A little early Halloween present for everyone!
I hope it's not too scary, but the big Reveal on Moxie in this chapter! Whoever could it be?
Sheldon
The following Thursday evening, as Sheldon was about to take the last bite of the steak dinner Leonard had overcooked for him, Penny poured two large glasses of red wine. The two of them had been doting on Sheldon the whole night; using the correct fork and knife, chewing with their mouths closed and Penny had even made a pecan pie for dessert, although Sheldon put it away before anyone could get hurt since for some reason it had raisins in it. Other than the pie, so far, it was the best day ever.
Leonard poured Sheldon a cup of hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks and set it in front of him. As it was the beginning of December, the choice seemed apropos, but Leonard knew that Sheldon only drank that beverage in dire emergencies since he hated Christmas.
"What's this Leonard?"
"I didn't think you'd want wine..." His mouth formed a weirdly wide grin then he frowned, "So buddy. Penny and I... Well... Penny, mostly."
Leonard cried out from Penny's smack and snapped his head back to Penny as she finished his sentence. "Sheldon. We need to tell you something. You know that we've been married for a long time now, and I know that Leonard has had sleepovers, but well, we really do... we think it's time."
Sheldon sniffed at his hot beverage and cocked his head at Penny. "I agree."
"You do?" Both Leonard and Penny said simultaneously.
"Yes, Penny. It's time you got your own Netflix account. I've tried sharing it, I have, but I can't see Documentaries about people who own Tigers, that's scary!"
"No, Sheldon. Not that. It's time buddy, that I..." Leonard looked down and then said quietly into his lap. "Move out of the apartment."
"You mean move over to 4B?" Sheldon stopped to think for a moment before answering. It wouldn't be a big change. Sheldon could handle Leonard moving his things out. He would just be across the hall. It's not too bad. Sheldon drew in a long breath before he answered, "That's acceptable if we have a thorough inventory-"
"No, Sheldon, out of the apartment building." Leonard looked at Penny and said, "Both of us."
Sheldon's eyes widened and he looked at Penny for conformation.
She nodded her head and said, "Sheldon, we need to be like a normal couple. We don't even fully live together and it's been two years!"
"I've lived with Leonard for nine years before you got that ring on your finger! Be patient, lady."
Leonard spoke up with a snippy tone Sheldon didn't appreciate, "We have been patient. I want to be with Penny, and not just like a sleepover. I want to wake up next her every morning, kiss her at night. Decorate our house and plan our lives together."
Penny pipped in, "Sheldon, the other apartment, it's just too small. I need a bigger closet since Leonard's costumes take up everything!"
Leonard interrupted her, "I mean if we were to have a family."
Penny turned to Leonard, and snapped, "We didn't buy that house so you can talk me into a popping out a kid."
"You've already bought a house? And you didn't tell me?" Sheldon felt a lump in his chest, as if someone had kicked him in his sternum.
Leonard sighed, but couldn't look Sheldon in the eye. He said as he tapped on his shoulder, "I didn't want to upset you. I've been trying to tell you for weeks now...You understand, right buddy? That we need to make plans?"
Sheldon drew in a breath and said as he reached for his beverage, "I guess I thought those plans would include me."
"It does, Sheldon. You're our best friend. We aren't going away, just across town, near Bernadette and Howard. I'll still take you to work, and we will have dinner together, just like this. Hell, maybe you can get a new roommate who would-"
Sheldon had heard enough, "No Leonard. No other roommates. I'm fine on my own."
"Okay buddy. I know you are. You've come a long way since I met you."
Sheldon stood up and took his mug with him to the sink. He dumped out the liquid and turned to Leonard and Penny; their brows creased with worry.
Penny came across the kitchen to give Sheldon a hug, he tapped her lightly on the back and sighed as he pushed her away. "I'm fine. Everyone has moved on. I will as well. Now, if you will excuse me, I think I might retire early this evening."
"What about my pecan pie?" Penny asked.
Leonard pulled her aside and said, "No don't make it worse, honey. Let's go."
After Sheldon heard the door click, he ran to his room and texted Moxie.
"911."
#
Moxie:
Thursday morning she was late because of her texting with Sheldon and her own long shower. She spent the day practicing her smile and greeting strangers with a hearty handshake as she prepared for her meeting with Bernadette that evening.
During work, though, her hands shook so much, she could barely hold a scalpel and she almost sliced off the whole cerebellum. Realizing that she was achieving nothing, she decided to leave early so she could get ready for her girl's night.
When she arrived home, she took another shower, and after three clothing changes, she arrived at the bar at 6:55 PM. The bar area was jammed with patrons and the little round wooden tables were filled with loud groups of people chatting and laughing. She hesitated, feeling a little panicky at the sight of the large crowd in front of her, when she heard Bernadette's voice above the din.
"That chair's taken. Pal. Keep walking!"
Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the horde and found a pint-size blonde directing traffic away from her table. Bernadette sipped on a large drink, the slice of lime and four cherries now halfway down the glass. She waved Moxie over to the table.
"HEY! You made it!"
Moxie took off her cardigan as she sat down and asked, "Am I late?"
"Nah, I just had to get out of the house, arrived here about 30 minutes ago. I got you water like you asked, but they put ice in it." Bernadette handed her a large glass with a lemon floating on the top. She pointed to the crowd, "Crazy huh? I guess it's ladies' night."
"I don't see many ladies." She looked around the crowd of men that seemed to be closing in on her. Her throat began to close. The air was thick with the smell of yeasty beer and peanuts crushed on the ground. The rock music made conversation very difficult and she had already been bumped into three times by what she hoped was a man's knee.
"I know... Isn't it great? The men will flock to buy us drinks since they think they will score. This is my third one, and I haven't paid yet."
Bernadette raised her glass to Moxie, who only smiled, sipped at her drink, and said, "I thought you were married?"
"I am. But this doesn't mean I have to give anyone the goodies. Just a smile for a gin and tonic? Good bargain!" She raised her glass to a short man across the bar with a mustache like a pipe cleaner and said, "Thank you!"
Bernadette turned back to Moxie, "So, how'd ya get into science?"
"Well, I was 14 and had to do surgery on my feet when-"The alarm indicating a text from Sheldon cut through the conversation. Then another.
Bernadette asked, "Do you need to get that?"
"No, its fine... Anyway, I was about to sever my right tendon when I-"The alarm came again, and she muted it. She glanced at the screen, "911." She rolled her eyes and tried to continue but the alarm started again.
"Is that Knight Rider?"
"Yes... Please hold on a second."
She texted Sheldon back a quick note,
"I'm at my NFC meeting. I'll text later."
"Sorry about that. So I wanted to say-" She picked up her phone to mute another sound just as a man kneed her arm. The phone scrapped across the floor and landed near the foot of a biker with large boots.
"Excuse me." She said before she pushed through the crowd to get the phone, but like a hockey puck on the ice, the phone was kicked to the other corner of a bar, then another. By the time she picked it up, she had received over 8 texts from Sheldon.
She pushed back through the people toward the table with Bernadette and picked up her sweater which had fallen on the floor as well. She brushed off the peanut shells and said, "I'm sorry, I have to go, can we do this next week instead? Maybe at a different place?"
"Sure! No problem. Let's go to the Cheesecake Factory. I can relive the old times."
"Perfect, yes. That would work." Her mind was on her phone, not on the crowd as she pushed through. Once she was outside she drew in three sharp breaths and marched immediately to her car. She relaxed in the cover of silence and responded to Sheldon.
"I'm here."
Sheldon texted back:
"Wheezy is moving out."
#
Sheldon
Sheldon didn't want to contact Moxie. He didn't want to need someone so much that he ached, but for some reason, he felt compelled to text her. And again and again, until the screen was filled with only his words. He waited for the phone to light up with her text, but nothing. He paced around his room but then realized he was alone.
He went to the living room and sat in his spot. His Vulcan hearing allowed him to pick up the sounds around him. A floorboard creaked from the quiet woman upstairs. The wind against the windowpane. The hum of the refrigerator. All echoed in a lonely chorus.
Sheldon put down his phone and dropped his head into his hands. He saw he had a few texts from Ms. Moxie, but he was too upset to answer them.
"Sheldon? Are you still there?
"Sheldon?"
Sheldon should not be this wounded over one event, but he knew any change upset him. When they became engaged, he had taken off on a train for 45 days. When they got married, Sheldon lived under his covers for a week and his mother had had to coax him back to work. Every time a major change happened in his life, he would deny it and hide, like a turtle in his shell.
Other people could handle change, and thrive, but not Sheldon. He said he didn't need anyone, that he didn't need friends, yet the moment they leave or circumstances change, he is devastated.
Sheldon didn't want to admit his weakness, not to Moxie. But he needed people. He needed Leonard, he needed Penny. They would eventually have a child or two like Howard and Bernadette. They would all drift apart and this was just the start of it. He would be alone for the rest of his life and he knew why. If he had been a better friend, they might have stayed.
"I am meant to be alone... I should let you go."
"Wait Sheldon, let me talk to you."
"What's the point? Maybe it would be better for you not to text with such a needy person."
Sheldon's heart dropped when he read the next text:
"Maybe you are right."
Sheldon placed his phone down on the coffee table as it was made of lead. He had been devastated before the conversation, and now he was crushed with humiliation and despair. He was just about to curl up in a ball with the blanket like a cocoon, when he heard his phone buzz on the glass table with an incoming call. He picked up without looking at the caller and answered timidly.
"Hello?"
"Hello... um... Sheldon?" The woman's voice on the other line was unfamiliar to him, but was soft and pleasant.
"Yes, speaking. Who is this?" Sheldon was in no mood to speak to a stranger or deal with any sales calls at the moment.
There was no sound on the other line for a moment, then the other caller cleared her throat and said a little hesitantly, "It's...A… Moxie. Ms... Moxie." Sheldon could almost hear the woman hold her breath as she waited for him to speak.
Finally, after he had recovered from the surprise, he responded.
"You called?" He felt his face light up with a smile.
"Yes, you said it was better for me not to text with such a needy person. So I thought I would call the most extraordinary person I know. I hope... I hope that is okay."
Sheldon leaned back in his spot, and let out a sigh. "More than okay, but doesn't this change everything?"
"Not at all. You only have the sound of my voice, but you can still imagine me as you did before." The woman cleared her throat and continued in a soft silky voice, it was like a hug Sheldon didn't know he needed.
"It's nice to hear your voice."
Ms. Moxie breathed into the phone, and said quietly, "It's nice to hear yours as well. I never imagined you had a slight accent, but it's pleasant...Maybe we should have done this sooner."
"Maybe, but I am glad we are now. It's..." Sheldon swallowed and smiled at the same time, "It's very... very...nice."
"Yes... it is. Now, what's all this silliness over being needy..."
It took over two hours, and numerous reassurances that Sheldon was indeed able to adapt to change, but finally Ms. Moxie got through to him. She explained the beauty of living alone. He could set his thermostat how he wanted; he could control his own environment. He decided what shows to watch, and when but Sheldon argued he already did that. What his roommate had provided was a sense of security that he did not know he needed.
"Just because you live alone doesn't mean you don't have friends. Hasn't your friend Bashful lived alone since you've known him? Your friend Sleepy did as well before you welcomed her into your group. You don't need proximity to develop a thriving relationship. Look at us."
"Yes, you're right. We are friends, and I don't even know your name."
After a few moments of heavy breathing, she said quietly, "Amy...It's Amy."
Sheldon said the name in his head. Amy. He couldn't have picked a better name. He felt the soothing sound of her voice and hearing her name, it was like Christmas had come early. He said gladly, "Hello Amy. I'm Sheldon."
"Your name really is Sheldon?" She said in a slightly teasing tone, with a hint of suspicion.
"It is my favorite name, after all." He chuckled.
He relaxed into his spot on the couch. His spot... in his apartment with his new friend. Change might not be such a bad thing.
"Nice to meet you, Amy."
Well well well, did you know is way Amy? Of course, you did, you smarty pants readers!
I have to confess, I originally wrote this where you would NOT know it was Amy. "NO one's gonna know..." My co-author said "they're gonna know... I was like ... No one's gonna know... She said, they're gonna know..."(Anyone who watches TikTok will get this joke.)
Anyway, I really struggled with whether or not to put OC in the character list or not. I wonder if people will pass the story by because they don't think it is Shamy?
Do you guys think I should change the characters listed on the summary? Let me know in the reviews. Also, thanks for the reviews!
/ Just to let you know. There IS chapter 11 and 12. Fan fiction desktop doesn't show them but on the APP you can read them. I will waiting to see if Fan fiction works this bug out, but if not, I will find a way to get this story to you guys! I promise!/