now. She also watched Penny, who had looked at Leonard when she came out with them and would open her eyes every so often to look his way. But Leonard was the one who confused her most, Katie truly believed he didn't understand what Bernadette wanted with him and that Penny was interested in him too. He seemed clueless to what was going around him and Katie didn't know if that was cute or aggravating that he just didn't understand he needed to make a decision.
"Well it's late and I have to get up early to work tomorrow, so I'll get going. Thanks for letting me visit." The girls all telling him goodbye, as Leonard got up to head down to his place.
Katie watch the frown form on Bernadette's face, and then saw Penny open her eyes to look at him, "Leonard, you are always welcome, just come by anytime you want." Katie blurted out, watching both Bernadette and Penny smile and nod, obviously agreeing to Katie's invitation.
Leonard smiled, "Thanks, Goodnight everyone." He then went down the stairs to the beach and home.
The next morning Katie watched as Bernadette waited on the beach for Leonard to walk by, to his instrumentation, then went out to the beach to go with him, while Penny sat on the deck watching the whole thing. Penny was feeling much better this morning, she had bagels and coffee already and her color was back. However, when Penny came back into the house, Katie could see Penny was deep in thought, making Katie shake her head, it was obviously Leonard on her mind.
When Leonard and Bernadette returned, it was about lunch time, so they all went to lunch, which Katie felt was a little awkward, but they all still talked and since Leonard asked them if they wanted to do something fun after lunch, there was some excitement to find out what it was. The other thing that intrigued them was that Leonard asked them how well they could swim and told them to bring bathing suits, that were not too skimpy, which also peaked their curiosity. That alone saved lunch as all of them, including Penny, tried to get Leonard to give them hints about the big fun surprise.
It was a surprise and it turned out to be a lot of fun, Leonard brought them to a place that rented personal watercraft, and after a short course, all five of them were zipping through the sea on a watercraft all afternoon. This taught Katie another thing about Leonard too, he respected them as people and not just women, he never thought of any them riding on the back of his craft, he wanted them all to have their own and have fun, enjoying doing what they wanted. It was fun too, they chased each other, played made up games, raced, and had a general great afternoon. By the time they finally turned their craft back in, they were all laughing and acting nutty, tired and even though they put on sun screen still a little sun burnt. Leonard then surprised them again, by having spray on sun burn reliever, spraying all their backs so none of them would be uncomfortable.
The ride back was even fun, Leonard had driven them all there, since he had a big SUV, and the girls while riding back, all talking about their afternoon. Listening to them made Leonard laugh as they argued who was a better driver and who did what to who that afternoon. They sounded more like a bunch of guys the way they were acting. "What's so funny Hofstadter?" Katie said with a big smile.
Leonard chuckled, "If you didn't all sound like girls, I would swear the truck was filled with guys."
Katie smiled and tapped both Amy and Penny, then all three of them leaned on the back of the front seat making sure their cleavage showed quite visibly. "You sure about that Hofstadter."
Leonard looked in the mirror, then quickly turned his head for a second, blushing, "I stand corrected. You guys would never be mistaken for men."
"Where are you taking us to eat." Bernadette asked as she slid closer to Leonard in the front seat. Since the other three girls were sitting side by side in the back seat, Katie actually felt Penny tense as Bernadette pushed herself close to Leonard.
"Yeah Leonard you going to wow us again?" Katie then nudged Penny, she tended to clam up when she got upset, so Katie wanted her to open up more, before she got herself too depressed again. Katie looked at her, "I'm hungry, how about you?"
Penny stared at her for a second confused. "I guess I'm hungry. This afternoon was really something, I guess I'm really starved."
"Me too, Leonard what made you decide on this afternoons adventure?" Amy now leaned forward on the back of the front seat, waiting for his response.
"Okay, I'll tell you if you promise not to get mad."
"Nope, no promises." Katie smiled, then looked at Penny.
"Katie's right, Leonard, if you screw up, you're on your own." Penny supported her friend and teasing Leonard was actually fun.
"I will agree with my friends, tread lightly Dr Hofstadter." Amy added.
Leonard looked down at Bernadette who shook her head, "Really, you're going to desert me too?"
"Sorry they're my friends." Bernadette gave him a small smile.
Penny couldn't help herself, teasing was flirting and she so desperately wanted to flirt with him. "Spill it Leonard."
Leonard applied the brakes and pulled into the restaurant parking lot, "We're here." he sighed in relief.
"Oh you are so on the edge of getting in trouble Hofstadter." Katie said seriously, which got nods from all the girls who then started giggling.
Bernadette then looked at the halter and shorts she was wearing, "Are we dressed okay, we look like we just came off the beach."
"That's because we did." Amy added.
"No this place isn't fancy, you can eat here in you bathing suit if you want." Leonard explained.
"I always wanted to eat in my bathing suit." Penny blurted out, getting a surprised look from Katie.
Leonard didn't really think, he just chuckled, "Yeah but then no one else would be able to eat." Making Penny blush at the complement. He then realized what he said was only to Penny, "I think if you girls showed up in bikinis, they would have to close the place down." Now all the girls smiled, he had just told them they were all pretty and they all appreciated the complement.
They all got out of the SUV and started to walk to the restaurant. "So why here? What is special about this place?" Katie inquired.
"You guys seem to have a lot of faith in me, thinking I take you special places all the time." Leonard chuckled.
Leonard looked at Katie as he spoke and Penny was right next to her looking at him, their eyes locked for a couple of seconds and Leonard found himself tongue tied. "Um…..this place has the best fish in Jamaica, they season it a little spicy, but it is really great and it is so fresh, they actually catch it the same day they serve it." He blurted out, unable to think of anything else.
"Really that sounds great." Amy remarked, "I love spicy food."
"It is not too spicy, just enough." Leonard added. "But this place is very casual, so you get fries and a salad with your meal, don't expect anything else." he shrugged.
Penny smiled at him. "Fish, fries and salad, sounds perfect."
Katie looked at Penny, knowing she did not mean the food was perfect.
The evening turned out perfect, everyone having a great time, and it was past nine o'clock when they all finally succumbed to exhaustion from the day in the sun and everything they did. Leonard got them all back to their rental and was about to leave when Bernadette came up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Leonard."
Katie saw Penny tense up again and decided to give Penny a chance to kiss Leonard too, as she walked over to him and put a kiss on his cheek. "Yeah, thanks Leonard."
Amy then followed, kissing Leonard on the cheek, "It was fun thank you."
Penny then walked over looking at Leonard, a little smile on her face as she leaned over and gave Leonard a kiss on his cheek, "Thank you Sweetie." She then leaned away but not before locking eyes with him for a couple of seconds.
Katie looked quickly at Bernadette, but she was still smiling, and Katie realized she didn't see the look Penny gave Leonard, which made her sigh in relief. Katie didn't like the triangle she was seeing forming between her friends, they were her friends and she didn't want them fighting over a guy. She waved with the other three girls as a blushing Leonard walked back to the SUV and left for the night, the girls closing the door as the SUV started to drive away.
The girls all walked back to their rooms to get ready, all of them really tired, but Katie followed Penny back into her room. "Penny what are you doing?"
Penny looked at her, not saying anything for a couple moments, "I don't understand what you mean."
"I've know you for a lot of years, you know exactly what a mean." Katie came back with.
Penny looked like she was going to argue, but then sighed. "I like him. I like him a lot."
"Yeah I see that, but so does Bernadette and she had sort of claimed him, surely you see that." Katie tried to reason with her.
Penny just stared at her, thinking, "Okay, you're right."
Katie nodded. "Okay, see you tomorrow" she left Penny's room and closed the door, standing outside the now closed door for a couple of minutes, until she heard the muffled crying of Penny. Katie shook her head, this whole trip was not turning out well, not like she planned, only a couple days into it and Penny's heart was broken again.
