A/N Again, I am so thankful for your reviews. They are so important to me. I still own nothing.
Penny sat in her car outside the house. It had been a long night at the restaurant. But it had also been a great night for tips. Penny knew she had some big decisions to make. She knew she was making enough money that she could find a place of her own. But she didn't know if she was ready for that. Then of course there was Sheldon. She couldn't believe how much time had passed since she had talked to him that last night.
She wondered how he was. She wondered why he had never tried to contact her. She smirked, he probably figured she owed him an apology. Even now, she found it hard to believe he had done all he did because of what happened to him with the Nobel Prize. Did he love her? Had he ever really loved her?
How about her? Did she love him? Had she loved him? If she didn't why had she left Leonard? Was it because Sheldon was going to take Marie what ever she did? No, she had wanted to be with him.
Then she laughed at herself. Oh yeah, she was the noble one. She, who had cheated with Sheldon, who married Leonard even when she knew she wasn't committed to him, who separated two people who loved each other.
She shook herself. Why dwell on the past? She needed to make a decision now. Did she still love Sheldon? Did she want to go back? Did she want to spend her life with him?
And what about Marie? One thing she couldn't do was do anything that might estrange Marie from her.
When she left the car, she noticed that Leonard's car was there. It had been several days since she and Shari had their talk. As far as she knew, this was the first time they had got together. She knew that Marie and Carla had gone with some friends to Catalina for the weekend.
She smiled to herself. Was something going on? Should she interrupt? Hell, they knew she would be coming home. It was unlikely she would catch them doing anything. She realized she could not resist seeing them in any case.
After Leonard had talked with Marie about Shari, he had become busy at work. It wasn't until Friday night that he called and asked if he could drop over. He knew Penny would be at work and that Marie and Carla were gone for the weekend. He surprised himself by realizing he was nervous. After all, this was Shari. They had been friends for a long time. He realized how much he wanted this to go well but he remembered they had decided to just be friends.
After she had invited him in and they sat down with a cup of coffee in the living room, there was an awkward silence. Finally, Shari got her courage up and said, "I am glad you come over tonight, Leonard, there is something I wanted to talk to you about." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "I know that we agreed we should just be friends, but I've found I want to see if there could be more between us."
Leonard was stunned. Then he smiled, "I am so glad to have you say that, because I feel the same way."
Shari stared at him, "You do?"
Leonard smiled broader, "I do."
He got up from the chair and sat next to her on the couch. He leaned over and embraced her, kissing her on the mouth. She leaned into him and returned it. After a moment, they both sat back, getting their breath. Leonard held her hands, "I realized I have wanted to do that for a long time."
Shari smiled and then pulled him back for another kiss.
Afterwards, they sat side by side, with his arm around her and her leaning into his side.
She spoke up, "So, what do we do now?"
He smiled at her, "I think we should start dating."
She smiled back, "It's been a long time, I don't know if I remember what to do."
"It's been a while for me, too, but I think I remember something like dinner and a movie."
She smirked, "I hope you don't think I'll go to bed with you on the first date."
"No, No, but on the second one…"
She hit him on the arm and then leaned in for another kiss, one that was a little more passionate.
It was then that Penny came through the door. She was shocked when her immediate reaction was one of jealousy and sadness, but it passed immediately and she smiled broadly, "I am not interrupting anything, am I?"
They slowly disengaged and Shari answered, "No, just two kids making out."
Penny stood for a minute and started to say something, but then said, "Well, it's been a long day, I think I'll turn in."
Shari stopped her, "Did you want to talk about something, Penny?"
"It's all right, it can wait. You two want to be alone."
Shari looked at Leonard, who nodded, so she continued, "No, we are your friends, Penny, please tell us what's going on."
Penny reluctantly sat down across from them. She noticed that their hands intertwined.
"First, I want to say how glad I am you two finally have figured out you should be together."
She hesitated, "We all want so much for you two to be happy."
"Thank you, Penny but we still are finding our way." She smiled, "Although it feels pretty good right now."
Penny smiled. She was gratified that she did feel good for them. She had her chance with Leonard, she really believed Shari would be good for him.
With them looking at her, she began, "After leaving work tonight, I realized that I am making enough money that I could probably afford a place of my own." When Shari started to say something, she hurried on, "But I realized I have let some things go for far too long." Suddenly, as she sat there, she realized she had reached a decision about Sheldon and her for a long time, she had just kept it buried.
"I have decided I no longer want to be with Sheldon." She looked at Shari, "If the offer's still good, I would like to talk to that lawyer."
Shari was surprised. She hadn't realized Penny was even close to making a decision, "If you are sure that's what you want, we can call him tomorrow."
Leonard was surprised at his reaction. After what they had done to him, he should probably feel glad that their marriage was over. But he realized he was wondering about Sheldon. Shouldn't Penny at least talk to him? He further surprised himself by speaking up, "Have you even talked to Sheldon?"
Penny stared at him, why was Leonard saying that? Why did he care about Sheldon?
"No, there is no reason to. Nothing he could say would change anything. I would think you would understand. I don't want anything more to do with him."
She was right, why did he care? Then he realized that this just finished it off. It had all been for nothing. They had torn him and Marie's life apart supposedly because they were in love.
When Leonard remained silent, Penny went on, "Thank you, guys, for listening. Now, I think I will go to bed. As she stood up, she smiled, "I really am so happy for you two and I know the girls will be thrilled."
After she left there was a few moments of silence, Shari spoke up, "I think I understand what was bothering you. All that misery and now they don't seem to even know if they ever loved each other."
"I know, but now maybe everyone can move on. I still hope that somehow Marie and Sheldon can find a way to relate to each other. After all, he is her father."
Shari smiled fondly at him, "You really are a nice guy, Leonard. Most men I know would feel nothing but hatred for both of them."
"You are probably right, but it's for me not for them. My hate was hurting me much more than it was hurting them." He sighed, "Maybe it is for the best. Maybe we can all move forward now."
Shari snuggled up to him, "I think your right. I hope that includes you and me."
He leaned over and kissed her softly, "Oh, it does. You are stuck with me."
"Sounds great." She lifted herself up and sat in his lap, pressing her chest into him, crushing his lips with hers.
They stayed like that for some time, until finally breaking apart.
Fighting to get his breath, Leonard finally managed to say, "I think I better head home."
She leaned back into him, "Are you sure?"
"No, but I think we should get more comfortable as a couple before we…"
Pretending to be offended, Shari moved off him, "What kind of girl do you think I am?"
Stunned, he started to stammer, "I, uh, didn't mean…"
She laughed, "You are so cute." She smiled wickedly, "And I am that kind of girl."
Seeing the look on his face, "Relax, Leonard, I agree with you we need to figure this all out."
She added, "But don't wait too long for that date."
Leonard said, "I won't." He looked at her, her hair was awry and her lips were swollen. Her blouse had ridden up and showed her toned stomach. God, she was beautiful. He was amazed at how they had acted; how passionate it had been between them. Evidently, they had been lying to themselves for some time. But they were right, they needed to wait. But he knew he had better get out of there.
Shari saw Leonard look at her. She felt herself heating up. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at her like that. In fact, she realized she had never felt quite like this before, even when it had been good with Edward.
When he got up to leave, she wanted to stop him, to drag him off to her bedroom and have her way with him.
She walked with him out to his car, arm in arm. Exchanging a passionate kiss, they reluctantly parted.
Shari made her way to her room, took a shower and spent some time finding her vibrator.
Leonard drove home, fighting the thoughts of turning around and heading back. He had not felt like this for a long time, not since Penny… For a moment he felt a little guilty, but then knew that had nothing to do with this, that what he felt for Shari was new, was theirs.
He made it home and after taking a cold shower, fell asleep to pleasant dreams.
