Chapter 3

Leonard was glad that Sarah was already awake so they could at least roam around the mall and grab something to eat.

"Dad I need to go to the bathroom." She said as she tugged her father's hand.

"Ok honey we'll find the nearest restroom." he said.

This was a particularly difficult thing for Leonard whenever him and Sarah are in a public place and either of them had to go use the bathroom. As they approached the ladies restroom, He tried to ask a young lady going in and tell her about his and Sarah's situation.

"Don't worry mister. I can take her inside and you can just wait here by the door." she said smiling. "Hi there baby girl, do you need me to help you inside the restroom?

Sarah looked up to her father. "It's alright honey, this nice lady is going to help you inside and I'll be waiting for you by the door. Ok!?" he reassured her as she nodded.

Sarah came out of the restroom after ten minutes and went straight to her father.

"Thank you so much miss." he said to the young lady. "Sarah what are you gonna say to this nice lady?"

"Thank you!" she said to her.

"You're welcome baby girl!" she replied and then walked away.

Leonard took his daughter's hand and they walked towards the food court of the mall to grab a bite to eat. They visited a few shops, not really interested in buying but just to kill time as they wait for Penny to finish her audition.

They passed by a toy store and Sarah became so excited that she ran inside with Leonard trying to catch up to her. He ended up buying her a Barbie doll and princess makeover kit complete with tiara and a scepter.

It was half past five in the afternoon when Sarah said she was getting hungry again so Leonard took her to a pizza place that they saw nearby. It was then that Penny texted her that she was done with her audition. He replied that they'll be there in twenty minutes.

Leonard decided to include Penny in the order since he figured she might be hungry from her audition. They passed by a pretzel stand and bought a few pieces too.

A little over fifteen minutes, Leonard honked his car's horn when he saw Penny standing in front of the building where the audition took place. He parked the car by the side of the road. Penny got in visibly exhausted and relieved that it was finally over.

"So...what did I miss?" she asked as she sat down the front seat.

"You can tell your story later but for now, you have to eat." he said as he handed her a small paper bag.

She opened it and the car was filled with the smell of melted cheese and cinnamon.

"Pizza bagels and pretzels!" Penny exclaimed. "These are favorites! How did you know!?"

"Üm, I didn't." he replied. "They're Sarah's favorite actually. We figured you'd be hungry after your audition so we brought you something to eat!" he said smiling at her while Sarah was happily chomping her food at the back seat.

"Awww..that is so thoughtful of you Leonard. And Thank you too Sarah! You are such an angel!" she said as she caressed Sarah's cheek.

They began to eat while Penny told them about how her audition went and was hopeful that they will give her the part as they made her do several readings and practice scenes with an older woman. It was a good sign since most of her auditions would only last three minutes and she would be told that they will just call her. Obviously they didn't.

They finished eating in the car and gathered their trash. Penny went out to throw the garbage in a nearby thrash can and got back in the car.

"That was so good." she sighed with relief of having her hunger satisfied. "Leonard thank you again for this. I owe you big time." she said as she pressed her hands on his arm as Leonard started the car and began to drive away.

They drove quietly for about ten minutes when Leonard decided to speak.

"So, um Penny, do these commercial acting gigs pay out good?" he asked her.

"Oh! Uh it's not that bad but it's really the exposure that is more important I guess. You know, something to put in my portfolio when I go to my next acting audition." she said casually. "I mean it's better than just putting your acting classes in your resume right?" she looked at him.

"Well I guess. I don't really know much about show business so I guess I'll just have to take your word for it." he said smiling to her.

By this time, Sarah fell asleep in the back seat again which Leonard didn't mind as it gave him some 'alone' time with Penny.

"Uh...Penny can I ask you a personal question? And it's fine if you don't want to answer or if I'm overstepping my bounds you know...since we hardly know each other and we are just acquaintances and not even close friends. You don't even know where we live or our family backgrounds and such…" he stopped talking as Penny put her finger on his lips while looking at him.

"Leonard, stop overthinking and just tell me what you want to know." she said.

"Ok here goes. Why did you agreed to me driving you to your audition instead of calling your boyfriend?" Leonard finally sighed.

Penny smiled at him and raised one of her eyebrows. "Leonard are you hitting on me?" she said playfully.

"Wha...no. no. I was just curious that's all." he said defensively. "I'm sorry if I offended you."

"And why would you assume that I have a boyfriend?" Penny continued to tease him.

"Well… Um… you know." he tried not to choke. "I mean, look at you. You're beautiful, you're smart, you're kind… I mean you're perfect and I bet you get hit on by guys all the time." he said nervously.

Penny was smiling as Leonard said those words to her. She began to realize that he was actually cute as Bernadette told her back at the restaurant. She looked at his big brown eyes and curly swept-back hair and his lips and began to feel warm on the inside.

She placed her hand on his arm. "Leonard I don't have a boyfriend." she paused. "I've been single for the past year now and trying to avoid dating for a while now if you believe it or not."

"Oh really? May I ask why?" Leonard said.

Penny sighed. "I'm going to tell you since you told me your story about Sarah's mother." she paused. "That way we would know one secret about each other. Ok?"

"Ok." he answered back.

"A year ago, I was engaged and was about to get married when I caught my fiancee cheating on me with one of my girl friends." her face turned sad all of a sudden.

Leonard's was shocked.

"Oh my god Penny I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to badger you." he said. "Now I feel bad for making you remember. I'm really sorry."

"It's alright Leonard. Don't beat yourself up about it." she smiled at him. "At least I found out before, otherwise I would be married to that lying bastard." she pulled out a tissue from her purse to dry her eyes.

Leonard placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry Penny." he continued. "I guess we both have something in common with our fiancees huh!?"

"Yeah I guess." she said as she placed her hand on top of Leonard's hand.

Leonard decided to change the topic.

"Ok, enough about that and just be excited that this commercial might be your big break huh!?" he said excitedly.

"It couldn't have happened if it wasn't for you." she said.

"Hey let's not jinx it ok?" he said back.

They continued to talk about their own life stories. Penny told him about her life back in Nebraska and his father's farm. She told him about how close she is to her family, about her brother's run-in with the law. Basically all the crazy stuff she did when she was in high school up until moving to California.

Leonard on the other hand told her about his work in the university and his friends especially Sheldon and his obsessive compulsive behavior. Howard with his silly Beatle haircut and being a 'ladies man'. Raj and his inability to talk to women. He also told her about how difficult his childhood had been because of her mother. She could not believe that a mother could do those horrible things to her son.

Penny felt relaxed while Leonard was telling her stories about his life. She caught herself staring at him while he was driving and felt something she never felt before. To her, Leonard is the kind of guy she normally wouldn't give a second look but now that she was with him in his car, she realized how passionate Leonard is about a lot of things. Things that she would normally take for granted.

As Leonard was telling her a story about Sheldon, he caught her staring at him… "Uh...Penny are you ok?"

Penny slightly jumped off her seat..."Um nothing." she said giving him a halfhearted smile.

Sarah was finally awake and called to her father. "Daddy are we home yet?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes while yawning.

"We're almost there honey. We'll just drop off Penny in front of her place and we'll go straight home ok!?"

"Yes daddy." Sarah replied. "But we haven't bought the big boxes yet remember!?"

"Oh you're right. We'll swing around once we drop Penny off ok!?" Leonard told his daughter.

"Uh Leonard, actually you can drop me off in the corner there. My place is just a block away so you could turn around on this road right over there." Penny said as she pointed to a u-turn sign.

"Are you sure?" Leonard asked.

"Yes I'm sure. My building is just around the corner there." she said.

"Ok. But text me when you get home so I'll know that you are safe ok?" he replied.

"Ok." she smiled at him. "Hey how about I take you and Sarah out to lunch or dinner next Saturday? You know, as a 'thank you'." she said. "What do you say sweetie?" she asked the little girl.

"Oh! Uh..Saturday won't be good because that will be our moving day." he said. "We're moving into a new apartment. Hence, the boxes." he smiled at her. "Maybe another day?"

"Ok. I'll text you so we could meetup." she reached for his arm and gave them a light squeeze. "Thank you so much Leonard. I owe you big time."

"It's really not a big deal." he smiled back at her.

"Ok I'm going out now. Bye Leonard and thanks again." she said and reached back to Sarah's hand. "Bye sweetie!"

She got out the car and waved goodbye to Leonard as he swung the car to the u-turn slot.

Five minutes later, Leonard's phone vibrated. He pressed the lock button and saw a text message from Penny.

P: [Hi Leonard! I'm at home now. Thanks again for today! I had a great time. ]

After twenty minutes, Leonard pulled up in front of their building and got Sarah out of the back seat. He carried her and pushed the lock button on his car keys and entered their building.

He got his daughter cleaned up before putting her to bed. This time he didn't need to read a story to her since she immediately fell asleep the moment Leonard put her to bed.

He gently closed Sarah's door and got his phone out. He texted Penny.

L: [I'm glad you're safe now. We're home now too. Sarah's already asleep. 'night! ]

P: ['night ]

They both smiled looking at their phones.