A/N Thanks again so much to SRAM and Warriorcreed for the reviews. I hope you know how much I appreciate your input.

I still am just borrowing these characters.

As she drove back toward the apartment, Penny felt more and more confident. She thought of maybe driving around for a while, maybe even trying out the freeway, but decided to not push it and went straight to the apartment.

She had just gotten settled back in her apartment when Leonard knocked on the door. Opening it and inviting him in, they both sat on the couch.

Leonard, "Well, what do you think? How did the drive home go? Did you take it for a spin?"

"It was fine. I just drove straight home." She hesitated, "I want to thank you again for your help. I realize I would have been lost."

Leonard smiled, "No problem. I enjoyed it. Glad it worked out."

Penny wanted to ask him why he cosigned the lease and if he expected anything in return but decided she wasn't ready for what he might say.

Leonard went on, "I was just going to go out for supper. We're having Thai food. Do you want to join us?" He hesitated, "A couple of friends of ours are going to join us." He smiled, "They might appear a little weird at first but they are really nice guys."

Penny realized that this was going to be an ongoing problem. Leonard evidently was intent on having her eat with them. Once again she wondered about what he was thinking.

The problem was, she was not hungry. In two days she would be almost starving and from her experience with the pizza, would eat more than a human normally would eat.

Then something struck her. What if she would force herself to eat a small amount? It would enable her to stop making up excuses for not eating. She could at least try it. I mean what was the worst that could happen?

Not without a little trepidation, she told him she would like to eat with them. She had to smile to herself when she saw how pleased he was. She realized she really needed to talk with him.

Telling Leonard she had not eaten Thai food before, she would trust him to get something for her. She told him not to get too much food, since it would be new to her.

With Leonard telling her he would contact her when the food was ready, she decided to take a shower and change.

When Leonard called her, she headed over to 4A. When she entered, she immediately noticed the two men sitting on the couch.

One of them immediately stood up and approaching her. Looking her over in a way that made her a little uncomfortable, he said something in a language she did not recognize.

She noticed how tight his pants were and she felt there was something about his hair. She finally said, "I beg your pardon?"

He smiled at her, "I just told you how lovely you were in flawless French." He went on, "A sentiment I could convey in five other languages."

Before Penny could respond, Leonard spoke up, "Come on, Howard, turn it down a notch."

He smiled at Penny, "This is Howard Wolowitz."

"Glad to meet you, Howard. And although I appreciate your wanting to compliment me, I think we should just stop where we are at."

Looking a little chastened, Howard sat back down.

Leonard then said, "And this is our friend Raj Kootherpalli."

Penny had been intrigued when she had found that Earth was populated by several races. Although it was not unique to Earth, it was also not commonplace. She had been saddened when she has saw how race had been a cause for slavery and conflict, but that had also been true on other planets. From her preparation, she assumed he was Indian.

She smiled at him, "Hi, Raj, glad to meet you."

She was surprised when he looked embarrassed and just smiled at her.

Howard spoke up, "You have to excuse Raj, he has a problem speaking to some women. Basically, those that he is attracted to, ones he could see himself having a relationship with." He leered again, "Which would obviously apply to you."

Just then, Sheldon emerged from the hall, "Hello, Penny. It is good to see you again."

Penny smiled, "Hi, Sheldon."

Leonard spoke up, "Here, Penny, you can sit by me."

Penny sat down in the chair next to Leonard, "So, Howard, what do you do for a living?"

He smiled, "I am an Engineer. I work at Caltech." He smirked, "You may be interested to know that some of my work is currently orbiting Jupiter's largest moon taking high-resolution digital photographs."

Penny admitted she was a little impressed. She of course had reviewed their current progress in space. She had been a little surprised that they had not progressed further after reaching their satellite almost forty years before.

She then asked, "Does Raj work at Caltech too?"

Leonard answered, "Yes, he is an astrophysicist."

Sheldon spoke up, "Unlike Howard, Raj also has a doctorate."

Penny smiled to herself as she watched Howard bristle. She had a feeling this was not an uncommon occurrence.

Howard said, "Most engineers do not bother with a Doctorate, I have a Master's Degree from MIT."

He then turned to Penny, "I understand you are going to be working at the Cheesecake Factory." He again gave her a little leer, "It appears our regular meal there will be more enjoyable."

Penny sighed to herself but also realized she would be glad to see some friendly faces while she was working.

As they continued to talk, Penny found herself feeling more and more comfortable around them. She had to smirk as Raj conversed with her by whispering in Howard's ear. Although they both obviously were interested in women, she found herself wondering if there could be some kind of attraction between them.

Unlike races, homosexuality was found on almost every planet. Like on Earth, many planets had at one time or another in their history, experienced some sort of discrimination.

When Penny finally said her goodnights and returned to her apartment, she got ready for bed and then decided to think more about how she could find out what happened to her predecessor.

She decided she needed to make some assumptions (guesses?) about what happened to him. She thought of what she knew. The last time she had been sure he was alive was eight months before. She also knew he had never followed up. She decided she would start with the assumption that whatever had happened to him had been in a time frame of eight months to six months before.

She also decided she would assume he had probably died of an accident or foul play. She figured if he were sick, he would have found a way to notify the Republic.

Armed with that, she returned to the internet, looking for men named Randall Smith who had died in the time frame. That had narrowed the list considerably. Unfortunately, none of them appeared to be the man she was looking for.

Then she started to look at any data on murders during that time. She was encouraged when she found ten instances of bodies that had not been identified.

Although she knew that he had a job traveling, she saw that three of them had occurred in Los Angeles. She decided to start with them.

The next morning, she reported to Mike. After filling out some forms including a W4 and an explanation as to how she would be paid, she was introduced to one of the waitresses who Mike said would help her get started.

"Bernadette, this is Penny. She's going to be our new waitress. Could you help her get started and introduce her to the others?"

He turned to Penny, "I'll leave you with Bernadette. Welcome to the Cheesecake Factory. Let me know if you have any problems."

Bernadette was a short pretty blond woman with large breasts and a high squeaky voice.

After Mike left, Bernadette smiled, "Boy, am I glad to see you. It has been a zoo being a waitress short."

Then she smirked, "At the same time, I hope you know what you are getting into."

Penny smiled, "I just hope I can help. I really have never held a job before."

"Don't worry, I am sure you will be fine." She hesitated, "Let's find you a uniform and we'll get started."

She led Penny to a room off the restaurant floor, "This is the break room." She opened a closet in the back and looking back at Penny, reached in and pulled out a uniform. "I think this one should work."

She gestured to another door, "That's the bathroom, why don't you try it on."

Penny soon came back out. She saw that another girl was in the break room talking to Bernadette. Bernadette looked at Penny, "How does it feel?"

Penny smiled, "It seems all right." She smirked, "Can I say this is not the most appealing thing I have ever worn."

The other girl smiled, "We all agree with you there." She reached out her hand, "Hi, I'm Cheryl. I would tell you to run and never come back but we all are really glad to see you."

Cheryl was a little taller than Penny and also had blond hair.

Bernadette spoke up, "Although it is hard to do, you even make that outfit look good."

Cheryl interrupted, "You might want to undo a couple buttons if you have some male customers. It could help with the tips."

Bernadette went on, "Everyone gets two uniforms. You will be responsible for keeping them washed and in good shape."

Bernadette returned to the closet and opening a drawer, took out an order book.

"Here's some order sheets. Anytime you need more, you can just get them from here."

She took a breath, "Okay, are you ready?"

Penny smiled ruefully, "As ready as I will ever be."

As she and Bernadette left, Cheryl called after them, "Good luck."

As they returned to the main room, Penny saw only a few of the tables were occupied.

Bernadette pointed to five tables in one corner. "Those five tables are your section. Cheryl and I have been serving them along with our own."

She gestured over to the woman greeting customers at the door, "Marge is responsible for spreading the customers out over the various sections. She does a good job, but there is little she can do during the rush times."

"Basically, you just go up to the customers when they sit at one of your tables."

"You bring over a water pitcher and fill up the water glasses."

"You then greet them and take their orders. You will have to develop your own way to write them down. For the most part, most customers just order off the menu, but there are always a few that want some special treatment. You should allow anything within reason."

"As time goes on, you will have some regular customers and will want to know what they come to expect."

"After you take their orders, you take them back to the kitchen and give them to George. He's the head cook. He's a good guy and the cooks do a pretty good job. But there is a lot of turnover."

"After you turn in their order, you can get whatever drinks they want from the bar and bring them back to the table."

"When the order is ready, George will put it out and call out your section. There are trays to bring the food to the table. You will quickly get the hang of using them."

"After they are served, you usually go back after a while to ask if everything is all right and bring them more water."

"You take their order over to Marge and she will work up the bill."

"Then when they are finishing up, you go over, ask them if they want anything more."

"If they say no, you leave them the bill."

"If they want more, you will have to refigure the bill."

"The busboys are responsible for cleaning up, putting out new silverware and glasses."

Seeing Penny looking a little dazed, Bernadette smiled, "I know it sounds like a lot saying it like this, but you will catch on quick."

She hesitated, "Now, let's talk about the important part. From what Mike told you about your wages, you realize no one could survive on that. Waitressing is all about the tips."

She smiled, "I know Cheryl said something about undoing a button. She was mostly kidding. That might work for some customers but could just as well turn off others."

"What it really all about is respect. Your respect for them and gaining their respect."

"Although it is kind of a cliché, the biggest rule is that the customer is always right."

"For example, if a customer complains that he didn't get what he ordered, you need to apologize and assure him you will do whatever you can to make it right. That's true even if you know he got exactly what he told you. You gain nothing from being right."

"Talking about that, be sure and check your orders when you pick them up. Let George know right away if something's wrong. If it's really busy, he might try to shrug you off. Don't let him intimidate you. Stand up to him."

"Always be friendly but professional. Always be ready to work. Some days you will dread going to work, but always strive to look your best."

"The menu is pretty large and there is a lot of stuff on it. It also does change from time to time. But it is important to know it backwards and forwards. You want to be able to answer any questions and make recommendations."

She hesitated, "Then, there is something else. The more the customer spends, the bigger the tip. So you need to learn to sell without seeming to overdo it. Getting them to get one more drink, add a dessert, etc."

Smiling, she said, "Okay, I am just about done. Did Mike talk to you about how tips are handled?"

Penny, who was finally absorbing all she had heard, managed to say, "Yes, he did."

She had to smile to herself. She was a woman who had led teams that set up planetary systems. Someone who was recognized as exceptionally intelligent even in an entity as vast as the Republic. Yet, she realized this job could be a challenge to her. It just proved there is value in almost any kind of work.

She spent the next three hours working with Bernadette, being introduced as the new waitress. She found she enjoyed meeting the various people and especially their children. Oh, there were still some leers and some people were difficult, but they were the exception.

She also got to know the other waitresses, George, and some of the busboys. She even handled some orders on her own and had to smile at herself at her satisfaction when she received her first tips.

During a break they had taken, she had remembered that Howard had said he and the others were regular customers and asked Bernadette and the others if they remembered them.

She was surprised when everyone immediately knew who she meant. She was even more surprised when she discovered Sheldon was not one of their favorite people.

She was intrigued when Bernadette suggested that they should get together away from work. She realized she was looking forward to spending time with human females. They said they would call her when the had what they called a "Girl's Night."