Reference to and dialogue from 'The Desperation Emanation'
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"It's not as bad as you think," soothed Esperit as Penny took a sip of her martini.
"I guess," the assistant sighed. "I just feel like such a dumbass. Sophie was pissed."
Esperit laughed. "No she wasn't. Believe me, hon, you don't want to see her roiled. What you got was a run-of-the-mill 'annoyed'."
"Yay Penny." She took another small sip. At fourteen dollars a martini she made sure to nurse her glass like it was her own child. She liked hanging out with the girls after work so it meant sticking to a budget if she wanted to make this a weekly venture.
"I was wondering if you were a 'Penny'. Somehow I couldn't see 'Penelope' ruling the Junior Rodeo or fixing the tractor."
"A friend of mine told me that 'Penelope' was more appropriate for work." Here Penny smirked. "I'm still getting used to it. At the restaurant I was always hearing my name: Penny! Table two wants a bill. Penny! Ready for table five. Penny! Crazy guy at table three. 'Penelope' sounds like a whole different person and I am." Esperit sucked her teeth.
"A job's a job, hon. What you bring to it is what counts. You're not different because we call you 'Penelope'—"
"—I'm 'Penelope' because I feel different." The two women clinked glasses. "To Penelope: still alive after disappointing Sophie."
"Actually, you're doing quite well."
Penny shrugged. "As long as I don't do the same mistake twice I'm good. My last employer had no patience for repeat mistakes." The assistant laughed. "God, he'd look at me like I was mentally ill."
"Sophie has a look that pins you to the spot like my brother's bug collection," grinned Esperit. "Then she corrects you and leaves with a 'don't do it again or you're toast'."
"You know what I got? 'While HR might promote enthusiasm in the workplace I find its effect unsatisfactory in terms of actual output.' So I said, 'No more bubbly. Got it.' And then she said, 'I don't even like bubbles in my champagne.' Kicked the smile off my face, let me tell ya."
Esperit nudged her friend's arm. "Believe it or not that was Sophie cracking a joke."
"Really? She sounded like the Ice Queen."
"It's not how she says things but what." The receptionist grinned. "She likes you, Penelope. That means you're a good worker." Here her eyes narrowed as she leaned her head closer and said in a low voice, "Only don't ever let her know that you know she likes you or that she should cut you some slack for old time's sake. One girl did that a few years ago and Lord knows we didn't need the air conditioning in the office for weeks. I was positively furious!" Again she patted Penny on the arm. "That's why I'm pleased as punch with you. It takes Sophie a while to warm up to someone and that she has with you this quickly means you work hard and smart."
The two women spent time chatting away about celebrity gossip until Esperit had to use the ladies. Penny pulled out her phone and checked her messages before texting Leonard:
Hey u. What u doing?
About a minute later came his reply:
Working.
Penny frowned. Leonard had been working away like a fiend over the past few weeks. When she went over for her morning coffee she'd find him at his computer or whiteboard scribbling a few calculations. It really was a déjà vu feeling to her although he wasn't the physicist she brought to mind.
Too busy for dinner?
Already ate.
Oh.
Let me get this out of the way.
Then we can talk?
B4 or after sex? ;)
:P
Penny shook her head as she tucked her phone in her purse.
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"…Barnard's Star," Sheldon said as he passed a tree. "One, two three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, Wolf 359. One, two, thr—"
"Sheldon," sighed a familiar voice.
Immediately he stopped, his heart hammering in his chest.
"Penny?"
"Sheldon." To the left and further away than last time.
"Penny!" Like a shot he took off into the forest. He had no idea what was happening. Had Penny 'died'? Was this some kind of prank? Was he hearing things? After a few hundred meters he came to a halt. "This isn't funny," he scowled. He strained his hearing but could detect nothing beyond. "Drat." Turning back, he realized he was even more lost than he was before as he'd separated himself from his celestial body named trees.
He took a breath and proceeded to walk. "Proxima Centauri's the nearest star. The celestial bodies that follow are: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, Alpha Centauri A. One, two, three, four…."
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Penny was all smiles as she entered the office. Last night had been a surprise as Leonard was less predictable in bed than normal. He really was on a roll with his work and his enthusiasm spread into other aspects of his life—much to Penny's enjoyment.
"Morning, Penelope," said Esperit. "Get yourself settled then report to Sophie."
"What's up?" The receptionist shook her head.
"I could get the correct time from the sphinx before Sophie would tell me."
"Okay. So what does the grapevine say?" said Penny with a smirk.
Esperit leaned forward. "You're temping for someone. From what I gather the EA went on early maternity leave unexpectedly and since everyone's busy with running the office through the merger you're the candidate to fill her shoes."
"Wow, I—"
"Your boss is Derek Starke. He's over six feet, dimple on left cheek when he smiles—which is often. He's the charmer in the other firm. Clients love him."
"Huh. Well, I—"
"You'll be busting your butt. Apparently Marilyn—that's his assistant—works about a million miles a minute but I know you'll do fine so there's nothing to worry about."
Penny smiled. "Anything else I should know?"
"I'll let you know if I hear anything," Esperit said seriously before answering the phone.
The Nebraskan put her things away at her desk, collected her IPad, and ventured to Sophie's office.
"Enter," her manager said as she sat behind her desk reading a document.
"Esperit said you wanted to see me?"
"We have a minor situation. As you know we're in the midst of a merger. Since we run a superior office we will be incorporating executives and partners from the other firm into our rotation. Not all executives will survive the merger but those that do will retain their EAs." Sophie placed her signature on the form before putting it in her outbox. "In this instance Mr. Starke's assistant is on maternity leave as of this morning. Therefore effective immediately you will take her place."
"Sure," replied Penny. "I'll do my best."
Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Of course you will." She got up and the two women exited and made for the far end of the office.
"You'll report each morning to the desk outside Mr. Starke's office. Your sole responsibility is to function as his assistant while continuing to follow office procedure," Sophie said as they walked down the hall. "Under no circumstances are you to engage in other tasks. Let me know immediately if anyone tells you otherwise."
"I understand."
They stopped in front of a closed door. The manager checked her watch before proceeding to knock.
"It's open," came a male voice from within. Sophie pursed her lips before entering, followed by Penny.
Immediately the Nebraskan's mouth felt a little dry as she took in the mid-to-late thirties man with tousled brown hair sitting on the corner of his desk. He finished up on his Blackberry before slipping the phone into his pocket and smiled broadly.
"Let's meet my next victim," he said.
"Mr. Starke, this is Penelope. She will be your assistant," introduced Sophie.
"Penelope." He took in the blond Nebraskan. "Hello Penelope." He paused. "Penelope. Penelope. Mind if I call you Penny?"
"Penelope will transition you to our office procedure. Should you have any questions do not hesitate to ask her," the manager said crisply.
"Thanks Soph," he said and gave her a wink before proceeding to his desk chair.
"You will call me Sophie," she amended.
"Sorry. Thank you, Sophie." She turned on the spot and marched from the office. "So, Penelope, where are you from?"
"Nebraska."
"Michigan, here." His phone buzzed in his pocket. "I'll try to take it easy on you but I have to warn you that I'm a bear on Mondays."
"When I was younger I used to have a 'wake me before eleven am and I'll punch you in the throat' rule," smirked Penny. Derek laughed.
"Duly noted." The phone buzzed again and he took it from his pocket and checked his messages.
Penny left for her old desk to gather her things, only stopping for a moment to see Esperit.
"You forgot one thing," she whispered to her friend. "Mr. Starke's gorgeous!"
"Must have slipped my mind," grinned Esperit, who chuckled quietly as Penny rolled her eyes.
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"Sheldon."
This time the physicist kept his wits about him as he did his best to orient himself to Penny's voice. Nevertheless he did experience a feeling of 'butterflies' in his stomach even as he began counting his steps softly under his breath to keep himself calm. As he passed the fifteen thousand mark he reminded himself that he didn't have anywhere else to go so it didn't matter if he kept on in the direction he was going.
Fifteen thousand became one hundred and fifty thousand steps although the length of his stride had decreased. His enthusiasm had faded and again he was left with a feeling of loneliness. Hearing his neighbor's voice was truly a double-edged sword and he loathed to hear it even though he'd give just about anything to hear it again.
"Ridiculous, Dr. Cooper," he said to himself. "I'm grasping at the familiar. It wouldn't matter who called my name were it Amy or Leonard or How—"
"Sheldon."
His pace quickened to match his heart rate though he refused to run. In the distance he caught sight of a flash of red and made for it. As he neared he realized his t-shirt was the source for the red moved as he did. The trees further ahead were not real but reflections and as he stepped from between the last of the trees he stopped on the dirt ground in front of a vast line of mirrors. They seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in either direction and stood about ten feet in height. The panels, while reflective, were of varying shades from modern mirror clear to a look of tarnished silver.
Sheldon went to a clear mirror and tentatively poked it with his finger.
"Solid," he said. He rubbed his finger along its surface. "And smudge-proof." His reflection caught his eyes and he noted he looked relatively the same as he did when he was 'alive'. The only thing was that his skin was unusually pale, like he'd spent the winter indoors away from the sun. A thought came to him and he opened his mouth wide before quickly closing it. His uvula was still misshapen.
Unsure of what to do he walked over and sat with his back against a tree. Penny's voice came from around here so he was loath to leave even though he was curious to see how far the mirrors went.
"I'm dead and I'm still waiting for you, Penny," he tsked.
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Penny picked up the phone.
"Good Morning, Mr. Starke's office, Penelope speaking."
"Hello, this is Sandra from Mr. Lemon's office. I sent Mr. Starke a memo on Friday asking if he'd meet with Mrs. Osborne this Thursday but haven't received a response."
"Let me find out for you," Penny replied. "Hold one moment." She put the phone down and went to the office door. She heard rhythmic tapping of a pen or pencil on the desk before proceeding to knock.
No answer.
She waited a moment before returning to her desk and picked up the phone.
"Hi Sandra, it looks as though he's not available," she said diplomatically. "I'll leave a message on his voicemail telling him to call you." Sandra snorted.
"Here's hoping you've got better luck than me."
Penny dialed Derek's number and relayed the message to his voicemail before continuing to reorganize his files to Sophie's specifications until lunch.
"So what do you think?" asked Esperit as the two women munched on their salads.
"Hard to say," Penny replied. "He was all smiles this morning as he went into his office but then pfft—incommunicado. No phone calls. No answering the door. Nada."
"Must be a busy guy."
"I guess, although I could hear his pencil tapping like he was listening to music." Esperit sucked her teeth. "No grapevine with that one."
"See an blind, hear an deaf," the Jamaican nodded.
Upon her return to the office Penny checked her messages:
"Hello, Penelope, this is Sandra again. I still haven't heard anything from Mr. Starke and Mr. Lemon isn't impressed here. Mrs. Osborne is a major client and we need an answer today by four."
Again Penny went to her boss's door and knocked.
"Mr. Starke?" No response. Did he go out? Perhaps she'd leave a note on his desk in case he hadn't checked his phone messages although the chances of an executive leaving his Blackberry in his pocket for ten minutes much less several hours were next to none. She wrote a note on a yellow Post It and gave another knock before opening the door. Derek was on his cell phone and stopped pacing to point Penny out of the office with a frown.
Immediately Penny's heart froze as she scurried from the room. Omigod I'm dead! Her face was ashen and she did her best to calm herself by continuing with her work but she continued to chastise herself. Here she was on her first major assignment and she blew it just like that. Just because her idiot boss didn't know how to return a stupid phone call.
At three forty five Jackie showed up with a form to be signed.
"I'm not sure if he wants to be disturbed," Penny said.
"This is from the Big Kahuna. Believe me this gets signed and returned to Sophie ASAP."
Penny steadied herself, took the form, and proceeded to the door and knocked.
"It's open," said Derek and, relieved, she entered. "What can I do you for, Penelope?"
"I have a form from Mr. Burke that needs your signature," she said in as calm a voice as possible.
"Anything for you," he said with a grin. He took the form and glanced over it before popping the pen and affixing his signature.
"While I've got you, Sandra called from Mr. Lemon's office regarding a Mrs. Osborne."
"Ah, yes, Elaine." He picked up his phone.
"I'm sorry I interrupted you earlier," Penny continued. "Sandra needs to know by four o'clock and—"
"No worries. I was in a meeting," he said as he texted.
"Oh. It wasn't scheduled."
"Yes it was." He opened the scheduler app and turned the screen towards her.
"Well it wasn't on my scheduler. Perhaps we need to coordinate?" she said diplomatically. Derek grabbed a pad from under a stack of papers on his desk and scribbled out a mix of numbers and letters.
"My password. Check the schedule every morning since I change things during the night." He held onto the slip of paper even as Penny meant to take it. "I'm putting my life into your hands."
"Your secret's safe with me, Iron Man." He gave her a wink and a smile before gathering up his phone. Penny felt her stomach do a little flip only to come crashing down to earth as she noticed among the piles of papers and folders on his desk a framed picture of a beautiful redhead and young boy.
Ah well. Doesn't mean I can't look, thought Penny as she closed the door.
"Elaine, this is Derek Starke," he said into his phone. "I'm sorry I just received your message. … I see. Perhaps I can make up this misunderstanding by turning Thursday's get-together into a lunch? …Great. I'm looking…."
As she walked to her desk it took Penny a moment for her brain to catch up with what she heard.
"Wait a minute. If he just got the message now how did he know about the meeting on Thursday?"
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"Sheldon."
The physicist glanced to the left and saw a moving image three mirrors down. Immediately he popped up and dusted his butt even as he walked to the mirror.
His jaw dropped as he saw himself wearing his Green Lantern t-shirt and khaki pants writing away at his whiteboard while Penny sat in his spot (!) applying makeup.
"You're in my spot," Sheldon said under his breath as he stared at the moving images. Watching the scene unfold he realized that they had no such interaction when he was alive.
Penny was talking and must have said something spectacular as the Sheldon in the mirror stiffened before glancing over his shoulder to give her a glare. Penny rolled her eyes and began putting on lipstick as her neighbor lectured her on some point or other. She checked her watch as she stood, leaving her makeup all over the coffee table, and grabbed her grey tweed cardigan that was draped over the arm of the couch. Her hand made a 'talk talk' motion as she marched to the door, opening it to reveal a tall man with tousled brown hair and sophisticated business attire. The man smiled and Penny closed the door behind her.
The image went dark and then Sheldon and the forest were reflected in the mirror.
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Crap on a cracker. Penny picked up the phone and dialed Derek Starke. The documents he was supposed to look over and promised to get back to her hadn't arrived and she was yet again playing phone tag with him.
"Good afternoon Penelope. What can I do you for?" he said as, to her surprise, he answered his phone.
"Two words for you: Goldstein report," she retorted.
"Didn't I get that back to you?"
"Nope. The calls have started and I'm feeling like I'm avoiding creditors. Want to help me out and give back the file before the PR department comes with torches?"
"Sure, sure. It's on my desk."
"Great."
"Only I have some questions about part of it. I've made notes in the margins and would appreciate if you could forward those along."
"I live to serve."
"You're a doll."
Penny hung up and went to her boss's office. Immediately she sighed as she saw what a disaster his desk was: folder after folder were stacked haphazardly on top of each other and a whirlwind of papers about half an inch thick were strewn about.
"Sheldon would have a bird," she muttered as she began tidying.
When Derek got to his office the next morning he not only found his papers organized but also his pens aligned, clips all facing forward, in a caddy he didn't know he had.
"I wonder if she does windows?" he chuckled.
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The only way he could keep basic track of time was to pace so Sheldon wore a little trail in front of the mirror where Penny and 'he' had appeared. After the second time he watched a confusing scene with his neighbor he wanted to know if the images appeared at a particular interval, hence the pacing.
As for the images themselves they were no less baffling as, again, he observed a scene that didn't occur in real life. Like the first it took place in apartment 4A only this time Penny and Leonard were having coffee at the counter while Sheldon was eating cereal in his spot and his blue jay ate from her bowl on the coffee table.
"Sheldon."
The mirror shimmered and he stopped pacing to watch the forthcoming images:
Again Sheldon was in his Green Lantern t-shirt standing at his whiteboard while Raj and Howard sat on the couch and the strange man from the first run of images sat in Leonard's chair. The apartment door opened and Penny entered with the bags of take-out and set them on the table before sitting in Sheldon's spot. Almost immediately Howard, Raj and Penny scooted over one cushion as Sheldon walked past the couch to the window where a stand and feeder were situated. He poured some bird seed into the trough and from the hallway his blue jay streaked into the room and onto the stand.
The gang plus the stranger were already eating by the time Sheldon sat and they chatted while obviously watching television. A moment later and again the door opened and Leonard came in. He plunked his satchel on his desk before wheeling the computer chair over to the couch.
Outside the mirror, Sheldon could see that an argument was brewing as it looked as though there was no food for Leonard. His roommate abruptly stood up and stormed down the hallway. The stranger got up to leave and Penny followed him out. The rest of the gang went back to watching their program.
The image went dark and the mirror was restored.
"Curious," Sheldon muttered as he pondered what he just witnessed. "This is the second sequence where my blue jay was present and the second time this stranger is in my apartment. Apparently he is familiar with Penny since she left with him in both instances." He began to pace. "Moreover it looked as though Raj was conversing with Penny and yet I saw no alcohol on the table. There was no ring on Howard's finger and most importantly what was that drivel on my whiteboard? Algebra?
"So, after roughly twenty two and a half hours between images I see a person I've never seen and participate in events I've never done." He stopped walking. "That's not completely true. I've eaten Thai food and watched television. I've also seen Leonard storm off to his room." Sheldon's eyes widened as a thought came to him. "I've also written simple algebraic formulas on my board—when I was assisting Penny!
"If I combine all the relevant facts: sequences consisting of a jumble of real and fictional people and events that is preceded by Penny's voice calling my name. Obviously these images don't come from me so where do they—" His mouth opened and he stepped to the mirror.
"Penny?" he said quietly and put out a hand to touch the mirror's surface. His fingers felt along the edges; he didn't know what he was looking for—perhaps a way in? If he could make a door out of a blank wall why not a mirror?
If Sheldon was right about this the images would return.
After all, Penny had to sleep sometime.
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Penny came from her bedroom clipping an earring to her ear even as she jammed her left foot into her heeled shoe. She took up her purse, turned off the light and locked her door before scurrying over to her boyfriend's apartment.
"Sorry I'm late," she said as she opened the door. "Traffic was a nightmare and—"
"It's alright," Leonard said with a big grin as he sat on the couch with Howard. "Bernadette's not here yet so we're good."
Down the hall the toilet flushed and the sound of splashing water.
"Are you sure we can't bring Raj?" Penny asked.
"It's been a while since we've done things as couples," replied Leonard. "Besides, he said he was cool with it."
The door opened and Raj came to the living room. He gave Penny a little smile and wave of the hand before venturing to the refrigerator for a bottled water.
"All set for tonight?" Penny asked brightly. The astrophysicist gave a slow shrug with a silent sigh.
"It'll be better than our night," Howard said, trying to bolster his best friend. "Try sitting around a table listening to girly talk all evening." Impossibly, Raj seemed even sadder so the engineer was relieved when his phone chirped. "That's Bernadette. She's downstairs."
"Okay, well, have a good night," Penny said with a sympathetic smile to Raj before following Howard and Leonard out the door.
"Why would I want to go to a fancy dinner when I can sit home, eat leftover chicken and watch Jeopardy?" pouted Raj before taking a sip of his water.
In front of the building Leonard opened the car door for Penny before swinging around and jumping in.
"Hi guys," squeaked Bernadette as she put the car in gear and drove off. "Penny I like your dress."
"Thank you," smiled the assistant. "I got it for my three month anniversary at the firm but this is the first time I got a chance to wear it." She had returned to Nordstrom and picked up a red dress reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn with wide shoulder straps and a fitted waistline. The white cardigan and silver chunk necklace completed the outfit.
"It's a perfect night to celebrate," said Leonard lightly. "I've got some great news: I finished my paper."
"Yay!" grinned Penny. "More nights seeing your face than the back of your head at the computer."
"Now that it's done what is the top secret project?" asked Howard.
"It's about the proton debate. I call it 'Taking a Proton Out for a Spin: Calculating Spatial Angular Momentum of Quarks in Contrast to S-Wave Predictions'."
Bernadette stopped at a red light before looking at Leonard in the rear view mirror. "Sounds intriguing. Can I read it sometime?"
"Sure. I can send it to you once it's polished or published. I've already got a reply back from the Journal of Particle Physics from my abstract. They're interested," beamed the physicist.
"That's terrific," said Howard. "Actually, Bernie got some good news too, right honey?"
"Yeah, I got a raise. I've gone from a butt-load to a boatload of cash," the microbiologist grinned.
"So anyways we've started to talk about children," said Howard. "Bernie wants to keep working and hey, I've been to outer space so my career has already hit its high note."
"Wow," said Penny, stunned. "So you're going to quit?"
"I'll see what the university wants to do," shrugged Howard. "I want to take a full year off for sure, maybe two. Part of me says that the university has a great daycare but then I think of my mother who stayed home with me until my dad left. I wouldn't trade those years for anything with the homemade cookies and a ready-made audience for my magic tricks. She sewed me my first Bat-Man cape."
"It's great, isn't it?" said Leonard. "You've got Bernadette. I've got Penny. We've all got careers and yet you've decided to take the backseat to your spouse." He turned to Penny. "See? When we have kids you can make play dates with Howard."
Penny frowned. "Not that I'm saying I'm ready for kids—which I'm not—but what if we did have a kid and I wanted to keep working?"
"You can always be my secretary," Leonard said brightly. "You know, manage the kids and the house while keeping my office tidy. It'll be great."
"Yeah, 'great'," Penny mumbled to herself as she looked out the side window.
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The ground was covered in equations that Sheldon had scratched with a stick. Over and over the dream images appeared and he failed in his attempts at gaining access. Granted, he still had no idea if he could enter the mirror. Still, the numbers he'd amassed after every failure seemed to indicate that a solution was possible.
"Sheldon."
The mirror came to life and the physicist read over his latest equation before standing in front of the reflected surface. He pressed a spot about a quarter of the way down from the top edge and to his delight the mirror opened! Beyond him was apartment 4A and Penny flumped down on the couch in her pink Hello Kitty shorts and yellow tank top munching on popcorn while 'Sheldon' was at his board working.
As soon as he stepped into the room Sheldon was inundated with Penny's tirade:
"—he's already got my eggs fertilized and I've got nothing to say?" she growled before munching another hand of popcorn.
"As they're your eggs and you have no desire to extract any for the purposes of donation"—here 'Sheldon' turned to face her, eyebrow raised.
"Of course not!"
He turned back to the board. "Then Leonard's 'got nothing' to say about it."
"That's right."
"Well, unless the condom breaks," he added as he amended his formula.
"Gee, thanks Sheldon," she said, glaring.
"He's just relating the facts," offered the 'real' Sheldon. For her part Penny got off the couch and began to pace.
"Oh, and you know what else he said? When—when!—we have babies I can quit my job and be his secretary! He gets one stupid paper published and he's all Stephen King."
"Stephen Hawking," amended Sheldon as he quickly got out of Penny's way. He made for the couch and sat down in his spot. It wasn't as comfy as his real spot was but it gave him psychological satisfaction.
Dream Sheldon snorted. "Obviously you're better than that. You were my underling after all." He turned to face her. "And it's executive assistant. Remember what I said about respect."
Penny's shoulders sagged and she again flopped on the couch. Sheldon couldn't feel her motion nor any vibration through the couch as she sat.
"I worked so hard, Sheldon. I don't see why I have to give everything up," she sighed.
"'Everything' is an absolute," said Dream Sheldon as he put the cap on his dry erase marker and set it on the ledge of his board. "You'll still have your liberty, for instance, and the right to breathe." He put his hands behind his back and raised himself on his toes. "Of course you'd be an idiot to quit your job."
Penny ran a hand through her hair. "So what do I do?"
"It's not like Leonard's waiting for an answer so don't give him one. Just go about your life whimsically like you normally do."
"I guess," said Penny. "Wanna watch some 'Trek?"
"That would be acceptable," smiled 'Sheldon' and he made his way to the couch.
Immediately the 'real' Sheldon moved away and let his mirrored self take his seat. He turned to the television and saw the beginning of original Star Trek.
For a moment everything was clear and then the television began to fade. Sheldon turned to the couch and saw Penny and 'Sheldon' also fading to black. Quickly he made for the mirror and exited. Once he got back to the forest side the mirror closed and returned to its former reflective self.
"Fascinating," he said as he regarded himself. From how 'Penny' and 'Sheldon' reacted he gathered that they could neither see nor hear him in the apartment. He couldn't say that he 'felt' the couch only that he was sitting on something.
"Perhaps I was in some way holding myself up?" he murmured. "After all it's not like I experience any muscle strain. I'll have to make note of this the next time I'm there."
Because there was no doubt he was going back.
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Wikipedia: Proton Spin Crisis