A/N To those who asked about Penny's boss (one in review, one in PM). I believe (from comments, by Dan, on the show) that Dan was Penny and Bernadette's, boss. Bernadette was the team lead during the launch of Imflaminix (since she developed it), and after the launch, Penny and Bernadette went back to their respective jobs, both working for Dan. It seems weird to me, to have Dan in charge of both sales and research, so I start fixing it in this chapter and finish fixing it in a later chapter. BTW, this is my longest chapter. There's a lot in here, and I couldn't move it, for timing reasons. So, enjoy a long holiday chapter.

Chapter 34 3442

Tuesday 21 January, 10:50 AM

Dan and Tim both smiled, then Tim said, "We have talked about promoting you since before the conference, but there were a few little things that were holding us back. Dan has pushed hard for you, but I wanted some more background. Dan explained how you completely blew the interview, but you still got the job, although the why is still a bit murky." Tim looked at Dan, who didn't say anything. Penny just looked nervous.

Tim continued, "He showed me your sales over the last few years, and showed me where you are, compared to the rest of the company. It's pretty impressive, and I know about the great job you did with Imflaminix, and now with Embryno because I saw your presentations. I learned that you are good at promoting a drug. Al has told us of how his salespeople are better prepared, after your presentation. And, that's a plus because, at the district manager level, you not only need to know how to promote the drugs, you also need to teach your salespeople how to promote them. "

Dan spoke up, "Karen and Roger also both learned from you, we've talked to them, and your defending your team is something a DM has to do. In addition, with the way both launches went, and with the other job offer…"

Penny started and looked at Dan who smiled, "Yes we know about the offer from Ambu Medical, but with all the good things you have going for you, we feel we can help you work on the things, you aren't as strong at doing. So, we decided to offer you a DM slot. I should point out, was Al telling us that if we didn't make you a district manager soon, the next time he talks to you, he's going to offer you a DM position within his area. So, it just wasn't us who are interested in you, as a DM."

Penny was still in a bit of shock, but she thought about her pregnancy, and how that might affect them offering the position. "Gee, sir," she started, "I don't know what to say. I never expected this, so I'm really not sure what I should say. I'd really like to think about it."

"By all means, go ahead and take some time to think it over," said Tim. "But, even if you accepted right now, we'd still have to negotiate your compensation package. So, you wouldn't be locking yourself in with a yes right now, you could walk away later if you don't think the compensation package is worth it. But, I do understand your desire to think it over, before accepting."

"Please don't think I'm not grateful, I am. After all, being offered the position is a big honor, but it's also a really big step," said Penny. "I just think it best to think it over, talk to my doc… er husband, before making the decision."

"That's fine," said Tim, "if you decide to accept the offer, you and Dan can work out compensation. All we ask, for now, is that we have your decision within two weeks, and while you're thinking about it, you limit telling anyone else about the offer to just your family."

"How about a friend that works here?" asked Penny. "I may want to talk to her, and get her opinion, about taking the position."

"Who?" said Tim.

"Bernadette, right?" said Dan.

Penny nodded, but Tim again said, "Who?"

"Dr Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz," said Dan. "Her and Penny are friends."

"Oh, her," said Tim, scowling. "I've had a few run-ins with her. She's very sharp, but a real pain in the ass, at times."

Dan and Penny exchanged slight smiles, then Dan said, "She was part of the team that discussed and decided on all the changes. She was there representing the research side."

"Oh, yeah, she was in the meetings, with us, wasn't she?" said Tim. "Yes, you can tell her, she knows this is closely held, for now, and won't talk about it." Looking at Penny, he said, "Also, you can't tell Karen."

"If I can't tell Karen, how do I explain me telling her about the job?" asked Penny. "And what if someone asks questions about Karen?"

"Oh, dammit, right, nice catch," said Tim. "Okay, you can tell her, if you need to tell her. But, make sure she knows not to talk about it, to anyone else. Also, tell her that if someone questions her moving to sales, to call either Dan or myself. That goes if someone questions you, also."

Penny and Dan nodded, then, thinking about the timing and her pregnancy, she said, "When would Karen and I start our new position?"

Dan looked thoughtful for a few seconds, "She not doing anything, I'm aware of, in her current slot, since she was with your team. So, say a couple of weeks, unless she's released earlier." Dan looked at the calendar and said, "How about we start both of your training, the first Monday in February, that would be the third. That's in just under two weeks and should give you enough time to either accept or decline, and her enough time to finish whatever she has going on there now. If she's free before then, that's just all the better. When she starts on the new position, you'll be training her. We shrank your territory and gave the smaller portion to her"

"What?" exclaimed Penny, in shock.

"Yes," said Dan. "If you accept the DM slot, we plan to split your territory up, some to Jim, some to Ray, and what we don't give to them, Karen will get. We figured you would take the DM slot, or move to Ambu Medical, so we would need a salesperson. If you didn't take the DM slot, and decide not to move to Ambu Medical, we will work something else out for her."

Oh, yeah, they would have to find someone for my position, if I got the DM job or left. "And her pay?"

"Hmmmmm," said Dan, "I think this might be a good learning experience for you. Since you'll be basically taking my position, if you accept the DM slot, you should sit in when Karen and I negotiate her pay and such. I'll have you set up a meeting with her and me."

"Wait a minute," said Penny, "if I'm taking your job, what are you doing?"

Dan looked at Tim, who nodded, "We were much smaller when I started, and I covered both sales and research. Now, I'm giving up the research part, and I'm going to be taking over all of DM's in the California area. Tim, who has been doing that job, and overseeing a few other areas, will be strictly the senior vice-president of West Coast sales, covering Washington, Oregon, and California. But, remember, none of this has been announced yet."

Penny nodded, it was all making sense now, why Bernadette would know about it, but couldn't say anything, "Is there anything else? I would like to let Karen know she's been selected for the job."

Tim and Dan looked at each other, then back at Penny and shook their heads. Penny said goodbye, got up, and returned to her office.

Tuesday 21 January, 11:30 AM

Penny was waiting for Karen to arrive, as Penny had asked her to lunch, supposedly to discuss some things about the conference. Karen explained she had a 1 PM meeting, to find out what her next assignment was going to be, so Penny suggested going to lunch early. Penny smiled inwardly, knowing the meeting would no longer mean anything to her. Karen arrived at 11:35, and they walked across the street, to the place where she and Bernadette, and a lot of Zangen employees, ate. They ordered their drinks and both ordered salad, with Penny adding chicken.

After the drinks came, Karen said, "So what do you need to know about the convention?"

Penny smiled, she was going to come to this from the side. "Have you seen Roger since you got back?"

Karen's face became angry, "Yes, he's got a big dick. Is that what you want to know? I told you I'd go there if you stared in again."

Penny laughed, "No, I'm not needling you, I've got something else in mind."

Karen was still obviously angry, and said, "No, I won't see that bastard again."

Penny was surprised by that reaction, "What's going on?"

Karen was silent for a few seconds, still looking mad, then said, "If you must know, yes, I went to his apartment last night. He said his roommate would be at work for a few more hours. So, we started fooling around."

Penny looked down, a bit embarrassed, and Karen, seeing this, got a wicked grin on her face, "I told you I'd give details, so, there we were, on the couch and I was riding him, when his roommate walked in, apparently getting off work early. Turns out his roommate is his girlfriend, and he didn't tell me that. So, she started screaming at us. Called him a bastard, and me a slut and a bitch."

Penny was trying to hide a smile, and said, "What happened?"

"Well, I jump off, and just as I did, he started cumming. He was trying to get up and his dick was bouncing around so everything was flying around. She was screaming at me, really pissed, and I yelled back, 'Sorry, he didn't tell me he had a girlfriend,' and then she looked at him, and he was trying to hide his erection, why I don't know, and telling her I jump on him."

"I had just started getting dressed, when I heard that, so I screamed at him, 'You called me.' When she heard that, she started screaming at him again. When I was dressed, I left them, they were both screaming at each other, and I gave him the finger, but I still felt bad about it. How could I have not seen he had a girlfriend?"

Penny reached out and patted Karen's hand, "Don't feel bad"

"Why?"

"Well," said Penny, "I had something similar happen to me, but the guy was married. He was taking pictures of me, with his phone, when I saw the pictures of his wife, so it happens." Penny left off the part about being nude.

Penny then got serious, and said, "Look, forget about him, okay? I wasn't asking to give you a hard time or to rag you about it. I was asking because of the company rules."

"What do you mean," said Karen? "I don't understand."

"As you know," said Penny, "as a regular employee, you cannot be hooking up with interns. I think that was started to keep the salesmen, and they were all sales MEN at the time, from preying on the interns, who were mostly women. However, it does work the other way around, too. As your new boss, I just wanted to make it clear, you can't be messing around with the interns."

"What are you talking about?"

Oh shit, thought Penny. "Er…Karen, I'm here, as your boss, to offer you a salesperson position."

It finally sunk in, and a large smile appeared on Karen's face, "Really? A sales position, where?"

"Here in LA," said Penny, "you'll be taking over part of my territory."

"Are they shrinking yours?" asked Karen, sounding puzzled.

"Kind of," said Penny evasively, "I'm going to train you, and they are splitting my territory, giving some to other salespeople, and leaving part of it as, ahhhhh, er… leaving part of it alone, and giving it to you."

"But, what are you going to do, without a territory?" asked Karen.

Penny didn't see any way around it, so she said, "They offered me the position of district manager, for those territories and a few others. I would be your new boss. But, for now, I'm still thinking about it, so you can't say anything to anyone, yet."

Karen looked surprised, "But, what if you decide you don't want it?"

"Don't worry, they said they would work something out, and make you a regular employee somewhere." Penny continued, "So, either way, congratulations to you. Your hard work paid off. They kept asking me how you were doing, and I gave them a truthful answer, so it's your hard work, during this team thing, that did it."

"Well," said Karen, "if you hadn't told them, I wouldn't have gotten it. I think you'd make a great DM."

"Well, I have to think about it, and figure it all out," said Penny.

"What's to figure out?" said Karen. "With the kind of pay…"

Just then, their lunch came and as the waiter was placing it, Penny said, "Anyway, let your current boss know, and after your meeting, this afternoon, come on down to my office, and I'll go over the territory with you. If anyone has any questions, just tell them to give me a call."

"Okay, I will," said Karen and with that, they started eating.

Tuesday 21 January, 1:30 PM

Penny was almost finished with her conference write up, when her phone rang, "Ms Hofstadter, how can I help you?"

"Ms Hofstadter, this is Carol Rose, over here in operations."

"Yes, Ms Rose?"

"I have Karen Kueyawa here, she is coming back from a short term assignment with some dumb ass sales team, and I was going to assign her to an intern slot, on an operations analyst team. But, she is telling me she will be moving over to sales. When I questioned her on this, she gave me your number, and to call you to verify this."

"That is all true," said Penny tightly. "I was her boss on that dumb ass temporary assignment."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

Penny cut her off, "There are changes being made in the sales territories, and she's been hired to become the salesperson in one of the new territories. If you need verification of this, beyond me, you can call my current District Manager, Dan Thompson, or his boss, The Senior Vice-President of sales, Tim Josephson."

"I wouldn't want to bother them," said Carol, sounding worried.

"Well, then I don't know what to tell you," said Penny.

"Can you tell me why I wasn't informed?" Carol said, sounding upset.

Penny's voice became cold, "Well, I don't know that it's any of your business. After all, I'm going to be her boss, and I didn't know until I was told this morning. Karen just found out at lunch. I thought, as a dumb ass sales team leader, I'd do you a favor and have her tell you right away, to keep you from planning on having her for anything in the future. So, you see, you were informed as soon as possible. But, if you have a problem, I can let, Mr Thompson or Mr Josephson know you object to the way they handled it, or you can call them with your complaints if you wish."

Carol's voice sounded very worried, "No, no need to call them or tell them. I'm sorry to have bothered you." Penny heard the click of being disconnected, chuckled, and kept writing. She figured Karen would be here in a minute or so, and, as expected, within minutes she was knocking on Penny's door.

Tuesday 21 January, 6:30 PM

Leonard and Penny were actually eating a meal Penny prepared. And while spaghetti, with salad and bread, wasn't the most difficult, Leonard did appreciate the effort she put into it. She was already preparing dinner when Leonard got home. He had asked her a couple of questions, about her day, but she wasn't very responsive. He thought it was because she was cooking until they sat down at the island to eat and Penny had a faraway look in her eye.

Leonard knew she had something on her mind, so he spoke up, "Hey, are you okay? The last time I saw you like this, you weren't sure where our relationship was heading. I hope that's not the case now, with the twins on the way. I'd kinda like you to keep me around for that."

Penny smiled at him, and shook her head, "No, it's not the case now. I got some really good news at work today, but I'm not sure where it will lead."

"OK, so you're not sure about work," said Leonard. "Then tell me."

Penny smiled at Leonard, "Dan called me into Tim's office today. I thought they wanted me to discuss what happened at the conference, but they offered me a promotion, to District Manager."

"That's fantastic," said Leonard excitedly, "when would that start, and how would you being pregnant affect that."

"That's just it, I don't know," said Penny. "Dan doesn't know I'm pregnant yet. They offered me the position, and Karen knows about it, so if they try to take it back because I'm pregnant, I could sue. I was going to tell Dan about the pregnancy next week. But, now, I really need to tell him, before I accept."

"Do you have to accept, right now?"

"No," said Penny, "they gave me some time, although Tim wanted a yes or no this morning, I guess so they could start everything in motion. But, as he pointed out, I still have to negotiate my compensation package, so I if I don't like it, I can decline it then. It's not a big deal yet, as all that can be done next week, if I tell them I'm in. But, the main thing is, I really want to think it over."

"I would think you would have to tell him, about the pregnancy, before you accept."

"Yeah, that's why I didn't say yes," said Penny. "when they asked. It's only fair, after all, I'm going to be off for a minimum of four months, and they will have to have someone fill in for me. So, they really need to know."

"Can I mention a concern?" asked Leonard.

"Sure."

"Remember, your pregnant," said Leonard, "will taking the job put too much stress on you and or the babies?"

"I don't know," said Penny, "that's part of why I want to think about it, it's something I want to talk to Dr Samuels about. So, here's my plan, I'll talk to Dr Samuels, then I'm going to think about what she tells me, how the new job could affect me, with me being pregnant, all of that through the weekend. I'll talk to you about it, and on Monday, first thing, I'll talk to Dan."

"That sounds like a good plan," said Leonard. "But, I'm so proud of you. They want to promote you, that's such a big deal." Leonard gave a short laugh, "Did you ever expect, when you first moved out here, that you would end up as some big shot at a pharmaceutical company?"

"Of course not," said Penny, "I was going to be a star. But, since that didn't work out, a big shot at some pharmaceutical company could be working out pretty good. At least I won't have to flirt to sell drugs any more if I take it." She smiled at Leonard, he smiled back and they continued eating.

A/N For those who wondered if Penny's pregnancy would affect her being selected for the DM position. The short answer is this: They made the offer, and without a valid reason (and pregnancy isn't a valid reason), they can't rescind it, without leaving themselves open for legal action.

Now if they found out she was pregnant, prior to the offer, they could make having a degree a requirement, for the position, knowing Penny doesn't have one. That is a more subtle form of discrimination.

But now you all have me wondering, and I can't wait to find out how all this turns out. You'll all let me know, right? ;)