Chapter 22
It's been seven months since Penny left Leonard on the island. Leonard kept himself busy with work and Buster. He made it a point to always take the dog for a walk along the beach as Penny did before. He was glad that Penny trained the dog well enough as he never had any problems with Buster when other people would try to pet him or scratch his belly. Ever since Penny left, Leonard has been busy setting up his business partnership with the other design consultant that he worked with on his first project.
It was Wednesday morning and Leonard was at home typing on his laptop. Buster was lying on the living room, looking at him while he works on his desk. Buster suddenly stood up and became agitated. He whimpered and barked at Leonard.
"Buster will you stop with that….I'm trying to finish this project proposal." he said.
The dog ran around the living room, becoming more restless and continued barking at him.
"What is it Buster?….do you want to pee outside?" he asked looking at the dog.
The dog growled and barked furiously at him. Buster then went to the door, scratching it with his paws.
"Alright I'm coming." said Leonard as he went to the door, opening it. Once the door was open, the dog immediately bolted and ran out of the house. Leonard tried to call him back.
"Buster come back here!" he yelled as the dog ran away. Leonard got worried and decided to run after the dog. Leonard could see Buster from a distance as he tried to catch up to him. He decided to slow down and walk when he saw the dog jumped and excitedly barked, playing around with someone. He tried to focus his eyes as he saw the person pick the dog up while continuing to lick the person's face. His vision came into focus and couldn't believe it when he saw Penny cuddling the dog in her arms. He saw her smiling as they continued walking towards each other while Leonard wiped the sweat from his face.
"Hi!" he said smiling as they stood a couple of feet in front of each other.
"Hi!" Penny said while cuddling the dog in her arms.
"How have you been?" he asked.
"I'm doing good now." she said as she put the dog down.
"Come here." said Leonard as he hugged Penny. Penny hugged him back. "I missed you so much." he said.
"Me too." she said as they kiss each other.
"Who is this little guy?" he asked looking at the young boy holding Penny's luggage.
"Oh...I gave Javon here ten dollars to carry my luggage." Penny said.
"That's right!….thanks miss Penny!" the young boy said.
Penny picked up the dog as they walked back to the house. "Ugh I missed so much Buster!" she said while the dog licked her face.
"He suddenly went crazy and ran out the house….I think he recognized your scent." said Leonard as he held Penny's hand.
"Awww….aren't you a sweet boy." she said as the dog barked at her.
They arrived at the house as the young boy brought her luggage inside.
"Thanks a lot Javon!" Penny said giving him another five dollars.
The boy got excited. "Wow….thank you miss Penny!" the boy said looking at the money.
"You're welcome Javon! Now go home before your mother gets worried." she said. The boy then turned around and went out the house. Penny then sat to the couch and stretched her legs on the coffee table, leaning her head back.
"Are you hungry?….I can go out and get us something to eat." he said as he kissed Penny again.
"That would be nice honey!….thank you." she said as the dog sat beside her. Leonard grabbed his wallet and went out to buy lunch.
"Okay I'll be back soon." he said as he walked out the door.
He returned as fast as he could and found Penny sleeping on the couch. The dog was lying on the floor by the coffee table, guarding her. He went to the kitchen and unpacked their food on the table. Leonard then leaned on the couch and kissed Penny's cheek to wake her up. Penny stirred and opened her eyes. She then grabbed Leonard and hugged him tight.
"Ugh...I miss you so much honey." she said burying her face on his neck.
"Me too….I thought you wouldn't come back." he said as they sat up.
"I promised didn't I?" she said smiling at him.
Leonard nodded. "I know and I'm glad you did." he added. "let's eat first because I have a meeting after lunch." he said as they went to sit on the table.
"You're not staying?" she asked.
"I'm sorry honey….but after the meeting I'll buy us some dinner and then we can catch up." he said as they begin to eat. "besides, you need to rest….you had a long flight." he said.
Penny sighed. "You're right….Buster can keep me company….right Buster?" she said looking at the dog. The dog barked at her wagging his tail. After eating, Leonard went to the bathroom to take a quick shower and change his clothes for the meeting while Penny cleaned up in the kitchen.
"Alright, how do I look?" he asked Penny. She went to him and fixed his shirt.
"There….perfect." she said kissing his lips. "You better come home fast Hofstadter, we have a lot of catching up to do." she winked at him.
"I know." he smiled at her as he went out the door while Penny waved goodbye to him. After Leonard left, Penny took her luggage inside the bedroom. She took out a few clothes and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower and change her clothes. She then went to the living room and laid on the couch. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep while Buster laid on the floor, watching over her.
Leonard came home around five thirty in the afternoon and saw that Penny was still asleep on the couch. He put his bag on his desk and went out of the house to buy dinner. He returned at around six and saw that Penny was already awake. Leonard put the food on the table and sat beside her on the couch, kissing her on the cheek.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked rubbing her eyes.
"The whole afternoon I think….I got back half an hour ago and you were still asleep that's why I went out and bought food for dinner." he said rubbing her back.
"Ugh...it's a good thing Buster was here to watch over me." she said while scratching the dog's head. The dog barked at her.
"Why don't you clean up while I prepare the table so we could eat." he said pulling her up. Penny went to the bathroom and washed up while Leonard unpacked the food and prepared the table.
"How was everything back home?" Leonard asked as they started to eat.
"Everything's great….Miranda took care of everything, my house, my car….after I was done filming and doing press, I went home to Nebraska for two weeks. I explained everything to my parents and they were cool with me going back here which reminds me, I'll give them a call tomorrow to let them know I made it here safely." she said.
"Your parents didn't convinced you to stay?" he asked.
"No….they trust me to make my own decision and I told them you were the greatest guy so they had no choice but support me...although they preferred to meet you at least once." she said.
Leonard nodded. "I'm sorry honey." he said holding her hand.
"Honey don't be….I chose you….this was my decision." she said.
"I'm glad. When I saw Buster running up to you, I felt like the luckiest guy alive." he said.
"I love you honey!" said Penny reaching for his hand.
"I love you too!" Leonard said as they finished eating and began cleaning up the table. "So I assume the movie went well?" eh asked.
"Ugh it was so great. I still can't believe I got to work with them. I was so nervous during my audition that I thought I was gonna blow it." she said as she helped Leonard in the kitchen.
"I'm so proud of you honey. I'm sure you did great." he said as he finished cleaning in the sink.
"Thank you honey." she said hugging him.
"Hmmm….looks like we're early on the catching up huh?" he winked at her.
"Well I already had a long rest….are you sure you can keep up?" she teased him.
"What was our record again? Three or four?" he asked.
"Four!" she added. "why don't you go wash up and I'll wait for you in the bedroom...I have a surprise for you." she winked kissing him on the cheek.
Leonard went to the bathroom to wash up while Penny locked the doors and went straight to the bedroom. Leonard came into the bedroom wearing his boxers and t-shirt. He saw Penny with her robe on. Penny walked towards him and kissed him hard, wrapping her arms around his neck. Leonard tried to scoop her but Penny stopped him.
"No honey….you sit on the bed." she said pushing him lightly.
Penny turned around and removed her robe, revealing her sexy lingerie to Leonard. He swallowed hard as he stared at Penny's gorgeous body. "Well?….do you like it?" she teased him.
Leonard didn't speak and just nodded while Penny bit her lip, straddling him. They locked lips while Penny pinned him down on the bed as Leonard moved his hands, exploring his girlfriend's body. Penny squirmed with passion as Leonard became more excited, tightening his hug. They quickly removed whatever clothing they had while making love under the covers, laughing and giggling with the excitement of being in each other's arms again.
"Wow….that was great!" Leonard said while trying to catch his breath.
"Uh huh…" Penny said while her arms were draped across his chest.
"What else did you do while you were in California?" he asked.
Penny looked at him and reached for her phone on the nightstand. She scrolled and showed it to Leonard. "Look who I visited." she said showing him the screen.
Leonard reached for his glasses and focused his eyes on the screen. "You went to CalTech?" he asked.
"Yeah...they were so surprised when I told them I was your girlfriend…..even Raj recognized me." she smiled.
"Why did you go there?" he asked.
"I wanted to find out more about you through your friends….they really missed you…especially Sheldon." she said.
"And what did you find out about me?" he asked looking at her.
"Nothing much….how about the fact that you nearly revealed top secret government information to your girlfriend who turned out to be a North Korean spy." she teased him.
"Hey that's not funny...I could have been imprisoned for high treason." he said smiling at her.
"Or the one where you published a paper with an arithmetic error." she said smiling.
"Oh my god….that one got published. I was just lucky they didn't fire me for that." he said.
"They could fire you for that?" asked Penny.
"Of course….it's like this….what if you published a paper saying you've cured AIDS or cancer and it turns out that your formula makes people more sick instead of better….it's the same for every field of study." he said.
Penny hugged him tighter. "Hmmm….I know you'll come up with your original idea honey…" she said.
Leonard kissed her. "Thank you….I just need one concept….one small idea….an inspiration." he said.
"Like what?" she asked.
"Well did you know that Albert Einstein worked in a patent office when he came up with his Theory of Relativity?...he was basically working a boring, nine-to-five job and within one year, he came up with his revolutionary theories that changed the world forever." he said.
"Really?….he wasn't doing research in a university or a lab?" she asked.
"No….and Isaac Newton stayed in his house for almost a year and invented Calculus." he said.
"Newton...he's the one who invented gravity right?" Penny asked.
Leonard laughed at Penny's comment. "He didn't invent gravity honey...he came up with the idea of gravity when he saw the apple fell to the ground." said Leonard.
"Oh yeah….and the apple hit him on the head." said Penny.
"Well some say that Newton was probably looking out the window when the apple fell and that's when the idea of gravity came to him." Leonard said.
"Oh...I thought the apple hit him on the head, because that would be funny to see." she chuckled.
"No one knows for sure." he said.
"Hmmm….that's what I love about you Leonard….I always learn something new….I'm not a nerd or a bookworm but when you talk, it's so easy to understand." Penny said.
Leonard kissed her. "I love you Penny."
"I love you too honey." said Penny.
"Hey do you want to go up the hill tomorrow?" he asked.
"Yeah sure." she said.
"Great because I have a surprise for you." said Leonard. "Put your robe on and I'll show you." he said as he stood up and got dressed. Penny did the same as Leonard took her hand and led her to the back of the house.
"Whose motorcycle is that?" asked Penny.
"That is ours….Solomon's cousin sold it to me for cheap." he said putting his hand over her shoulder.
"You bought it?" Penny asked.
"Yeah….he bought a new one and this one's missing some parts so he sold it to me for a hundred dollars and I've been working on it for the last couple of months. I took it for a test run the other day and it runs perfectly." he said proudly.
"That's great honey. You really know how to impress a girl huh?" she said.
"Is it working?" he teased her.
"Yeah." she said as she hugged him.
"Good….come on." Leonard whispered pulling her back into the bedroom. They made love until the early hours of the morning.