Anticipation makes time drag slowly almost bringing it to a standstill.

And so it was for one Leonard Hofstadter. After two days, he felt as though two months had passed. Sure, he spent the time with the guys, Thai Food night, Sheldon's Barbecue Burger Night at the Cheesecake factory that Penny worked at. Leonard was both relieved and sad that Penny wasn't there, having worked the night before.

Finally Halo Night arrived and as always he enjoyed playing until his eyes screamed for sleep.

Although he had run into Penny at the Apartment's Laundry Room downstairs and had exchanged a few pleasantries and all was well, he didn't want to ruin their upcoming date night by saying something inappropriate that would cripple their upcoming get together.

Thursday was a little better and he looked forward to playing Rock Band that evening with his colleagues and friends.

Friday, though, was excruciating. As hard as he tried his eyes would make their way to the wall clock, his watch, cell phone clock or the computer's clock. An hour felt like a week. At lunch, he had barely spoken to the Wolowitz, Raj or Sheldon lost in thoughts about how the evening would go with Penny. Would it end with a hug only? A kiss and a hug? A handshake? Would they just say good night and go to their separate apartments? Would they end up in bed together? Or would they end up taking two steps back like last year?

I can't let it end the same way. He thought. It can't go to being worse. I've got an opportunity here to declare how I truly feel about her. She is giving me the opportunity. Didn't she say your name while she was making out with Stuart? Didn't she ask you out? What in heaven's name are you waiting for?! It's now or never. You've got to let her know how you feel and think about her once and for all. Roll the dice and deal with the consequences.

For Penny, time was dragging on Friday. The whole week for her had flown by up until the day of her date with Leonard. Taking the day off on Friday instead of Thursday seemed to have been a mistake because as much as she tried keeping busy around her apartment, this day just seemed to crawl. Perhaps if she painted one of her walls and watched the paint dry, it would speed up the earth's rotation.

Finally, the afternoon came around and Penny went into a routine of making herself especially attractive. A relaxing bath, with special scented body wash. She picked out a very sexy bra and panties set. She adorned herself with a tantalizing perfume and body lotion, chose out a sexy top and blouse with a knee length skirt. By 5:30 she was ready to go and in a half an hour, she would knock on Leonard's door and they would depart.

For Leonard, after lunch was just less than useless. He left early and made sure that Raj would take Sheldon home. After overcoming Sheldon's objections about his early departure, Leonard countered with the threat of cat in their apartment if he didn't allow him to leave now. Within minutes he left the university and work behind.

Arriving home at 2:30, he decided to lie down and sleep for a while. He reset his alarm to wake him up at 3:30 and that would hive him about two hours to get ready for Penny.

His slumber was rocked asunder when the alarm blared and it seemed he had slept all night. He checked his watch to make sure it was 3:30, Friday afternoon and not the next day. His watch read 3:31 p.m. but just to make extra sure; he went to his laptop and checked the time and date to be absolutely positive it was still Friday.

Thank God! I didn't miss our date. What a horrible feeling if I had missed being with Penny.

Heading towards the bathroom, he showered and shaved. Afterwards, he got dressed and put on some cologne, making sure that it was only a little and not so much that Police's Hazmat Team would break their apartment door down. Putting on his blazer over his long sleeve buttoned down shirt and navy blue pants, he looked in the mirror to make sure he looked presentable.

Well, I'm no hunk but she seems to like me for more than my less than stellar good looks.

He took off his blazer to make sure he wasn't soaked to the bone with perspiration as he had been the first time he had ever gone out with Penny. After noticing he was still dry and wouldn't require a second shower and change of clothes. He let out a deep breath, to think he had made some progress in his dating preparation skills from just less than two years.

Looking at his watch, it was now 5:00, an hour left to go before Penny and he were to leave for the play. So as to not let the hour drag, he went to his computer and went online, looked up the location for Cal State Northridge, plotted the route and printed out the directions to make sure that if they got lost, they could quickly get back on track and arrive in time.

Next, he searched for nearby restaurants that they could go to after the play. Luckily, there were dozens of restaurants: Acapulco, Johnny Rockets, Chili's, was among the few that interested him. He would mention them to Penny and see which one she would like to go to. Finally, after gathering all his information together, he checked his watch one more time: 5:45 p.m.

Ok we're into the home stretch!

Suddenly, the stillness of the apartment was broken by the gentle knocking coming from the apartment front door.

If that's Penny, she's early!

Penny decided that at 5:40 she had done everything possible to be ready. She decided to gamble and take a chance that Leonard would already be set to go. So she grabbed her purse and her light jacket and opened her door. Locking it behind her she walked across the hallway and knocked on the boys' apartment door. She anxiously waited for him to open the door.

I hope he's ready. Let's do this!

Leonard reached for the door and opened it. Before him stood in his eyes, a goddess!

His heart raced and he swallowed hard. He took a deep breath and let out a slow exhaling blow.

"Wow, Penny! You look very, very pre-, beautiful and radiant!" he exclaimed. "You're a vision of loveliness!" he added.

Don't over do it Leonard. He thought to himself.

"Thanks sweetie!" Penny gushed. For her, his compliments were a testament to some progress on his behalf that he was willing to open up a bit more when she was around. He looked handsome to her in his shirt and slacks. She took in a deep breath to make sure she was still breathing. Her heart pounded with anticipation of this evening.

"You look very good too! Are you ready to go?" she asked him.

"Yep! All ready. Let me just get my jacket and shut down my laptop." He responded.

After taking care of his laptop, he donned his jacket and headed back towards Penny.

"Ok, let's go!" he declared. Locking the door behind him, he turned to her.

"By the way, you smell extremely nice." He added. Leonard wanted to make sure he said all the right things and not blow it.

"Thanks! You smell very nice too, by the way." She stated.

It was a good start as they headed down the stairs towards the lobby and out to Penny's car.

I think this is going to go very well! They both thought.