Chapter 4: A Lot to Chew On

Two hours later they found themselves ensconced snugly in a booth at the Panda Inn. Sheldon was going to suggest they eat at the Szechuan Palace, but that particular restaurant was one he frequented with his friends and he didn't know what to call Niki; friend, assistant, or co worker, so he had decided to let her make the call and she had chosen the Panda Inn. It seemed like a nice place to him, clean, bright, with the usual Asian décor, but he had never eaten there before, so there was some trepidation on his part.

"What would you recommend we order?" Sheldon asked somewhat nervously. "I'm a little picky about my Chinese food. Strike that, I'm picky about all of my food."

Niki just grinned at him and chuckled, "Everything is good here, but I love the Tangerine Chicken. They get it right; they don't attempt to pass off Orange Chicken as Tangerine Chicken."

"Oh," Sheldon exclaimed, "I hate that, too! Okay, Tangerine Chicken it is. What else is palatable here?"

"Their Broccoli Beef is nice, so is their Mu Shu Pork. Oh, they also have delectable Spring Rolls here. Let's try the Orange Chicken, Mu Shu Pork, Spring Rolls, and Won Ton soup. I love all of those things."

"Okay." Sheldon replied, wondering how such a thin woman could eat that much food, even with his help. But if he had learned anything about women from Penny and Amy it had been to keep any comments about their eating habits and their weight to himself.

"So, what shall we talk about until our food gets here?" She asked. "Would you like to talk about our past lives at all? I'm a little bit curious, how did you meet Amy and what was she like?"

"I met Amy through the assistance of Raj and another friend of mine, Howard. They set me up to meet a young woman with whom an online dating service had matched me. It wasn't my idea at all."

"Well, it seems like it worked out very well for you. Tell me, what was she like?"

"She was highly intelligent, focused, mostly kind, very patient, and very devoted to us. Anything else you need to know?"

"Well, what did she do for a living and what did she look like?"

"She had the most beautiful green eyes; she was not that tall, but not too short, either. She dressed in comfortable, colorful clothes, she had silky brown hair and she wore glasses. She worked at Cal Tech as a neurobiologist. We dated for several years before we got engaged and married. I loved her very much, but I don't know if I showed that to her enough" Sheldon found himself curious about Niki. "What about your past life, if I may ask?"

"His name was Paul. He was also highly intelligent and worked as an attorney specializing in Constitutional Law. He belonged to a couple of those secret societies that very influential men belong to. He was a tall, big man with very expressive brown eyes. He was also very funny! He made me laugh my ass off all of the time. We just "got" each other from the start. We dated three years before we got married. He always supported my dreams and goals. He was my biggest cheerleader and confidante while I was getting my Doctorate. That made the entire process that much easier."

"I understand exactly. I've always felt that Amy was more like me than any other person I ever met. I can be hard to handle, but Amy was always so patient and understanding. Well, most of the time she was, anyway. When I had pushed her too far she was never shy about telling me so. But, I'll admit, she took more off of me than she should have. She was amazing."

By the time he had finished they both had tears in their eyes, remembering their lost loves. Suddenly, Niki spoke up, "It hurt to talk about Paul, but I'm so tired of not talking about him that it hurts in a good way, if you can understand that."

"Oh, I was just thinking that same thing! It's almost like Amy came alive again for a minute there. I needed to feel that."

"Yes, no one else wants me to talk about Paul any more. I guess they want me to leave that part of my life behind me. I was a mess after he died."

"I m so sorry to hear that. I haven't been at my best since Amy's death, but I'm trying, I'm really trying to put the pieces together again. But…it's been very, very hard for me."

Niki took a deep breath and focused intently on the man across the booth from her. "If I tell you something personal about that time, can you promise not to think less of me?"

"How could I think less of you? Whatever happened, well, it happened after your husband died. I would hope I would be more understanding than judgmental."

"Sheldon, have you ever wondered why I left Keck and went to Mt. Wilson?"

Sheldon looked at her with a questioning look on his face, "Why would I have wondered about that? You left the mundane world of teaching for the exciting world of research and applied science! I can't fault you for that."

"Sheldon, I loved teaching there. I didn't leave of my own volition. I was asked to leave, in no uncertain terms."

"Why would someone do that? You are a most capable physicist and I imagine you were a fine professor."

"I was a fine teacher, while Paul was alive. After he died…" Niki left the sentence hanging in space.

"After he died, what?" Sheldon asked her. He was most perplexed. Why would anyone in their right mind ask this woman to leave their school?

"After he died, I developed a bit of a drinking problem." She confessed in a very small voice. "Okay, it was more than a bit. I became a heavy drinker. That's how I handled Paul's death. Not too pretty a picture, is it? I became a terrible teacher. I was always late for classes and labs, I seldom graded work, and I began to show up for classes drunk on my ass. It was not a good time for me. After they let me go, a friend of mine in the department got me into a good rehab and after that, they secured a place for me at Mt. Wilson. I started off at the bottom, but I worked my way up. When I left, I was in charge of the big telescope up there. My time up there, away from everything, really helped in my healing. It was hard coming back here, to the big city, but thanks to Raj, I've been pretty good. I owe him a lot."

"Did anyone despite that one friend help you?" he asked her. He sensed that friends had been few and far between for her at that time.

"You know how academia is, cut throat competition for tenure, which I was up for before the drinking started. I had very few friends. Paul's friends and family also deserted me, they were angry I got his money, which I couldn't have cared less about. I just felt very alone, very afraid, and very hopeless about the future. Drink seemed a good sort of escape. Crazy thinking, huh?" She admitted. "I hope you don't think too badly of me."

Sheldon took a moment to be thankful for his friends. They had all been there for him in so many ways after Amy's passing. He couldn't imagine being alone at that time. His heart went out to Niki. How could people be so cruel as to leave her alone at a time like that? Sheldon put down his glass of water and smiled at his assistant. "Why on earth would I think badly of you? You overcame a great deal. You had a problem and you handled it. I respect that. I suppose it would be in bad taste to offer to buy you a drink?"

Niki returned Sheldon's smile with a great sense of relief, "I don't drink anymore, but I'm always up for coffee or tea."

"Tea it is. Let's each pour ourselves a cup and drink to the partnership of Cooper and Horner. To great things!"

"To great things! May our collaboration 'Live long and prosper'."

You love Star Trek, too?" he asked incredulously.

"Not really. But I know you do, Raj told me. So I thought it wouldn't hurt to throw that in there."

At that moment their food arrived and they attacked it with more appetite than either of them had felt in a very long, time. Soon, they settled into a comfortable silence, as only good food and good company can do. Both of them felt that they had just discovered another person that understood where they were coming from without judgment, and that was enough for one evening.