Chapter 15
Penny spent the next couple of weeks preparing for her job interview at Bernadette's pharmaceutical company as a sales representative. She bought a new corporate-style outfit to wear for her interview. She also revised her resume and let Leonard go over it to highlight her strengths which was not much to begin with. They just finished dinner in their apartment and was sitting on the couch going over her strategy for the interview to increase her chances and avoid saying the wrong words.
"Okay, I'll be the interviewer and you'll answer my questions as short and as simple as possible." said Leonard.
Penny nodded. "Okay. Go for it." she said, trying not to look nervous.
"Okay Penny, why do you think we should hire you for this job?" he asked.
Penny sat up straight, smiled and 'got into character'. "Well, I'm a people person and I get along with people well and people get along with me. You know, people person." she said giving him a weak smile.
"Okay, instead of saying people a hundred times, just say that you're a people person, approachable and easy to relate to!" said Leonard. Penny nodded. "Let's continue. Other people with college degrees are applying for this job and you don't have one, what makes you think you're more qualified than them?" asked Leonard.
"Come on Leonard!?" Penny protested.
"It will come up in the interview Penny. It's better to talk about it now than you being surprised later." said Leonard.
Penny sighed. "Okay. Well, if you give me a chance, I promise I'll work twice as hard as anybody else and will give my all to prove myself." she said.
Leonard smiled. "That's perfect honey." he said tapping her shoulder. "Okay, last one. How would you convince a doctor who prescribes a competitor's drug for the longest time to switch over to our brand?" he said.
Penny looked at him and didn't now what to say. "Uh….I'll tell him that….our product is better…."
"How is it better?" Leonard quickly added.
"Uh…it Is better in…it is cheaper…" she said.
"Okay honey…what you say is that your product is as effective and as efficient as the rival drug and is FDA-approved." he said.
"FDA?" she asked.
"Food and Drug Administration. They're the ones who approves pharmaceutical products before being sold to the public." said Leonard.
"Oh? Okay." she said putting her hands against her face. "God, I must be stupid to think I could do this!" she said.
Leonard put his arm around her. "Hey, hey. Relax honey, you can do this. All you need to do is relax and take a deep breath." he said smiling at her.
Penny looked at him and gave him a hug. "Why are you so kind to me?" she said.
"Penny, we're a team remember? We support each other." he said kissing her cheek. "Now why don't we go to bed and get some sleep? You don't want to be late for your interview tomorrow." he said.
"I guess." she said as Leonard pulled her to the bedroom. Penny went to the bathroom to wash up and change into her night shirt. Leonard was already in bed reading a magazine when Penny came out of the bathroom. She slid under the covers as Leonard put the magazine down and laid beside her. Penny moved up to kiss him on the lips. "Good night honey." she said then hugging him.
"Good night Penny." he said pulling her close.
"I love you so much." she said as she closed her eyes to sleep.
"Me too." he said, turning off the lamp.
The next day, Bernadette agreed to drive by the apartment to take Penny with her for the interview.
"Honey, Bernie's here. I'm gonna go now!" she said as Leonard came out of the bedroom, buttoning his shirt.
"Okay honey. Good luck! I know you'll do great." he said kissing her lips.
"Thank you honey. I'll call you later alright?" she said kissing him back before going out the door.
"Bye honey." he said waving goodbye to his girlfriend.
Penny found herself in the waiting area with the other job applicants. She looked at them and can't help but feel out of place among these college graduates and career-driven sales people, far more qualified than her. She tried to push these thoughts out of her head and just focus on herself. She thought of Leonard and how he made her feel, how he believed in her, how he always forgave her for all her shortcomings and how lucky she was to have someone like him in her life. She was thinking of the day she followed Leonard in the conference in Nebraska when she suddenly heard someone call her name. She stood up and went with the secretary to the interview room.
"Good morning, I'm Dan and I'm gonna be your interviewer for today. Please have a seat." said Dan
"Good morning Dan! I'm Penny." she said, sitting down.
"So Penny, looking at your resume, I can see that you don't have any experience in pharmaceutical sales unlike the other applicants outside. So tell me why I should I hire you?" he said bluntly.
Penny tried to stay calm and remember her practice interview with Leonard the night before. "Uh, well, I'm a people person and I'm easily relatable." she said trying to sound confident.
Dan nodded. "Okay, what have you learned from your past job experience that will enable you to excel in this field?" he asked.
Penny drew a blank and didn't know how to respond while staring at Dan. She blinked her eyes and tried to focus. She knew she was never getting this job so she decided to come clean. "Okay, I'm sorry if I wasted your time. My friend Bernadette set me up for this interview because she believed in me and I thought by coming here I would get a second chance in life but I guess I was just fooling myself." she said trying to hold back her tears. She stood up and went for the door.
"Where are you going? We're not done yet." Dan said looking at her.
Penny was somewhat surprised. "Uh, I'm sorry?" she said.
"Please take a seat Penny and tell me what you mean when you said a second chance." Dan said.
Penny sat back down and tried to compose herself. "Uh, I just thought that if I get this job I would get a second chance in life." she said.
"I'm listening." he said as he leaned back on his chair.
"Well, I had to move back to my hometown in Nebraska two years ago because I failed here in California. I was a waitress and an 'aspiring actress' but I failed in both of those. My debt piled up, not to mention my personal life was a disaster. I hurt the only person who really loved me and my life was just going nowhere. That's why I decided to move back because he was the only good thing that happened to me here in California and all I did was take him for granted and push him away. Then we ran into each other a couple of weeks ago and decided to give our relationship another shot. I promised myself that I would straighten my life for him and I had hoped that by getting this job, I would have something for him to be proud of me." she said, trying to keep it together.
Dan nodded. "He seems like a great guy huh?" he said.
"He's the greatest guy I know." she said.
Dan looked at Penny and thought for a while.
"Do you think you deserve a second chance?" he asked Penny.
Penny sighed. "I probably don't but Leonard and my friends believed in me and if they do, then I guess all I have to do is give it my all." said Penny.
Dan sighed and folded Penny's file on the table.
"If I give you this job, what can you promise me?" Dan asked, looking straight at her.
Penny took a deep breath. "Give me a shot and I'll work twice as hard as anyone." she said trying to straighten her posture.
Dan nodded. "I probably shouldn't do this but alright Penny, I'll give you a shot. Just a shot!" he said.
Penny was shocked and surprised. "Oh my god! Really!? Thank you so much! I promise I won't let you down." she exclaimed.
"Don't make promises you can't keep Penny. Just do your best, that's all I ask." Dan said.
Penny nodded. "Okay. Thank you so much!" said Penny.
Dan nodded. "Good luck." he said as he shook Penny's hand. Penny stood up and left the room, feeling a renewed sense of hope. She excitedly walked along the hallway and texted Bernadette that she's done with the interview. After a few minutes, Bernadette joined her at the building reception.
"So how did it go?" Bernadette asked. Penny gave her a thumbs up making Bernadette scream and jump. "Oh my god Penny, congratulations! This is so amazing!" she said. "I knew you'd get in!" she added hugging her friend.
"Thank you so much Bernie. I wouldn't have gotten this job if it weren't for you." said Penny.
"Come on Penny, all I did was got you through the door. This is all on you!" said Bernadette. "Did you tell Leonard yet?" she asked.
"No. I want to surprise him tonight!" she said.
"I'm sure he'll be happy to hear the news. Come on I'll drive you home." said Bernadette.
"No Bernie. You have a job to do. I'll just take a cab home." Penny said.
"It's no big deal Penny. I'm on a coffee break anyway. Let's go." said Bernadette as they walked out into the parking lot.
They reached home as Bernadette parked the car to the side of the road. "I'm really happy for you Penny." she said.
Penny hugged her tight. "Thank you so much Bernie. I owe you." she said.
"Penny it's alright. You deserve this second chance." Bernadette said.
"Thanks again. Drive safe alright." Penny said as she got off the car. Bernadette drove away as Penny waved goodbye to her.
Later that night, Leonard opened his apartment's door and saw Penny cooking something at the stove. "Honey, I'm home!" he said as he put his briefcase on his desk.
"Hi honey! How's work?" she said as she turned off the stove, walked up to him and gave him a big kiss.
Leonard held her by her waist. "It's alright I guess. How was the interview?" he asked.
Penny wrapped her hands around his neck and smiled at him. "Well, how would you like to have sex with a pharmaceutical sales rep tonight!?" she said teasing him.
Leonard's jaw dropped and couldn't believe what he just heard. "Oh my god honey, congratulations! I knew you'd get in! That is so amazing!" he said laughing and hugging her tight.
"Thank you honey! And it wouldn't have happened if you didn't believed in me." she said kissing him.
"Penny, this is your accomplishment. This is all on you!" he said.
"Thank you honey." she said as she pulled him towards the bedroom.
"I thought we were gonna have dinner?" he said as they enter the bedroom.
"Dinner can wait. We'll celebrate first." she winked at him as she closed the bedroom door.
Penny rested her head on Leonard's shoulder as they try to catch their breaths after making love.
"That was amazing." said Penny.
"Yeah it was...so when are you gonna start on your new job?" he asked.
"Next week. Which reminds me, I need to buy a few more business clothes tomorrow." said Penny.
"Okay. Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.
"It's alright honey. I don't want you to skip work for me." Penny said.
"Alright, how about this, let's go out to dinner tomorrow to celebrate more." Leonard said.
Penny moved and kissed him. "I'd love that honey." she said. "Come on let's eat, I'm starving." said Penny as she stood up, putting on her robe. Leonard got dressed and followed her to the table.
They ate dinner while talking about how the interview went. Penny told her about how nervous she was and how she almost blew the interview.
"I'm so proud of you Penny. I really am." Leonard said squeezing her hand.
"Thank you honey. I'm gonna make sure I do my best at this job so you'll be proud of me." she said.
"Penny, don't do this for me, do this for yourself. You deserve this." he smiled at her as they started to clean up the table. After cleaning up, Penny grabbed Leonard's hand and led him back into the bedroom. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"I think it's pretty obvious, we're not done celebrating mister!" she said smiling at him.