Entering the apartment, feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, Sheldon found himself humming and moving with a skip in his step through the living room. "Amy?" he called out into the apartment for her as he went to tidy the tea away. No answer. Hmm. Shower maybe, or still sleeping? He glanced at his watch, surprised to find it was past 9 AM. She shouldn't still be sleeping, that wasn't like Amy at all. Rinsing the mugs, he perked his ears for any sounds of running water in the bathroom. Not hearing anything, he turned off the tap and tilted his head to the side. Eerily quiet. He didn't hear a sound besides his own breathing. Startled, Sheldon called her name again. "Amy? Are you still sleeping?" He began to move toward his bedroom and found his door shut. He had definitely left it open when he left to make the tea this morning. "Amy?" he said knocking upon his door three times and calling her name. Why did she not answer? Not wanting to violate her privacy, he hesitated, but ultimately turned the knob.
Within seconds, he found himself standing in the middle of his room, looking around in confusion. His bed was still unmade, and there was no sign of Amy. Where had she gone? Looking down onto the bed, he caught sight of the robe that matched his Sunday pajamas laying there. It had been hanging on the back of his door, he was quite sure of it. Why is it here? And where is Amy? He turned and nothing else seemed to be amiss. Maybe she left a note? There hadn't been a note in the kitchen or in the living area. He would've seen that. Maybe in Leonard's room? He left his room and made his way down the short trek to his friend's room. Opening the door, he found the bed still made from the previous day. He looked for a note on Leonard's dresser and there was nothing. He turned to go, but his eyes landed on the closet, the door slightly ajar. He opened it and gasped softly.
Her things are gone. Why are her things gone? What is happening? Amy must have left. She would have notified him if it were an emergency. The only conclusion was that she was upset with him. He scoured his mind for anything he might have done or said to draw her ire. Nothing stood out. Was it because they had been intimate last night? Was she somehow embarrassed or, worse, angry with him? Had he not taken enough care with her needs? Or was it that in the light of day she was upset that they had taken this step? That didn't make sense. Amy was the one who had been pushing for intimacy for a while now. Had she changed her mind? Had he pushed her when she was too vulnerable? Did she feel the alcohol they had partaken in the evening before possibly altered her consent? Had he underestimated her level of inebriation? Was she feeling taken advantage of? He gulped, a new worry overcoming all the others. Had he not satisfied her sexually? Appalled, and beginning to panic, Sheldon rushed to his room and grabbed his phone. He called her, but her phone went directly to voicemail, indicating it was turned off. He sent a text message, which he knew would not be delivered until she turned her phone on, whenever that may be. It seemed counter-productive to email.
He began to pace back and forth in the small space. Relying on his excellent and eidetic memory, Sheldon retraced every moment of the evening for some misstep and found none. He was perhaps slightly tipsy the evening before, but nothing that altered his ability to make decisions. He had chosen to be with Amy because he had wanted to be with Amy. It was as simple- and as complicated- as that. And on Amy's part? He couldn't claim to know what she had been thinking and feeling, but none of her reactions led him to believe he had abused her trust in some way. He had thought the act quite consensual and enjoyable.
The answer must lie, not with last night, but this morning. Rolling through the morning, he carefully studied his actions. He had gotten up and made his way to the kitchen to make tea. He had left her alone in the bed, but she had been sleeping. Was she angry that she had woken up alone after their night of love? She knew he didn't know the expected social convention for this type of thing. And leaving seemed a little dramatic a reaction for this infringement if that were the case.
What had he done next? He had put the kettle on: He had thought about their evening and the beautiful woman still lying in his bed. And then he had taken the kettle off the stove. Leonard had come in, and then they had argued. Was it his argument with Leonard that had bothered her? She had been sleeping. Maybe the argument had woken her or scared her? Even given those options, it still seemed she would not have needed to leave. Maybe the answer was in the argument itself. Had she heard the actual argument? They had.. discussed … loudly, Leonard's decision to move in with Penny. What had been said? Suddenly he sat down on his bed, taking the robe into his hands. It smelled of her. She had worn the robe and that must have been this morning.
She had awoken and must have heard his reaction to Leonard's suggestion that he and Amy live was the only logical conclusion. But she didn't have all the information! He hadn't meant he didn't want to live with her. He had meant that he didn't want to only have her as a roommate. She was more. Hadn't he just had to explain this to Leonard and Penny this morning also?! Is that why she left? His declaration must have been misinterpreted. She must think you don't want to live with her. But that was silly! His Amy was the smartest woman he had ever known, and she must know that he would have been unable to move forward with their lovemaking if he weren't ready for the ultimate commitment? But perhaps she was doubting him. Her feelings must be hurt. He felt awful now, knowing that his Amy was out there, hurting somewhere, because of his callous words. He had to make her see the truth. He stood, and rushed through his morning routine. He would get her flowers. He would find her and tell her that he loved her and that she had it all wrong. And then? Then he would ask her to marry him. Romantic proposal be damned, this was an emergency.
But where had she gone to? Penny's? Bernadette's? He dismissed those both in turn. His Amy was logical. Bernadette and Howard had Stuart living with them. Penny, well she was right next door, and if she was angry with him? She wouldn't stay there. Her mother's? He shuddered thinking he might have to grovel in front of Amy's mother. She already hated him. Picking up his phone he thought he might be able to track her phone, but he found that he couldn't. Where would she be?
How could he make it right if he couldn't find her?
