It was the early hours of the morning when Penny's flight landed in Paris. After passing through immigration she was met by a driver who drove her to an apartment in the Trocadero district of Paris which would be her home for the next three months.
"Try to get some sleep someone will come by to pick you up at 12pm to take you to your meeting" the driver told her "There is food in the refrigerator if you are hungry, but a maid will come and service the apartment tomorrow if there is anything else you need"
Penny looked around in wonder at the beautifully appointed art deco style apartment, it by far exceeded any expectations she had had before arriving. She hadn't even had her first day on set yet and already she felt like a movie star. Stepping out onto her bedroom balcony Penny breathed in the cool night air. The view was breath taking, she could see the Eiffel Tower lit up in all its splendour and could hear the distant sound of the Parisian traffic in the street below. The exhaustion from her long journey coupled with the sheer exhilaration of being in Paris brought tears to her eyes once more.
"Are you ok Mademoiselle?" her driver asked noticing a single tear roll down Penny's cheek
"Yes I'm fine I'm just so happy" Penny answered smiling through her tears "I still can't believe this is all happening to me…."
After the driver left Penny decided to take a quick shower and slip into her nightdress before calling Leonard. It was 3am in Paris which meant it would be 6pm in Pasadena.
"Hi Leonard" Penny said sleepily
"Hi honey or should I say bonjour ma Cherie?"
Penny giggled at Leonard's attempt at speaking in French and then went on to tell him about how amazing the apartment she had been allocated was. Leonard made her promise to take some photos in the morning on her cell phone and text them to him.
"You sound tired Penny" Leonard said he could hear Penny yawning at the other end of the line
"Yeah I feel like I could sleep for a month" she replied with all the excitement she had barely slept a wink on the airplane.
"Well I'd better let you get some rest honey"
"I'll call you tomorrow after my meeting" Penny promised
"I love you Penny" Leonard whispered they hadn't even been apart a whole day yet and already he missed her terribly.
"Love you too"
The next day Leonard was anticipating a call from Penny around breakfast time. Throughout the morning he kept checking his phone and was disappointed when she didn't call. It wasn't until late Friday night while he Sheldon and Amy were watching the latest Star Trek movie on DVD that Penny finally called.
"Wow its like 7am on Saturday in Paris you're up early aren't you?" Leonard commented as he looked at his wrist watch, Penny wasn't normally an early riser especially at the weekends.
"Brett's taking me for breakfast at The Ritz" Penny answered excitedly "And then we're going to the Louvre Museum to see the Mona Lisa"
"Oh so you're on first name terms now then" Leonard said hoping that Penny wouldn't pick up on the note of jealousy in his voice; luckily she was too excited to notice.
"He's such an amazing person Leonard" Penny began and Leonard noted to himself how often Penny seemed to be using the word 'amazing' now whenever she talked about being in Paris or Brett Harrison.
"I bet he is" Leonard responded unenthusiastically
There was a buzzing sound which Penny said was the apartment's doorbell
"Oh that's probably him now" Penny began "Gotta go say hi to everyone and give Sheldon a big sloppy kiss from me!" she joked
Before Leonard had the opportunity to say goodbye Penny had hung up and the line went dead.
"So how's my bestie getting along in gay Pah-ree?" Amy asked putting on a French accent
"Amazingly it would seem" Leonard responded emphasising the word 'amazingly' "She's going to the Louvre Museum with Brett Harrison"
They settled back into watching the movie. Leonard slouched in the armchair resting his head on his hand finding now that he was no longer able to concentrate on what was happening on the screen.
"Leonard" Sheldon began
"Yeah?"
"Does it bother you that your girlfriend is seemingly having the time of her life in what is said to be the most romantic city in the world?"
"No why?" Leonard answered without taking his eyes off the TV screen
"Oh no reason"
Leonard sighed
"I trust Penny ….I'm sure I have absolutely nothing to worry about, besides she's there to work.." Leonard said confidently but secretly was trying to convince himself that he had nothing to fear.
"Yes you're probably right Leonard" Sheldon concurred "You know I read today that Brett Harrison has been divorced for almost a year, which according to some means he must be on the lookout for a new wife…."
Brett Harrison's divorce the previous year to a top model had been widely reported in the media. It had been his third marriage and it was no secret that it had ended acrimoniously.
"Since when have you been interested in celebrity gossip Sheldon?" Leonard asked turning towards his friend with raised eyebrows and his arms folded across his chest.
It was a perfectly valid question given that Sheldon had berated Penny on many occasions for the interest she showed in the lives of celebrities, something which Sheldon found both pointless and banal. Earlier that day whilst taking Penny's mail over to her apartment, Sheldon had felt compelled to do some tidying, it was then that he had noticed the magazine with a feature on Brett Harrison. He hadn't bothered to read the entire article, but the caption seemed to be speculating that he was on the lookout for wife no. 4.
Sheldon shrugged
"As he's now Penny's work colleague I thought it might be something that would be of interest to you Leonard….I know Penny likes to fill you in on all the gossip from the Cheesecake Factory…."
There was at least some logic to Sheldon's statement, it was certainly true that for all her many good qualities Penny was partial to gossiping. Leonard had spent many an evening having his ear chewed off by her furnishing him with the personal details of the lives of Kim and Nancy who waitressed at the restaurant.
"Well thank you very much for enlightening me Sheldon" Leonard said his voice dripping with sarcasm
"You're welcome Leonard" Sheldon responded
Even after years of trying to master it, Sheldon still failed to pick up on sarcasm even when it was downright obvious.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed" Leonard muttered as he got to his feet
Saying goodnight he headed off in the direction of his bedroom and collapsed onto the bed fully clothed.
"I miss you Penny" he said out loud as he stroked the photo of Penny that he kept beside his bed.
Closing his eyes he fell asleep and into vivid dreams of her. In one dream he was walking along a river, which owing to the appearance of a clichéd image of a Frenchman wearing a beret and a string of onions around his neck, Leonard figured it to be the River Seine in Paris. Penny was in front and no matter how hard he tried he found it impossible to keep pace with her. Eventually she strode far ahead and then disappeared out of sight completely.
When Leonard awoke the following morning he felt exhausted and wanted nothing more than to roll over and go right back to sleep. Regretfully however he recalled promising to drive Sheldon to the train store and then to the Glendale galleria for new sheets. Tumbling out of bed and slipping on his bathrobe Leonard yawned as he made his way out to the kitchen to make breakfast. As usual Sheldon was already awake and seated in his spot on the couch having woken early to watch his regular Saturday morning episode of Dr. Who. on BBC America.
"Morning Leonard" Sheldon chirped
"Morning" Leonard responded and yawned again as he poured himself and extra strong cup of coffee
Looking over at his desk Leonard noticed a folded piece of paper resting on top of his laptop keyboard.
"What's that?" he asked pointing at the paper
"Why don't you take a look" Sheldon suggested
Putting down his coffee Leonard wandered over to his desk picked up the piece of paper and began to read. It was a flight confirmation for a return ticket from LA to Paris Charles de Gaulle in one month's time.
"Amy and I got talking after you went to bed last night and we thought seeing as you miss Penny so much perhaps it would help if you could go visit her for a few days…."
Leonard was truly touched and admittedly surprised by his friend's kind gesture.
"Amy pointed out to me that although it's specified in our roommate agreement I shouldn't take all the stuff that you do for me for granted, and that this might be a way of showing my appreciation…."
"Sheldon I don't know what to say ….thank you so much this is great" Leonard said smiling for the first time since Penny had left.
So overwhelmed was he Leonard stepped forward to hug his friend but Sheldon backed away.
"Oh I think a hearty handshake will suffice as a thank you Leonard" Sheldon said
The two friends shook hands.
"So are you gonna call Penny and tell her your good news?" Sheldon asked as he continued to eat his cereal
"Actually I think I might just shock her by turning up unannounced…." Leonard answered with a glint of mischievousness in his eyes as he began to day dream about spending time in world's most romantic city with his beautiful girlfriend.
Little did he know then that the shock in Paris to come was to be on him…..
