Chapter 14
When that Monday morning rolled around Leonard found himself lying in bed with Penny wrapped around him, the alarm clock going off that morning resulting in Penny rolling around from being spooned by Leonard to now laying on him with her arms holding him tightly. She never said a word the whole time just changed from him holding to her to now her holding him and Leonard knew he would be lying if he didn't admit that he loved having her being so affectionate with him. That was actually the problem, he should get up so he could ready for work but he really didn't want to get out of bed with Penny being this way with him, memories of their weekend, just them together, still making him feel good inside while he laid next to his girlfriend. He quickly rationalized that it wasn't a real problem, as he looked down on the blonde hair that covered his chest, his thinking making him appreciate how lucky he was that Penny was in his life and that he had to make sure for the rest of his life to always appreciate that luck.
Leonard gently gave Penny shoulder a little shake, "Penny I need to get my phone."
Penny was already back half asleep and she selfishly didn't want Leonard to leave her, so she had quickly gone to grab hold of him as soon as the alarm went off, something in the back of her brain telling her if she held on to him, he wouldn't leave her bed. She had even been ready to resist his leaving, but instead he just laid there and her being so comfortable on him lulled her back to sleep, but now she was confused because he was not trying to get up but asking for his phone. "Your phone?" she mumbled as she tried to wake up her mind enough to understand what was now happening.
"Yes, love bug, my phone, can I get my phone?" he repeated with a little chuckle.
Penny became more awake and more confused about him wanting his phone. "Are you calling Sheldon?"
Leonard smiled, "No, I'm calling in to work to tell them I won't be in till this afternoon."
That woke Penny completely up, "You're staying with me!"
Leonard smiled a little more, "Just till we go out and have lunch together, but then I have to go in."
Penny now smiled, "Okay." then let go of him so he could reach his phone."
The next couple minutes she gave him little kisses on his chest as she listened to him telling the secretary he was taking some personal time and would not be in till the afternoon. She then again, cuddled tightly against him after he put his phone back down on the night stand. "I love you, honey."
"I love you too, Love Bug." Leonard kept smiling as he felt Penny giggle about being called 'Love Bug' then felt her body relax as she fell back asleep. Again, he felt incredibly lucky as he too soon joined her in sleep.
They woke up about 10:30 AM that morning and after a shower together, that saved no water or time, they went to a local IHOP to brunch together. So, it was about 1:00 PM when Penny finally dropped off Leonard at work, making out with him for about ten minutes before he got out of the SUV, both of them with swollen lips and dilated eyes when they finally parted. Both of them also longing for later when Penny would come pick him up and they would be back together again.
Now that Leonard was gone Penny didn't have much to do the rest of the day, the movie she was in the week before was going through a director's initial screening and review before the final cut and she had been requested to stand by her phone by the production company that whole week in case it was determined they needed to quickly reshoot any scenes. It wasn't really that bad a situation for her because there wasn't anything being filmed for her to be an extra on that week and the productions company agreed to pay her $100 a day just to be available each day that week so that they could call her in immediately if they needed her. So, since Penny now had some extra time, she decided to do something she had been wanting to do for a while, the shark movie she acted in giving her both the money and credentials to finally get her Screen Actors Guild (SAG) membership and her SAG card. It really meant a lot to her because it made her feel like a professional, so this afternoon she decided to go to the production company's office to pick up her previous week's check and get the paperwork to submit for her SAG membership.
There was also something else Penny had to do that afternoon, that she wasn't too excited to do, stop by the CheeseCake Factory, she still was employed there part-time and since she had taken off for the movie, she now needed to make up for the time they gave her. Therefore, it was not a cheerful Penny who picked up Leonard that evening from work, something Leonard noticed immediately as soon as he got in the SUV. Her being so quiet making him immediately curious about what was bothering her, "Did you have problems today with the production company?"
Penny sighed, "No, everything there went fine. I got my check and deposited it and they gave me the paperwork that I need to apply for my SAG membership."
"But something is still wrong, isn't it."? Leonard pried further.
"Well remember I told you I was going to the CheeseCake Factory afterward." she began
Leonard nodded, "Did they give you problems about last week."
"No, actually they were really nice, but that is the problem." Penny then sighed again.
"I don't understand." Leonard was now confused.
"Well they want me to work this week, but you know I can't work during the day because I'm supposed to be on call and I explained that to Mike the Manager, so he asked me to work evenings the rest of the week since I won't be on call during the evenings. He also told me if they call me in just to tell him and he will take care of it and he was so nice I couldn't tell him no." Penny was choking up at the end of her explanation.
"I still don't understand, it seems he is bending over backward for you, am I missing something." Leonard was still confused.
Penny nodded, "Leonard I won't get to see you this week, with you working during the day and me in the evening, the only time we will be with each other is when we are in bed."
"OH!" was all he could say after everything she was telling him finally came together in his mind.
Penny nodded, "Yeah, Oh." she then sighed once more in defeat.
"Well at least we have the weekend." Leonard said cheerfully to try and brighten her spirits.
Penny just turned and looked at him for a second, the expression on her face telling him everything he needed to know. "The weekend, too?"
Penny nodded, "I have to work two eight-hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday from lunch through dinner."
"That is about 40-hours this week, isn't it? Did you remind Mike that you are now only working part-time?" Leonard said with a little frustration, now a little upset too that Penny was upset and that he wouldn't get to see her that much the rest of the week.
"I can't Leonard, he needs me and I owe them, so I just said yes."
"Even though you don't want to work there anymore?" Leonard asked while looking at her.
Penny nodded. "Yes, but I'm not going to quit yet because I'm not working enough as an actress yet to make up the pay. They are also so nice to me, they allowed me to work only part-time and really helped me with my hours when I had a show or movie to work on."
"You know you don't have to keep working there, I can pay for this apartment, and you will still have money from your acting." Leonard said softly.
Penny smiled at him. "I know sweetie, but I need to feel like an equal partner here and that means I have to pay my share. You are already helping in that my part of rent and utilities is less than when I lived alone."
Leonard nodded, "Okay, just remember the offer is out there."
"I will honey, thank you."
"How about I treat you to a nice steak to cheer you up." he now said with a smile.
"I love steak. You really know the way to charm a girl Hofstadter." she responded with a giggle, Leonard always seeming to know how to cheer her up.
Leonard chuckled, "They don't call me the Romance Ninja for nothing." which made Penny giggle and swat his arm before they both broke out laughing.
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It only took one day of Leonard getting up early for work then not seeing Penny until she staggered back home at almost 11 PM to make Leonard motivated to do something about it. Even though he made her just sit down while he made her something to eat then rubbed her feet for her as she relaxed, he knew he wanted to do more because to be honest it bothered him to see her so worn out and tired. So, the next morning, after the alarm went off, it felt even worse to Leonard when Penny clamped on to him, not wanting him to leave, her telling him she missed him only making him want to stay with her. Therefore, most of that morning at work he spent on figuring out a plan to spend more time with his girlfriend and making the rest of the week easier for her.
He started with making arrangements to come in late the rest of the week, this allowing him to pamper Penny when she came home each night with food, a foot massage and at least an hour of mindless TV watching to allow her to wind down and relax enough to go to sleep. This gave Penny at least 8 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night in Leonard's arms, without her having to wake up and beg him to stay in her bed, also it gave them some time, after they got up, to have brunch prior to Leonard leaving for work in afternoon. Penny couldn't believe Leonard was doing all this for her after the first night and morning of his plan, her waking up at almost 11 AM to find Leonard still holding her tight bringing a huge smile to her face as she showered him with kisses as soon as she realized what he had done. This pampering of her also had major impact on her because it made her feel extremely loved and special by her boyfriend, which only made her crush harder on Leonard. She had lived with Kurt for several years and had a couple short relationships with guys after moving across from Leonard, even once thinking that a guy named Mike may be the one, but none of them ever showed any kind of concern for her well-being as Leonard was showing her now. It gave Penny a lot of food for thought as she worked that evening, and as she thought back to every dream she had about marrying the perfect man, except for tall and muscular, Leonard had everything she ever wanted, plus he was adorably cute to her and very handsome, especially when he got all dressed up.
So, it was Saturday night when Bernadette and Amy walked up to the bar, finding two seats quickly and waiting as her friend finished cleaning some glasses with a far-off stare in her eye. Penny efficiently finished her task then started to walk down the bar to take care of her customers, it was usually busy in the restaurant for a Saturday night, the bar not half as busy because the restaurant was mainly full of families, but she didn't want to keep any of the patrons waiting for drinks because it seemed every time she worked the bar her tips were better. So, it was a little surprise for her when she reached her friends and she stopped to look at them wide eyed for a second before a smile formed on her face. "Hey guys, what brings you here?"
"Leonard told us you were working the bar this evening and had been working hard all week here, so we thought we would visit." Bernadette started.
"Plus, it was better than watching Sheldon do laundry, then the guys playing video games." Amy added.
"Yeah, that too." Bernadette concurred, "Since you weren't home to have a girl's night, we thought we would have one here."
Penny smiled a little wider, "Well I'd tell you not to drink too much, because you have to drive home, but since Leonard dropped me off and will pick me up later, one of us can drive you home if it gets to that."
"No need, Leonard dropped us off and told us he would pick us all up after the place closes, since when you work the bar you can leave as soon as you're done." Bernadette explained
Penny looked surprised, "He did!"
"Yeah, Sheldon bitched a little about taking time from HALO but Leonard seemed determined to get us here for some girl time." Amy explained.
Penny couldn't help the large smile on her face, it was 9 PM and the restaurant would be open for two more hours, the girls being there that whole time made her happy and the thought that it had partly been Leonard's idea made her extremely happy. Penny looked at her friends. "Okay how about a couple Cosmopolitans and an order of fried vegetables to start things off." Both girls quickly nodding to Penny's suggestion. "I'll have them right up." a very happy Penny responded, then turned and almost skipped over to put their order in and make their drinks.
"Our bestie seems very happy to see us, I'm glad Leonard suggested we come to visit." Amy softly told Bernadette.
"Yeah, me too, Penny has been seeming much happier since her and Leonard became roommates." Bernadette added.
"I think living with Leonard may not have been as scary as she first thought, I know living with Sheldon has been enjoyable for myself." Amy now added.
Bernadette nodded then turned to smile at Amy, "So are you on schedule with your five-year plan with Sheldon?"
Amy giggled, "With Sheldon asking me to move in, I'm actually ahead." her smile and happiness making both girls giggle.
"What's so funny." Penny asked as she put the two drinks down in front of her friends.
"Amy and Sheldon living together." Bernadette blurted out.
Penny frowned, somehow a girlfriend and boyfriend living together seemed like a good thing with her, she loved living with Leonard and she expected Amy loved living with Sheldon. "I don't get what is so funny about Amy and Sheldon living together."
"It is not that we are living together that is funny." Amy began to explain, "It is just Sheldon was the one that accelerated our relationship status by asking me to move in, who would have guessed that would happen."
"Oh." Penny responded with a nod, "How is that going with your five-year plan, Ames?"
Both Amy and Bernadette both giggled more, before Amy said, "That is what she asked." nodding towards Bernadette which made Penny chuckle and shake her head, she loved her friends to death, she never had friends before that she could trust like she could these two, the were truly the kind of friends that had your back. "Okay, well don't choke on your drinks, I'll get your appetizer now." Penny walked towards the end of the bar where one of the busboys had put Amy and Bernadette's order, just lightly shaking her head at her friends and smiling.
Leonard smiled as he watched all three girls come out of the now closed CheeseCake Factory, they all seemed to be laughing and carrying on, which made Leonard feel good to see Penny so happy after working all day. So, no sooner than the doors on the right side of the SUV opened and the girls piled inside he couldn't help but comment, "Well it looks like you all had a good time."
Penny giggled, "Well since you offered to drive them and Amy now lives in our building while Howard will drive Bernadette home tonight, they sort of got hammered. Also, I'm not use to being sober while my friends are hammered, so it is so funny." she then giggled again.
"We're not hammered." Bernadette insisted
"Right, what was that you said you were going to do to Howard tonight." Penny asked with a smirk on her face
Bernadette stopped for a second to think with her muddled mind, "Okay we're hammered." she then giggled which made Amy giggle.
"You didn't get in any trouble with them being like that?" Leonard leaned over to quietly ask Penny.
Penny shook her head, "Nah, they only got real giggly the last twenty minutes or so and the bar was almost empty at that time."
"The show was over by then." Amy added.
"Penny got a lot of tips." Bernadette chimed in almost singing her comment.
Leonard looked at Penny confused, only to see her shrug, "I wasn't really nothing."
"The other bartender bumped into Penny and spilled a whole martini down the front of Penny's shirt." Amy started to explain.
"And every guy in the place wanted drinks from the bar for the next hour." Bernadette added
"Penny is wearing a lacy bra." Amy finished.
Penny turned red while looking at Leonard, who was looking at her blouse, now a little confused. "It wasn't every guy." she hissed at her friends which only made them giggle more. She then apologetically looked back at Leonard, "It is dry now."
"Oh, okay." Leonard looked back forward as he now put the car in drive, while Penny gave her two friend a death glare, which only made them laugh more, making her rethink her thoughts about what great friends she had earlier.
It took both of them to get Amy and Bernadette up the stairs and no sooner than they got to the fourth floor, Bernadette burst into 4A and crawled into Howard's lap, putting kisses on a very surprised Howard. Amy followed her in but was not drunk enough to realize she better not do that with Sheldon, who just stared first at Bernadette then her. "Amy are you drunk?"
"Just a little." Amy squeaked out, then she just turned a little green, "Excuse me." as she quickly went to the bathroom.
Bernadette just snorted, "She is such a light weight." but as soon as everyone heard Amy throwing up, Bernadette just as quickly turned green and flew off Howard's lap to the same bathroom Amy just went to.
Sheldon just looked at Penny who had a little smile on her face from what just happened, "This is your fault." he accused her.
"Hey I didn't make them come to CheeseCake Factory bar and drink so much." Penny immediately defended herself to him.
"Then it is your fault." he now looked at Leonard, "If you didn't tell them how nice it would be to visit Penny and that they would be just bored staying here, this would have never happened."
Leonard hung his head down and sighed, "Guilty as charged." his only comment.
Penny smiled and caressed his arm. "Aww, did you do that for me, Sweetie." she then kissed his cheek.
It was about an hour later, after suffering through a 15-minute lecture from Sheldon about getting his girlfriend drunk that was cut short when Amy came out of the bathroom and Sheldon had to take care of her, that Leonard and Penny were both soaking in their bath tub. Penny was already half asleep as she leaned back into Leonard, the warm water and bubbles making her very relaxed and the knowledge that Leonard wouldn't let anything happen to her if she fell asleep making her very comfortable in his arms. Leonard himself was just quietly thinking about how lucky he was to have someone like Penny that cared about him and currently just wanted to held by him, her having no reservations anymore about confessing her love for him or happiness about living with him. The only problem was that the water was going to get cooler in a short time and the way Penny was acting she would be asleep in about that same time.
"Penny, we should probably get out of the tub before the water gets cold." Leonard whispered to blonde who was very content laying in his arms.
"Okay." Penny responded almost in a whisper, while not moving an inch.
Leonard smiled, he thought she was so adorable when she was like this, relaxed and just wanting to be cuddled, and he was so happy he was the guy who she wanted to be that way with. This was the true intimacy in their relationship, she told him a couple times before that she hadn't taken baths with other guys before, not even Kurt or Mike, so it was something she only did with him, it was only their thing and because of that it was special to Leonard. He sighed slightly in contentment himself and just squeezed Penny a little closer to him, a huge wave of affection going through him for this young woman who had decided to spend this part of her life with him, he felt like the luckiest man on earth at that moment.
Penny felt Leonard squeeze her a little tighter, in her relaxed state it just made her feel more wanted and loved, which made her feel even more love for the man who arms she was in. She loved snuggling with Leonard, when it came to snuggling and cuddling Leonard was the best of any guy she had ever known, just being in his arms made her feel special, cared about and happy. It was with those thoughts that she finally decided to get out of the tub, the thought of being all snuggled up to Leonard in their bed overriding the bath she was now in.
Penny shifted a little to more of a sitting position from her just laying back against Leonard, "All right Sweetie can you help me up."
It was only 10-minutes later, they were in their bed, Penny only wearing one of Leonard's well washed and extremely soft T-shirts as she lay against him with her head on his chest. She loved snuggling up to his warm body and the way he would gently rub her back and shoulder as laid on him, it was so relaxing she could barely hold her eyelids open and felt herself quickly drifting off, except before she went she had only one thing left to do, "I love you, honey."
Leonard smiled, then kissed the top of her head, "I love you too, love bug."
A small relaxed smile formed on Penny's face while a very slight hum came from her before she finally let go and let sleep take her away. Leonard knew she was asleep when he felt her body completely relax against him and then heard the cutest little snores start to come from her. Again, he smiled in happiness, her being with him making him relax and close his eyes too, to let sleep slowly take him away.
When Sunday finally rolled around Penny felt pretty good, her and Leonard having a lazy morning, eating pancakes and drinking coffee before she had to head to work. Today she didn't mind as much about going to work, as the previous days of the week, because she knew she now would have a couple days off, when today was done, and she would go back to only working about 20-hours a week. There was also something else she knew as she started to waitress tables that day and that was how right Leonard had been about doing something different with her acting career. This past week, working as a waitress again for 40 hours in a week, was not something she wanted to do anymore and just going through it again was making her now realize that taking all those extra parts, like Leonard encouraged her to do, was something she much rather do than spend her life waiting tables anymore. Leonard had been also right about it moving her towards her goal, the SCIFI movie had been a chance for her to really act and was a huge step up from that terrible ape movie she did years ago when she first came to California. Things were changing in Penny's life and as she thought about it between waiting tables she knew this change was for the better and it was easy to see that it all related to her being with Leonard.
The day had been busy but not really too bad, Penny knew there was some sort of championship game on TV that afternoon, so they never got slammed and the customers just came in steady for a Sunday. So, towards the end of her shift, only two more hours to go, she smiled a genuine smile as she walked over to the table with a new group of patrons just sitting down to eat, "Hey guys, this is a surprise."
Leonard smiled back at his roommate, "I hope you don't mind, I just thought we could all sort of eat and visit with you this evening."
"We all decided instead of having takeout this evening at Sheldon's we would come and see you." Bernadette added.
"They ignored my objections and refused to get our normal takeout." Sheldon added.
"No, this is great, I love seeing you all here, even you Sheldon, it reminds me of old times, I love this." Penny gushed her smile even bigger than a moment before.
"How are you guys doing after yesterday." Penny then asked Amy and Bernadette.
"Okay, Howie took care of me." Bernadette added then turned to husband and gave him a wink, which actually made Howard blush.
"Sheldon took care of me, too." Amy stated, a proud smile on her face.
"And this is the thanks I get in return; Tuesday night is CheeseCake Factory night not Sunday." Sheldon complained.
Penny smiled at her friends, and ignored Sheldon, "Leonard has been taking care of me this whole week, he makes sure I get a good night's sleep, feeds me and takes care any aches or pains I have."
Bernadette got an evil smile on her face, "I bet he takes care of you." then watching Penny and Leonard blush.
"You were pretty happy last night and seemed satisfied." Amy added.
Penny blushed again, "Alright, remember this is a family restaurant." she told her two friends with a smile she couldn't seem to take off her face.
Penny did however want to change the subject and she needed to at least try to work. "So, the usual drinks for everyone?" when everyone nodded or said yes, Penny then left the table to get their drinks.
She had just filled the drink tray to take back to the table, when her friend Cheryl walked over, "I'll take those to the table."
"Huh." Penny looked at Cheryl confused.
"I'll wait your friends table, Mike said you could clock out early and join your friends for dinner." Cheryl explained.
Penny's was really surprised, "That is so nice, I'm surprised he noticed they came in."
"He didn't, at least not till I pointed it out to him and said that we could probably do without you the rest of the evening." Cheryl continued to explain.
Penny's jaw dropped, Cheryl was the senior waitress at the CheeseCake Factory and helped the manager with the waitress scheduling so Penny knew if Cheryl told Mike that Penny was not needed anymore, he would listen. "Thank you so much." Penny then hugged her friend before she quickly made her way to the employee's lounge to get one of Leonard's hoodies, she kept in her locker, to cover her uniform.
"Okay, I have your drinks but you better tell me who gets what." Cheryl told them as she stopped at the table with the drink tray Penny loaded.
Leonard was immediately confused, "Where's Penny?"
His question was immediately answered when two hands grasped his shoulders, "I'm right here." and his confused expression changed to a smile as Penny put a kiss to his cheek before grabbing an extra chair from a nearby empty table so she could sit between Leonard and Amy.
Leonard was surprised to see Penny sitting down next to him, her CheeseCake Factory uniform top now replaced with a hoodie he gave her a while ago, but he was also delighted that it seemed she was now going to have dinner with the group. "Did they give you some time off to eat with us?"
Penny nodded and smiled, "They let me clock out early, so now I can actually eat with my friends," then in a softer voice, "and my boyfriend."
"That is great." Bernadette said with a huge smile on her face.
"Yea, my bestie gets to eat with us instead of serve us." Amy added, while everyone else nodded and smiled, except for Sheldon who still couldn't get over them forcing him to go to the CheeseCake Factory on a Sunday night.
Cheryl smiled, happy she had something to do with making her friend and her boyfriend happy, "Okay, like I said before who gets what drink."
A little over an hour later Penny rode back to their apartment, her head on Leonard's shoulder, and a huge smile still on her face from since she sat down to have dinner with her friends. She had really enjoyed herself, spending the time with them all and eating, especially being able to sit and touch Leonard anytime she wanted. It would have been the perfect evening if it wasn't for having to deal with Sheldon not knowing what to eat because it was Sunday and they were at the CheeseCake Factory, everybody getting angry with him until Cheryl told him he had one last time to order before she just didn't include him in the groups order. Sheldon's treats to turn her into the manager defeated when everyone agreed they would take Cheryl's side, even Amy, making him finally order his usual Tuesday Barbeque Bacon Cheeseburger that Sunday.
So, when they finally parked in the apartment parking lot, Penny was feeling a strong need to cuddle with Leonard in their bed. They hadn't had sex since she started these shifts that week and now after having a nice relaxing meal with her friends, plus knowing she didn't have to work the next day, cuddling with Leonard and the obvious sex that it would lead to was something strongly on her mind. However, there was still one thing she wanted, "Honey are you going into work early tomorrow? Do you have any more personal time you can take?"
Leonard looked at her confused, "Yeah, I was planning on going in at the normal time because you had off, why is there something you want me to do?"
Penny put her hand on Leonard's thigh, then ran it up to his crotch, gently giving it a little rub until she was sure Leonard knew exactly what she wanted him to do. Leonard's eyes got wide, his only word's, "Oh, I could go in a little later tomorrow."
Penny smiled, "Okay well let's go upstairs and if you're good I'll let you soap me up in the shower." They practically ran to building doors and up the stairs to 3A.