51 – The Cleanliness Query

Monday came and Penny, Sheldon and their temporary roommate Nora slipped into their routines. Raj would come by each day to pick Sheldon for work. Penny would drive to the studio in her new car, followed by a plainclothes police officer who would then camp outside the studio gates. Nora would head to the Pasadena Police Station and first check for any progress on finding Hernly and then move on to dealing with the many other cases on her desk. They repeated the pattern each day. On Mondays and Tuesdays Sheldon would see Dr. Anderson and then take the bus home. On Wednesdays and Thursdays Penny would see Melanie Anderson. Nora tended to work long days and was almost always the last one to get home.

Pizza Night was reinstituted the second week and Bernadette, Howard, Raj and Alex joined Penny, Sheldon and Nora. The guests all commented on how grown up they felt eating at the dining room table and how different the apartment felt. Sheldon was getting used to it. And even though he would never admit it, he was also getting used to Penny and Nora occasionally walking around the apartment in their underwear.

At the end of the second week Apartment 4B was finally ready and Nora had her things from storage delivered and moved in. Penny spent a lot of time over there helping Nora get settled but things settled fairly quickly and Sheldon didn't feel like things had changed much. When she wasn't at work Nora still spent most of her time in Apartment 4A with Penny and Sheldon and really only slept in her own apartment. Sheldon realized this was a fairly familiar situation with only a minor difference. Nora always contributed towards the food, even the groceries.

There were more similarities. One Friday while Sheldon was working from home a package was delivered for Nora. He waited until she got home and went over to knock on her door.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Nora.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Nora.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Nora.

"Hi, Sheldon. I was coming over in a minute. What's up?"

"You received a package. I signed for it."

"Thank you. Come on in."

And then Sheldon got his first look at Nora's, formerly Penny's apartment. He had until then avoided going over thinking that when Nora was ready for guests she would say something. Apparently Nora and Penny had something else in common in addition to clothing size and taste. The apartment was a mess. Clothes were strewn everywhere.

"Nora, I apologize for the intrusion. Obviously you are not yet completely unpacked or ready to receive guests."

"Sorry, Sheldon. When I was staying with you guys I was on my best behavior. But most of the time, mainly because I work so much, I'm kind of a slob."

"Nora, I would be happy to design an organizational chart to enable you to live more efficiently."

"Sorry, Sheldon. This is me. Get used to it."

"You really don't have to live this way. I really can help. Please speak with Penny about it."

Later that evening, while Sheldon was working in his new home office, formerly Nora's room, Nora spoke to Penny.

"Penny, Sheldon said I should talk to you about my apartment."

"Yeah, I kinda figured he'd have a problem when he saw it."

"He wants to come up with some kind of organizational chart for me. I don't want to tick him off but I know I'll never follow it. What should I do?"

"Let Sheldon clean your apartment."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. Let him do it."

"But it's such an imposition."

"It's really not. Not letting him clean would be an imposition, mainly on me. He won't sleep. He'll toss and turn just knowing that there's a mess he can't clean up. Trust me. For all of our sakes, let Sheldon clean your apartment. Figure out a time he can do it when you're not there. Set clear boundaries if there are things you don't want him to see or touch."

"So he had this arrangement with you."

"Eventually. The first time he did it was while I was asleep in my bed and he snuck in with Leonard to do it. I almost hogtied and castrated him when I woke up the next morning and discovered they had been there. After a while I figured out that it was his way of showing how much he cares. It's kind of sweet. And you kind of appreciate how nice it is to live in a clean place. But really, set boundaries. Once when he was cleaning in my bedroom he found some stuff and I was forced to have a really uncomfortable discussion with him. Really uncomfortable."

"And you're okay with it?"

"I have absolutely no problem with it at all. I'd have a much bigger problem if you didn't let him. Mainly with him. A little with you."

"Okay. If you say so."

Nora knocked on the home office door.

"Hi, Sheldon."

"Hello, Nora. What can I do for you?"

"Penny suggested that we work out an arrangement for you to clean my apartment on occasion."

"Judging from what I recently witnessed I believe that would be wise. I believe I can fit you in on Thursdays."

"Sheldon, I don't believe it's necessary that you do it every week."

"I beg to differ. Penny and I had an arrangement wherein I would occasionally clean. I found that the occasions moved further apart and the mess grew larger and larger and the cleanup took longer and longer. I would propose that regular cleaning would in fact involve less work and far less of an imposition."

"All right, Sheldon. Let's try it out for a couple of weeks and see how it goes."

"Are there any areas you prefer I not approach? Initially Penny did not allow me in her bedroom, and when I was eventually permitted there not her closet. When I was finally permitted to organize her closet I discovered some things I admit I am still a bit disturbed by."

"Nope. You have complete access. You just may not want to look at any of my files if they're lying around. The photographs can be a bit disturbing and I know you can be a little sensitive about those things."

"Thank you, Nora. I will begin this Thursday."

"One thing, Sheldon. Don't ever, ever come into the apartment when I'm there sleeping. Remember, I have a gun."

"Nora, you have no need to worry about such a thing. Penny made it quite clear that such an act would be a violation and punishment would be quite severe."

"Good."

The three of them ate a quick dinner. Nora had been working a lot and was pretty tired so she went back across to her apartment and went right to bed and fell asleep. She was awakened by knocking. It was quick and anxious.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Nora.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Nora.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Nora.

Nora came to the door just dressed in a large Superman t-shirt.

"Sheldon, I said there's no cleaning while I'm in bed."

"Nora, this not about cleaning. There is a problem. Please come with me."

Nora didn't even bother with a bathrobe and accompanied Sheldon across the hall. Penny was anxiously pacing back and forth, constantly pressing redial on her cell phone.

"Nora, Penny can't reach her parents, either of them. She regularly speaks to them at this time each week. I've checked the meteorological services and there is no weather condition of any kind in the area that would cause an outage. They are not responding to their cell phones or the land line at the farm."

"Penny, calm down for a second."

"Nora, you don't understand. I have never not been able to reach my folks. Never. There've been lots of times when I didn't want to speak to them but they have always picked up whenever I call. There's something wrong. I know it."

"Okay, keep dialing. I'm going to call the local police. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation."

Nora hoped what she said would calm Penny. The truth was she was also worried.

A/N: Yup. A cliffhanger. We're approaching the end of our tale. I'll probably be writing the final chapter tomorrow. You'll see it within a week. I have a bunch of loose ends to tie up so lots of stuff between now and then. Coming: some drama, some pain, some laughter, some tears and a couple of parties. Thanks for the reviews. I'd love more.