Here it is, chapter 7 in what I think will be a 10 chapter story. Like I said last time, this one is a little late due to work and life getting in the way. Of course, I still own nothing related to TBBT; just this story line and the OC's I've added.
Penny woke up, once again held tightly by Leonard, eliciting a smile instantly. Today was Sunday and besides dinner at Howard and Bernadette, they had nothing on their agenda for today. She rolled her eyes when she realized how she wanted to spend at the very least some of the day, surprised that once again she woke up horny.
She turned her body slowly, not wanting to wake him up just yet if he was still asleep, but feeling the need to be able to watch him more easily. Last night he'd been so freaked out and scared for her, and it had made her feel so loved and cared for, that she'd fallen in love with him all over.
She had never understood people saying they fell in love all over, or they'd love their partner more and more every day, but ever since she and Leonard had dated, she had. She knew how small, simple things would result in a stronger feeling of being connected, being loved.
She placed her hand on top of one of his and whispered, "I love you, Leonard Hofstadter." He was still asleep, she could tell, but his subconscious might have registered her declaration of love, because a smile formed in response.
Her mind wandered back to last night, coming home to a worried Leonard. She hadn't thought about letting him know that she'd be ten minutes later, had not realized how worried he'd already been about her safety and well being after Melissa's ex had come to the Cheesecake Factory and had started a fuss.
If the situation had been reversed, she'd been a mess and she should've thought about that when they picked up some of Melissa's stuff. Instead, she'd figured it was only ten minutes and he'd be okay. She needed to start taking his feelings into account more, thinking more about how he'd feel in certain situations.
Penny was glad Leonard wasn't like Melissa's ex. Of course they'd have arguments every now and then, but never, ever would he hurt her. He'd joked about not hurting her because he knew she'd kick his ass before he'd even get close to her, but hurting her was just not something that was in his character. And he could hurt her emotionally if he was inclined to do so; she'd have no real defense against that.
At least Melissa was now dating Raj, another guy that would never hurt anyone deliberately. She just hoped Raj wouldn't get scared to be with a woman with that kind of baggage. It had only been a few months since he could finally talk to women, and there was a chance this might make him nervous and scared of them all over again.
Then again, he really seemed to love her, at least by his reaction last night when Penny dropped Melissa of at his place. He'd been confused at her unexpected visit, even more so when he noticed the bag with clothing, but hugged her tightly and told her that of course she could stay for a few days.
Penny hoped Melissa had told him by now. She had assured Penny she would, but Penny knew it scared her, that she was afraid Raj would dump her. That might happen, but Penny was pretty sure Raj wouldn't be like that; he'd stay with her and do whatever he could to protect her.
Samantha waited patiently for Sheldon to complete his 'knocking thing' as Penny had put it, before opening the door. "Hello, Sheldon."
"Dr. Green," he replied with a small, polite nod.
"I told you, call me Sam."
"Very well. Sam," he said, once again accompanied by a nod. "The other day our introductory conversation didn't quite go as well as it should have."
Samantha raised an eyebrow. "And you expect a conversation at eight thirty on a Sunday morning might improve that?"
"Well, yes. Unlike Penny, you haven't imposed the rule of not knocking before eleven. Furthermore, I noticed you were up an hour ago, therefore I assume you have sufficiently woken up for us to have this conversation."
Samantha nodded and smiled. She had been up, talking to her friends back home. "Alright, love. You want to come in?"
He entered the apartment and glanced around. "I'm not quite sure where to sit."
She smiled, having heard he had his own spot in his apartment, including the reasons why that was his spot. "Well, if you're only here to talk, might I suggest we sit at the table near the window?"
"Oh, no, that wouldn't do. I will try each spot until I find one that I like." He moved to a comfortable chair and sat down, moving his bum around. Melissa hoped he didn't chose that one, as it was her favorite spot, but she would be comfortable in any of the other spots anyway.
"So," he said as he stood back up to move to the sofa. "I was born in Texas in a city filled with creationists. I have a twin sister, though she and I are nothing alike. Oh, this feels like a good spot."
Samantha hid a smile at his joyous proclamation, but was not at all surprised to see him moving on to the next spot. "I take it your sister doesn't share your intellect?"
"No, not at all. Actually, I'm the exception in our family, intelligence wise."
Samantha followed him with her eyes as he moved from spot to spot, telling her about his upbringing and life outside academics and science. She knew he'd been rehearsing this story, most likely already having thought up copious amounts of responses to whatever question she'd might interject.
Instead, she listened to him, not interjecting as much so as not to make him uncomfortable, at least not more uncomfortable than he probably already was. Unsurprisingly he eventually decided on his second spot, the one he had proclaimed as a good spot.
"So, those are the most important things about Sheldon Lee Cooper," he ended the conversation, almost immediately after sitting down.
She sat down in the chair next to the sofa. "Thank you, darling, for talking about you. You know, back home, I have a friend Karen. She's much like you when it comes to social aspects. I'm proud to say I've managed to make her more comfortable in different social settings and she has told me she appreciated it. When I met you the first time I just felt like you could benefit from my experience."
He looked away, seemingly thinking it over. "I must admit that I'm frequently baffled by social protocols and, yes, even sometimes feel like I'm 'out of the loop' as they say. I wonder why none of my friends have tried that."
Samantha smiled. "It's not easy to do. With Karen it took me quite some time, as I had to figure out how to approach certain situations. Since I'm here for two months, I really had to speed things up with you, which is why I interrupted your initial attempt at introductions in such a rude manner."
"I see," he said, once again staring off into space. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt if I would be more apt at social interactions. I accept you assistance in the matter."
"That's the bitch that broke my nose!"
Penny turned around to see the manager, Dan, currently dealing with Melissa's ex, who was in a very foul mood. Luckily, the manager, already having apologized to Penny for not staying the entire shift, wasn't letting the asshole go any further.
"Sir, you have threatened two of our employees. You are no longer welcome in this establishment. I advise you to leave now, or we will use force."
Penny grinned. If that asshole had been surprised by her effectiveness, he certainly would be surprised by Dan. While he didn't look like it, especially in his uniform, he was well versed in several martial art forms.
"But she attacked me!"
Dan shook his head. "Not from what I was told by the police and several witnesses. However, if you feel otherwise, you can take that up with the police."
Penny stared down Melissa's ex, showing she wasn't scared of him and was ready to repeat last night's performance should he actually get past Dan, however unlikely that was.
"This ain't over, bitch," he pointed at her. "Just ask Mel what happens if you cross me." It looked like he wanted to say more, but Dan was already forcing him out of the Cheesecake Factory.
Penny turned toward the backroom, knowing that Melissa had been there. Indeed, the blonde was standing in the doorway, looking extremely pale. Penny walked towards her and sat her down in the backroom.
"Penny, I'm really scared now. He threatened to beat you up!"
Penny nodded. "He certainly did, in front of several customers, our manager, and the other employees. I'll file a police report at the end of my shift."
"No, you'll do that right now," Dan spoke, having just entered. He sounded worried. "I know you feel you can take care of yourself Penny, but this is serious. I know he's waiting outside, probably until you're done. Formally, I can't do anything, as he's no longer on our premises."
Penny nodded and retrieved her cell. She'd never heard Dan this worried before, and if he felt she was in real danger, who was she to argue? Dan stayed in the backroom, talking to Melissa, who was definitely more shook-up than anyone else, as Penny told the police what had happened and what the current situation was.
She handed her phone to Dan, at the request of the police officer on the other end, and the two spoke briefly, before the phone was returned. The police officer was going to send someone over, after they arrested Melissa's ex.
Penny noticed Dan was far from happy after talking to the police officer. "What's wrong?"
"Apparently someone posted bail while he was still in the hospital. Chances are, that someone will post bail again with this arrest, meaning he'll be out on the streets again in a matter of hours. The police can't really do anything about it until he does something."
Penny sat down next to Melissa, who was starting to tear up. "I'll make sure neither one of us will leave alone."
Dan shook his head. "Neither one of you will leave without me escorting you to your car." He handed them two business cards. "I want you two to enroll in this women's self-defense class. The instructor is a martial arts expert."
Melissa looked at the card. "Uh, I don't know. Money is kinda tight."
Dan waved his hand. "Don't worry about that. She and I are close and I'm sure I can get the two of you a deal for at least the basic self-defenses classes."
"Dr. Koothrappali?" Linda was a little worried. While she'd seen him distracted before, this time it looked totally different. "Is something wrong?"
He blinked several times. "Oh, uh, no. Nothing wrong. Nothing at all."
Yeah, right. "Did something happen between you and Melissa?"
He smiled, the first time today she saw a smile on his face. "No, not like that. It's just that, well, last Saturday, after her shift, Penny dropped Melissa of at my place, with a bag of clothing for a few days."
Linda smiled and then frowned, not entirely sure what to make of it. She was pretty sure the two of them had slept together, but Dr. Koothrappali didn't sound like he thought it was a very positive thing.
"Apparently," he continued, oblivious to her concern, "Melissa's ex stopped by at the Cheesecake Factory."
Linda's features darkened. "Please tell me it wasn't Eric."
He nodded. "It was, and after all Melissa told me about their relationship, I'm just as big of a fan of him as you are."
"Did he do something to her?"
He shook his head, smiling again. "No, Penny kneed him in his man parts and punched him in the face, probably broken his nose."
Linda was very impressed by the way Penny had handled things, and started to laugh. "I would've loved seeing that! You have no idea how many times I've wished for someone to beat him up for a change."
He nodded, still smiling. "Yeah, leave it to Penny to take care of business." He became serious again. "I just hope they'll keep him locked up a lot longer than they did in the past."
Linda sighed. "Yeah, he always got out in matter of hours, no matter what he did."
Dan rushed back in the restaurant, hearing commotion inside. He cursed himself for carrying boxes and garbage to the dumpster several times at the end of the shift. He hadn't seen the guy and figured it was safe to do so, so that the girls wouldn't have to follow him back and forth before they could leave after the shift ended.
He'd seen Melissa in the backroom, already on the phone talking to what he assumed to be the police. When he opened the door of the restaurant, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Penny knocking the guy unconscious with a very well executed right hook.
He stood there for a second or so, before hurrying over to her. He could see a small cut on her forehead but she waved him off when he wanted to take care of her injury.
"Just get the police. And I want to talk to them. If they let him go again, they better make sure there's police protection involved for Melissa and me."
She sounded angry, and he couldn't blame her. This was just ridiculous and really careless of the police department. The guy had been here twice already, threatening employees both times. "Melissa's already on the phone." He looked at the guy who started to come around again. His still broken nose was now accompanied by a long scratch below his right eye, and the left eye showed indications of becoming a nice black one. He couldn't help but chuckle. "This guy must be really stupid for trying to take you on again."
Penny smiled a little. "There's still room for more."
The cops arrived quickly and after taking one look at the scene, arrested the man on the floor. One officer looked at Dan and said, "Sir, could you tell us what led up to your use of force?"
Dan smiled. "While I'd been happy to clean his clock, my head waitress here gets all the credits. She was also the one to give him the broken nose last Saturday night when he came in here and threatened her and another waitress." He indicated with his tone of voice just how unhappy he was that this was the second time. "Earlier today he also came in here threatening her specifically. Your colleagues arrested him shortly afterwards."
"Yes, I'd like to know how he gets out in mere hours after having issued several severe threats," Penny said, sounding even angrier than before. "What if I hadn't been able to stand up for myself, huh? You think he'd stopped after his first hit? Ask his ex girlfriend, she'll tell you he doesn't stop until he's good and ready."
"Ma'am, please calm down."
"Calm down? I was threatened last Saturday, to the point that I had to use physical force to defend myself, and then again today. I'm the victim here and you don't seem to give a shit about my safety and well being."
Dan put his hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to calm her down. He knew she had a right to be angry, but this wasn't going to help her.
"Ma'am, we understand this is very confusing and stressful, but we need you to be calm and give us your statement."
Penny glanced in her rear view mirror to check her forehead. The cut really wasn't that big, but noticeable. She sighed, turned off the engine, and prepared herself for the audition. She felt more nervous than she had been for any of the dozens of auditions she'd been on, knowing just how important this one could be for her career.
Feeling she'd done all she could she got out of the car and moved toward the building. Despite leaving early, she was still only ten minutes early, which only meant there would be ten minutes of nerves to deal with.
She told the receptionist who she was and who she was to see and after a minute was asked to wait in a room just behind the receptionist. Much to her surprise she saw only one other actress, and three actors, giving her hope she'd only have one actress to compete with today. It did make her wonder if the part was already in the final stages of being cast, and this audition was hurriedly added to allow her a chance.
She grabbed the audition script and began reading it, attempting to absorb as much as she could so she didn't have to constantly look at the script. She instantly realized why there were male actors present; the scene involved three males and one female.
Penny started to grin as she read through the scene; she'd be reading for a female reporter who'd be interviewing three male scientists, and one would fall instantly in love with the reporter and try to win her over, but fail miserably. It didn't seem to be a leading role, but still a pretty major guest role.
"Ugh, these lines are so hard," she heard one of the men say in a half whisper to his colleagues. "I get like ten percent of the sentence, the rest I have literally no clue what I'm saying."
One of the other two replied. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't even understand what the difference is between a theoretical physicist and an experimental physicist."
"A theoretical physicist, " Penny replied, almost without thinking, "tries to create new hypotheses about how things could work, whereas an experimental physicist designs protocols to determine if those hypotheses are valid." When she looked up from her script she noticed the four other occupants were simply staring at her.
"Care to give an example?"
"Well, I'm not a scientist, so I don't think I can give you one." Penny shrugged. "I'm just dating an experimental physicist. I'm also friends with a theoretical physicist, so I know the difference." She turned her attention back to the script, trying to get as much of it as she could.
After reading it a few times, she felt she knew the scene well enough. It didn't involve more than a few lines, and none of them were all that difficult, especially not compared to the lines the guys had. She briefly wondered how accurate their lines really were; she'd be really embarrassed if she'd gotten the part and the gang would all laugh at the scientific mistakes, instead of at the actual jokes.
She put down the script, feeling that she shouldn't need to read it too often and deliver her lines over rehearsed. If she'd been a real reporter having to interview a couple of scientists for the first time, she'd be confused and uncertain as to how to respond to certain things the guys would say, and over rehearsing would make her delivery sound too easy, too polished.
One of the guys had also put his script down letting out a big sigh. She smiled at him with sympathy, and he grinned and shrugged back. "So, what does your boyfriend do?"
"Well, recently he went to the North Sea to test Dr. Hawking's theory that the similarities between the equations on general relativity and hydrodynamics would allow them to find the equivalent of blackhole radiation in a large body of water." Penny was glad she'd taken the time all those months ago to figure out exactly what Leonard would be doing. She'd done that when she found Sheldon was jealous and said that Leonard might prove how everything came to existence and how it would end.
She still hadn't made the link between finding the blackhole radiation and the answers to those questions, but everything indicated that Sheldon had good reason to be jealous. She almost laughed now, as she realized she'd actually remembered most of what she read.
"Didn't they try to create a blackhole in Switzerland?"
Penny shook her head. "No, at the Large Hadron Collider they tried to detect a Boson-Hicks particle. Some people were scared the experiment would create a blackhole, but that was just a myth, as far as I know."
She took a sip from the water bottle and frowned slightly as she realized she actually remembered quite a bit of what she'd been reading during Leonard's absence. She mentally shrugged it off. "Besides, my boyfriend and the others weren't actually looking for a blackhole, but rather the radiation it is believed to give of." She turned to the door to her left, as it was opened and the casting people entered.
"Jen, stop here, please," Dan said as they approached the Cheesecake Factory.
His fiancé pulled over. "Why, what's wrong?"
Dan pointed. "See that guy over there?" He glanced at her and saw her beginning to smile. "Oh my god, is that the guy you told me about?"
He grinned back. "Told you Penny did a number on him."
"By the looks of it I won't be needing to teach her much self defense." She squinted slightly. "Nice," she said with a nod. "I'm guessing he's waiting for her to arrive?"
"I think so. Or maybe wait for Melissa, his ex. She's the one that could benefit the most of your expertise."
Jennifer nodded. "Right. So, what do we do now? I'm guessing calling the cops won't do any good. He's not really doing anything wrong at the moment."
Dan shook his head. "No, and I'm sure he won't if he sees me. The thing is, if he sees you dropping me of..."
"Honey, don't worry about me. I know how to deal with creeps like that."
He looked at her as she put the car in gear and drove toward the employee parking lot. "Hey, that's Melissa's car," he said as he spotted the vehicle, already parked, directly across from where Jen had pulled in. "What are you doing," he asked when she turned of the ignition and undid her seatbelt.
"I'm going in with you," she said matter of factly as she opened the car door. "And I'll leave together with this Melissa girl if she happens to have switched shifts and leaves in half an hour."
As she locked the car, Dan turned at the sound of a car horn. "There's Penny." He watched her park next to Jen's car and get out.
"Hi, Dan," she said, in the happiest mood he'd ever seen her.
"Hi, Penny. This is my fiancé, Jennifer. Jen, this is Penny."
The two women shook hands and Jen said, with a slight jerk of her head, "I just saw you handiwork across the street. Nice."
Dan watched in amusement as Penny first glanced in the direction Jen had indicated and then rolled her eyes. "I swear I'm gonna break his arm or leg if he tries anything tonight. If Dan doesn't beat me to it."
Jen smiled. "Oh, I know he's not going to leave you alone like he did the other night."
Dan ignored the mock glare, knowing she didn't say it to hurt him; she knew he'd been beating himself up over that already.
"But I really hope he lets you take care of it and only steps in if he sees you're getting in trouble. The best way to deal with these bastards is if they get beaten up by a woman a couple of times."
They'd arrived in the backroom, where they saw Melissa cleaning up.
"Hi sweetie," Penny greeted the other waitress. "Did you switch with someone?"
Melissa nodded. "Yeah, Catherine asked if we could switch. She arrived a minute ago."
Dan noticed the nervousness, and knew exactly why. Jen beat him to it, though.
"Don't worry, Melissa. I'll be escorting you. Trust me, nothing will happen to you."
Dan smiled. "Jen is the women's self defense instructor I told you about. She's really good, and I'm not saying that because she's my fiancé."
"That's quite a change," Jen said with a smile. "A few minutes ago you didn't particularly like the idea of that creep seeing me drop you of."
Dan nodded. "I still don't. I guess I'll always be worried for your safety, even though I know you can take care of yourself."
"I know, honey. And really, it's good to know you feel that way. But you know me. I'll be careful."
Melissa nervously stepped out of the employee entrance and walked toward her car at a quick pace, trusting that the manager's fiancé was following her. As she neared her car, she started to feel slightly relieved, believing that Eric had decided not to go after her.
She glanced behind her to see Jennifer catching up to her. She smiled and turned back, retrieving her car keys from her purse.
"Hello, Mel."
Melissa froze at the sound of his voice. He stood up slowly from his crouch between her car and the one parked next to her.
"Is something the matter," Jennifer said from behind her, but Melissa was still frozen to the spot, too terrified to move an inch.
"Ah, the friend of that obnoxious manager."
"Fiancé, actually," Jennifer replied, sounding very relaxed, now standing right beside Melissa. "And I don't find him obnoxious at all."
"Maybe you should be worried," Eric said. "He's always hanging around these two blonde bitches."
Melissa finally dared to glance at Jennifer, hoping the woman wouldn't start to question her fiancé's fidelity. She was relieved when Jennifer, narrowing her eyes slightly, replied, "I think you're the one who needs to worry about him. He'd kick your ass, though I must say that the other waitress has done a remarkably fine job all by herself."
Eric shrugged and grinned in a way that Melissa remembered all too clearly. "Well, they're not here now, are they? He's inside there with that blonde bitch who got lucky."
Melissa couldn't suppress the shiver when he leered at Jennifer, knowing all too well what he intended to do next.
"I'll start with you, I think. Mel knows not to run away, because she knows what'll happen then, don't you Mel?"
Melissa only jumped back when Jennifer grabbed Eric's hand and twisted it around. She grabbed her cell and called nine one one.
"You fucking bitch!" Eric roared and charged Jennifer.
Apparently Jennifer had anticipated that and grabbed his arm, turning herself around to force him to go past her. She didn't release the arm, but turned it up sharply against his back, forcing him down on his knees.
"Filthy whore! Let go of me and I'll show you what happens to women showing disrespect to men!"
Melissa turned around at the sudden hand on her shoulder, and realized Penny and her manager had both arrived at the scene. Her manager seemed livid and ready to attack Eric, but Jennifer stopped him. "No, Dan. You don't want to risk being charged with assault."
Penny walked back inside with Dan, shaking her head. "He's a real idiot. Why the hell would he attack the two female cops?"
Dan shook his head as well. "That man has some serious issues with women, I guess." He shrugged. "This might actually be good. As wrong as it is, with him attacking an officer, they might actually turn this into a bigger issue."
Penny snorted. "That's the sickest thing I've ever heard." She then shrugged. "As long as it gets him out of our lives, I guess I shouldn't complain." She looked up at him. "You know, if the offer still stands, I wanna go to Jennifer's class. I think Melissa will want to as well."
Dan smiled at her. "The offer still stands. What made you decide?"
Penny shrugged. "My only defense seems to be a good offense. Jennifer dealt with the guy without having to bruise anything but his ego."
Dan nodded. "Yeah, that's what she teaches everyone to do." He opened the door. "So, corporate found out about all this stuff. They're worried about the safety and are going to press charges against Melissa's ex."
Penny raised an eyebrow. "You think that'll do any good?"
"Maybe not," Dan replied, obviously unhappy to even having to admit it. "But it'll be another thing against him. At some point the judge might get that allowing him to get out of jail so easily and quickly is not the way to go."
Penny smiled, despite feeling deep down this was not likely to happen. "We'll see," she said, trying not to sound too negative.
"Anyway, corporate feels it's safer for you and Melissa to take a week off."
Penny shook her head. "We can't do that. I know for a fact Melissa needs the money, and so do I, frankly, if not as badly as Melissa."
Dan nodded. "I know, that's what I told corporate. Apparently they're so scared something will happen here and you two would sue the company, they're willing to pay the shifts you'd normally have to work." He rolled his eyes at the typical corporate way of 'caring.'
Penny had to consciously close her mouth, not having expected that at all. "Wow. But what about the staff here? I mean, with two waitresses not here, they'd have to do double shifts. Besides, if that scumbag comes in and Melissa and I are not here, who's not to say he'd take out his frustration on one of them?"
"I'm not saying it's all that logical, and really I think corporate shouldn't try to force you to stay home for a week. So, you two just take the paid time off and let us worry about who's going to fill in. We've also switched around some schedules so that at least one male is present during each shift." He winked. "After all, not every girl here can handle assholes like that."
Melissa entered Raj's lab and found it empty. She sat down in the chair and let the tears she'd been keeping inside for over an hour flow freely, putting her head in her hands. She really didn't understand why she let Eric have this power over her, why she had to have others fight her battle.
"... with the results. Mel?"
Melissa looked up at the sound of Linda's voice, seeing her walk in with Raj. She immediately stood up and rushed into his waiting arms.
"Did Eric try something," Linda asked with concern.
She just nodded, holding on tight to Raj.
"He didn't hurt you, did he," Raj asked, sounding even more concerned than Linda had.
"No, but only because the manager's fiancé was with me. She's a self defense trainer." She tightened her hold on him. "I, on the other hand, was completely useless. Again. I just stood there, rooted to the spot." She suddenly stood back, but maintained the physical connection with Raj. "I swear, if Penny or Jen hadn't been around, I would've just allowed Eric to... to... You know?"
"I'm taking you back to my place," Raj said, his voice indicating he wouldn't accept no for an answer. "We'll pick up some of your stuff from your place, but you're not going to be alone."
Actually, Melissa was glad Raj insisted on her staying with him; she felt safe being with him and it was certainly nice to fall asleep next to him and wake up the next day, still embracing each other. "Okay. When are you finished?"
He shrugged. "We can go right now. It's almost time anyway, and the few minutes early won't matter. There have been plenty of days when I worked longer."
A few minutes later, Melissa sat silently in Raj's car as he drove to her apartment to pick up some more of her stuff, before continuing to his apartment. He ensured her her car would be fine in the university's parking lot and they would figure something out to get her car later.
Melissa didn't really care, as long as she didn't have to drive by herself. The drive over had been nerve wracking, but the university had been the closest from the Cheesecake Factory, so she had driven there, to Raj.
Raj accompanied her to her apartment, and she quickly stuffed a bunch of her clothing in a large duffel and in less than five minutes they were back in the car, driving toward Raj's apartment. She wasn't quite sure why she'd rushed getting her things, she just felt like she didn't want to be there, at all.
"You know, Melissa," Raj started as they walked from his car to the building. "I may not be a strong, muscular guy, but I will never let this dude hurt you. I promise."
Melissa smiled at him, feeling this was the first time since her shift had ended she did so. "I know, Raj. And for the record, I do feel safe around you, even if you're not all macho. I love you just the way you are." Her smile widened when she saw his reaction: an almost shy smile on his lips and a definite spring in his step, while carrying her duffel.
She'd meant what she told him, about feeling safe around him. She wouldn't have agreed to stay with him if that wasn't the case. She stepped inside his apartment after he opened the door and stepped aside to allow her enter first.
She walked toward his bedroom, unbuttoning her uniform as she went. "Raj, could you bring the duffel in, please," she asked as she removed the uniform. "I'm gonna take a shower and the only clean underwear I have with me, is in there."
She turned to him as he stepped inside with duffel, remaining in the doorway looking everywhere but at her. "What's wrong?"
He shrugged and smiled nervously, before stepping inside and placing the duffel on his bed. "I guess nothing."
She gently grabbed him when he tried to back out of the room again. "Raj, talk to me."
He looked around nervously again. "It's just that... I mean, you're..." He gestured at her, apparently indicating her current state of undress. "You know. And I don't want you to think that I'd take advantage of the situation, because I'm not. I won't. And then there's the whole thing with your ex and that must be..."
Melissa cut him off by kissing him passionately, pressing herself tightly against him. "Now that I have your attention," she said with a smile, after they broke apart, "I wouldn't think you're taking advantage of the situation. And that stuff with Eric is only showing me just how wonderful you are."
He looked in her eyes. "Are you sure?"
She smiled at him. "Of course I am." She gently steered his mouth back to hers to kiss him again. "I love you."
She could tell it surprised him, but he smiled back. "I love you, too." He looked down at her. "I should let you take your shower and start supper."
She smiled. "Or, you could hop in the shower with me and we'll eat later."
