25 - The North Robles Decommissioning
Everyone gathered at 2311 North Los Robles Saturday morning. Technicians were working on the repairs to the elevator and security consultants were installing a new security system for the entire building. They conversed as they made their way up the stairs.
"I suggested to the landlords that Paul Hernly would never have been able to enter the building at all had there been adequate security. Telephone calls supporting my hypothesis were made by the Pasadena Police Department, Paradigm Insurance and the law firm of Wolowitz, Wolowitz and Wolowitz, thanks to Nora and Howard. The landlords are very afraid that either Penny, Leonard or I will file a lawsuit against them and so they have acquiesced to every demand I have made. Tomorrow Penny and I will review the plans for our new bathroom and kitchen and select the fixtures and appliances following some other business we need to attend to."
"What other business, Sheldon?" asked Howard.
"I'm getting a new car!" squealed Penny.
"Since Penny's vehicle is no longer in existence having been towed to the junkyard and crushed, our representative at Paradigm Insurance has arranged for Penny to inspect and test drive a recent model of Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet that has become available for a reasonable price."
"And it's red."
"To be truthful, I am still somewhat surprised that the demise of Penny's vehicle came not as a result of her having never having acted upon the alert from her "Check Engine" light, but from the disgusting actions of Paul Hernly in the front seat."
"What did he do?" asked Bernadette.
"Don't ask!" said Penny and Sheldon together.
When they reached the fourth floor landing, as Sheldon had said, they found boxes, bags, markers, label makers, tape and other supplies were waiting in the hallway outside apartments 4A and 4B.
Sheldon prepared to enter Apartment 4A as the rest went into 4B.
"At noon everyone will report to Apartment 4B for a short review of our progress, lunch, afternoon assignments and a short ceremony."
"Ceremony?" asked Raj.
"Yes," responded Sheldon.
Penny's apartment looked pretty much the same as it had when Mr. Terling from Paradigm Insurance had visited. On the surface it looked like a total loss. Penny had specific concerns. Following Hernly's theft of her diary she had started keep all of her writings in a drawer at the bottom of her closet. She hoped that the general mess that her closet was usually in would disguise that. Though she was a little sorry to see her box of Leonard mementos strewn all over her bedroom she was happy to find the drawer intact and she moved the contents to the first box to be packed. She was no longer sure she wanted to keep the evidence of her long on-again off-again relationship with Leonard. She asked Bernadette to gather that stuff together and pack it in a box. She'd decide later when she wasn't so angry with him.
Bernadette, Raj and Penny concentrated on her clothes and shoes while Howard gathered the broken remains of her kitchen and living room. It looked as though very little of that material could be saved. Anything breakable was broken into many, many pieces. Dishes, glasses, bowls were beyond repair. Even the appliances had taken a beating. Compared to the appliances littering Penny's apartment, the toaster that MONTY had destroyed looked salvageable. All Howard could do was organize the trash.
The others were having better luck. Bernadette and Penny didn't have a lot of experience sewing but Raj had been making costumes for ComiCon for years. He had a good eye for what could be repaired and what couldn't. Sheldon had a sewing machine and Penny would have additional access at work. They were able to find a number of items that could be repaired with minimal work. However, a number of Penny's nicer outfits were beyond repair. It seemed Hernly had taken special pleasure in destroying those. They were, however able to recover lots of panties and bras, primarily because there seemed to be a lot to begins with. They were all placed in laundry bags to be dealt with later.
The next project was the gathering of the shoes. They needed to all be found, paired up and judged as to whether they could be saved or lost. Far too many were lost because the right was fine and the left not or vice versa. By the time noon rolled around they had been able to save an even dozen pairs. Many more pairs were lost.
Penny looked around the apartment and, as she guessed it would, the organized garbage dwarfed the few boxes of materials that would be moving to 4A with her. She felt a little sad about that. Bernadette consoled her.
"Remember Penny, it's just stuff."
"I know, but it's my stuff. It's my first apartment, the first time I was really on my own. I always thought that when I moved out it would be because I was going to be famous and live somewhere fabulous. I didn't think I'd be leaving because a pervert wrecked the place."
"C'mon, Penny. You're going to be living with the man you love. Yes, that man is Sheldon Cooper and none of us quite understand that, but you do and that's all that counts."
"I know. And I'm really happy about it. And I'm happy for all the changes that are happening in my life. I'm actually on a path to get me where I want to be that makes a lot more sense than the old plan. And I'll be at a studio where they work on movies and tv all the time making connections. And I'll live with the man that I love and want to be with forever. I'm actually pretty lucky. I guess I just needed a minute to say goodbye to this chapter of the story of Penny."
"Do you want us to leave you alone for a minute?"
"Nope. All done. Let's get some lunch."
They trooped over to Apartment 4A and opened the door.
Most of the wrecked apartment had been gathered and appropriately packed as garbage or salvageable. However, laid out along the floor, in small boxes that looked like tiny caskets were fragments of statues and pieces of action figures, bits of toys. The apartment looked like a tiny morgue.
Sheldon stood at the bottom of the step that led to the bathroom and bedrooms.
"We are gathered together to say farewell to the second incarnation of Dr. Sheldon Cooper's habitation at 2311 North Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena California…The Hofstader Years, Cooper 2.0 as it were. When I commenced this period I was a solitary individual dedicated to my work as a scientist, the things that entertained me, and my family in Texas. During this period I met friends who I hope will remain in my life in perpetuity and among those friends is the woman I love. I thought it appropriate to take a moment to reflect upon that and to say farewell to some of the treasured objects that witnessed these events unfold and will be unable to continue the journey with us. When I began this journey they were more important to me than anything in my life. As I continue this journey I realize that they are but things and the most important thing in my life is you."
Penny ran across the room and gave Sheldon a big hug. The rest followed and a group hug followed with Sheldon at the center. Everyone was crying until from the middle of the pack a voice was heard.
"Enough. We're not hippies. There are cold cuts and everything you need to make sandwiches on the counter. Drinks are by the sink. Get cracking. We have 45 minutes for lunch and then we need to pack all this crap up."
As everyone made their sandwiches Penny and Sheldon sat down on the couch in their usual spots.
"Honey, I'm so happy the couch survived. You'll still have your spot."
"Penny, Leonard purchased the couch. It goes with his things. We will be purchasing new furnishings."
"But your spot."
"Penny, must I keep reminding you? My spot is beside you, wherever that may be. We will purchase a new couch and we can place it exactly where this one is. I will continue to have a preferred place upon which to sit as will you. And when we are both seated there that will be my spot. And when we are in bed together that will be my spot. The location is not important. That we are together is what is important."
"Sheldon Cooper, every time I'm certain you can't do or say anything more romantic you go ahead and top yourself. And that's why I love you, Moonpie."
Howard spoke up.
"Guys, you're not alone here. Much as we all enjoy watching you two get all lovey-dovey…"
"Howard Wolowitz, you will not stop me from telling my Moonpie how much I love him and if you don't watch it I might just rip his clothes off and make love to him right now right here in front of you."
"Penelope, you will do no such thing!" Sheldon exclaimed as he stood up.
"Aw, Moonpie, you're always ruining my fun."
"Penny, we still have work to do and I have no intention of having coitus with you in front of our friends today or any other day."
"But when our friends leave…"
"Penny!?"
"Shelly, I'm just kidding around. Sheesh."
"In any case, let us organize the boxes of damaged materials together and gather them with the garbage. I have already reviewed all of it and it cannot be saved. Stuart will order replacements for those items that I purchased and for those items that Leonard and I purchased together Penny and I will take my half of the insurance compensation and determine whether those items should be replaced or whether something more appropriate should be purchased. Leonard will be free to make his own decisions for his own abode with his insurance compensation."
"When next we gather here a new paradigm will begin."
"Sheldon Cooper 3.0: Beware the Cyborg!" exclaimed Howard.
"No Howard. There will be no Sheldon Cooper 3.0. The new paradigm in Apartment 4A at 2311 North Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena, California will be Penny and Sheldon 1.0 and any new paradigms succeeding it will grow from there."
Everyone looked around at the apartment they had all spent so much time in over the past eight years and realized that when they next gathered there things would be very different.
And then they all left. They informed the policemen in the patrol car out front that they were done and the group scattered. Penny and Sheldon returned to their suite at the hotel. Howard and Bernadette returned home and Raj returned to his apartment.
When Leonard and Amy came by the following day, Leonard commented that it looked a lot like it did the day he moved in, except for the couch and the stack of trash. Since both of his arms were in casts, Amy did pretty much everything for him. They went to his bedroom, he indicated what he wanted packed and she packed his suitcases. When they were done they went back out to the hallway and both looked wistfully at Penny's apartment door. Amy locked the door to Apartment 4A behind them and then loaded Leonard's suitcases onto the now-working elevator and they left.