Chapter 34
Leonard was staring on the screen of the computer on his desk looking over his latest data from his experiments when he heard a knock on his door and saw his boss Dr. Gablehauser with a beautiful young lady with him.
"Good morning Dr. Hofstadter. I would like to introduce our new intern that will work under your supervision, Alex Jensen." He said shaking Leonard's hand.
"Oh?" Leonard said.
"Is there a problem Dr. Hofstadter?" asked Dr. Gablehauser.
"No sir. When I received the email that a grad student named Alex Jensen would be working in my lab, I never thought that Alex was a girl." He said giving her a weak smile. "Hi I'm Leonard!" He said shaking her hand.
"Hello Dr. Hofstadter. It's nice to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you." She said smiling back at him.
"Really? I hope it's nothing bad." He said as Alex looked at him, puzzled.
"Well I'll leave you both to it." Dr. Gablehauser said as he went out of the lab.
"Let me give you a tour of the lab." Leonard said to Alex.
"Thank you Dr. Hofstadter." She said.
"Alex please call me Leonard. Dr. Hofstadter is my dad…and my mom…my sister…and our cat. But I'm pretty sure Dr. Boots Hofstadter's degree is honorary." He said smiling at her.
Alex looked at him and smiled, slightly amused. "You're funny Leonard."
Leonard gave Alex a tour of his lab, making sure she understands all the safety protocols of his lab equipment. He told her about all the near-misses of previous grad students in his lab and the consequences of such incidents. Leonard was in the middle of his tour when he heard a knock and saw Penny by the door.
"Penny hi! What are you doing here?" he said as he walked up to his girlfriend and kissed her cheek.
"Well it's my day off and I figured I'd visit you at work. It's been a while since I've been here." Penny said then saw Alex looking at them. "Uh I didn't know you had company." Penny said.
"Oh right! Penny this is Alex Jensen. Alex this is my girlfriend Penny." said Leonard.
"Hi Penny. Nice to meet you!" Alex said shaking her hand.
"Hi Alex. Nice to meet you too." said Penny.
"Alex is a grad student and will be working here in my lab." said Leonard.
"Really?" Penny said as she noticed how pretty Alex was with her long brown hair, cute nose and green eyes like hers.
"Yeah, I'm really excited. I've been following Dr. Hofstadter's work for quite some time now. That's why when I got offered to work with him, I immediately accepted it." said Alex.
"Wow that's great!" said Penny trying hard to hide her slight annoyance.
"Are you a scientist too?" Alex asked her.
"No. I'm a fashion consultant." said Penny.
"Wow! That is so cool!" said Alex.
"Thanks." She said then turned to Leonard. "I was thinking maybe we could get lunch together honey." Penny said.
"Yeah sure. Let's go." Leonard said then turning to Alex. "You could join us if you want." He said.
"I'm sorry but I don't want to intrude." Alex said.
"It's fine. Right honey?" he asked Penny.
"Yeah sure." She said a little sarcastically.
Penny held on to Leonard's arm as they made their way to the cafeteria while Alex walked beside them. They saw the guys already eating so they decided to take another table as Penny greeted Sheldon, Howard and Raj. They made a beeline to the counter and paid for their food before going back to their table.
"So Alex, are you a physicist too?" Penny asked as they started to eat.
"Yes. I went to Stanford University." Alex said.
"She graduated Summa Cum Laude." Added Leonard.
"Is that like first honor or something?" asked Penny.
"Honey, Summa Cum Laude means 'with highest honors'." said Leonard.
"Wow! That's impressive." Penny said.
"Thanks. I grew up with scientists all my life. My father is an astronomer in SETI." said Alex.
"SETI?" asked Penny.
"Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. Aliens." Leonard chimed in. "We should probably introduce them to Sheldon, the search is over." said Leonard. Alex laughed at Leonard's joke while Penny just smiled. They continued to eat while making small talk as Leonard alternated between Penny and Alex.
"Honey are we gonna pick Sarah up after lunch?" Penny asked.
"No. Her classes are until three o'clock so I told her to just hang out in the school's library until I come and pick her up at five. I already talked to the librarian and she agreed to let her stay and look out after her." said Leonard.
"Uh, excuse me but who is Sarah?" Alex asked.
"Leonard's daughter." said Penny.
"You have a daughter?" she asked Leonard.
He nodded. "Uh huh." He said.
"And Penny is your girlfriend. Are you divorced or something?" Alex asked.
Leonard smiled at her. "No Alex. I'm not divorced. Sarah's mom passed away four years ago." He said.
Alex was surprised. "Oh my god I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to." said Alex.
"It's fine Alex. No problem." said Leonard then turning to Penny. "I'd like to pick her up at three but I have to get Alex up to speed in the lab." He said to Penny.
"If you want I can swing by to pick her up. We can go out to eat or something." Penny said.
"Really? You'd do that?" Leonard asked.
"Yeah sure. I mean it's not like I can help you out in your lab right?" Penny said.
Leonard held her hand. "Thank you honey. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you there." He said. "Don't worry I'll make it up to you." He added.
Penny looked at him. "You better mister." She said to him with Alex quietly listening, feeling a little left out.
Penny left the university after lunch while Leonard and Alex returned to their work in the lab. Penny drove straight to Sarah's school and parked her car on a vacant slot on the side of the road. Principal Rogers saw her at the gate and invited her in. Penny walked in and went straight to the library to wait for Sarah to finish with her classes.
At five minutes past three o'clock, Sarah came in the library and saw Penny sitting at one of the tables, reading a magazine.
"Penny!" she exclaimed running to her father's girlfriend.
"Hi sweetie! How's class?" asked Penny as she hugged the child.
"It's alright. Is daddy here?" asked Sarah.
"Your daddy is at work. It's my day off so I decided to come by and visit you here." said Penny smiling at the child.
Sarah hugged her tight. "Thank you Penny!" she said.
"Aww, you're welcome sweetie. Now let's get out of here. Do you want something to eat?" Penny asked.
Sarah nodded. "I want a pizza!" she said as Penny held her hand while walking along the hallway.
"Sure sweetie. We'll look for a good pizza place." Penny said as they exit the school. Penny made sure Sarah's seat belt was secure before driving away to find a good place to eat. They found one near home and decided to check it out.
"So, do you have new friends at school?" Penny asked as they wait for their food.
"Not yet. All the kids there are older than me." said Sarah.
"Aww, I'm sorry sweetie. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll make new friends, just wait for it." Penny assured the child.
"Are you sure?" asked Sarah.
"Of course. Anyone would be lucky to be friends with you! You're cute, you're smart, you're kind." said Penny as the waiter came and served their food. "Now let's eat while the pizza's hot." She smiled and took a slice, putting it on Sarah's plate. They ate while Sarah told Penny about her new school and teachers. Penny paid for their food as they went out the pizza place to go home.
Leonard arrived home around five-thirty and found Sarah and Penny in the living room, playing with the X-Box.
"Hi daddy! Penny picked me up from school!" she said to her father.
"I know. Isn't she great!?" said Leonard as he leaned over and kissed his girls on their cheek.
Penny lightly pushed him aside. "Honey, you're blocking the TV!" she said concentrating on the game.
"So, what do you girls want for dinner?" Leonard asked. The girls didn't respond and continued with their game. "Do you want Thai food? Chinese? Mexican? Pizza?" he asked and still got no response from them. Leonard looked at them and knew that the girls were up to something fishy like they did when they went to the ranch and the beach. He looked at them and thought for a while before deciding to speak. "Do you guys want to go to a nice dinner?" he asked.
"Yes!" the two quickly yelled, busting out with laughter. Leonard hung his head and sighed.
"Fine! Why don't you girls wash up and get changed?" he said. The two quickly put the controllers down on the coffee table, stood up and ran to Sarah's bedroom. They came out after five minutes, carrying Sarah's clothes and shoes and walking straight to the door.
"We're gonna prepare at my place." Penny winked at him.
"Bye daddy!" Sarah smiled, waving at her father as they slammed the door shut.
"Uh, what just happened?" Leonard asked himself as he stood in the living room, confused at what just happened. He smiled and shook his head, going into the bathroom to wash up and change his clothes for their dinner out. He went out to the living room to watch some TV while waiting for the girls to come back. The girls came back after almost half an hour with Penny showing off Sarah's new dress.
"Daddy look! Penny bought me a new dress! Isn't it beautiful!?" Sarah said showing off her dress.
"Wow! You look amazing honey!" said Leonard kissing his daughter. He looked at Penny and saw how beautiful his girlfriend was. "You look amazing too honey!" he said to Penny, kissing her cheek.
"Awww, thank you honey." Penny said as she fixed Leonard's suit.
"You bought Sarah a new dress?" he asked.
"Uh huh. We bought it this afternoon after I picked her up from school." said Penny.
"Thank you, that is so thoughtful. Let's go so we could get a nice table at the restaurant." He said while holding his daughter's hand.
They arrived at the restaurant and was lucky enough to get a good table. A waiter arrived and poured them a couple glasses of wine and a grape juice in a wine glass for Sarah.
"It's been a while since we did this right?" said Leonard.
"Yeah. Since you went to the North Pole with the guys." Penny said.
"Well, I'm glad you two tricked me into taking you out to dinner tonight." said Leonard. Penny and Sarah looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.
"What are you talking about? We never tricked you into doing anything!" Penny said.
"She's right daddy. We were just playing on the X-Box when you asked us to dinner." said Sarah while smiling at Penny.
Leonard sighed. "And you two just happen to say 'YES' at the same time when I asked you to go to dinner?" he asked.
"Yes!" the girls said at the same time, laughing and giving a high-five to each other.
Leonard shook his head. "Fine. You got me again." He said as their food arrived and they started eating. Leonard made sure that Sarah used her table napkin so her dress would not be ruined.
They arrived home around ten-thirty with Leonard carrying his daughter from the car up to her bedroom. He put Sarah on her bed and removed her shoes, tucking her under the covers. They kissed the child on her forehead before turning off the light and closing the door.
The couple went out the door as Penny hugged Leonard tight. "Thank you honey. I had a wonderful time." She said kissing his lips.
"Anything for my girls." He smiled at her.
Penny bit her lip and pulled his hand into his bedroom. She closed the door, turned off the lights and pushed Leonard on the bed. She then turned around and slowly undressed in front of her boyfriend. Penny faced Leonard then buried herself in his arms as they kiss while slowly removing Leonard's clothes.