A/N Well, all the work is finished on the house, and here is chapter 18, Penny's first few days in New York. BTW, chapter 18, is really the 19th I've put out, the result of naming the first one the Prologue. So, don't let that fool you, just go by the name of the chapter, not the number FF puts on it. Without internet this weekend, I managed to write the first draft of three more chapters 36,37,38. As you all know, I try to stay 20 chapters ahead. Just in case real life interferes with writing, I can still keep publishing so you all can keep reading.
Part 2
Chapter 18
Studio 44, Ten AM, New York, July 30, 2012
Penny was waiting in Studio 44, her three pieces of luggage sitting next to her. After her flight arrived in New York, she had taken the limo that had been sent for her to the Ritz-Carlton again, to spend the night. However, this time, she had a regular room, without a view of Central Park
She had ordered dinner from room service and while she was eating, Tina had called her, telling her to be at the CBS Broadcast Center, in studio 44, and to bring her luggage with her. They would be taking her to the apartment she would be living in during the time they would be taping the show.
So, she was now in studio 44, looking around at her show's almost completed set. She was amazed at how much of the set had been completed, as they had moved it from Warner Brothers in California to here. There were only several more panels off to one side, they would be putting up over the next several days to complete the set. The show was to officially start production next Wednesday, with the first table read. But, Penny supposed, constructing the set and the ongoing installation of the lights above the set, counted as pre-production.
Tina came in with a sharp dressed lady. She introduced her as Tammy Harris, the person in charge of housing for the actors. She explained it was her job to find a place for the actors to stay, and then take care of any problems they may have. Her and Penny said their hellos to each other, then Tina explained that Tammy would get Penny to her apartment. Tina reminded Penny there would be a meeting for all production people on Thursday, at ten AM, then Tina said goodbye, saying she had a writing staff meeting to run to. Tammy pulled out her phone, dialed, then spoke into her phone. Within seconds, a rather large guy came in and Tammy introduced him as Phil. Tammy pointed at Penny's luggage and Phil scooped it up and carried it out.
Tammy started walking and explained her luggage would be there by the time they arrived. She suggested they walk, so Tammy could point out different things and locations in the neighborhood. Penny was glad she was wearing her flats as they left the broadcast center, on 57th, and walked east to tenth avenue, north on tenth for a block, then turned east on 58th street for a half a block.
They stopped in front of a six story building, and Tammy showed Penny what the building's entry code was, and how to enter the code into the electronic door lock, then took her to the third floor, and to her apartment, 314. Penny inwardly laughed, as she remembered it was Amy's apartment number and the digits for pi.
Tammy showed Penny which of the three keys worked what device(one door, two deadbolts) and they entered the apartment. From the door, there was an eight foot long foyer, with two pictures hanging on each wall. At the end of the foyer, and to the left, was a hallway. Tammy first took Penny down that hallway. To the left was the bathroom. Looking in, Penny saw a tub, with a shower, toilet, and sink in a rather large counter.
Continuing another few steps down the hallway she came to a door which led into the bedroom. In the bedroom was a dresser on the near wall, and two nightstands, with a queen bed between them, on the far wall. There was a walk-in closet, that was bigger than her and Leonard's closets put together. Penny also noticed that her luggage was now on the bed.
Coming back out of the bedroom, Penny could see where the wall of the foyer ended was a counter, which connected to the kitchen. there were three stools next to it. Turning left, they walked around the counter, into the kitchen. It had a range, oven, microwave, fridge, and dishwasher. At the back of the kitchen, enclosed in folding doors, was a space with a washer and dryer. Penny also found there was a garbage disposal.
Coming out of the kitchen there was a small dining area, with a circular table and four chairs. To the right were mirrored sliding doors that held a closet that functioned as a pantry. To the left was a rather long, living area that was about 10 foot wide.
Looking from the dining area, on the right of the living area was a desk just beyond the dining table, and after the desk was an entertainment center with a TV, DVR, and Blue Ray player. To the left was a lounge chair, followed by a large loveseat. In front of the loveseat was a coffee table. On the far wall, under the window, was an end table with European recliners on either side of the table. Everything except the kitchen and bath was carpeted.
Tammy explained that the apartment came with cable and internet. Electric was charged by usage, as was the water. She also told her she could upgrade the cable, but she would have to pay for it. If she wanted she could have a phone installed.
Then Tammy gave Penny the keys, and her card. Telling Penny if she had questions, or something wasn't working right, to give her a call, and she would take care of it. She asked if Penny had any questions. When Penny said no, Tammy said her goodbyes and left.
Penny was thrilled with the apartment. The bedroom, bath and living area were all larger than her apartment in Pasadena, and she now had an almost separate dining area. While the kitchen was smaller, overall, if you included the dining area adjacent to the kitchen, it was larger than in 4B.
Penny would miss Leonard's help in unpacking. She suddenly became sad, thinking of Leonard. While they had Skyped for an hour while she was in the hotel last night, she felt she needed to talk to him. Looking at the clock, she realized Leonard would be driving to work. With nothing else to do, she headed back to the bedroom, to unpack, and would call Leonard when she finished.
Apt 4A, Cal Tech, California, Ten AM, July 30, 2012
Leonard was sitting in 4A, he was bored. He was waiting to hear back from Geoff with his calculations on the detection. Not only that, but the last ten months, had been spent with Penny, and he had seen her every day before she left, now she was gone and he felt lost without her.
He thought about it, and realized how much he had come to rely on Penny. Well, she was his best friend. After all, he could talk to her about almost anything. He was amused at how many people thought Sheldon was his best friend. But, to be honest, since Christmas it was Penny.
Him and Sheldon had somewhat drifted apart, as Sheldon had gotten more involved with Amy, and he had gotten more involved with Penny. Hell, before she left, he and Penny were practically living together, and about the only time he had been spending in 4A now, was at his computer, or getting a shower early in the morning, so as not to disturb Penny. Of course, there were the group dinners, but that was happening less and less.
Even when they broke up, they managed to stay friends, so, except for some of the time he was with Priya, this was the first time in five years Penny wasn't there for him. Well, except for the couple of weeks just after they broke up and when he had been gone for three months, on the trip to the North Pole. But, that was different. He was there, and the trip kept him quite busy, so there wasn't really time to miss her.
She had told him how hard it had been without him there, how she missed coming over and talking to him. The worst, she said, was she kept expecting him to come over, or how she would start to go over to 4A, and then stop, because she remembered he wasn't there. And now, he thought bitterly, he was getting a taste of those exact feelings.
At least now, he could call her, text her, and Skype with her, so he could see her. Penny didn't have any of that available to her, due to where the guys were. And he now didn't have his other friends either. Howard was in space, and Raj…well they still hadn't really recovered since his attempt to bed Penny. And as a result, he was pretty much alone. Well, he thought, maybe I can get something done on my detection idea…
Just then, he heard Penny's ringtone and hurriedly grabbed his phone and said, "Hello."
"Leonard," said Penny, "It's so good to hear you. I miss you."
"I miss you too," said Leonard. "How are you doing?"
"For now, I'm fine. It's going to be a rough couple of days though," said Penny. "I don't have anything to do until Thursday morning. Can I call you a couple of times each day?"
"Of course," said Leonard. "Anytime you feel lonely, give me a call. So, what's going on?"
"Oh, Leonard, I got my apartment," said Penny. It's so cute and bigger than 4B. I was going to call earlier, but I knew you'd be driving to work, so I unpacked first."
"Um…what?" said Leonard. "Penny, it's summer, and I'm off work for another week. I don't start going in regularly until next Wednesday."
"Oh, God," said Penny, "I'm such an idiot."
Leonard chuckled, "No, it's ok. You say you got your apartment?"
"Yeah," said Penny, "Let's go to Skype, and I can show you around the apartment…"
Studio 44, CBS, Thursday New York, 9:45 AM, August 2, 2012
Penny was sitting on the couch of her show apartment. People were slowly coming in. The cast, crew, and production people were all supposed to meet here today. There would be lunch, and Penny was told to mingle around, to meet as many of the production crew as possible.
Penny assumed both Jim and Kelli, along with Tina would be there to start the meeting. She hadn't seen any of the other actors. So, she was looking around, trying to find them. She saw the woman who had done her hair, along with the person who did her make-up. She wanted to talk to them, but she wanted to wait until after the meeting had started. So, she stayed seated and looked for Kelli and Jim.
She saw Brent come in. She hadn't really had a chance to talk to him, just the brief introduction when they first met at the upfronts, which she didn't think went well, so looking to give him another chance, she went up to him and said, "Hi Brent."
"Penelope," said Brent, "it's so good to see you."
"Well, it's good to talk to you," said Penny.
"So, are you and your boyfriend all settled in?"
"Just me, Brent," said Penny. "Leonard had to stay and work on his experiments and also get the lab ready for the school year."
"So, you're alone here?" said Brent with a leer.
Brent's tone and expression in his last statement made Penny think of Howard, and all his sleazy attempts at hitting on her. It made her nervous, making her wary.
She answered with caution, "Yeah, he's not hear right now." She thought quickly, "He'll be coming in a couple of weeks."
"Oh, Ok, we'll, I'll see you around," Brent said, turning and walking away.
Penny was relieved when he walked away, and she continued looking around and saw Jim, Kelli and Tina come in. They didn't go to the podium right away, but were talking to various production crew. Finally, Penny saw Jeanie come in, and excitedly waved at her and Jeanie waved back, walking toward Penny. Jeanie was stopped by different people and usually had a quick few words with the other person.
Finally, she made it to Penny and they hugged each other. Jeanie said, "Penny, I'm so glad to see you."
"I'm glad to see you Jeanie," said Penny. "But you better keep it Penelope, remember."
"Oh, screw that," said Jeanie. "I can keep your names separate and besides as the only two women on the show, I think were going to become pretty good friends."
"You sure," said Penny, "you're a star and I'm just someone new starting out."
"Penny," said Jeanie with a smile, "You're going to find that people who work on a series become very close. We spend so much time together, we become like a family." A sly grin formed on Jeanie's face, "So, unless you're a total bitch, yes, I'm sure."
They both laughed, then Penny said, "I'm not sure I want to become family with some people." "Brent came over and started asking about if Leonard was here, and it was…was…just creepy."
Jeanie nodded, "I've heard he can also be pretty nice, also. But, I try to stay away. Besides I don't think he'd be all that interested in me, I'm not blond or beautiful, like you, so you need to be more careful than I do."
Penny shuddered. "You may not be blond, but I think you look beautiful. Anyway, I think I'll mostly keep my distance from Brent. So where are you staying?"
Jeanie smiled slyly, "I think you know, my address is 454 West 58th."
Penny's mouth dropped open, "You mean you're in my building? What apartment?"
"I'm in 601," said Jeanie. "I get to look out on the street."
Penny said resignedly, "And I get the view of the back of the building behind us. Yeah, I know who the star is." She stuck her tongue out at her.
Jeanie nodded. "Yeah, I also have a two bedroom."
"Bitch," said Penny laughing.
Jeanie laughed too, "You'll get there. Anyway, you want to go out for dinner tonight? Afterward, you can come up to my apartment and we can kill a bottle or two of wine, and talk."
"Oooooooo, wine, a woman after my own heart," said Penny. "That sounds great."
Just then they both saw Dave walk in. Jim also noticed and walked to the podium and said, "Can I have everyone's attention?" He waited until the noise settled down. "I want to thank everyone for being here today. This is more or less a get together for everyone to get acquainted."
"I know many of us were there when we shot this in LA, but we really didn't have time to talk to each other or get to know each other. In addition, since we moved to New York, we have quite a few new crew members, and a new cast member, so we, Kelli and I, thought it would be good to have this mixer."
"First off," Jim said, "for those who haven't seen the pilot, we're going to run that. Lights down please. Ok, you can watch the monitors or the main screen. Roll it." The lights went down and the pilot ran. Penny was gratified to hear quite a bit of laughter on her lines, and on her facial expressions. The pilot came to an end, and Jim called for the lights to come up.
He looked around, "For those new crew members, I hope you enjoyed that, and now have an idea of what is going to happen on the show. Some of you may have noticed that we have changed the name of the show to Major's Tales. The network thinks a short name makes it easier to promote. But, noticed it still includes the name of the lead character. You also may have noticed a few other changes. Basically we had to cut the time down from the 30 minutes it ran, down to the 21 minutes it needed to be, to fit into a half hour broadcast."
"Now, I want to introduce the cast of Major's Tales. First off, our lead, and the person who plays the title character, Jeanie Corbette, as Ally Major. Jeanie, come on up here."
Jeanie, to loud applause, walked up to stand next to Kelli, and waved to the crew. "Next we have the man playing Ally's boyfriend, you may know him as Captain Avery, Dave Collura as Bill Roberts." Dave walked up, also to loud applause. He gave Jeanie a kiss on her cheek, then moved to stand next to her.
"Our third cast member, has appeared and guest starred in many shows, Brent Crawford as Jim Burns, who's nickname is 'Hunk'." He walked up to applause, shook hands with Jeanie and Dave, then stood next to him. "Finally, we are very happy to introduce Penelope Jensen as Jess Rogers. This is her first television series, so please give her a big welcome."
To Penny's surprise, the applause for her was almost as big as it was for Jeanie. She walked up, hugged Jeanie, gave Dave a kiss on the cheek, and forced herself to give Brent a kiss on his check. Jim said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the cast of Major's Tales."
There was applause again, then Jim said, "We're having food delivered, it's basically a brunch, so please mingle, get to know your co-workers. I'll have the cast up here so anyone wanting to meet them, come on up. Enjoy the day."
The crowd started separating into smaller groups. Penny, although eager to meet many of the crew, was really excited to be having dinner and wine with Jeanie. She was looking forward excitedly to talking with her and, hopefully, becoming a friend of hers.