A/N I know I got a bit technical in the previous chapter, I do here and will in some upcoming chapters. For those who have read my stories before, you know that's how I write. Also, I'm doing it here, at the beginning, so in future chapters, I don't have to stop, and explain something. And, yes, I finished the first draft of another chapter (23 if you must know) so I'm putting up the next chapter, here you go.
Chapter 3
Apt 4A, 7 PM, Friday, January 20, 2012
Leonard wasn't sure how, but Penny had managed not to say anything yet about how her callback had gone. Everyone was over, and they had just finished the usual Friday night dinner: Pizza, Salads, and Spaghetti for those so inclined. All were talking about their weeks, when Penny looked at Leonard and smiled. Leonard nodded and Penny cleared her throat.
"Hey, everyone," said Penny, "I have an announcement."
"You and Leonard are engaged," said Bernadette sarcastically.
"Bernadette, sweety, shut up," said Penny, smiling at Leonard.
"You are finally going to admit your limitations and return to Nebraska, to tip cows," said Sheldon.
"Sheldon, sweety, shut up," said Penny with a scowl.
"What is it bestie?" said Amy.
"Well," started Penny, "Sheldon, you're wrong."
"Penny," Sheldon started in a condescending tone, "you know you have limitations as…"
"You know that callback I had on Tuesday?" They all nodded. "I got the part." Amy and Bernadette jumped up, squealing, and ran to grinning Penny to hug her. "So, you see Sheldon, I don't have those limitations you spoke of."
"Well," said Sheldon, "you're still ending your sentences with a preposition. So you obviously…
Be quiet, Sheldon," hissed Amy.
Howard and Raj offered their congratulations, all of them had big smiles on their faces.
"Please, tell us all about it, Penny," pleaded Bernadette.
"OK, sit back down and I'll tell you everything I can." Penny paused for a few seconds, "The part is for a pilot for a new TV comedy. I have a meeting on Tuesday, to talk about contracts and shooting schedules, all of that. If the show gets picked up and they keep me around, it'll be on this fall."
"So when will you know?" Asked Howard.
"Like I said, I have a meeting on Tuesday," said Penny. "I'll know more then. As for knowing when or if it gets picked up, probably not until March or April. So, I don't know, or can't tell you anything else, for now. I'm asking everyone back for Tuesday night, as I'll know more. We can order our usual Friday stuff."
"But, that will interfere with our schedule," said Sheldon. "Tuesday is the day we go to The Cheesecake Factory."
"I'll tell you what Sheldon," said Penny. "Anyone who wants to know about my part and my possibly being on a TV show, can come over Tuesday for pizza and other Italian food. Anyone who doesn't care about my part and TV show can go to the Cheesecake Factory. Those who come here on Tuesday, can go to The Cheesecake Factory on Friday."
"Well, that seems fair," said Sheldon. "Howard, Bernadette, can I count on you being at the Cheesecake Factory on Tuesday?"
"No, Sheldon, I want to hear what Penny says," said Bernadette.
"Howard?"
"Oh, gee," said Howard, "let me think. Do I go with Sheldon and listen to him blathering, or do I get Bernadette angry? Hmmmmmmm, Sorry Sheldon."
"Fine, Raj will come with me, won't you?" said Sheldon.
"No, Sheldon, I want to hear what Penny says also."
"Who needs any of you, I have Amy," said Sheldon.
"Actually Sheldon, I too, want to hear what Penny has to say."
"Amy?" said Sheldon, sounding hurt, "You are my Girlfriend, how can you not want to come with me?"
"She's my bestie," said Amy shrugging.
"Well, if you all want to throw off the schedule, than I suppose we're all eating here on Tuesday," said Sheldon.
Penny looked at Leonard and smiled.
Cal Tech Laser Lab, 4:30 PM, Tuesday 24 January, 2012.
It was really bugging Leonard. He had set up the experiment in his mind, and had started going over possible outcomes. But, he couldn't visualize how he would get the results. Maybe it was because he couldn't curve space, in his experiment, enough to see how the particles behaved. He had been looking at the numbers, and moving them around. Hehehehehe, actually, I've been moving more letters than numbers.
He had been doing this for over three hours now. Trying to get something, anything, to make sense. Maybe I can get Sheldon to look this over. He can't help me with the experimental side, but the theoretical…Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but what is it? Hmmmm, all this looks good, maybe I should start…
"Hey, you, what are you thinking about so hard?"
Leonard looked up to see Penny standing in the doorway, and sounding surprised said, "Whaaa?"
Penny chuckled, "I've been here for almost five minutes, and calling out to you for about a minute."
He still looked confused, "What are you doing here, I…wait, how did you find me?"
"Well, I've been calling you for over an hour," Penny said. "When I couldn't get an answer, and there was no reply to my texts and voicemails, I thought I would come down here. So I called Howard when I parked, he brought me to your office."
"But why would you need to call me?" asked Leonard. "What is so important that you would come down here?"
Penny looked at him strangely, "Did you forget I had the meeting today for contracts and to find out what is going on with the pilot?"
Leonard dropped his chin to his chest and shook his head, "I'm an idiot, yes, I forgot. How did it go?"
"I have soooo much to tell you," said Penny excitedly. "Will you be home anytime soon?"
Leonard looked at his notes, "I've been looking at this for three hours, and I still don't have an answer. So, yeah, let me put away my papers and shut down the equipment and I can leave."
"You do what you have to do," said Penny. "I'm gonna head on home. Why don't you stop and get the food for tonight? Everyone is going to be there coming over at six, so make sure you get everything."
Leonard nodded, and Penny walked over and gave him a kiss, and said, "OK, bye," then turned and walked out.
2311 North Robles, 5:30 PM, Tuesday 24 January 2012
Leonard was sitting in his car, sending a text to Penny. It was only seconds when she answered:
c u in a sec.
Leonard got out of the car and opened the back door. There were two boxes full of food, along with two boxes with pizza in them, on the back seat. Leonard took both pizza boxes out and put them on the trunk, then he grabbed the other boxes. He had just closed the door when Penny appeared.
"Need help?"
"Yeah, that's why I sent the message," said Leonard.
Penny grabbed the two pizza box, and they started toward the door of the apartment building. Entering, they walked up the three flights of stairs, and walked into apartment 4A. Penny put the pizzas on the coffee table and Leonard put the other boxes on the kitchen island. When Sheldon and Amy came in shortly after, Amy having brought him home, Leonard was taking the pasta and salads out of the boxes.
Sheldon had already sat in his 'spot' while Amy was getting their drinks. Penny was moving Leonard's desk chair next to the armchair where he usually sat and Leonard was putting out the plates, cups, and silverware.
Just then, Howard, Bernadette and Raj entered calling out their greetings to everyone. Howard went to get their drinks while Bernadette sat on the couch, on the opposite end of Sheldon's spot. Raj put the six pack of beer he brought with him into the fridge.
Howard and Raj had gotten their drinks, Howard taking Bernadette hers. Penny then spoke, "It's all ready, get what you want. After we eat, I'll go over everything from my meeting today, so no questions until then."
Everyone agreed, went and got their food, and started eating. They all made small talk, asking and telling each other about what had happened during the day. After everyone finished eating, Sheldon and Amy started picking up and washing the dishes, while Howard and Bernadette cleared the leftover food. After about 20 minutes, everything was cleaned up and put away. They all got refills on their drinks and sat back where they were sitting waiting expectantly. Finally, Amy spoke up, "OK bestie, it's your turn. What happened today?"
Penny was smiling, as she started speaking. "OK, as you know, I got a part. I will be playing someone called Jessica Rogers. She is a waitress and aspiring actress in New York. The show will star Jeanie Corbette. She will play my character's friend and roommate, and her name is Allison Major. You two should remember her," Penny was pointing at Amy and Bernadette. "She was on 'Sex in the City', one of Carrie's bosses?" They both nodded, and Penny continued, "The other star is David Collura, you guys know him as Captain Avery."
Leonard knew this was coming, but the other three guys all oooohhhhed, at that information. "His name is Bill Roberts and he's also Allison's boyfriend. His best friend is played by a guy named Dana Lynch. He's had a few guest spots on various shows and I think a couple of small parts in the movies. I had met David and Jeanie at the callbacks, but it was the first time I had met Dana."
"We got together and introduced ourselves to each other, then talked a bit. Then we talked to several of the writers, several other people, costumes, props, all those, then we had lunch. After that, the two creators and the head writer talked to us. Told us a little about the show, then they all wished us well and told us they would see us around the middle of February. We should get our scripts the first week of February, then shoot a week later."
"How much are you getting paid?" Asked Amy.
"Yeah," said Bernadette, "how much?"
Penny didn't say anything for a few seconds, then asked, "How much are you getting paid Amy?" Amy looked down and didn't say anything, so Penny turned toward Bernadette, "How about you Bernadette, how much?"
"I'm getting a buttload of money," said Bernadette.
"How about you get more specific?" said Penny.
Bernadette didn't say anything, just looked down.
"Yeah, I thought so," said Penny. Then she grinned. "I get it, I really do. I was always looking for what stars were getting paid. Were still in negotiations, but since this is a new show, and I'm basically a new actor, I won't get as much as the others. Dave and Jeanie are probably getting 60 to 100 thousand Dana may be getting around 40-50. I'll probably get 20 thousand."
Bernadette looked puzzled, "That's not much, I made that and more when I worked at The Cheesecake Factory."
Penny had a puzzled expression on her face, then a look of comprehension came over it and she started chuckling. "No, Bernadette, if the show gets picked up, all those numbers are per episode."
There was a sharp intake of breath by Bernadette, "How many episodes?"
"Well, if we are doing well, and get approval for more episodes, we should get 22 episodes for the season."
"That would be over 400 thousand for the season, that's more than I make," said Bernadette indignantly.
Penny was grinning. "Well, look at the stars. If those two get 100 thousand an episode, they're making more than 2 million a year."
Everyone looked shocked, and Amy was the first to speak. "So you're are going to get 400 thousand a year?"
"No, Amy," said Penny. "First off, unless the show is picked up for the fall, all I'll get is the six to ten thousand for the pilot, the other actors will get more. I only get the 400 thousand if they keep me after the pilot, if the show goes on to become an actual series, if the show is successful and if the show gets what's called a back end order. They usually order 13 episodes, and if it's doing well, they'll order another 9. Now, if they keep me around, I'll get 13 episodes worth of pay, so if they pick up the pilot, I'll get around 250 thousand. There's other things that have to be negotiated but a lot of this is based on the contract with the Screen Actors Guild."
"For example," said Penny, "if they decide they don't want me to continue, after the pilot, they have to pay me such and such an amount, but it will be a lot less than the 250 thousand I would get if I was part of the show. I also have to sign a contract that lasts seven years. This way, if the show is renewed they have me for at least that long. After the first three years, though, I can renegotiate my pay. Now the studio would have to agree, but if it's successful, there shouldn't be a problem, as long as I don't get too greedy, but I'm sure my agent will guide me there. Then, before I get it, they take out taxes, my agents fee, the SAG dues, all that. By the time I would get my money, my twenty-thousand would more than likely be down to twelve-thousand or so."
Again, everyone looked shocked.
"So, that's enough about what I'll make. Let's see, the producers have a production deal with Warner-Brothers, so it will be shot there. It's like a 20 minute drive from here, right down the 134. Once we shoot it, then it will be shopped around. I understand that CBS has first shot at it. I'm sure they will watch it, have some test audiences watch it and then decide. If they don't want it, then NBC, FOX, ABC and possibly the CW may have a shot. We would just have to wait until we find out. But the producers seemed quite sure that CBS does want it."
"So, I get the script in a couple of weeks, we shoot a week after that. Then we wait, it may take up to a month, maybe longer, to find out if it's picked up by a network. Then we would have to wait until the up-fronts, or just before, to find out what day and time we would be on."
"Up-fronts?" Said Howard.
"Yeah," said Penny, "the up-fronts are where the networks put out their schedule, they bring in the stars and try to sell most of their ad time, upfront or before the season, which is where the name comes from. It usually happens mid to late May. If we get picked up by CBS, we may be onstage at the up-fronts in New York. I think that's about it."
"What's the show about?" asked Raj.
"Oh, sorry," said Penny. "It's basically how the two women are trying to get work in New York. One is trying to become a TV writer, the other is an actress, working as a waitress, that's me. The boyfriend is just starting out working at an ad agency, creating ads, and his best friend is trying to become a chef and open his own restaurant. It's gonna be called either Tales of the City or Major's Tales of the City."
"Well, I can't wait to see it, bestie," said Amy, sounding excited.
"Well, even if it doesn't get picked up," said Penny, "you will be able to see it. I'll get a CD with the show on it, to use as an example of my work, so I'll play it for everyone. Now, anything else?" No one said anything, so Penny asked Bernadette about her work, and everyone else broke into groups to talk about various things.
Apt 4B, 11 PM
They were in the bathroom, brushing their teeth. Leonard had finished and was getting in bed when Penny spoke up, "I forgot, there was one other thing that happened. It completely slipped my mind."
"What?"
"I had to fill out my paperwork, to join the SAG-AFTRA, and while I was doing that, my agent told me there were three other women with my name."
"What?" said Leonard sounding shocked, "Three other women?"
"Yeah," said Penny, "it was a surprise to me also. Anyway, my agent said it would be better to come up with a different name, so I wouldn't be confused with the others with that name. I couldn't think of anything quickly, so I just used my grandmother's maiden name, and something that could be my actual given name."
"Huh," said Leonard, "why your grandmother's name, and not your mother?"
"There were two or three with my mother's madden name, so I went with my grandmother's."
Leonard looked puzzled, "Wait a minute, how could something like that slip your mind?"
"Well, maybe it didn't slip my mind," said Penny with a sly grin. "Maybe, I just wanted to tell you first."
"Well, OK, I can believe that."
"Leonard," said Penny, still grinning, "what do you think about sleeping with a new television star tonight."
"I don't know," said Leonard with a grin. "What's this big star's name?"
Penny smiled and said, "Penelope Jensen." She leaned over and kissed Leonard, then said, "But, I'll always be Penny to you."