Chapter 35
The following Saturday, Penny has no work and decided to hang out at Leonard's place. It was almost eleven in the morning when she opened the door and saw Sarah with a few kids a little older than her huddled around the coffee table. She was surprised to see Alex helping them out with what she thought was their school project. Sarah saw her and ran to greet her.
"Penny!" she said hugging her.
"Hi sweetie! Did you miss me?" Penny said.
Sarah kissed her cheek. "I missed you Penny." said Sarah.
"Are they your new friends from school?" asked Penny.
"Uh huh! We're doing a science project and Alex is helping us! Isn't she great!?" said Sarah. Alex stood up and shook Penny's hand.
"Hi Penny!" said Alex.
"Alex, you're here. Are you here just to help the kids with their homework?" Penny asked trying hard not to feel irritated.
"Oh no. Leonard and I were just going over our experimental data. Next week is our deadline to submit our paper so we have our work cut out for us." said Alex as Leonard came back into the living room and went straight to Penny, kissing her on the cheek.
"I'm sorry honey if we have to work on Saturday but this is really important." He said.
"Hey it's not a big deal. I just thought that we would be hanging out, get lunch together or see a movie?" Penny said.
"I know and I promise I'll make it up to you." He smiled at her. "By the way these are Sarah's classmates Jon, Casey, Kate and Nicky. Guys this is my girlfriend Penny." He said as the kids say hello to Penny.
"Hi guys. It's so nice that Sarah has new friends at school." Penny said.
"Well we're lucky because we have the smartest kid in our group. Right?" Jon said as the others nodded in agreement. "And we have Ms. Alex to help us too!" said Nicky.
"That's great." She smiled at the kids then turned to Leonard. "Listen honey, I'll just come by later okay? You just finish whatever it is you're doing and we'll do something later alright?" she said to Leonard.
Leonard kissed her on the cheek. "Okay honey. I'll see you later." He said kissing her cheek. Penny turned around and waved goodbye to the kids.
"Bye guys! Have fun!" she said as she closed the door and went back to her apartment.
She sat on the couch, deep in thought. She quickly grabbed a few magazines on the coffee table and threw them against the wall, grunting with frustration. Penny then went to her bedroom and laid down, pushing her face against a pillow, crying. She couldn't help but feel jealous and insecure of Alex and her 'relationship' with Leonard. Not only was Alex smart, but she's also pretty and very easy on the eyes. But what bothered her most was her comment about following Leonard's work which she knew was her way of saying that she has a crush on him. She knew that Leonard would never cheat on her but she couldn't dismiss the fact that she and Leonard have very little in common. She's not an academic like Leonard, Sarah or the rest of their friends and couldn't understand science or physics unless he explained it to her in simple words. She knew it was useless to dwell on these thoughts so she tried to push them out of her mind. Little did she notice that she was slowly drifting off to sleep.
It was almost six in the evening when Alex and Sarah's classmates left the apartment. Sarah was watching TV when Leonard finished cleaning up the coffee table and kitchen island.
"Sarah honey, do you want to go out to eat dinner?" he asked his daughter.
"Is Penny gonna come with us?" asked Sarah.
"Of course. I'll go over there and ask her now. You stay here alright?" said Leonard.
"Okay daddy." Sarah said.
Leonard went over and knocked on Penny's door. She opened it and went back to sit on the couch, drinking some wine. Leonard went inside and closed the door.
"Hey, Alex and the kids already left. We're going out to get something to eat, do you wanna come with us?" he asked. Penny didn't answer and just drank her wine. Leonard got curious and sat beside Penny. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
Penny didn't know what came over her and just blurted out what was in her mind. "I don't know Leonard? Maybe you could ask Alex? Maybe she can tell you what's wrong since she's so smart!" she said looking at him.
Leonard was surprised and confused. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
"You're a genius, why don't you figure it out!?" she said.
"I don't understand what you're saying! And what does Alex have to do with anything?" he said becoming a little frustrated with Penny's attitude.
"Go ahead, take her side." She said glaring at him "Oh I've been following Leonard's work for the longest time now and I'm so excited to be working with him!" Penny mockingly said to him.
"What is going on!? Why are we even arguing about Alex!? You know what, this is stupid, I'm going back to my place!" he said as he reached for the door.
"There it is! Penny the stupid waitress slash actress!" she said yelling at Leonard.
Leonard turned around, feeling the anger inside him boiling up. "I'm not calling you stupid! What's happening here, this is stupid!" he yelled back at her.
"That's right mister! Talk your way out of it!" she said.
"I'm not trying to talk my way out of anything Penny! You're acting stupid and unreasonable for something that I didn't do!" he yelled. "You know what, I'm not gonna stay here and take this!" he said going to the door.
"Fine! You can come back when you're ready to apologize!" she yelled at him.
Leonard turned and finally lost his patience. "I don't even know what it is we're fighting about! And I'm not gonna apologize for something that I didn't do!" he yelled. He opened the door and saw his daughter standing at the hall, crying. Leonard felt like the world was crumbling around him as he looked at his daughter, deeply affected by their fighting. Penny saw Sarah's face and felt ashamed for what she and Leonard did.
Leonard stepped forward to hold his daughter. "Honey…" he calmly said. Sarah suddenly turned around and ran to her bedroom, slamming the door. Leonard turned around and saw Penny crying. He sighed and walked back to his apartment to try and talk to his daughter while Penny wiped her tears following him. She couldn't believe that they fought over something petty, blowing things out of proportion. They stood outside Sarah's door as Leonard tried to open it. It was locked so Leonard knocked on the door.
"Sarah honey, please open the door. We're sorry." Leonard said calmly.
"Go away!" Sarah yelled from the inside.
"Sarah sweetie, please open the door. We're sorry we were fighting. But it's not about you sweetie." Penny said.
"You're lying! You said you will never fight again!" she shouted back at them.
"Honey we're so sorry. Please open up." said Leonard looking at Penny.
"No! I hate you!" she yelled. "I heard you shouting at Penny! You said you love her but then you're yelling at her!" Sarah yelled at him. Leonard was shocked and felt like someone just stabbed him in the heart. This was the first time that his daughter told him that she hates him. He felt blank and found Sarah's words hard to process.
"Sweetie please open up." Penny said. The door suddenly opened and Sarah grabbed Penny's hand, pulling her inside. Penny was stunned and can't help but follow the child as she looked at Leonard who was surprised by his daughter's action. Leonard hung his head and sighed as he heard the door lock clicking into place. He went to the bathroom to wash his face with some water. He can't help but cry, feeling guilty for hurting his little princess.
Inside Sarah's bedroom, Penny hugged the child trying to calm her down while keeping herself together.
"Penny, are you gonna leave my dad?" she asked.
Penny was saddened by Sarah's question. "No sweetie I'm not leaving. Don't worry." She said kissing the child.
"Why were you fighting?" the child asked.
"Sweetie it's nothing really. You don't have to worry, I'm sure your father and I can sort it out." Penny said.
"I know you're lying. I heard you were yelling at each other." said Sarah looking straight at Penny.
Penny sighed and felt defeated by the child. "Sweetie, I'm not lying but this stuff is for grown-ups and you're still young. It's not appropriate to discuss these things with you." said Penny. "Trust me on this one, okay?" she added. Sarah nodded and hugged her back. "I promise, we won't fight anymore." Penny said.
"You said that before but then you fought again." Sarah said.
Penny touched Sarah's face. "I know sweetie and we're sorry for that. Can you forgive Penny? Please!?" she said giving the child a hopeful look. Sarah nodded. Penny smiled and hugged her tight. "Aww thank you sweetie. Now why don't we go out to your father in the living room alright?" Penny said.
"Okay." said Sarah. Penny stood up and held her hand, leading her back into the living room where Leonard was sitting.
Sarah cried as she walked to her father, hugging him tight. "I'm sorry honey. You shouldn't have heard me and Penny fighting." He said trying hard not to cry himself.
"Why were you fighting daddy?" asked Sarah.
Leonard looked at her and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Honey, it's hard to explain. Just trust daddy on this one alright?" He said.
"You said you wont fight anymore. You promised!" said Sarah.
"I know and I'm sorry. I promise this will be the last." Leonard said.
"You yelled at Penny!" Sarah said.
"I'm sorry. I promise it won't happen again." he said
"If you yell at Penny again, I'm gonna tell grandma." Sarah said. Leonard and Penny were completely dumbfounded and didn't know how to react.
Leonard knew he was defeated. "I promise honey. Penny and I aren't gonna fight anymore." He said kissing his daughter. "I love you honey!" he said to his daughter.
"I love you too daddy!" said Sarah hugging her father.
"Now you stay here while me and Penny are gonna talk in my room alright?" he said.
"Okay daddy." said Sarah. Leonard stood up and pulled Penny to his room.
They went inside, closing the door and sat on the edge of the bed, facing each other.
"You wanna tell me what's going on?" he asked.
Penny looked at him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "I'm so sorry." She said as she began to cry.
Leonard hugged her back. "It's alright Penny. Now tell me what's on your mind." He said.
Penny wiped her tears and tried to compose herself. "Why did you have to bring Alex here?" She said.
Leonard was puzzled. "Are you jealous of Alex?" he asked looking at her. Penny didn't respond. "Why would you be jealous of her? There's nothing going on between us." he said.
"Because, she's pretty and smart, and when I saw her today I couldn't help but feel insecure." She said hanging her head low.
Leonard lifted her chin up. "Why would you feel insecure?" he asked.
"Leonard look at me. I'm not smart like you or the rest of our friends. Even Sarah is smarter than me. Do you think I can be a good role model to her? I can't even help with her homework!" She added. "And now you're gonna see Alex every day at work, and have lunch with her." She said leaning her face on his shoulder and crying again.
Leonard kissed her cheek and tried to calm her down. "Penny, I don't care if you're not a scientist like the rest of us. Do you think Sarah cares about that? She wants you and no one else." he added "And what do you think the university administration would do if I take advantage of my position and have a relationship with Alex? I would get fired immediately for sexual harassment." He said. Penny looked at him and didn't respond. Leonard smiled at her. "Come here. I would never cheat on you." He said hugging her.
"But still! She said she was a fan of your work!" said Penny.
"What's wrong with that?" Leonard asked.
"Ugh, you are so clueless!" She said getting a little frustrated, pushing him lightly. "That's her way of saying she has a crush on you!" said Penny.
Leonard thought for a while. "Oh? Do you think so?" he said.
"Leonard, I'm a girl too. I know these things." said Penny.
"Oh? Okay. What do you think I should do?" asked Leonard.
"I don't know." Penny said as she started crying again.
Leonard pulled Penny close and hugged her. "Penny, I'm not gonna cheat on you. I'm not that kind of guy." He said reassuring his girlfriend. "And I promise I won't spend my spare time with her, it will be just work. You don't have to worry." He said smiling at her.
Penny gave him a weak smile. "Good, because you're mine Leonard! You got that!? You're mine!" she said touching Leonard's face.
Leonard laughed. "I know. Do you know how adorable you are right now!?" He said pulling her close and kissing her lips. They were kissing for about a minute when they heard Sarah, peeking from behind the door, looking at them.
"Daddy?" asked the child. Penny was shocked and immediately broke off their kiss, covering her face with her hands.
"Oh god!" said Penny as Leonard hung his head low.
"I'm sorry." said Sarah. Leonard pulled his daughter and lifted her up to sit on the bed.
"It's alright honey. You did nothing wrong." He said putting his arm around his daughter.
"It's okay sweetie. Your father and I are good now." said Penny.
"Penny why are you crying?" asked Sarah.
Penny wiped her tears. "It's nothing sweetie. You don't have to worry about me." She said trying to console the child.
Sarah turned to her father. "Daddy did you make her cry?" she asked.
"No honey. Penny is just sad about some grown-up stuff. Don't worry, we're okay now." said Leonard smiling at his daughter.
Sarah turned and hugged Penny. "I wish you wouldn't cry." said the child.
Penny was moved by Sarah's affection. "Aww, thank you sweetie. Don't worry, I promise I'm okay now." said Penny. "Now what do you want to eat? I'm getting hungry." Penny said, quickly changing the subject.
"Daddy can we get a pizza?" she asked as they went out of Leonard's bedroom.
Leonard smiled at his daughter. "Sure honey. Let me get my phone." He said as Penny led Sarah to sit on the couch and watch TV. Leonard was done ordering and sat on the couch, putting Sarah between him and Penny.
Sarah looked up to Penny. "You were right Penny." She said.
Penny was puzzled and looked at her. "About what sweetie?" she said.
"You told me to wait and I will have new friends and now I do." said the child.
Penny smiled and looked at Leonard. "Didn't I tell you that they will be lucky to have you as their friend?" said Penny.
"Yeah you did. You're really great Penny." said Sarah leaning onto Penny.
Penny put her arm around the child. "Aww, you are so sweet!" Penny said smiling at Leonard.
The pizza arrived a little later. Leonard put the box on the coffee table and they started eating.
"Sarah honey." said Leonard.
"Mmmm?" She muttered as she chewed her food.
"You're gonna be six next month. What do you want for your birthday party?" he asked.
"Nothing daddy." said Sarah.
The couple was surprised. "Really? You don't want a birthday party?" asked Penny looking at the child.
"No." said Sarah.
"Well, what do you want?" asked Leonard.
"Nothing. Just you and Penny." She said.
Leonard almost choked after hearing his daughter while Penny was equally touched. "Aww honey, that is so sweet!" he said kissing her.
"You're so sweet!" said Penny kissing the child on her cheek.
"Come on honey, let's throw you a birthday party. You can invite your friends from school and your teachers too. Plus, your uncles will be here, Amy, Bernadette and I'm sure your grandma and aunt Cathy would come. What do you say?" he asked his daughter.
"He's right sweetie. Your father and I are always gonna be here." said Penny.
Sarah thought for a while. "Okay daddy, but I want to go back to the ranch." She said.
Leonard smiled. "Sure, we'll go there but only for one day, alright?" he said.
"Okay daddy." said Sarah as they continued eating.