As always I own nothing, make no money from this and bow before the genius that is Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, Steven Molaro, and all of the writers, actors and crew that bring the TBBT to life. Thank you to all of the people who let me know Grandma Sweetie originated in 'The Alternate Beginning Juxtaposition' by becuzitswrong. If you have not read this do yourself a favor and check it out. Thank you for reading.
Shangri-La
Mrs. Latham came outside to welcome Mr. Sipes to her home. They had talked to each other frequently over the last months but this was the first time they met in person. You would not have been able to tell that from the way they were talking to each other. They seemed more like very old friends who had not seen each other in a while. As we gathered to enter the house Mrs. Latham insisted on pushing Mr. Sipes up the short ramp to the front door and Penny, Jerry and I followed her in. As expected Mr. Sipes was to stay in the sun room which was slightly warmer than the rest of the house and was fully handicap accessible. He was able to move around under his own power, put the arthritis made it very painful. The hope was the sun and the warmth would relieve some of that pain.
I had asked Penny to fetch my pain pills from the van, she ran off looking concerned and Mrs. Latham came over to check on me.
I told her I needed an immense favor and quickly went over what I needed. Basically I wanted her to persuade Jerry to take Penny out to check the latest addition to the stable. If possible I was hoping the stable manager would ask Penny for a hand and maybe even ask her to work there part time if he found her qualified. It would be great for Penny to be around horses again and it would give her the chance to do something she really enjoyed, taking her mind off of her recent challenges. I had seen the pictures of a young Penny riding and the look of pure joy on her face had made me smile. I was determined to see that look again.
After assuring everyone that I was alright, I palmed the two tablets Penny gave me and drank down the water. I had barely set the glass down when Jerry and Nicolette walked in wearing jeans and boots and asked Penny if she wanted to go with them to look at the new mare.
After a quick change in to some jeans and boots Mrs. Latham lent her (they were close to the same height) the duo went off to the stables. While the rest of us retired to the lounge for coffee till dinner was served (I know, who talks that way, but in the mansion that is what it felt like they should have said). Instead of talking business Mrs. Latham, Mr. Sipes, Evelyn, and I traded pleasantries. I was eager to hear what they had found out about the lawsuit but Mr. Sipes explained to me that business was never discussed before the meal, it was bad for the digestion. Mrs. Latham had a little smile on her face at hearing that and Evelyn just nodded like it was common knowledge. So we sat there chatting away till dinner was served.
Penny, Nicolette, and Jerry had returned just before the first course was served, showered and back in their original clothes. Penny eyes were blazing and I could tell she wanted to share something but did not want to interrupt Mrs. Latham's conversation with Mr. Sipes. I saw Mr. Sipes look over at Penny and Mrs. Latham followed his gaze. She had an amused look on her face when she asked Penny how she liked the mare and Penny in one long unending sentence, and without taking a breath, gave Mrs. Latham her "report". I would like to tell you what she said but she talked so fast all I really heard was a long buzzing noise that was then followed by a request to Mrs. Latham if she could come back again tomorrow. She agreed but told Penny that for insurance purposes she would need to hire on as temporary groomsman. That meant everyone there would out rank here and she would need to obey all of their instructions. Penny didn't even ask how much, just what did she need to sign.
Amazingly enough Mrs. Latham just happened to have a copy of the contract nearby. Penny signed without even reading it. Mrs. Latham said that the insurance company would require a background check but that was just a formality. Penny looked crestfallen but then Mrs. Latham let her know that domestic issues were not pertinent and not to worry.
Mrs. Latham returned to her conversation with Mr. Sipes and Evelyn. Then I finally realized what had been bothering me all evening. Mr. Sipes called everyone by their title and family name, so did Mrs. Latham, what I finally realized was they were referring to each other as Jessica and William. This was interesting.
Penny, Nicolette and Jerry were discussing everything equine, training methods, breeds, and blood lines. Penny looked very happy and I have to admit I was the most relaxed I had been in a while.
That was my mistake I had believed this day was too good to be true, and Murphy's law caught up with me. What can go wrong, will go wrong. My phone moaned and the whole night went to crap. It was a text from Missy, Sheldon had done something stupid and would not talk about it. They wanted me to let them know what happened. Penny had given me a dirty look because of the Missy message, Mrs. Latham was looking at me questioningly, and the others were all snickering. Preparing for the worst I called Amy.
Meanwhile back at the ranch
I admit it. I knew better. When I realized that the party to welcome Dr. Eric Gablehauser, as the new head of the Cal Tech physics department, was on the same day I was to pick up Mr. Sipes, I should have asked Jerry and Nicolle to pick them up while I attended the party with Sheldon. Instead I asked Amy if she would take Sheldon to it. She jumped at the chance to show off her shiny new boyfriend. Don't get me wrong it is not that I did not think Amy was a good choice to herd Sheldon thru the welcoming party. She is well versed in University politics and knows how to network to her advantage for funding. The problem was Amy had no experience with Sheldon in a crowd. One on one Sheldon she could handle. I had not taken into account that she would be dealing with Full-metal Sheldon. He overwhelmed her. Sheldon does not do well with crowds. It is an uncontrolled situation for someone who is so controlling he even schedules his bowel movements (I am not exaggerating, he posts his schedule online). Next are his issues with authority. He grades everyone by their IQ.
This means anyone set in a position above his must be smarter than Sheldon or he will not respect them. Since there are so few people who are near his IQ, he will always consider his boss an idiot and having no verbal filter at all, he generally ends up telling them that to their faces. The advantage to being a theoretical physicists is that as long as his studies cover what his grant was created for, Sheldon would pretty much be his own boss. The department head generally only arbitrated over any conflicts and thru fund raising made it possible for those studies to continue. So as Sheldon was meeting his new boss, the crowds, the lack of controlled environment, and his contempt for those not as smart as he, the pressure built causing Mt. Saint Sheldon to explode spewing a verbal barrage that covered the department head with comments about his not doing any relevant work in 15 years, that Dr. Gablehauser was not qualified to manage a person of his intellect, and my favorite stating that his books "dumbed down science to the point that it was a sequence of snip-its that could be read during the average bowel movement". The room got deathly quite and Dr. Gablehauser demanded an apology. Sheldon just looked surprised and refused. Dr. Gablehauser had no choice but to fire Sheldon on the spot, otherwise he risked losing control of the rest of the department on his first official day there.
Amy had taken Sheldon home and then emailed me the relevant details (which I never opened because I was having a good time). She later informed me that when he wouldn't talk to her she had texted Missy asking her to call. Sheldon took the call but said nothing. After that he had asked Amy to take to him to the grocery store so he could by various types of eggs. He intended to perfect the scrambled egg. Holy crap on a cracker. One of the greatest minds of our generation was spending his day trying to perfect scrambled eggs. Anyone who has ever cooked an egg knows that this is good as they get. I knew if he apologized Dr. Gablehauser would allow Sheldon to return. I also knew Sheldon would refuse to do that. Fixing this was going to require help from someone more Sheldon capable than I was . We needed to fly Mary Cooper in to fix this. I excused myself, went out into the foyer and started making calls. I think Murphy was an optimist.