Chapter 2

It was Saturday and Penny had the morning shift at the restaurant. She was looking forward to ending her shift as she has an audition for a local TV commercial. Her agent informed her two days ago and she has been excited ever since. She asked her manager if she could punch out half an hour earlier so she would not be late for the audition. Her manager has no problem with it and wished her good luck. When the time came, she gathered her stuff and made sure that everything was there before heading out.

She bid her co-workers goodbye and walked out of the restaurant to her car. When she turned the corner to where her car was parked, she saw some blinking lights from an ambulance. She felt uneasy as she walked faster towards where her vehicle is parked. Upon arriving, she saw a car slammed into the side of her car while a man was being given first aid by the paramedics. A police officer was at the scene telling people to back away from the scene.

Upon seeing her car, She ran up to the police officer.

"Oh my god what happened to my car!?" she said already panicking.

The police officer asked her. "Are you the owner of this vehicle miss?"

"Yes! Oh my god I can't have this right now officer. I'm gonna be late for my audition!" she said while tears are forming in her eyes.

"Well I'm so sorry miss but you can't drive your car now." The officer tried to calm her down.

"What happened!?" she asked the officer.

"Well based on the eyewitnesses here, they saw that the other vehicle lost control and slammed towards your car as you see now." he said. "I'm really sorry about your car miss but I need to get your insurance information now."

Penny went to her car and got the registration and some other papers in the glove compartment and handed them over to the police officer. He then started to write down the information for his report to the police station.

Penny stood there not knowing what to do. She didn't want to take a cab to the audition as it is forty-five minutes away and the fare would deplete her weekly budget. She wanted to call Bernadette but she just started her shift at the restaurant and didn't want to disturb her.

Suddenly a voice from behind called her name. "Penny is that you!?"

She turned around and paused as she tried to remember their names. It came to her - Leonard and his daughter Sarah.

"Umm..Leonard right!? She said as she looked down at Sarah. "Hi sweetie."

"Uh, Penny is that your car!?" Leonard asked.

She was starting to freakout. "Yes...and in the worst time of my life. I'm going to be late for my audition." she said as she covered her face with her hands.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that Penny but can't you take a cab instead!?" he asked.

"I can but it's forty-five minutes away and I don't think I have enough cash to go back." she sadly said. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! How could this happen to me!?"

"Well if you want we could take you there." Leonard offered.

"Gee, Leonard that's so generous of you but I don't want to impose." she said. "It's too much really. But thanks anyways."

"No it's really nothing. Sarah and I are just going to the playground in the park but we could go tomorrow. It's not a big deal." he said smiling. "So what do you say?"

"Uh, gee I don't know…" she hesitated.

Sarah then tugged Leonard's hand and whispered to his ear.

"Well that's just nice honey! Ok, I'll tell her" Leonard said proudly. "Sarah here is fine with it. She said that you need help right now and we could help you."

"Really!?" she asked as she smiled a little. "Are you sure I'm not keeping you from anything!?"

"I'm sure." he said. "Our car is right around the corner over there."

"Oh my god thank you so much! You're a life saver." she said and without warning gave Leonard a hug.

Leonard was surprised. "Umm...you're quite welcome Penny." smiling at her.

Penny then knelt in front of Sarah and gave her a hug too. "Thank you so much sweetie!" she said as she gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

Leonard was amazed when he saw his daughter hugged Penny back. He was taken aback as he has never seen his daughter react to a complete stranger like this before.

They walked toward Leonard's car as Sarah holds on to his father's hand.

Penny sat in the front seat while Leonard made sure his daughter was secured in the back. She gave the address of her audition to Leonard and they drove away.

Ten minutes in, Penny decided to speak.

"So, umm, Leonard I hope you won't mind me asking but what do you do for a living?" she asked.

"Uh, well I'm an experimental physicists at Cal Tech." he said while glancing at Penny.

"Wow! Sounds like very complicated stuff." she replied. "What does that exactly mean?" she smiled at him sheepishly.

"Oh! Uh, I work primarily with high-powered lasers." he said casually.

"Like the one in the movies where you can destroy planes and cities!?" she said slightly teasing him.

"No. But we previously got a government grant to explore if that military application is possible!" he said.

"Well is it?" she asked back.

"Nooo." he said. "But I used some of the stuff to make my own Bat-Signal!" he said proudly.

"Bat-signal!?" she asked while raising an eyebrow. "Are you some kind of nerd or something?"

"I'm not 'some kind of nerd', I'm the King of Nerds!" he said with a jokingly authoritative voice.

Penny laughed while looking at Leonard. He smiled back at her.

"And what does the King of Nerds actually do if I may ask!?" Penny said teasing him.

"Uh well, If you displease me, I'll lock you out of the Wi-Fi!" he said proudly.

They both laughed as they didn't notice that Sarah already fell asleep at the back seat.

"You're very funny Leonard." she said smiling at him.

"Thank you." he said as he returned her smile.

"So um, is acting always been your dream job?" he asked her.

"Oh yes. Ever since I was a little girl back home in Nebraska." she replied. "But when I moved here in California, I found out that there are a million other girls like me with that kind of dream so it's tough to land a part or even pass the auditions."

"Well at least you are following your dreams." Leonard said to console her.

"Thanks. This waitress thing is just for me to pay for my rent, food, you know the basics." she sighed. "I just hope this audition will land me my big break."

"Hey don't be discouraged! You have to dig deep and focus your energy on this." he said to her.

"Thank you. I really needed that." she said with a halfhearted smile.

"Just relax and everything will fall into place. I promise." he assured her.

Penny was taken aback by Leonard's last words. As they were the exact words her Psychic told her a week ago concerning her audition today. She can't believe that a complete stranger would echo the words to her as clear as she is hearing them right now.

She decided to push that thought aside and focus on the present.

"Uh Leonard can I ask you a personal question?" she said. "Please don't be offended and it's ok if you don't want to answer."

"Yeah sure! What is it?"

"Aren't you worried that your wife might get angry at you for helping out strangers and driving so far away from the city?" she asked him.

"Oh?" Leonard said. "Ok." Leonard paused as he was taken aback by Penny's question.

"First of all, I'm not married. See!?" Leonard wiggled his fingers in the air. "Second, I'm pretty sure she won't mind at all."

"Uh, now I'm confused." Penny said. "Sarah is your daughter right?"

"Yes, she is my daughter. You see, her mother and I are not married." He said. "Plus, she's been gone for four years now so it doesn't matter anymore."

Penny sensed the seriousness in Leonard's voice. She didn't know how to respond.

"Penny." He paused. "Sarah's mother is dead." He looked at her with a casual smile.

Penny was shocked. She didn't know how to react.

"Oh I'm so sorry Leonard. I didn't mean to...please don't be mad at me…" she was now afraid that Leonard might say something hurtful to her for bringing up a tragic topic.

"Hey it's ok. She's been gone for four years now. It's just me and Sarah now." he reassured her.

Leonard continued to tell Penny his story.

"Sarah's mother, June, and I were engaged when she got pregnant with her." he paused. "When we found out, we decided to hold off the wedding until Sarah is around two years of age. You know for financial reasons…" Leonard continued. "Sarah was eight months old when June was diagnosed with liver cancer. By then it was already in stage four and quite aggressive as the doctor described it. We never knew she had it because if you could see her then, she looks fine and healthy." he sighed and went on with the story. "They gave her four months to live but she fought for six. She gave in eventually and I promised her that I would look after our daughter. Sarah was too young to understand then." he paused again. "Maybe it's for the best that she was that young when her mother passed so she won't have to go through that kind of experience of losing a loved one."

"So from then on, it's just been me and my little princess." Leonard's voice slightly trembled. "I would do everything to protect my little girl. She is my life."

Leonard looked over at Penny and saw her pulling out tissues from her purse and drying the tears from her eyes.

"Hey are you alright!? Don't cry." he tried to cheer her up. "We're almost at your audition and you have to focus all your energy to it." Leonard tapped her shoulder. "If they ask you to cry on cue, you won't have any more tears now wouldn't you!?" He smiled at her.

"You're right I guess." she sighed and tried to compose herself.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the audition and there are quite a few people lined up and filling up audition forms. They saw what appears to be a production staff giving the applicants instructions on how the audition process will go.

They looked at the backseat and Sarah was still asleep. They both smiled looking at the innocent young girl in deep slumber.

"Leonard thank you so much for bringing me here! I owe you big time." Penny said.

"Hey, I still have to take you back home." he replied.

"Oh Leonard you don't have to do that. Really I could just take a cab back home." she pleaded. "Please you've already done so much."

"No Penny. I brought you here and I'm bringing you back. End of discussion." he said firmly. "Plus I would sleep better knowing that you are safe instead of you taking a cab alone in the night."

"Here, put your number in my phone so you could text me when you're done and we could come pick you up." he handed her his phone. She put her number in it and gave it back to Leonard.

Leonard then pressed the 'send' button and a few seconds later, Penny's phone rang. "That's my number." he told Penny.

"Are you sure you want to wait for me? I mean it could take a while." Penny said.

"Sure!" he paused. "Look...we passed by a mall about ten minutes ago. Sarah and I will just head out there and take a walk, maybe grab something to eat or see a movie." he continued. "When you're done, you can text me and we'll pick you up. It's not that complicated you know." he looked at her and for the first time he saw her beautiful green eyes. Right then Leonard realized how beautiful Penny was. She was just...perfect. He tried to shake his thoughts to avoid staring at her that would make her uncomfortable.

"Ok if you insist." she smiled at him while pressing her hands on his. "You are so great Leonard. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Now go and get them!" he encouraged her.

"Ok." she took a deep breath. "Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" he said with a smile. "Just relax and you'll do great, I promise."

With that, she got out of the car and went in the building. He saw Penny talking to the production staff and she was directed to go inside.

Leonard backed up from the side of the road and drove away. By then Sarah woke up.