Chapter 18
The ride to Zack's place was a quiet one. Penny hardly spoke while clutching the file folder with the annulment papers for Zack to sign. Leonard occasionally looked over Penny and smiled at her to make her feel comfortable and not freak out. Her parked the car and they got out to enter Zack's building. Penny grabbed Leonard's hand tightly to lessen her anxiety of meeting up with her ex-boyfriend. Leonard knocked on Zack's door and after a couple of minutes he opened it.
"Hey! Nice to see you guys. Come in! Come in!" he greeted them as he welcomed him inside his apartment. "Please have a seat….can I get you guys something?...water?...beer?" he asked the couple.
"Uh...no thanks Zack….we're good." Leonard smiled casually as they sit on the couch.
"We should do this more often you know?...hang out...catch up on things!" Zack said as he seated himself.
"Uh...come over to sign annulment papers?….yeah sure…" Leonard said sarcastically. Penny nudged his side.
"Well no I mean….just hang out….have dinner maybe?" Zack paused. "After all, I've always rooted for the both of you." Zack smiled.
"Thank you Zack...but we really want to get this over with…" Penny said while still holding onto Leonard's hand.
"Oh yeah the papers...right!" Zack said as he extended his hand to the file in Penny's hand. Penny handed it to him. Zack opened it and pretended to read it. "You're a lucky guy Leonard…I always knew you and Penny are gonna end up with each other." Zack looked at him.
"Uh...thanks Zack. It's nice for you to say that." Leonard politely said.
"Hey I'm not joking...when Penny and I are dating, she wouldn't stop talking about you...about how smart you are...like you're the greatest guy and all that….kinda made me jealous actually…" Zack confessed.
"Awww...I'm so sorry Zack." Penny apologized.
"Hey it's no big deal...I like Leonard...he's a really great guy…" Zack replied as he signed the papers on each page.
Leonard gave him a half-smile. "Thank you Zack...I really appreciate it." Leonard felt Penny's arm tighten on his arm.
Zack's face lit up. "Hey before I forget...I need to give you guys something…" he stood up and went to his room. He came back with an old laptop computer. "Here...I think this is yours." he gave the laptop to Leonard.
Leonard turned to Penny. His anger surfacing again. "Really Penny!? You gave him my laptop?" he looked sternly at her.
Penny panicked and didn't know what to say. "Ummmm…"
Zack butted in. "Relax Leonard, I borrowed it and forgot to give it back...you should see the video she made in there...it's kinda sweet actually!" Zack offered.
"Uh..what video are you talking about?" Penny asked trying not to freak out.
"The video of you when you broke up with Leonard." he took the laptop and opened it. A few minutes later he clicked a file and turned the computer for the couple to see.
Hello Leonard, I wanted to write you an email….
They watched the entire video including the part where Penny passed out and fell from the table.
Zack closed the laptop after the video ended.
Leonard sat speechless. He didn't know what to feel. He wanted to feel angry and happy at the same time. All this time of him feeling insecure about his relationship with Penny slowly resurfacing again. All the pain, humiliation, insults, anxiety and sleepless nights suddenly returned to him. Now that he saw this video, it felt like a blessing and a curse at the same time. All the suffering he went through could have been avoided if Penny had a little courage of being honest to him instead of letting him grovel for every inch of affection from her.
Penny was clutching his arm. He turned to Penny and hugged her. Penny hugged him back.
"I'm sorry honey…" Penny whispered to him. Penny was on the verge of crying. She never thought that her past actions would make Leonard remember all the pain and humiliation he went through when they broke up years ago.
They released each other and turned to Zack looking at them with a blank expression.
Leonard took a deep breath. "Well...we've taken too much of your time and I think we should be going now." He stood up shook Zack's hand.
"Sure...no problem." Zack said.
The couple made their way out of Zack's apartment building and went straight to their car. Once inside, Leonard squeezed Penny's hand and looked at her.
Penny looked at him. "Leonard I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to go through all the pain all those years ago. I guess I was a coward in admitting what my true feelings were... I hope you could forgive me honey." she gave him a pleading look.
Leonard sighed deeply and nodded.
Penny threw her arms around her fiancee and gave him a tight hug. "I love you honey." Penny stated to cry.
Leonard hugged her and rubbed her back to calm her down. "I love you too honey...it's alright...we're good now." Leonard whispered to her. They kissed, as they enter a new phase in their relationship.