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Chapter 8
"That's Sheldon," they came to a halt, and Leonard's brows almost joined in the middle of his forehead.
He had both of her shoulders in his grip. "This ain't done yet." Stand up from the couch and open the door. "Sheldon, this isn't a good time. You know, it's date night. I'm sure Amy sent this week's email blast."
"I know," the lanky scientist stated, clutching his laptop. "But our grant sponsor arranged an emergency meeting, and I can't reach any of you."
The conference will be held for 9 p.m. PST, therefore it must be 8 a.m. AST, they concluded. If the donor requested additional updates to their theory, Sheldon and Amy prepared a concise summary. Dr. Seiberg calls at the appointed time and connects the call to a young, gorgeous man dressed in a gold and red suit.
The gentleman introduced himself as "Sabah al-khayr from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. My name is Faisal, and I am a third generation prince of Al-Faqir Fort."
"Good evening, this is Dr. Fowler and I'm Dr. Cooper."
"Yes, I know," Faisal said wryly. "Dr. Cooper, you submitted us a proposal for a physics theory that can explain the processing of our awareness months ago, and I must confess that the premise is really interesting. Therefore, I authorize the funding for this investigation."
The major motive for the meeting, according to the Arab Prince, is for Cal-tech to recommend their work to the Nobel committee. Dr. Seiberg refused the offer, stating that the equations had not yet been proven and that they needed more time before pursuing a Nobel Prize. Sheldon concurred with Sieberg and cautioned that it is too early to get the aforementioned prize, which Faisal agreed.
He also wanted the researchers to convey their findings to the sitting Arabian monarch, his grandfather, for additional amount of grant
Amy went to her room after the phone conversation, where Leonard was reading a Chaucer book.
"Why did you highlight this part?" He handed her the book, pointing to the place where Absolon hath kist hir nether ye. He understood what it meant, but he was curious to hear her response.
"It was already there when I purchased it in senior high school," she claimed.
He set the book down and drew Amy to the bed to sit with him. He had both of her shoulders in his grasp. "Now, where were we?" He drew her carefully.
"Leonard, let's go home," Sheldon said as he burst through Amy's bedroom door just as Leonard almost caught her lips. They were startled and retreated to opposite ends of the bed.
"I couldn't catch a break from you." He gazed at Sheldon, who was presumably pleased that he had arrived at the appropriate time.
Her itinerary had been packed since the middle of February, with a photoshoot and interview for Science News, weekly Penny's support in OB-Gyn, and two research studies at UCLA and Caltech.
She found her confidence soaring at the threshold ever since she altered her attire. She's dressed in a pink dress with a blue blazer and black heels today.
She convinced Leonard to switch their date night to eating lunch in the cafeteria or in each other's offices at least twice a week or whenever she was on campus. She occasionally made their meals while writing notes to her boyfriend.
The other members joined them for lunch today in the cafeteria, where they sat on the same side of the table.
"Oy. Bernadette keeps texting me pictures of Penny in bridesmaid dresses." Howard grumbled.
"They're out shopping right now?" Amy queried, fearful of his response.
"Yeah," he says, nodding his head.
"Just the two of them?" she said, confirming her assumption.
"I guess. She said they were trying to find an adjustable dress for Penny and fit some wedding gowns." he continued to type on his phone.
After the confirmation, she didn't hear what the lads said. She was upset that they had isolated her. She put down her fork and stared at Leonard. Perhaps they are bashing her right now because she breached one of the girl's rules.
Leonard kissed her cheek in front of everyone before they parted, which surprised Sheldon.
That afternoon, Sheldon headed to Amy's laboratory for their paper. He found her with her head down and her hair covering much of her face, annoyed.
"Did you hear what I said? You didn't respond to any of my inquiries." Sheldon remarked.
"Let's reschedule our plans for today. I want to be alone. '' she said, holding her head down.
"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked, approaching her table.
"Penny and Bernadette went shopping for bridesmaid dresses without me."
"And that made you feel sad?"
"Yes."
Right after she said that word, he dashed to his office, grabbed two mugs, blue and yellow, and dashed to the cafeteria for some warm water and tea.
Carrying a tray with to-go cups of tea and two ceramic mugs from the canteen to Amy's office is not a piece of cake. Fortunately, he was tall and his strides were longer than usual. He walked into her lab without knocking and saw her in the same condition.
He poured the hot tea into two mugs and handed Amy the yellow one. She stared at him, puzzled.
"It's not an option," he said, sipping from his cup. "Do you want me to leave or even call Leonard?"
That night, Howard and Leonard picked up the guys' dinner.
"The two of you need to get your women in line!" Sheldon exclaims as they go inside the flat.
"What?" Howard asked, perplexed.
"Today I was strong-armed into serving an emotional Amy Farrah Fowler. This is a day that I had originally designated for solving the nature and behavior of matter and energy on the atomic and subatomic levels that focus in the lower brains of people to explain the process of thought and awareness. And why? Your gal pals, Penny and Bernadette, went out shopping for some wedding nonsense without Amy, an action they took with no thought or regard as to how it would affect me and the future of our Nobel prize. "
The theoretical physicist pointed to both of them."You make them apologize to Amy and set things right. I am a man of science, not someone's therapist!"
Leonard sensed Sheldon's rage, especially towards him. Did he fail to protect her? He grabbed his coat and keys and dashed down the hall to Amy's.
Before starting the car, he texted her.
Leonard: Amy, I'm coming over.
The trip to Glendale seemed to be taking longer than normal. His thoughts kept returning to what Sheldon said. Why would he need to talk to Penny? She's not her girlfriend. Amy is his, and he should've known better from the moment Howard mentioned the shopping during lunch. He'd seen her staring at him.
"Is she planning to end our relationship?"
...Everybody hurts
She reflects on how this happened throughout her life, from elementary school, when she was harassed for winning the school spelling bee. Then, in junior high, she received the Science Fair trophy for her Hot Ice Experiment, and a student tripped her on the school bus, causing every equipment apparatus and component to shatter, including the time they put Rogaine in her hand lotion. Her "friends" purposefully tossed food on the floor throughout high school prom since they knew she was on the cleaning committee. Then, as a student at Harvard, she assumed a group of girls intended to incorporate her into their clique, but they quickly shut her down when she completed their group project. When she sought to join a fraternity in graduate school, they mocked her by putting on a bunch of cardigans to cover her. Finally, they trapped her in a sauna with a horny otter during her semester abroad in Norway. She was afraid all the time, and no one answered the door, no matter how loud she begged for help.
And today, when she discovered that other females had refused to invite her to go shopping, the cycle of her social life resumed; she was neglected.
"I'm glad this happened. I can stop pretending that some beautiful girl and her cute-in-the-right-light friend want to hang out with me." She thought to herself. She always saw the bright side of a bad situation.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Amy? It's Leonard. "
She opened the door and he immediately grabbed her body to hold her. She sobbed against his shoulder. "I wanted to be alone," she whimpered. "It's just, I thought they liked hanging out with me, but I guess I was fooling myself."
"Why didn't you tell me?" he inquired as he took her to the sofa for a cuddle.
She keeps crying, burying her face in his arms. He brushed her hair, removing the strands that were hiding her face.
When the tears stopped falling, he started asking her silly questions.
"How could you know you loved me? You've never been in love." He glanced at her, caressing her shoulder with his hand.
"The first time I felt something strange was when we were chatting on Skype and you called me Princess; it felt weird, and I panicked and dropped our call; and then, when we're in Big Sur, when you help me with my night terrors, I sense the sincerity of every message and flower; you're pretty great at this, aren't you?" She smiles, embarrassed by all the hippy feelings she revealed.
"Then, before Sheldon came to my apartment confessing his feelings, I did some blood work checking my neurotransmitters, and I discovered that my serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin ranges were above standard levels. Those chemicals promote positive feelings like pleasure, happiness, and even love, and according to a study by Lucia Sullivan, if the feeling can last more than three months, it's love. She used more than 300 subjects to study..."
She resumes telling him about the love paper she obtained, then lectures him on each neurotransmitter in the brain, all facilitators and inhibitors. He learned how to divert her attention away from all of her negative memories, and she was grateful he knew her.
It felt like a dream to her. Leonard took her off the couch, placed her in bed, and vanished with a kiss on her lips.
Back at his building, Leonard saw Penny opening the main door from her night shift at the factory. He discussed Amy's case with her and explained what had happened. She invited her into 4B to show him something Bernadette and she had done that day.
The pregnant woman brought him a cup of hot chamomile tea and a large picture frame from her bedroom. She flipped it over and showed him an exclusive photo that he had never seen before in the magazine edition.
"Did you do this for Amy?!"
"Leonard, what are you doing up at three o'clock in the morning?" Sheldon said, disturbing his thoughts.
"I was with Amy and then spoke with Penny."
"Curiouser and curiouser," answered the Texan.
Penny's insight into the issue enlightened him. Amy took everything the wrong way. She endured everything from her childhood, but what the waitress prepared for her surprised him.
"I dealt with the conflict between the girls; don't think about avenging what happened to Amy; that's my job now."
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