Sheldon unlocked the hotel room with his key. He expected it to be dark with Amy pretending to be asleep in bed. He knew when she was mad at him she often went to bed, turning away from him pretending to be asleep not wanting to confront him. That did not seem to be the case now as Amy was standing glaring at him with her arms crossed in the middle of the well-lit room.
After Amy had fled the hotel bar, Sheldon downed his drink without thinking (disgusting), threw some money on the counter for all of their purchases and quickly said his good-byes running out the door.
The elevator took forever but he did not mind. It gave him time to formulate what he was going to say to his wife. All he had come up with so far was the truth. His mother had always said that honesty was the best policy. Although Sheldon was a grown man, a father himself, he did not want to disappoint his mom from beyond the grave by not following that policy now.
Sheldon entered the room, put his hotel key down on the desk and approached Amy.
She backed away from his approach.
Sheldon stopped. In all of their years together, she had never done that.
"Amy" he began. "I know you were surprised to hear that Dr. Nowitzki and I have been in contact over the years" he paused.
Sheldon expected Amy to interrupt him. She did not. So he went on.
"First of all, she was exaggerating when she used the word 'many' to describe our meetings or our number of correspondences" he said.
Nothing. No reaction from Amy. She still stood with her arms crossed over her chest. He gulped and continued as he faced her.
"We first saw each other again at a conference ten years ago. In total, we have seen each other over the last ten years four times, including tonight, and two of those times were with her husband" he stressed.
Still no reaction from his wife. Sheldon took a deep breath.
"We have corresponded via email more than that, around a few dozen times or so; however, all of our communications were of a professional nature, nothing more" he said in a confident tone.
Still nothing from Amy.
"That is all" he finished and sat down on the bed putting his head in his hands.
Why was Amy not yelling at him or at least questioning him? He could tell she had been upset in the bar earlier. But now he could not tell how she was feeling. All he knew was that she was torturing him by being so quiet. So calm.
After a few minutes had passed, Sheldon could not take it anymore.
"Well, for Pete's sakes Amy!" Sheldon raised his voice standing from the bed "say something, anything!"
Amy lowered her arms and stepped closer to him with fury in her eyes.
This time Sheldon took a step back.
"Why?" she asked. "Why did you keep your contact with her a secret from me?" she asked.
"I am sorry, I thought it would upset you. I know that you did not like that fact that Dr. Nowitzki kissed me before I asked you to marry me" he answered.
"And has she kissed you since then?" Amy asked flatly.
"WHAT!" Sheldon said. "No" he stopped. "Well, once but that was on the cheek and again her husband was there. It was just a formal greeting the 'rich and famous' do at these fancy science shing-dings".
Amy let out an exasperated sigh.
"Why did you keep this a secret from me for ten years Sheldon?" Amy asked again a little louder.
"I told you Amy. I did not want to upset you over nothing" he said and began pacing back and forth in the room.
Amy could tell Sheldon was becoming agitated at her questioning which prompted her to continue. There was something he wasn't telling her.
"Why did you keep the fact that you talked with her a secret from me Sheldon?" Amy loudly prompted again.
"Because…" Sheldon was getting more and more agitated at Amy's constant repetition of the same question he had already answered.
"Because Leonard told me to" he said triumphantly trying to change the focus of questioning.
Amy was not dissuaded and just got angrier and angrier at his easy dismissal of her question. What was he hiding?
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT RAMONA, SHELDON?" Amy screamed at him.
"BECAUSE YOU WOULD HAVE TOLD ME TO STOP TALKING TO HER!" Sheldon blurted out.
The room went deathly silent then. Neither Sheldon nor Amy could say anything as they both stared at each other with their mouths agape.
Sheldon was the first to recover.
"Amy" he said softly as he moved towards her opening his arms.
"NO!" she screamed at him stepping away.
Amy was frantic. Sheldon had all but admitted his attraction to Ramona. He admitted his desire to stay in contact with another woman even when he knew that it would upset Amy. Not just any woman. The woman who had repeatedly thrown herself at him despite knowing that he was not available. He must have been counting on that fact tonight. Perhaps he really was like his father after all.
"Get out" she said quietly closing her eyes.
"Amy" Sheldon tried again.
"I said get out!" Amy yelled. "Go get another room tonight. You are not staying here. Leave" she said as she went to hide in the bathroom. "Go find Ramona's room. I'm sure she would be happy to put you up for the night" she choked out as she slammed the bathroom door behind her.
Sheldon was stunned. After almost twenty years of marriage, Amy had kicked him out. Sure, they had fought plenty of times; however, she had never told him to leave. And she had certainly never suggested he go stay in another woman's room for the night. He did not know what to do next.
Usually when he and Amy had fought over the years, Sheldon would call his mother for advice. She had always helped him come to the right conclusion while at the same time making him believe it was all his idea. Now his mom was gone. It was at times like these when Sheldon could not stomach the pain of having lost her.
He could call Leonard but it seemed his initial advice about not telling Amy about Dr. Nowitzki was wrong so Sheldon wasn't sure he could trust any advice he provided him now. Sheldon even thought about calling Penny but decided against it. He had already been yelled at enough tonight.
Suddenly, the events of the night and the entire trip caught up with him and he was just too damn tired to care anymore. If Amy did not want him then fine! he huffed. He would leave. Sheldon stormed around the room loudly opening and closing drawers. He gathered a few personal items for the night and left the room not sure where he was going to go.