Chapter 8

It was already a few days after Leonard's conversation with Wyatt. He was in his apartment typing on his computer when he heard a knock on the door. He stood up and opened it to see Howard, Raj, Bernadette, Amy and Penny with takeout food for dinner.

"Come in you guys." Leonard said as he returned to his desk to type on his computer.

"We ran into Penny at the lobby and invited her for dinner….I hope it's alright?" Bernadette said.

Leonard didn't respond and noticed the sudden silence in the apartment. He turned around and saw them looking at him.

"What's happening?" he asked until he realized they were waiting for his approval. "Oh you're asking me if Penny could join us for dinner?" the gang looked at him and didn't reply. "Why would I be against Penny joining us for dinner?" he asked Bernadette.

"Well….uh…." Bernadette uttered.

"Guys it's not a problem." Leonard said as he turned back to his computer. "I'll just finish my report and I'll join you shortly." he said.

No one replied as they started to unpack the dinner on the coffee table.

Penny walked towards Leonard.

"Uh Leonard….I want to apologize for what I did and that stuff with my dad….that was wrong of me to do that." Penny added. "I hope you could forgive me?" she said while looking at Leonard. The others looked at them, curious at what was happening.

Leonard sighed and closed his laptop. He stood up and faced Penny. "It's alright Penny….I ran into your dad the other day and we had a little talk." he smiled and put his hands on her arms to reassure her.

Penny smiled. "So are we good?" she asked.

"Yes we're good!" he smiled at her. "You know I can't stay mad at you." he said.

Penny got excited. "Thank you so much….you're so great Leonard!" she smiled back.

The other four looked at them, confused at what was happening. Leonard and Penny saw them.

"Uh what is happening?" Amy asked the two.

"It's nothing…..just a little misunderstanding…" Penny said.

Leonard looked at her. "A little misunderstanding!?" he asked her.

Penny turned to him. "Come on Leonard….please?" she said to him.

Leonard sighed. "Fine….can we eat now?" he asked her.

Amy and Bernadette smiled at each other and was somewhat relieved that Leonard and Penny were getting along nicely. Leonard sat on the couch while Penny took the chair.

"Okay let's dig in….aren't we going to wait for Sheldon?" Howard said as they take their seats. The apartment door suddenly opened and in came Sheldon with a beautiful young lady with him. Everyone looked at Sheldon and his companion until Amy decided to speak.

"Uh what is going on?" Amy asked Sheldon.

"Oh?….everyone this is Alex Jensen….Alex this is my girlfriend Amy, this is Bernadette, Howard, Raj and Penny….and you briefly met Leonard this afternoon." Sheldon said.

Alex smiled and waved at them. "Hi guys!" she said.

"Alex here is going to help me scan my childhood journals from home to look for any potential Nobel Prize winning idea that I may have already stumbled upon….like Peter Higgs did almost fifty years ago. Leonard was kind enough to approve my request to get an assistant for this task." Sheldon said as he went to sit on his spot.

"Oh like the Higgs Boson right?" Penny blurted out. Everyone was surprised and looked at Penny. Penny noticed them looking at her. "What?….I read it somewhere that Peter Higgs suggested the existence of the Higgs Boson is what gives all matter mass, but it took them a long time to prove it…..I guess he's lucky enough to still be alive to see his theory proven right?" she said. Everyone became more confused.

"Who are you and what have you done to Penny?" Howard asked.

"I only know what I read in the internet." Penny smiled at them.

Sheldon looked at Penny. "Hmmm...perhaps there is still hope for you after all." he said them turned his attention back to the gang. "As I was saying, Alex was kind enough to drive me home today." Sheldon added. "and don't worry Amy, I already told Alex that we are in a romantic relationship and should she find herself in awe of my genius, I told her that our relationship would be strictly professional and shall focus on my number one love – Lady Science!" Sheldon said.

"Yay!" Alex said sarcastically.

Sheldon turned to Leonard. "Was that sarcasm?"

"No!" Leonard said sarcastically.

Sheldon thought for a while then turned to Amy. "Was that sarcasm?" he asked.

"Yes." Amy said.

Sheldon then turned to Penny. "Was that sarcasm?" he asked again.

"Sheldon just sit and eat your food." Penny told him. Sheldon sat down and took a food container as Alex decided to speak.

"Well, I gotta get going now….nice meeting you guys!" she said as she started to walk towards the door.

"Uh Alex why don't you join us?….we have plenty of food…." Leonard said.

Alex smiled and was about to speak when Sheldon cut her off. "Leonard is it appropriate for her to join us? She's just my assistant." he said in a low voice.

"And I'm your supervisor!" Leonard told him. Sheldon didn't answered.

"Oh!….Leonard's gone Alpha Nerd on Sheldon!" Howard said smiling.

"It's gonna be fine Sheldon." Leonard said to Sheldon

"I don't want to impose Dr. Hofstadter…." Alex said.

"It's alright Alex….we could all share...right guys?" Leonard said. Everyone nodded their heads.

"Thank you." Alex said as Leonard scooted to make room for Alex on the couch. Leonard gave her a paper plate as they started getting food from the table.

"So Alex, what is the topic of your dissertation?" Leonard asked.

"Oh I'm looking for Trojan Asteroids at Earth's L5 Lagrange Point." Alex smiled at Leonard.

"Really?….Raj here is an astrophysicist….maybe he can help you out?" Leonard smiled at her.

Alex turned to Raj. "Really? Is that true?" she smiled at him.

Raj nervously looked at her, unable to speak. He held up his index finger asking her to give him a minute as he stood up and quickly went to the fridge to look for a beer or any alcoholic drink.

Leonard yelled at him. "Sorry Raj….we're out of beer." he smiled.

Alex turned to Leonard. "I'm sorry but what just happened?" she asked.

"Raj can't talk to women without alcohol in his system." Leonard said taking a bite of his food.

"What?….How about his mother? Or his sister?" Alex asked.

"Okay Alex, let me rephrase that….Raj can't speak to women he might have a chance of sleeping with." Howard said.

"That is so creepy….and sad at the same time…" Alex said.

Raj went back and whispered to Howard.

"What do you want me to do!?….Leonard already set you up but you blew it!" Howard told him. Raj whispered to him again.

"Gee I don't know…..seek professional help!" Howard said to Raj.

"Poor Raj." Amy said.

"So you're working with high energy lasers?" Alex asked Leonard.

"Yes." he said.

"Are they for the military?" she asked.

"No….but I can remove unwanted hair from two miles away!" Leonard proudly said.

Alex laughed. "You're so funny Dr. Hofstadter." she smiled at him.

"Thank you….and please call me Leonard….Dr. Hofstadter is my dad….and my mom….my sister…..and our cat!" he said to her.

Alex looked at him slightly perplexed.

"But I'm pretty sure Dr. Boots Hofstadter's degree is honorary…..guess what his dissertation is?" he asked Alex.

"Oh does it involve a mathematical correlation between their hunting efficiency and the mouse's reproductive cycles?" Alex jokingly asked.

"No it's much simpler….it's the elastic coefficient of a ball of yarn in relation to it's diameter." Leonard said.

They both laughed heartily and continued to talk about science and stuff. The rest of the gang sat and ate quietly, interjecting with Leonard and Alex's conversation from time to time. Penny ate quietly trying hard not to feel irritated at Leonard and Alex having a lively conversation. She felt jealous and insecure at Alex for being not only a brainiac like the rest of her friends, but also at how pretty she was with her slim figure, brown hair, cute nose and like herself, green eyes.

Alex suddenly felt her phone vibrate. She was almost done eating and put her plate down to look at her phone.

"Is everything alright?" Leonard asked her.

"Yeah….it's my brother….I have to pick him up from his cello lessons." Alex said.

"Is it your brother's instrument of choice?" he smiled at her.

"No. He wanted a violin by my mom insisted on the cello….he's getting pretty good at it actually. Why do you ask?" she said.

"I play the cello….and like your brother, my mom insisted it on me too!" he said.

"Really!? That is so cool." Alex said.

"Believe me it's not….it added no cool points for me growing up….it kinda went the other way actually." Leonard said.

Alex laughed at Leonard's revelation. "Well I guess I better get going….thank you guys for dinner! I had fun." she said as she stood up.

"Let me walk you to the door." Leonard said as he followed and opened the door for her.

"Thank you Leonard." she added. "Hey uh….are you doing anything on Saturday?" Alex asked him.

"No. Why do you ask?" he said.

"Well I'm going to see Kip Thorne give a lecture on Sub-Atomic Space-Time and if you want you could come with me…" she gave him a hopeful look.

"Oh that's his take on John Wheeler's Quantum Foam...that should be interesting. Yeah sure, why not." Leonard smiled at her. Bernadette and Amy glanced at Penny. They couldn't believe what they were witnessing.

Alex's face immediately lit up. "Okay great! I'll text you with the time and place tomorrow." she said.

"Okay." he said.

"Bye Leonard." she said then turned to the rest of the gang. "Bye guys!" she said as she turned around and left the apartment.

Leonard closed the door and sat back on the couch to continue eating. The rest of them stayed quiet and just focused on eating their food.

Howard then turned to Raj. "See Raj?….that's how you do it!" he said. Raj just looked at him and didn't respond.

"Did what?" Sheldon asked Howard.

"Didn't you see?….a girl just asked Leonard out on a date!" Howard said. Bernadette nudged his side. "Howie!" she said.

"Are you suggesting that Leonard is going on a date with Alex?" Sheldon asked.

Leonard decided to butt in. "It's not a date….we're just attending a lecture." he said. The rest of them continued to eat quietly until it was time for them to call it a night. The girls decided to stay at Penny's place for a while to have some wine while Howard and Raj chose to go home.

"Are you alright Penny?" Amy asked as they drank their wine.

"Why?….is it because Alex just asked Leonard out?" Penny snapped at her. Amy didn't answer her. "Ugh I hate her!" Penny almost yelled.

"Relax Penny….like Leonard said, it's not a date...they're just going to see a lecture." Bernadette said.

"She's right….and it might be inappropriate for them to go on a date seeing that Alex is technically Leonard's employee." Amy added.

They sat quietly for a while when Bernadette spoke again.

"Penny, what was that stuff with your father and Leonard anyway?" she asked.

"It's nothing...just a little misunderstanding with my dad." Penny answered.

"Come on Penny….tell us." Amy said.

Penny sighed. "Fine. I didn't tell my dad that Leonard and I have broken up for more than a year now. He visited last week and ran into Leonard. Leonard invited my dad to wait in his apartment and they found out I lied about the breakup. They were obviously upset at me for lying about it." she said.

"What!? Why did you lied to your dad about the breakup?" Amy asked.

"Because….Leonard is the first guy I dated that my dad actually likes and I didn't want to disappoint him that Leonard and I aren't together anymore…." Penny said.

"Oh Penny?" Bernadette said.

"What are you gonna do now?" Amy asked.

"I don't know….I'm just glad that Leonard and I are now okay and then comes this Alex chick." Penny said.

"Come on Penny….if you really want Leonard back you need to tell him now before Alex beats you to it." Bernadette said.

"I will. I just need the right time to tell him." Penny said.