Chapter 8

It's been a week since Penny got her car back from the shop and the last time she saw Leonard and Sarah. Leonard texted her when their move to the new apartment was done. He informed her that there is still a lot to do inside their new place – unpacking their stuff, redecorating Sarah's room and other things.

Penny has the morning shift at the restaurant today. She just finished brushing her teeth when she heard her phone beeped. It was a text from Leonard.

L: [Good morning! We're headed out to school. {smiley face}]

L: [Sarah says hi!]

P: [I'm headed out too...morning shift! Give her a hug from me. {heart emoji} {smiley face}]

Penny grabbed her purse and looked in the mirror to slightly fix her hair. She got her keys from the side table by the door and unlocked it. She flicked off the living room lights and got out of her apartment 4B. She faced her door as she inserted her keys to lock it.

Meanwhile, Leonard unlocked their front door while Sarah's book bag is slung on her shoulders. Leonard turned off the living room lights as they stepped out of their apartment 4A. Leonard faced their door to lock it when all of a sudden, Sarah called out…

"Hi Penny!" Sarah was looking up at her.

Penny froze as she heard the familiar voice. Leonard almost dropped his keys. They both turned slowly as they held their breaths. Sarah turned to her father..

"Daddy look!...Penny is our neighbor!" she said as she tugged at him.

They stood there speechless, waiting for the other to speak. Leonard decided to talk first.

"Hi!" Leonard said smiling.

"Hi!" replied Penny smiling back.

"Hi!" Leonard said again.

"Hi!" Penny feeling a little awkward.

"Hi Penny!...this is weird...I didn't know you were our neighbor!?" he said as he tried to smile at her. "Penny are you alright?"

Penny realized she was staring at him. "Uh yeah!..Hi Leonard!…" she tried to compose herself and looked down at Sarah. "Hi sweetie!….good to see you again!" she said as she gave her a light hug. Sarah hugged her back.

"Wow Penny...Uh...I don't know what to say…" Leonard still smiling at Penny.

Penny tucked her hair behind her ear..."Well..welcome to the building!...uh..we should catch up later tonight ok!?"

"Uh..yeah sure!" Leonard said as he pushed the elevator button.

The ride in the elevator was quiet. Leonard can't help but glance at Penny from time to time only to catch her looking at him too. They managed to give a weak smile to each other. They got out of the elevator and walked out of the building.

"Sarah honey...say goodbye to Penny now.." Leonard told her daughter.

"Bye Penny!" she said as she walked towards her and hug her at her waist.

"Aww...you're such a sweetie...I'll see you tonight ok!? Penny said. "have fun at school ok!" she added as she walked towards her car. "Bye Leonard."

"Yeah...bye Penny!" he replied back. He grabbed Sarah's hand and walked towards their car.

Penny got into her car and put her purse in the passenger seat. She can't believe what just happened. Her hands were shaking as she turned on the ignition of her car. She put her hands on her face and wanted to scream.."Oh my god!...Oh my god!...Oh my god!" she was freaking out..."what am I gonna do!?" she asked herself. After a few minutes, she started her car and drove to work. She wondered if she should tell Bernadette and Linda. Penny thought to keep this to herself for now and figure it out on her own.

Leonard dropped off her daughter at school and bid her to have fun at school. His mind was adrift from what happened in the hallway of their apartment building. He could not shake the image of Penny in his mind as he drove to the university.

Leonard decided to come home at five in the afternoon. Sarah was playing with her doll when Leonard came to pick her up from his office adjacent to his lab. They were greeted by some of his colleagues on their way out the university. He asked his daughter what she wanted to eat for dinner.

"I want Indian food daddy." she replied.

"Ok...India food it is. Let's hope Tandoori Palace is not too crowded." He said back to to his daughter.

"Daddy, do you think Penny likes Indian food?" she asked.

"Uh..I'm not sure...Do you want to invite her to eat with us?" Leonard asked.

"Uh huh! Let's invite him daddy!" she pleaded to him. They reached their car in the parking lot.

"Ok. Let me see if she's not busy." He took out his phone as he helped his daughter to the front seat of the car. He scrolled through his phone and dialed her number. A few seconds later, she answered.

P: "Hello?"

L: "Uh hi Penny, it's Leonard!"

P: "Hi Leonard! What's up?"

L: "Oh everything is great. Listen, we're getting takeout Indian food for dinner and Sarah asks if you would like to join us."

P: "Oh! Uh...yeah sure. Are you on your way home now?"

L: "Yeah. We just got out of the university and we'll swing by the Indian restaurant and head straight home." he paused. "Are you at home now?"

P: "Uh yeah...just got back ten minutes ago."

L: "Great. We'll let you know when we get home. Bye!"

P: "Bye Leonard... drive safe ok?"

L: "ok bye!"

He got in the car and they drove away. They got home after twenty minutes. He told Sarah to clean up and wash her hands before eating while he prepared the food on their kitchen island. Leonard took out his phone and texted Penny that dinner is ready. After three minutes, she knocked on the door.

"Hi Penny! Come on in!" He opened the door to let her through.

"Thank you!" she said as she walked in their apartment.

Penny looked around their apartment as there are still a couple of unpacked boxes on the side. There is a brown couch and a round coffee table in the living area and a wide bookshelf on the wall filled with books, magazines and some action figures. There's a flat screen TV on the wall with two video game consoles and a stereo underneath. She turned around to the door and saw a whiteboard filled with complex equations and formulas that she'd only seen in books back in high school. She went near the white board.

"Holy smokes Leonard! Did you do this?" she asked pointing at the equations.

"Oh yeah..just some quantum mechanics…" he answered back.

"Wow! This is so impressive...you really are one of those 'beautiful mind' kind of guys huh?" she said slightly teasing him.

"Well…" he hesitated..."I'm not John Nash…"

"Who's John Nash?" she inquired as she walked closer to him.

"Oh...he's the guy from the movie 'A Beautiful Mind'!" he added..."Genius...but troubled mind." he smiled at her.

Sarah came out of the bathroom when she saw Penny come in their home. She ran up to her and hugged her. "Penny!" she exclaimed

"Aww..hi sweetie! Thanks for inviting me!" Penny hugged her back.

Leonard felt warm as he saw his daughter hug Penny. Penny looked up to Leonard as they smiled at each other.

"Ok! Food is ready so let's dig in!" He took his daughter's hand and helped her up to her high chair. Penny sat down facing Leonard.

"Oh...this smells delicious…thanks for inviting me!" Penny exclaimed as she grabbed a plate. Leonard started to spoon up food to put in Sarah's plate.

They started to eat while talking about work at the restaurant and at the university. Penny also asked Sarah about school and her classmates.

After they are done eating, Leonard helped Sarah get down from her chair while Penny started to clean up the counter. Leonard told her not to bother since she was a guest in their home. Sarah went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her hands. Leonard began washing the plates and glasses and put them on the dish rack on the kitchen counter top while Penny looks at him. Sarah came back to the living room and asked Penny.. "Penny do you want to play video games?"

"Uh gee thanks sweetie... but I don't know much about vdeo games!" she said smiling at her.

"But it's very easy...come on I'll teach you!" she said as she grabbed Penny by the hand to the couch.

Penny looked back at Leonard to see him smiling at them. Sarah ran to the TV to turn it on and the video game console. She grabbed two controllers and handed one to Penny.

"Sarah honey...I think Penny has something else to do tonight. Maybe she can play with you another time…ok?" Leonard looked at Penny.

"Oh no, no, no..I have nothing else to do tonight...It's just I'm not very good at computers…" she said with a half-smile.

"It's very easy Penny" Sarah said as she showed her which buttons to push. Leonard finished up in the kitchen and sat on the chair beside the sofa to watch how the game was going on. The were playing Super Smash Bros. To his surprise, Penny was actually good for a complete beginner.

"Wow Penny!...you're really good for a complete beginner!" he smiled at her.

"Yeah daddy she's really good...I'll bet she can beat you at this game.." Sarah said as she skillfully handles the controller.

"Oh I don't know...I've been a gamer my whole life.." Leonard said with a smug face.

Penny turned to face him.."Oh really? Well why don't you put your money where your mouth is mister!?" she teased him with her eyebrows.

"Oh!...ok..I'm not one to shy away from a challenge!" He took the controller from his daughter and pressed the buttons.

Soon after, Leonard realized he was quite struggling to keep up with Penny as their score was almost even. Little did they noticed that Sarah has fallen asleep on the couch. Leonard won by a tiny margin. Penny declared the score even since it was her first time playing. Leonard put down the controller and said.. "Wow, I think I've never met a woman so beautiful and skilled at a video game at the same time before…" He said as he leaned back on his chair.

Penny blushed and put the controller on the table.

"Uh well...I think I better put Sarah to bed now…" Leonard said as he stood up.

"Uh..I'm gonna go back as well…." she stood up feeling a little uncomfortable as she went for the door.

Leonard followed her behind. Penny hesitated a little then spoke.

"Hey..uh..I've got some wine in my place...care for a little nightcap?" Penny raised her eyebrow.

"Oh...uh...gee I'm not sure…" Leonard hesitated as he looked back to his sleeping daughter on the couch.

Penny understood his concern. "Ok...how about this...I'll bring the wine here while you put Sarah to bed...what do you say..?" she offered.

"Yeah...sure...I could do that.." Leonard smiled at her

Penny was delighted. "Ok great..I'll be right back!" She turned around and opened the door.

Leonard went to the couch and picked up Sarah. She stirred a little while Leonard carried her across his chest. He slowly put her on her bed, removed her slippers and draped a blanket over her. He grabbed her teddy bear and put it in her arm and gave her a kiss on her head.

Penny was already in the living room when he came back. She opened the bottle and poured the wine into two glasses. She gave one to Leonard and they clinked them.

"To Indian food and Super Smash Bros!" he said smiling as they sat on the couch facing one another.

"Still no word from the studio huh?" Leonard said as he took a sip of red wine.

"No...hopefully by next week we'll know who got the part." she said taking a sip as well. "So how's work today?...still scanning all that data?.."

"Umm...we're done with that. We've started to compile our observations so we could publish the results…" he looked at her.

"So...uh..do you leave Sarah at daycare after her school in the morning?" she asked him taking another sip.

"Oh...no...I pick her up a little after lunch and just bring her with me to the university.." he explained. "They let her stay in my office which is beside my lab until we go home around five o'clock in the afternoon."

"The university allows you to bring your daughter there everyday?" she asked.

"Well yeah...They've been very supportive of my situation since you know...since June got sick and passed away…" he took a sip of wine.. "Anyway...Sarah's used to staying in my office in the afternoon...she just plays there or take a nap and I can always check up on her since my lab is just beside my office…"

"Was June a scientist like you?"

"Oh...she taught math in high school." he casually said.

"Well... I can tell that Sarah took after her.." Penny added.

"Really?….how can you tell?...You've never seen her before…" Leonard was curious.

"Well...besides her curly hair and brown eyes...everything about Sarah is not you…" she smiled at him.

"That's probably for the best...at least she didn't get my asthma and my lactose intolerance…" he smiled back.

They continued to talk for the better part of the hour finishing the bottle of wine she brought. Leonard showed her some simulations of his experiment in his laptop and tried to explain to her what was happening. She tried to pay attention so she wouldn't offend him. Leonard noticed that Penny was struggling to follow his explanations so he quickly changed the topic to her.

"Well..I guessed we killed the bottle…" she said to him.

"Yeah...that wine is quite nice and I'm not that tipsy...I usually don't react well to alcohol especially the hard ones…" he added.

"I think I better get back...you still have work tomorrow…" she said smiling to him. "Thanks for tonight Leonard...I had a great time…" she hugged him.

This time Leonard hugged her back until Penny broke it off.

"Hey listen...I still have to take you and Sarah out to dinner ok?…" she asked him.

"Oh...yeah that's right!...what are you thinking of?" he asked.

She smiled ate him. "Well there's this nice restaurant not far from here...maybe a couple of blocks away...I've been there before with some of my friends….so what do you say?" she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Great...if it's near then we won't have to drive...we can just walk there!…" Leonard suggested.

"Ha! That's exactly what I was thinking of...ok I'll make a reservation and I'll text you when!" she smiled again. "Bye Leonard!" she turned around and went to the door. She waved at him as she went out. He waved back as she closed her door.

Once inside, Penny leaned at her front door and struggled not to scream.