Chapter Four

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny?" Knock, knock, knock. "Penny?" Knock, knock, knock. "Penny?"

Penny swung open the apartment door. "Yes, Sheldon?"

Sheldon Cooper swiveled his head to look inside Penny and Leonard's living room. Leonard sits on the end of the couch, highly involved in a video game. "I need to speak to you for a moment, please," he lowered his voice, barely audible.

"We're about to eat dinner, Sheldon. Can it wait?"

"No, I'm afraid that lecturing you on how not to break my best friend's heart certainly cannot wait, Missy."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Penny's voice rose as she shut the door just slightly.

"What does Sheldon want now, Penny?" Leonard rolled his eyes behind his glasses and hunched his shoulders up as he maneuvered his game controllers.

"Nothing, nothing, Leonard."

Pushing his way forward, Sheldon ignored his female neighbor's mumbled protests. "Hey there, good buddy."

Leonard gave a half-wave but didn't look up. "Hey, Sheldon."

"Do you mind if I borrow your woman for a bit?" He shuffled his feet and shifted his weight, his face elongated. "Umm, Amy bought a new outfit and she wants to get Penny's take on it."

"Oh, okay, that's fine. Just don't be too long. The pizza should be here soon."

"I'm sure Amy looks just fine, Sheldon. Tell her I'll come over later." She tried nudging the scientist back toward the doorway.

"No, no, she specified that she would like to see you now. You know she's not really into fashion and she doesn't want to make any mistakes. You don't want anyone to make any mistakes now do you, Penny?" Sheldon began winking and curling his lips into a strange smile; looking sinister.

A crashing sound leaped into the room and then Boing, Boing Oing!

"Aww, man," Leonard grimaced. "Hey, Sheldon, is something wrong with your eye?"

"Who me? No, why would anything be wrong with my eye? Nothing's wrong with my eye. Is something wrong with your eye, Leonard?" Sheldon's words came out in a rush; flowing much too quickly. "Is there anything wrong with your eye, Penny?"

Penny looked at Leonard and laughed, a crease forming between her eyebrows. "Don't be silly, Sheldon. There's nothing wrong with anyone's eyes. Come on; let's get to Amy before that new outfit goes out of style."

Out in the hallway, the pair began to argue.

"What do you know, Sheldon?" Penny placed a hand on her hip, her stance defensive.

Sheldon frowned. "Raj called Amy and then Amy told me about you meeting that filmmaker. She also told me that you are keeping that information from him. Why?"

Penny didn't respond.

"Liar, liar pants on fire," Sheldon taunted, his voice sad. "You need to go to Liars Anonymous."

"I didn't lie, I just omitted telling him."

"Penny, the meaning of the word omission is as such: 'someone or something that has been left out or excluded, the action of excluding or leaving out someone or something and/or a failure to do something, especially something that one has a moral or legal obligation to do'. Maybe you should go to Omissions Anonymous instead."

"Why are you doing this, Sheldon?"

"Why are you doing this to Leonard, Penny? Do you truly think he wouldn't be happy with your decision to try to get back into acting?"

Tucking a strand of errant hair behind her right ear, Penny frowned. "I don't think he would understand. Leonard is so into numbers and graphs and charts and always ties everything up into a neat little bow. He doesn't get the rush of spontaneity, uncertainty and the desire to be in the limelight."

"Let me ask you a question, Penny. Do you love Leonard because of his love for numbers and graphs and charts or despite his love for numbers, graphs and charts?"

Penny grinned. "Yes and yes."

"But you don't quite understand why he enjoys those things, correct?"

"No, not really."

"Did you ever venture to think that Leonard just might love your sense of spontaneity, uncertainty and desire to be in the limelight? He may not always understand those things but he still loves you for them, correct?"

Leonard's wife trembled. "Yes. Yes, he does. I know he does."

"Then why can't you confide in him? Tell him what you want to do."

"Sheldon Cooper how did you ever become so smart?"

"It's a gift or a curse, whichever way you choose to see it," Sheldon snickered.

Amy opened the apartment door. "Sheldon, you've been out here a long time." She lowered her voice to a raspy whisper. "Did you convince her to talk to Leonard?"

"Amy, don't worry. I know Raj talked to you. I assume Bernadette told Howard and Howard told Raj. Everyone knows now." Penny's stomach gurgled with anxiety but her outward demeanor was relaxed.

"Except for Leonard." Amy tugged on the sleeve of her beige cardigan sweater.

Raising her hands in submission, Penny grinned. "Okay, okay. Maybe I was wrong. I should have involved Leonard in this from the very beginning."

"So you'll speak with him?" Sheldon prompted.

"Yes, I'll talk to him."

"Promise?" Amy asked.

"I promise."

Howard, Bernadette, Raj and Stuart traipsed up the stairs and reached the fourth floor landing; an older Korean couple trailed just a few steps behind.

"Promise what, Penny?" Bernadette interrupted.

"I know you told," Penny pointed at her friend. "And, I know you know and you know too." She then pointed toward Howard and Raj. "But you know too, Stuart?"

"I wasn't privy to the Inner Circle if that's what you think. I was just walking down the sidewalk and overheard these three talking," Stuart explained. "I wanna know what happens with the Leonard/Penny drama."

Looking over Stuart's shoulder, Penny noticed the Korean couple.

"We would like to know also." They grinned. "We are the Joungs. This is my wife Youra and I am Seungho. We are tourists."

"Well, geez, butter my biscuits!" Penny grasped the doorknob and swung the door inward. "Come on in everybody. Let's all tell Leonard, shall we?"

The crashing sound filtered out into the hallway. Boing! Boing! Oing!

Leonard looked up. "Tell me what?"