ii.

This is therapy:

"–and if it were up to you, Leonard, what would identify as the problem in your relationship?"

His voice was like warm summer honey, thick with authority and dominance; yet laced with a sense of comfort that left you open and vulnerable. She knew he was in the right profession; she knew without a doubt he was capable of reading you with as little as a glance. The way he sat there, tall and sure of himself; one leg crossed over the other with a small black leather notebook possessively sitting in his lap. She watched as he toyed with the pen in between his lips, (Am I jealous of a pen?).

She watched Leonard attempt to smile. They didn't discuss what they would say to the therapist before they got here so she was actually quite nervous about what would come out of his mouth. To her surprise, he grabbed her hands and laced their fingers. She tensed at the feel of his fingers through her own. "I don't think we have any problems, Doctor Cooper."

Dr. Cooper remained quiet. He sat observing them, his eyes set low as he scanned their faces. It was unsettling, she felt exposed under his stare; so, she turned her attention back to her husband. "No problems, Baby?" She chuckled lightly, uncomfortable with Leonard's lie and Dr. Cooper's stare. "I mean, I don't think that's really true; otherwise, we wouldn't be here, right?"

Leonard subtly cut his eye; it was so fast if you blinked you would've missed it. "We're here Princess," he spat fully aware of her hatred for the nickname, "because I made a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake that I regret every day of my life. I'm here because I want to rectify that and show you that you can trust me again." "So how can I trust you if you can't even answer Doctor Cooper's question honestly?"

He chuckled, letting her hand go as he did so. "Ok, if you think you know so much tell me what I'm lying about. What do I think is our problem?"

"Uhm, I don't know," she said sarcastically, "how about my career?"

Leonard's jaw clenched, she knew she brought up a sore topic and she was more than likely going to get an earful when they got home. He sat back in his seat and squared his shoulders, immediately he became defensive. "Your career, Penny? You mean the thing you put above me?"

(I swear he's a child–)

She rolled her eyes, crossing one stiletto covered foot over the other, "That's the thing Leonard, you shouldn't ever feel like you have to put yourself in competition with my job; that's not healthy. And there's no reason why I shouldn't have a career. Marrying you didn't mean I have to sacrifice my own dreams and independence to become the incubator to your children."

Leonard's cheeks started to puff and his neck started to turn red, she could tell he was trying his hardest to not throw the tantrum he so badly wanted to. "What was the purpose of our marriage than, Penny?"

"–Uh, love?"

"–And what's the result of love, Penny? Children to be living tokens of that love." His voice was a lot firmer as he looked at her more harshly. "You should feel lucky to even have my children. They're going to be worth millions. So many women would kill to have the chances you do, all you have to do is stay home and be pretty but that's too much for you. I don't get it!"

Dr. Cooper leaned forward uncrossing his leg and pushing his dress shirt sleeves up. He could see the stark contrast of emotions across their faces and it was painfully clear there was a huge emotional and possible physical disconnect between the two. It was his job to help couples like this and repair their relationship to the best of his ability, it was his promise to himself when he decided to take this career path. But this would be the first time in the six years of his career he felt the war in his head; did he want to help this couple? Did he want to help their relationship?

He scanned her face. Her perfectly groomed eyebrows, her eyes that shone as bright as boric acid. Her nose, and her lips–oh her lips, they were so soft and looked so juicy they were the perfect shade of pink it was inviting. He tore his eyes away from her lips and let it drag down her body. He could still feel the way her body fit against his, the way his hands spanned over the soft skin of her stomach and her hair smelled like coconuts and rum. It made him yearn her so obsessively he couldn't sleep on his stomach.

"It sounds like you feel she owes you this family?"

Leonard only scoffed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "She's mine. We're married. It was a mutual understanding that once you get married, you'll eventually have children. I don't understand why she's so put off by the idea of being taken care of financially for the rest of her life. For me to not produce offspring should be considered a crime."

"I'm not yours to own, Leonard." She stated firmly, disgusted by his words. "And I'm sorry you're ready to have children and I'm not. That's a conversation we should've had beforehand, but it's too late for that now and I know that. But damn it Leonard, I don't owe you anything."

"Now Baby, you know I didn't mean it like that." He grabbed hold of her hand again, this time gently rubbing her tense knuckles. "Of course, you don't owe me anything, you are your own person. I guess all I was trying to say was; of course, I want to have children with you. You're my wife and I love you…" he trailed off. "I just thought you'd want to have kids with me too."

She felt herself softening at his tone. He was a great manipulator; she was very much aware of that but she could never help herself but to fall victim to every word he used against her. "I know. It's just I'm tired of hearing about me not putting you first when I don't believe that's the case at all." She explained. "I put you first and you cheated on me, Leonard."

He just rubbed comforting circles on the back of her hand. "A mistake I'll live with for the rest of my life, Princess. That's why I want us to get better, I'm sick–I did something terrible. I need help so I don't do it again."

"It's obvious to me there's a giant disconnect between the both of you. It's obvious emotionally you two are miles apart, but I assume physically as well." It wasn't really much of a question. It was more of a statement than anything.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say all of that now." Leonard sputtered. "I mean of course there are times when we argue and we aren't seeing eye-to-eye but I think that's normal, that's most couples I think."

Dr. Cooper nodded his head in understanding. "Of course, most couples fight. If you plan to live the rest of your lives together, it would be ridiculous to assume you'd never argue. But what I look at is more than just disagreements. What I notice is more than just what you say to me," he explained gently. "Like the way when you speak to her you can't hold eye contact. Or the way she gets tense when you touch her or caress her knuckles. There are many ways to judge a relationship, Dr. Hofstadter, and arguing isn't the only one."

Leonard sat there frustrated. In all honesty, he didn't want to start seeing a therapist in general. He didn't think he and Penny had any problems that needed to be solved. Of course, he betrayed her and cheated on her, but that was only a result of her not spending enough time with him. Once she starts putting him first again, there would be no need to continue seeing the women he is. But again, nobody needs to know that. Not Penny, and especially not Doctor Cooper.

"Well, we haven't been physical in quite some time." She didn't know why she felt the need to disclose that, but she did. "I am uncomfortable with Leonard's touch. All it reminds me of is the fact he wasn't loyal to me, he cheated on me. I could never trust him the way I used to."

"Penny!"

She looked at her husband who sat there red in the face. "Well, it's true, Leonard. You betrayed me; did you think that would come with no consequences?"

Dr. Cooper sat forward, having had enough of hearing the shorter man speak. How could he be married to someone like Penelope Hofstadter and step out on her? "Ok, well I think this was a great introduction to our sessions." He closed off. "I want to send you guys' home with some homework."

Leonard made a noise and raised his nose at the taller man. "I'm here so you can give us advice on how to fix our relationship. Not so we can do homework. We're not children, Doctor Cooper. I'm aware all you have is a degree in psychology and that you opened your own practice so you can put that useless degree to use. But I'm a man of science, and it takes several hours–or even days to even finish one task. I don't have time for your juvenile homework assignment."

Dr. Cooper sat there quietly, while Penny had her mouth open in shock. Eventually, after assessing the situation, Dr. Cooper stood to his feet and walked over to his desk. "Well, I can safely assume the goal you wanted to obtain after leaving here is a better marriage and a stronger foundation to build upon, so being a man of science, such as yourself, you're aware that nothing goes without hard work and multiple tests." He printed off two sheets of paper. "Take this whole thing as one huge experiment. Your marriage. Your infidelity. How can you prove your marriage works without having any solid proof to show your theory?"

He handed the papers to the both of them. It had three questions on it and three open spaces for them to write their answers. Leonard looked down at it and scoffed. "What's your favorite animal and why? I could answer that right now. A giraffe." He said confidently.

"No," Penny answered. "That's actually wrong."

"What do you mean? We went to the zoo for our anniversary and you loved looking at the giraffes." He was shocked. "No. You bought the tickets and told me I would love it, I never did though. I hate the smell of the zoo and I'm not a fan of seeing animals locked up behind cages. My favorite animal is actually cats."

Dr. Cooper just nodded his head in understanding. "You see? There are many things neither of you know about each other. Take this time to discover and learn about each other. Until then, we will discuss what we learned at the end of the week."

Leonard stood to his feet abruptly and looked at Penny, quite upset he wasted thousands of dollars on this one session. He felt like it was a total rip off. "Let's go Penny."

She took a bit more time to get to her feet. She wasn't sure if she was ever going to see this man again, it was just a one-off chance they had running into each other at the club but for him to be her marriage councillor as well? She knew there was something between them that was electrifying but also terrifying. She wasn't sure if she owed it to herself to discover what it was or to leave it alone and focus all her energy into repairing her marriage.

This is Doctor Sheldon Cooper:

Once they stepped out of the office, Leonard turned towards her and said he was going to the bathroom and to wait for him. She knew he was upset but she didn't really care. He deserved to be upset after everything he put her through.

"Penelope?"

She turned at his voice, surprised to see him standing there. "Doctor Cooper…"

He shook his head, "My name is Sheldon, you can call me that." He reassured her. Penny nodded her head. "Sheldon…" she tried, "did you need something?"

"I just wanted to say…" he trailed off. It looked like he struggled for a moment, his mouth opening and closing, almost representing a fish; until he finally decided on. "I'm cheering for your husband and yourself." He settled on. "I hate seeing marriages fall apart due to a lapse of judgement or miscommunication. If his adultery is something you can genuinely look passed, and I mean completely forgive and forget. Then continue coming to see me. Otherwise, this isn't the place for you and I would suggest getting a divorce. Rarely do relationships ever bounce back from an affair, but I'm willing to put in the work if you two are."

Disappointed wouldn't be the word she uses to describe how she felt. But she isn't sure what word she was supposed to use. What was she expecting to happen? For him to acknowledge last night and the passion they shared? Why would he do that? He just finished coaching her and her husband.

She smiled dejectedly. "Thank you, Sheldon. I appreciate everything you're doing for us."

He nodded his head, about to leave when Leonard came back. "Ah, Mr. Cooper." Leonard addressed. "We were just leaving, but I decided to use your bathroom facilities. Might as well stay and get our money worth since you were no help at all." He murmured the last part.

Sheldon turned completely to Leonard; his face neutral as he spoke. "Let me assure you, Dr. Hofstadter, when you speak ill against my practice it doesn't bother me. I know what I've done and what I've accomplished. However, you're clearly fairly new to your own line of work or new to Los Angeles, because otherwise you would've recognized my name. I'm Doctor Sheldon Cooper, IQ of 187 and not so long ago a theoretical physicist, possessing a B.S, M.S, M.A, Ph.D, Sc.D. The first of which, I gained when I was only sixteen and had two . by the time I was twenty. So please, when you say my name make sure you put Doctor in front of it."

Leonard stood there shocked for a moment before regaining his composure. "If that were all true, why would you be doling out advice for married couples? Sounds bogus to me." He laughed and grabbed at Penny's hand. "Let's go."

"Of course, it would sound bogus to you, you need to have an open mind to understand what I've been through. But that's neither here nor there, my life isn't what's in crisis. Your marriage is due to your infidelity. Focus on the homework I gave you and not at what I've accomplished. I'll see you both back Friday."

And with that he returned behind his office doors.