A/N The storm (Florence) has forced us to leave early our friend's house (in southern Viginia) early, so I want to get this out before we leave. See the previous A/N for some notes about this chapter.

Chapter 10

Warner Brothers Studio, 6:30 PM, Friday, Feb 17th, 2012

Penny came out from behind the curtain, bowed, and moved to her right. The lights were up on the audience, almost all were clapping and cheering. She could see her friends off to her left and waved to them, all but Sheldon waved back. Penny started waving at all the other audience members as she moved to stand next to Kelli and did her second bow.

The other three stars were introduce, ending with Jeanie standing right in front of the opening in the curtain. The announcer, asked everyone to give one more big cheer, and the stars waved one last time and headed back behind the curtain.

Penny and Jeanie walked over to their apartment, while David and Dana went to theirs. The dividers and curtains were removed from the guys apartment, and they started their scene. They went through the scene twice, and after the second time, the director yelled cut, and the dividers and curtains were put back into place. The lights came up over the audience and the announcer started telling jokes, threw out some candy and generally tried to keep the audience in a good mood.

While all this was going on, the cameras and about twenty of the production people moved over to the right as the audience watched. After several minutes, the curtain and dividers were removed, showing the audience the women's apartment. The gang was excited to see Penny, standing behind the kitchen island, while her co-star was in what looked like the living room. That was where each of them started the scene.

Penny was nervous, wondering if she had all her lines, and didn't want to make mistakes with the audience there. She was also thinking about the director, and though she said she didn't think he could yell at her, she was afraid he might. She was jolted back to the taping as the audience lights went down. The director made sure everyone was in place and called "action" and the women started their scene.

After a few lines, Penny messed up one of her lines. She stopped, and started to panic, then remembered the line and indicated they should keep going. The director agreed, and they re-started the scene, with Penny walking into the living room. The scene ended and the producers and the director walked into the living room and were talking with Penny and Jeanie.

While they were doing that, the announcer was again telling jokes, which most of the audience chuckled at. The director and producers walked away, and the announcer, as he had with the guy's scene, quieted the audience and then told them to try and react like they were hearing it for the first time.

The scene started and Penny started struggling in the same place. She stammered a couple of times and then yelled, "Shit." The audience laughed, but the director didn't look happy, and was about to say something, when a woman, the script supervisor, ran up to Penny with a script, letting her look it over.

In the audience, Sheldon leaned over to Amy and whispered, "See, what did I tell you about her forgetting her lines, because she forgets my…"

"Sheldon, be quiet," Amy hissed.

Penny looked at the script, nodded and took a deep breath. The woman with the script ran off. Although the director still didn't look happy, he had them reset and started the scene again. They were almost to the end of the scene when Jeanie messed up her lines, and shouted loudly, "Fuck." Again the audience laughed and Penny broke up. Again, the woman with the script ran up, but Jeanie waved her away saying, "I got it."

They went back to where Penny was walking into the living room and restarted. This time, Penny and Jeanie got through the scene with no problems, and at the end, the director yelled "Cut, that's great, let's just move on."

This went on for the next hour. The actors would come out, they would do a scene, talk it over with the producers and director, then redo the scene a second time. Several times, the writers were called in, and after a few minutes, they gave the actor another line, and they taping continued.

In between all of this, the announcer continued his patter, his jokes, and his magic tricks. He would also ask audience members to come up and sing, or dance. What he was trying to do was to keep the audience entertained, keep them involved, keep their energy up.

At one point, at the end of a sweet scene, most of the audience said "Awwwwwwww" loudly. The actors and director got together, and someone else walked up to the group. The director nodded, then walked over to the announcer, and whispered to him. The announcer then said they had to do it again, and they didn't want the sound on tape, so he asked the audience to refrain from saying awwwwwwww. So they had to run that scene three times.

The gang, even Sheldon, was enjoying the show, all the other activity, and the announcer's jokes and tricks in between. Howard volunteered to get up, and instead of singing or dancing, did some sleight of hand magic tricks. The audience cheered Howard after each of his tricks and even the announcer seemed impressed.

They had just finished the eighth scene, when the studio pages brought down some large boxes to each of the end walkways, and started passing out bottles of water. After that, the pages brought more boxes, and passed out containers with a piece of pizza in them. By the time everyone had finished eating, and the trash had been passed back to be put in the large boxes, it had been about 30 minutes. The announcer then said it would be about 10 minutes before the taping started again.

As soon as Penny had finished the scene before the break, she rushed up to her dressing room and found Leonard looking at the TV. "So, what did you think?" Asked Penny apprehensively.

"Looks interesting," said Leonard, "it looks a lot like what I saw during rehearsals, although I see you messed up at the beginning.

"Yeah," said Penny, "but Jeanie messed up and I kinda relaxed and I quit worrying about myself messing up."

"Well, except for that, you did everything else right, and I think you're doing a great job."

"Thank you Leonard," said Penny smiling."

"What's going on now?"

"It's break time," said Penny. "We get a few minutes to get something to eat, and relax. You want to come down with me to grab something?"

"Sure."

Leonard and Penny went to the food table and each took a small sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water. They found a place away from everyone and sat down on the floor. It took them only about fifteen minutes to eat and when they finished, Leonard asked, "How are you felling?"

"Like I said, better after Jeanie messed up," said Penny. "But, I'm still feeling nervous before we start each scene."

He rubbed her arm, "I think you're doing well, so don't be nervous."

Penny said, "Can you head on up to my dressing room, by yourself? I want to run over the changes we got today, make sure I have them memorized."

"I know the way," said Leonard. He hugged Penny, and headed toward the stairs. Just as he got to the first step, he heard, "Hi Leonard."

He turned to find Tina smiling at him. He smiled back, "Hi Tina, how's the taping going?"

"Going great," said Tina, "your girlfriend is killing it tonight."

"She is?" said Leonard questioningly. "I told her she was doing good," then he confided, "but I really don't know anything about making a TV show. She really is doing good?"

"Oh, yeah," said Tina, "she is. Jim and Kelli are laughing like crazy."

"Maybe I should tell her," said Leonard, "she'll feel better."

"No," said Tina, "don't you dare. She's doing fine just the way she is."

"But…"

"No, Leonard," said Tina, "just leave her be. Now, where are you going?"

"Back up to the room," said Leonard. "She wanted to go over her script before you all started again."

"You can sit down here," said Tina as she led him over to some chairs. She pointed, "If you look over there, you can see the monitors, if she's not in the apartment in front of you. You can sit here, if you promise to stay here for the rest of the show."

"But what happens if she sees me? You don't want her to know about how she doing, isn't this as bad?"

"No problem," said Tina, "I'll tell her where you're sitting so it won't surprise her. As long as she knows you're here, it shouldn't bother her, and she'll probably be concentrating too much to really notice. Now go ahead and sit, I have to run."

"Thanks," said Leonard as he settled into the chair.

Penny was sitting on the couch, in the women's apartment set, going over her script, when Jeanie came over and sat down next to her. "How are you doing?" asked Jeanie.

Penny smiled, "Getting through it. I thought I was going get yelled at when I messed up my lines, so thank you for screwing up also."

Jeanie lightly slapped Penny's arm, laughing, "You're welcome, as though that was why I did it."

Penny smiled and said, "I have even more lines coming up, so I thought I'd better go over them again."

"Yeah," said Jeanie, "I have to go over mine also." At that, Jeanie reached behind the back cushion, on the couch, and pulled out her script.

Penny looked dumbfounded, "You mean your script has been there all night?"

Jeanie smiled, "Well, yeah, when we have scenes in here. This way, it's close and no one can see it when we shoot."

Penny chuckled, "I'll have to remember that. I've been trying to remember where I put this thing all night."

Tina walked up, "Hey, Penny, I caught Leonard on his way up to your dressing room. I told him he could sit over by where the hair and makeup people usually sit."

"Won't that keep some of them from sitting there?"

"No, there are a couple of extra chairs, so he won't be in the way. He was worried that you might see him as the taping was going on and get distracted, so I told him not to worry about it, I would come over here to tell you, so you're not too surprised when you see him."

Penny looked surprised.

"Yeah, just like that," laughed Tina, with Jeanie joining in the laughter, "but it's better you do it now, rather than when we're taping."

Penny just nodded and said, "Thanks."

"We'll be starting in about five minutes." Tina turned and walked away.

Just as Tina said, five minutes later the taping resumed. The guys were doing a scene on one of the extreme side sets, Dave's office, if Penny remembered correctly, so Jeanie and Penny were able to sit on the couch, and continue to study their scripts, as their next scene would be in the apartment.

The crew came back, and started setting up the apartment. Penny and Jeanie got into their places, the curtain was removed, the director said, "Action," and the scene started. They were about halfway through the scene, when there was a moment of silence and Jeanie started laughing. The audience started laughing and the director yelled, "Cut. What the hell happened?" he asked.

Jeanie was still laughing, and Penny said, "I don't know, I went up for a second, and she started laughing."

"So you forgot your line again?" said the director, frowning.

Penny ignored him as she looked at the script she was being showed by the script supervisor.

Sheldon leaned over to Amy, but before he could say anything, Amy shushed him.

Jeanie, still smiling, said, "Her face, when she forgot her line was sooooo, funny, sorry. Let's go."

They restarted the scene, and this time, Jeanie stumbled on her lines and again started laughing. Penny couldn't hold it back and she started laughing too, which got the audience laughing and again the director cut the scene. He really looked angry, but they finally calmed down and got through the scene on the third attempt.

After the crew went for the next scene, Penny and Jeanie spent the next few moments giggling. The rest of the taping went on without any problems. Penny completed her final scene, Dave and Jeanie had one more, and went to the curtain and called to Leonard, waving him over. As he got to the curtain she pulled him through and led him to the apartment set and they sat on the couch together, waiting for the last scene to be over.

In about five minutes, the announcer was again introducing the actors and the producers. Penny went out for her bow, and after the rest of the actors came out, bowing and waving at the audience, they all went behind the curtain. The actors formed a circle congratulating each other then broke the circle. Penny ran over to Leonard, and with a big smile, pulled him into a hug.

The audience cheered for several more minutes and then began quieting down and leaving. As Penny had instructed them, the gang walked down to the far right corner of the stands, near the steps down to the stage and waited. The curtains went up, the dividers were removed, the lights came on and Penny and Leonard walked over to the group. Penny said something to the guard, who opened the gate and the gang walked down the stairs to the stage floor.

Amy and Bernadette immediately hugged Penny and congratulated her. Howard and Raj both congratulated her, and Sheldon said, "I didn't think you could remember all the lines, after all, you can't remember my orders."

Penny just smiled and said, "Thank you, Sheldon."

Sheldon looked confused, but Penny said, "Thank you, all of you. I'm glad you came."

Bernadette said, "We wouldn't have missed it. We're all proud of you. You were so funny, the way you said your lines, your facial expressions, all of it."

Everyone, even Sheldon, nodded, and Sheldon said, "I recognized the sarcasm in your lines, it was funny, he he."

"How do you feel, Penny?" asked Bernadette.

"Relief," said Penny, "I was so nervous, and I think I did a good job. I didn't screw up all that much and Jeanie mess up as much as I did. So I really feel good about it."

Penny took them over to their apartment set, and was showing them the different decorations used in the set. She took them behind the set and they were amazed that the walls that looked so solid, were simply plywood and two by fours for framing. She brought them back through the door and led them to the front of the set, where they were standing talking.

Jeanie was walking by. "Jeanie," said Penny lightly grabbing her, "these are my friends, Bernadette and Amy. The guys are Rajesh, Howard, and Sheldon. They all came to watch the show."

"Nice to meet all of you," said Jeanie with a smile, "I hope you enjoyed the show."

Bernadette nodded, "Yes, we did. And, I just want to say I loved you in "Sex in the City."

"Me too," said Amy, "me too, I want to say it too. Penny got me interested in "Sex and the City" and I…"

"I'm sorry," said Jeanie with a smile, "I don't mean to be rude, but I've got to go," Turning to Penny she said, "I've got my own friends to meet. It was nice meeting all of you. See you in a bit, Penny."

"Yes, about five or ten minutes I would guess," said Penny. "Guys, I've got to go change, and then we have to meet with the producers, so I've got to go. I just want to thank you all for coming and I'll talk to all of you next Tuesday, Okay?"

Penny started walking away, pulling Leonard with her. She turned and waved, saying, "See you all later. Remember to show your wrist band and they'll get you a ride." The other five said, "Bye," and waved, and Leonard and Penny returned the wave, as they headed toward the stairs.

As they walked up the stairs, Leonard, said, "Congratulations Penny, I think you did great. You were so funny."

"Thank you Leonard, but you're supposed to say that."

"Tina told me that also," said Leonard.

"What?"

"Yeah," said Leonard, "Tina said Kelli and Jim were laughing like crazy, said you were killing it."

Penny was glad Leonard had told her, she was feeling proud now.

Ten minutes later, Penny was waiting with the rest of the crew and actors, when Jim and Kelli came walking over. They waved everyone over and after they gathered, Jim said, "Great Job everyone, it went very well. Overall were very satisfied with the result, so far. There were a couple of rough spots, but we'll see how it goes after the editing is done."

"For now, we've had some food and drinks delivered and we'll be hanging around for a while. Feel free to come and talk to us, ask questions, tell us how you felt it went. We'll be here for a couple of hours. For now, enjoy it, you've all earned it."

Penny and Leonard went and got some food and a couple of glasses of wine and sat down at the kitchen table in the women's apartment. Several of the crew came by congratulating Penny on the job she did, telling her how funny she was. The makeup person came by telling Penny how lovely she looked, even with her makeup off, and how she was looking forward to working with her.

David came by, giving Penny a hug. Penny turned and pulled Leonard over. "Dave," said Penny, "this is my boyfriend Leonard. He works at Caltech, he's an experimental physicist, and he's also a big nerd. Superhero comic books and movies. He recognized you from that movie last year."

"Capt…Capt…Capt Avery," stammered Leonard, "it's, ah, its, oh, shoot, it's an honor to meet me, sir. No, not meet me, it's an honor to meet you. Er, I, um, I…"

"It's an honor to me you, Leonard," said Dave. "Penny's told me a lot about you. I'm glad you recognize me, and call me Dave."

"Oh, yes, Capt…er…Dave, I would know you anywhere," said Leonard. "When Penny told me that you were going to be in her show…"

"Calm down Leonard," said Penny. "It's not my show."

"It may be," said Dave. "You have a certain presence, that shows up on screen. I was watching some of your work on the monitor. When I saw you there, it was different from watching you live. On screen, you kinda pop. Your timing is just so great, and those facial expressions, good god, I wish I could do that."

Penny blushed, "Thanks Dave, I'm just trying to keep up with you and Jeanie. I'm not sure I belong here."

"You, do," said Dave, "don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You may still be struggling a bit with the mechanics, but don't worry, those will come with time, as you learn more. Keep up the good work. Leonard, it was nice to meet you, and I hope to see more of you. I've got to talk to Jim before I leave, so see you later. Great Job, Penny." Dave gave Penny a hug, shook hands with Leonard and then headed off.

"He seems to be a nice guy," said Leonard.

"Oh, he is, he was telling me…"

Penny paused, Kelli was walking up, "Hi Penny, can we talk about how and what you did tonight?"