A/N. Hey all, lots of Leonard and Penny for you this week. For the guest that thought they might be condescending, you weren't. Your first comments confused me a bit(not your fault). I thought you misunderstood my comments about it being illegal, you didn't . Upon rereading your comments, I don't think they were contradictory, or condescending, they were on point. So, please don't feel bad about your comments.
Chapter 36
Monday 27 January, 9:25 PM
Leonard was on his computer when Penny walked in. She set one of the bags on the kitchen island, and then took the rest to the bedroom. She was soon back out, and after getting a bottle of water, took the item out of the bag, and took it to the coffee table, and sat on the couch. Heaving a deep sigh, as she sat.
Leonard turned and looked at her, "You OK?"
"Yeah," said Penny, "my back started hurting a bit, as I walked around the Galleria. I bought like five work outfits, and some sweats, to wear around here."
"What's with the vegetable tray?"
"Amy and I had dinner out," said Penny, "but I started to get hungry, as we were driving home, so I stopped and got one. I figured a vegetable tray was best, as I have to watch my weight." A wry grin appeared on Penny's face, "Amy was so worried about getting home in time for Sheldon to get to bed, but I wanted something healthy to eat, so I stopped anyway. I should start buying vegetables and cut them myself."
"Where are the things you bought?" asked Leonard. "Put them on, and let's see them."
"I put them in the bedroom, and I'm hungry right now, and my back hurts," said Penny, taking a bite of celery. "I'll model them for you tomorrow."
Leonard smiled, "Sure."
"Leonard," said Penny, questioningly.
He turned to her, at her tone, "Yes?"
"Can you come over here, I got something to tell you," said Penny. He closed his computer, and walked over and put his water on the table, and sat down next to her. He kissed her, grabbed a tomato, and popped it into his mouth. He looked at her, and chewing on the tomato, said, "So what's up?"
Penny looked at him and started grinning.
"What?" he said, starting to grin also.
"Leonard," said Penny confidently, "I told Dan about the pregnancy today, and we talked about my promotion."
Leonard looked at her questionably, "Based on your comments this weekend, I assumed you were going to accept it. What did Dan say?"
Penny smiled at Leonard, "Yes, I accepted the position."
"With conditions?" asked Leonard. "I mean, with the pregnancy and all."
"Yes, we talked about that," said Penny. "If I start getting stressed, I can take some time off. If Dr Samuels says I need time off, Dan's fine with me taking it. I told him I'm not going to jeopardize my babies, and he agreed. After their birth, I get four months, although he asked, if a situation he could use to teach me came up if I minded coming in for a few hours or a day, after the first six weeks."
Leonard considered that, "It sounds like you have everything figured out."
Penny shrugged, "I wouldn't go that far, but I have thought about it, and I don't think it's going to be a problem. But, I will see how it goes, and if there are problems, I'll do what I have to, to keep the babies safe."
"Okay, how's this? It sounds like you have a plan," said Leonard. "But, if I see something that makes me think you're overdoing it, I will say something."
"I would hope you would," said Penny. "They are going to be your kids too."
"Are you going to have to train the person that takes your job?" asked Leonard.
"Yes, and it's going to be Karen."
"Really? Karen?" said Leonard. "How do you feel about that?"
"Very good, actually," said Penny. "She worked her ass off, during the conference and was a big help to me. As a matter of fact, the positive comments I made about her, to Dan and Tim, probably got her the job."
"Oh, well, good for you," said Leonard. "Who's going to be training you?"
"Dan will be," said Penny. "He's doing the job now, but he's getting a promotion, to the VP of California
Sales and will be in charge of all the state site managers, and our DMs.
"Oh, wow," said Leonard, "he likes you, so that's a good thing, right?"
Penny chuckled, "Yeah, it is. He's currently my DM, and he's in charge of the research teams. They are bringing someone in to take over those when he takes over the VP slot." Penny smiled inwardly, I can't wait to see his face on Wednesday. "Tim, Dan's boss, will be in charge of all of the West Coast, and some of Nevada. I think his title will be senior vice-president of Western sales."
"But, all this will happen in stages, and I think it won't be completed until July or so, just when I'm supposed to give birth. Dan will cover my district, until I'm back, and finished training."
Leonard nodded his head, "I think you have it covered. But, like I said, if I think you're running into problems, health-wise, I'll say something."
"I want you to say something, sweety," said Penny. "Now, how about we get ready for bed?"
"Or," said Leonard with a little smirk, "how about we get in bed, fool around a little, then get ready for bed?"
Penny grinned, "Sounds good to me."
Tuesday 28 January, 8:45 AM
Leonard was in the lab containing the Photon Entanglement experiment, talking to the team, and going over the schedule. He explained they would start building the modules that would be used in the upcoming experiment, starting tomorrow. It would take about a month, and then they would start putting them on the machine and testing them.
Leonard explained that members would be assigned, in groups of two, to put modules together on a workbench, then test them, before moving on to the next assigned module. Leonard passed the out manuals, which detailed how each module was to be constructed, how it was to be tested, and who would be doing it. He then laid out the schedule for adding the modules to the base machine, then testing the whole thing, once it was all put together. He then told everyone that if there were any questions when he wasn't there, to ask either Keith, or Tony, and they would bring the problem to Leonard's attention.
He then asked if anyone had any questions, and no one did, so he told them the meeting was over and they could get started if they wanted to. He headed back to his office, to put the notes from this meeting into the manual of the experiment
Wednesday 29 January, 3:45 PM
Penny was finally back in her own office. Tuesday, she had spent the day with Karen. Penny had taken her to several different doctor's offices, throughout the day, introducing her as the new sales representative, and to have her watch as Penny talked with the doctors or the pharmaceutical persons for the office. They got back to the office around 4 PM and went to Karen's office because she had questions, which Penny answered. Penny then gave Karen the study materials for the drugs and told her to go ahead and study them tomorrow, as Penny would be working with Dan. She would work with Karen again Thursday, and Dan again, on Friday.
The plan, starting next week, was to have Penny work with Karen on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Dan on Tuesday and Thursday. This way, Karen would be ready long before Penny would be out for maternity leave. Today, Dan was showing Penny sales and marketing numbers and analysis. Penny had seen these before, at least for her territory, but Dan wanted her to now understand how they interconnected between territories, and how they indicated trends to look for. He also explained the forecast report, so she could be ready for a downturn, or a surge, in sales.
Dan paused for a few seconds, looking at Penny. Penny was wondering why, and it seemed to her that Dan had a slight grin, then he said, "A big part of a District Manager's job, is managing people. I hear people like you, and some of your favorite people, are people. But, remember, a lot of this job will be working with people… people, people, people, I feel like I'm saying people a lot."
Dan stopped and looked at Penny with a large grin. Penny's mouth was hanging open, and then, she started giggling, then went to outright laughing, as did Dan. After a few minutes, they recovered and Dan said, "Sorry, I couldn't resist that."
Penny, with a grin, waved it away, "It's all right, I was kind of a lost cause, wasn't I?" Penny looked at Dan, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"I know I was a lost cause," said Penny, "so why did you actually hire me? Just because you were afraid of Bernadette?"
"Yeah, that was mostly it, as far as hiring you went," said Dan. "To be honest, I had a plan. I thought I could hire you, and then change the date of your field write up. This would give you less time to study, so you would fail your field write up, and I would be off the hook as far as Bernadette went."
Penny looked at Dan, in shock.
"But, you came in that Monday and did such a great job on it," said Dan. "I was really surprised. When you mentioned being in Vegas for the weekend, and studying there, and I found that so impressive. To go ahead and do the extra work that was needed to pass a short notice field write up, while you were gone for what I assumed was a fun weekend, made me think there was more to you than that disastrous interview. It made me feel like you would put that kind of effort into the job."
"And, I'm so glad you've worked out so damn well," said Dan. "Turns out, selling cheesecake or doing car washes in a bikini was a good experience for selling drugs. But, that's why I usually don't say very much, when it comes to talking about your interview."
Penny smiled, "So, you had a plan to get rid of me, eh?"
"Yeah, I did," said Dan, "but you screwed that plan up, by being more than just competent. And, now look, I'm making you a district manager."
Dan reached back and grabbed a book, and gave it to Penny. "I mentioned your people soliloquy because here is a book on managing people and I would like you to go through this book. Feel free to scan parts of it for now, but I've marked several sections that you should read over and study. I know this is something you don't have a lot of experience in doing. So look this over, and if you have questions, give me a call, or ask, if we're together. Take a few weeks to look it over and we'll go over those sections together. Okay?"
Penny nodded, and said, "Okay, I can do that. I hope this helps."
"It will," said Dan, "I mean, not as much as taking several different management classes in a college setting. But, as I said, I think there's more to you than meets the eye. You defended your team, without thinking about it. Karen mentioned you upgraded her flight to business, as a reward and incentive, which was a good idea. You obviously have some instinct in managing people and if we can hone that a bit, by getting you to understand the how and why of management decisions, you shouldn't have any problems. You get that down, with your sales record, and you will turn out to be a pretty good district manager, possibly more down the road."
Penny actually blushed, "Thanks, Dan. Not sure I deserve that, but thanks. Is there anything else I need to do, or am I finished for the day?"
"No, you're done," said Dan. "Take off, and I'll see you on Friday. Oh, and I got your meeting with me at ten on Tuesday and the one with Karen at two. Thanks for setting that up."
"Your welcome, Dan," said Penny, "I'll see you Friday. Penny left Dan's office, and headed toward hers."
Wednesday 29 January, 6:00 PM
Penny, Amy, and Bernadette were at the Wolowitz house. Penny had helped Bernadette feed Halley and Michael, and now the kids were playing, while Bernadette and Amy drank wine and Penny had grape juice. Bernadette had brought out a snack tray of vegetables, mostly for Penny. The women were waiting for the guys to arrive from the comic book store, with dinner.
When the guys arrived, and Sheldon and Amy cleaned off the table, then Raj and Leonard set the plates and silverware. Howard made up plates for the kids, while Bernadette and Penny got the kids in their hi-chairs, so the kids could start eating. With that, everyone made up their own plates and began eating. Dinner was spent with everyone, except Penny and Bernadette, giving a quick recap of their day.
After dinner, Bernadette Howard, and Raj cleaned off the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Sheldon and Amy put the excess food into containers, while Leonard and Penny cleaned up Halley and Michael. Everyone soon moved out to the living room, where the guys were deciding what games to play. But Bernadette spoke up, saying, "Hey, everyone, I've got some news."
They all turned and looked at her, and she continued, "Zangen is making some changes in their management structure. My boss is leaving research and will become a VP of Sales, by taking over all of the site managers in California, and the DMs, here in the LA area."
At this, Leonard looked at Penny, and smiled, he thought he knew what was coming next.
Bernadette continued, "So, they are creating a position to oversee the research teams. I will be filling that position and will become VP of Research for our facility."
The rest of the gang crowded around her, congratulating her, while Leonard, who thought this was about Penny, was too surprised to speak. After a few minutes, Bernadette held up her hand.
"Also," said Bernadette, "my boss was also acting as a district manager, in addition to overseeing several other sites and now as VP of sales, and he will no longer do that. He will be leaving the district manager position, and Penny will be the new district manager."
Now, everyone crowded around Penny, congratulating her.
"Great, just great," everyone heard Raj say. "You three get tenure, these two get promotions, and what do I get, nothing, just keep worrying about having to leave Caltech and lose my visa."
Howard looked at him, "Really, Raj. You're bitching about this again. I haven't got anything new, and you don't see me bitching about it. What are you trying to do, intentionally destroy their good news?"
"It's like you don't care," said Raj, "that I might end up having to go back to India. You do realize that if I lose my position here, that is what will happen, right?"
"I thought you had an interview next week," said Leonard.
"I do," said Raj. "I have to see the director of Palomar on Tuesday. But, that doesn't mean I'll get the job. And, besides, I'm not sure it's a good fit for me."
"Well," said Leonard, "how about you wait until the interview, and the results of the interview, before you get all upset?"
"I don't know," said Raj sadly. "I, I, just feel like I haven't accomplished anything."
Howard walked over and took Raj by the arm, leading him into the dining room, "Of course you have, you've discovered several things and you can talk to women now…"
After watching Howard and Raj leave, Leonard went over to Bernadette, "Congratulations Bernadette, you kind of threw me there for a second, when you announced it, I thought it was for Penny."
Bernadette smiled, and chuckled, "Yeah, you knew about Penny, but not me, so I thought I'll start with me. You just make sure you watch her, so she doesn't get too busy or stressed."
"I don't think she will," said Leonard. "Dan's already made arraignments that if she is feeling tired or stressed or just feeling bad, she can take a day or two off. They've already set up things for after the babies get here. Overall, both of us like the plan they have with her."
"Good," said Bernadette, "just remember what happened with me, and realize that Penny has two babies in there, and needs to watch it."
"We know," said Leonard, "but, really, we do appreciate your concern. As for you, congratulations." Leonard hugged Bernie, and then the women went to the dining room, while the guys started arguing about what game to play.
Sunday 02, January 7:45 PM
Leonard and Penny had just finished the dinner dishes and Leonard said he was going to play one of his new video games. Penny said she was going to read some more of the book Dr Samuels had given her, as she had an appointment tomorrow, and was planning on returning it.
Leonard had been stuck on one of the levels, but tonight completed four of the game tasks, in an hour. He paused it, went to the bathroom and grabbed another water from the fridge, and went back to playing. He had completed another two and was almost done with a third when he heard sniffles. He paused and turned toward the hall to the bedrooms.
Penny was holding the book, with tears streaming down her cheeks.
He jumped up and went to her, "Penny, what's wrong?"
She held up the book, and through her sobs said, "There're all these possible complications I just read about. I'm scared for our babies, Leonard."
