"Do you guys wanna check out the coffee shop down the street from our building? I saw it's open. It looks pretty nice?" Leonard exhaustedly suggested to his friends, driving in the direction of his apartment.
Raj sighed in the backseat, "I could use a pick-me-up. That paintball game was just embarrassing. How could the geology department beat us? That has ever happened."
"I don't drink coffee," interjected Sheldon. "And for the record, the geology department has beat the physics department twice. May 2007 and February 2009. How could you forget they've beaten us?"
"You could get tea or hot chocolate. Before you make up some crazy rule about why you can't order that, it's October so your rule about only having hot chocolate in months with an R in them applies. If you don't want anything, you can walk home. It's only a block back to your apartment. Or you can sit quietly and sulk while the rest of us get coffee," suggested Howard, seeing relief wash over Leonard's face that someone else was talking his roommate down.
Leonard parked the car on the street in front of the coffee shop and Sheldon begrudgingly followed his friends inside. The group ordered their drinks of choice and waited near the end of the counter for them to be ready. "This place sure is busy. I don't see any open tables," Howard commented, scanning the restaurant for seats.
"You and Leonard wander around, see if it looks like anyone is leaving soon and we can snag their table. Sheldon and I can grab our drinks when they're ready," suggested Raj, looking to see if he thought something might open up in the next few minutes.
Leonard and Howard moved between the tables, before noticing a large table along the back wall with only one person sitting at it. Approaching the bespectacled brunette, Leonard asked, "Are you going to be using the whole table? Could my friends and I sit at the other end?"
"I guess," the woman looked up from the book she'd been reading and noticed the size of the table she was alone at. "I did take the biggest table in here, but it was the only one open when I came in."
Leonard and Howard sat at the far end of the table as they waited for their friends to bring their drinks over. Howard leaned across the table to the woman who was sipping the mug in front of her, "I've never seen you around this neighborhood before. Do you come here often?"
"Howard!" Leonard quickly berated the engineer. "You're dating my girlfriend's best friend. You can't be hitting on other women in front of me if you don't want it to get back to Bernadette."
"I think they only opened last week. This is my first time here, but I might stop in the future if I'm in the area," the woman replied.
"Here's your cof…" Raj started to say before seeing the woman at the end of the table. Setting it on the table, he whispered to his best friend.
"It was the only table with four open seats. What did you want us to do? You can sit as far away from her as possible. She's minding her own business. You'll be fine Raj," Howard accepted the drink and pointed at the empty chair next to him.
Turning his attention back to the woman at the other end of the table, Howard explained, "Sorry about him. He can't talk around women unless he's drinking. As much as I'd love to add some Bailey's to his coffee, that's not an option here."
"I'll let you guys have the table," the woman offered, checking the time on her watch. "I was supposed to be meeting someone almost an hour ago, but I don't think he's coming. Have a good afternoon." The woman stood from the table, tucked her book into her purse, shrugged her jacket on, and waved goodbye to the men at the other end of the table, Sheldon eyeing her curiously from the minute he approached the table.
Having finished their coffee, the group piled back into Leonard's car for the short drive back to apartment 4A. Sheldon quickly retreated to his room to change out of his paintball gear, leaving his friends in the living room. "Did you guys notice the same thing I did when we were at the coffee shop?" Howard asked after hearing the click of Sheldon's bedroom door closing.
"That the coffee was a little expensive for being as mediocre as it was? It might as well have been another Starbucks," Raj pointed out.
"No. Well, yes, but that's not what I meant," Howard rolled his eyes. "Did you notice how Sheldon was watching that woman? The one who let us sit at the table with her?"
Leonard shook his head, "I wouldn't read too much into it. He was clearly uncomfortable by us asking to share the table with her. Did you not notice how he seemed to relax once she left?"
Emerging from his room in his bathrobe, Sheldon stood at the end of the hallway and announced to the room, "I'm going to take a shower. I know it's off my schedule, but I need to wash off that loss."
"Maybe Sheldon is interested in her. We've never seen anyone who looks like her, maybe that's why we never knew what Sheldon's type was. The only time I shower in the middle of the day is when I need to relieve tension if you know what I mean. Maybe Sheldon's feeling the same way," Raj suggested after Sheldon turned back down the hallway, causing the men to look towards the bathroom.
"I think I'm gonna head home. I don't want to be here if that's what's happening, nor did I need to know that about you, Raj," Howard quickly stood from where he had settled on the couch. "Thanks again for driving this morning." Raj quickly followed, exiting the apartment just behind his best friend.