A/N Well, here's the next chapter. I have another week of my show, but I want to get another chapter out next Monday, but if not, it won't be any later than than two days later. I'll be traveling in a couple of weeks, but interestingly, I usually have more time to write, so hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with weekly publishing.

Chapter 37

Apt 4B 9 AM Saturday September 27th 2012

For once, it was Penny sitting at the table, drinking her coffee from her travel mug, waiting for Leonard. Penny had gotten up when the alarm went off, while Leonard rolled over.

Penny had turned on the coffee, gotten her shower, and after drying off, shook Leonard to get him up, before getting dressed herself. Leonard finally drug himself out of the bed, while Penny got her coffee and waited.

She was helped in beating Leonard to the table, by only putting on some light makeup. A couple of strokes of mascara and a bit of blush, and she was ready. They would be spending the day outside, at the Altadena Farmers Market, and she didn't feel the need for a lot of makeup.

Leonard was finally ready to leave, he filled his travel mug, while Penny refilled hers, they turned off the coffee pot and then left, walking out to Leonard's car, *a half hour later than Leonard planned.

Penny was looking at Leonard, smirking, and said, "Well, we're only a half hour late. Thanks to you, for a change."

"Me?" said Leonard, sounded offended, "You're the one that kept us up late."

Penny was still smirking, "I seem to remember doing all the work the second time, so don't blame me."

"I tried to roll over, after the first time, but you wouldn't let me," said Leonard.

Penny laughed, "Yeah, like I had to force you to turn around and start again. You were obviously quite ready for a second go around."

"Yeah, OK," said Leonard, "so I was ready. So were you, it just wasn't as obvious, until you climbed on top of me."

Penny was still laughing, "Let's just say neither of us objected to the second time."

Leonard finally smiled, "That sounds about right. Now let me drive in peace, we're almost there."

Altadena Farmers Market 11 AM Saturday September 27th 2012

They had been at the market for a couple of hours now. They had been looking at some artwork and antiques, which seemed to be quite plentiful for a farmers market. Beside those items, there were other crafts, and the usual fruits and vegetables for sale. There were also food booths, and they had both gotten a hot dog, fries and a drink and had just finished eating.

Penny had thought about buying a couple of the painted pictures, and was explaining to Leonard where she thought they should go. They were holding hands, while their other hands held their drinks. They had only gotten fifty or so feet from where they had been sitting when three young teen girls, ran up to Penny.

"Excuse me," said one of them, "aren't you Penelope Jensen, from 'Major's Tales'?"

Penny smiled at them, "Yes, I am."

"Oh, miss Jensen," said another, "we watched both of the shows so far, we," she said pointing to the other two girls, "think that you're just great in the show."

The third girl produced a piece of paper and a pen. Holding it out, she said, "Could I get your autograph?"

Penny looked surprised, but nodded. She handed Leonard her drink, then took the pen and paper and signed her name, being careful to remember to write Penelope Jensen. The other two girls also wanted autographs, so Penny had to wait for them to get a piece of paper from the first girl.

While that was going on, several other people came up. Leonard, who had been standing next to Penny, got bumped away from her. So he took a couple of steps back, watching intently as Penny signed several more autographs, then joked and talked with everyone.

She had signed about 10 autographs, and had talked to them for a half an hour, and a couple even took pictures with Penny, when the final two walked away. Penny looked around and finally saw Leonard standing off to the side. Penny looked mortified and told Leonard she wanted to go home. Leonard handed Penny her drink and she took his hand as they walked back to Leonard's car.

They got in the car and as they left Penny finally spoke, "I'm so sorry Leonard, why did you move away?"

"I kinda got pushed off to the side by your fans."

Penny now looked like she was going to cry, "I didn't realize you got pushed away. Why didn't you say something?"

"Those were your fans Penny," said Leonard, "I didn't want you to not sign for them. You're a star now, and that's going to be part of your life."

"But, you're part of my life, a much bigger part," said Penny. "Even if I become a huge star and win Oscars, I'll always need you by my side. So, if it happens again, don't let them push you out of the way, make sure you stay close to me."

Leonard looked over and grinned, "It's really fine Penny."

"How can it be fine," said Penny, "I was out with you and you got pushed away. That is not good."

"Penny," said Leonard, "it's something I've been working on since we were in New York."

"Since New York?" said Penny. "How could you have started in New York?"

"I talked to Dave's wife, Pam," said Leonard. "During the presentations and press events, all the actors were talking to the press or other people or up on stage, while Pam and I were off by ourselves. I guess she could tell it was bothering me, so she started talking about how it happens with her and Dave, and she gave me some tips to deal with it."

"But, you shouldn't have to deal with it," said Penny. "I shouldn't ignore you."

"Penny," said Leonard, "it's fine. After talking to Pam, I understand you will get stopped and asked questions or someone may want to take a picture, or have you sign an autograph. So, yeah, it's going to happen. I had your cup, but Pam said if we are in an airport, that I should carry both bags or have them on a cart."

"Why?"

"Simple," said Leonard, "if you are carrying a bag and someone asks for your autograph, you have to stop and put your bag down, to sign. This gives other people a chance to come over, and you end up spending a lot of time either signing or trying to get away.

If I'm carrying your bags, your hands are free and you can sign while you are walking. This gets you out of the airport quicker. Dave and her make sure their bags are light, Pam carries them both, and Dave walks and signs. As a result, it means people have less of a chance to bog them down."

Penny was quiet, she looked like she was thinking about it.

"There were a few other things," said Leonard. "Like, she said make sure I have my phone. That way, while you're busy with the fans, I can be checking email, or texting, or even playing some game. Or, if were out at dinner, and someone comes up, it's proper to explain to them that we are eating and discussing something, so could they please not bother us right now?"

"Hmmmmm, it looks like there are rules for significant others that I didn't know about," said Penny.

"There are," said Leonard, "Pam and I have each others emails and phone numbers. If I have a question, she said to send an email, text her, or, if it's important, give her a call. I'm fine with it Penny, really."

"Do me a favor then," said Penny. "If you get pushed or shoved, say something. I won't put up with rudeness to you. If I've been involved for over a half hour, tell me, so we can get going. They may be my fans, but I refuse to have them dictate how I live."

"I'll do that, if it's what you want, although it may depend on where you are and what you're doing."

"You may be right," said Penny. "I may have to think about this a bit more. But, for now, I want you to know I need you by my side, no matter how big I get."

Leonard smiled. While he appreciated her sentiment, he could see Penny was trying to learn how to handle some of the unexpected situations, that came with being a star. And, he swore he would do his best to help her.

Apt 4B, 9 PM Saturday September 27th 2012

Amy and Bernadette had been over for about an hour. There was no movie planned for tonight, but the other two women were curious about how Penny's life was going in New York.

They expected to hear glamorous stories of her life, and were disappointed to learn she spent most of her time off work, studying her script and lines. How she usually got off of work around four, and by the time she got home, she would cook dinner, then study her lines, blocking and notes, watch some TV, and then call or Skype Leonard for thirty minutes or so, before getting ready for bed.

Amy and Bernadette were shocked to find out that the other actors did more or less the same thing. They both mentioned Wednesday's, as she said she was generally off by noon or one PM. But she explained that lately, on Wednesday, she had been doing interviews or publicity, and so wasn't really off in the afternoon.

She did, however, tell them about how she went out dancing one Saturday, and how they weren't going to let her in, until one of the bouncers recognized her from her show. She also told them she was meeting with her assigned west coast agent from William Morris, on Monday. And, she was going to meet with the show liaison for the show, here in California.

Amy suggested that they go out one night with Penny and try to get into the more exclusive dance clubs in LA, using Penny's fame to get in. Penny told them it wasn't worth it. How guys just kept hitting on her, or groping her on the dance floor, and after a while, she decided to just leave, rather than put up with it anymore.

Amy told Penny about her and Sheldon's fight over Wil Wheaton. How Sheldon had supported Wil, and not her, when they were filming Fun With Flags, and how they finally worked that out. Although she was laughing when she told the part of Sheldon getting drunk, and throwing up on Wil Wheaton's bushes.

Penny was shocked that Sheldon had gotten drunk, and wondered how. Amy and Bernadette explained that Sheldon had run into Raj and Howard and had taken him to the Cheesecake Factory and, as a joke, suggested a Long Island Ice tea. Sheldon, thinking it was iced tea, drank three of them.

Bernadette talked about how they had been basically living at Howard's mother's house, and spending very little time at their apartment. Bernadette then told a story about how she almost got Howard to move out of his mother's house, and into the apartment. She however had caved when Howard told a sad story about how he was always doing magic shows for his mother, because she was lonely.

Bernadette was watching how much Penny drank, and while she thought it a bit heavy, realized it was less than last time, so although she did ask about Penny's drinking, she didn't push it when Penny claimed it wasn't as bad as it has been.

Amy and Bernadette talked about their new projects at work, and by the time they finished with both of their stories, it was approaching eleven PM, so they all started cleaning up. When they were finished, the women went to 4A, in Amy's case to say goodnight to Sheldon, and in Bernadette and Penny's case, to get their guy.

While everyone was there, Penny reminded them of having dinner together on Monday. Everyone said good night and left, with Leonard and Penny going back to 4B. There, they headed for the bedroom, thinking of ways to disturb Sheldon.

Apt 4B, 8 AM Monday September 29th 2012

Penny was still in bed, when Leonard came back into the bedroom. He leaned over and kissed her, and she reached out, put her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. After several seconds Leonard broke the kiss and straightened up. Penny opened her eyes, Leonard was in his hoody and coat with light brown pants.

She smiled at him, "Where are you going?"

Leonard smiled back, "First to go get Sheldon, then to work. And you better get going yourself, you have that 10:30 meeting with your new agent."

"Yeah, I know," said Penny, "I'm getting up."

"And I'm leaving," said Leonard, bending down to give her a quick kiss. She playfully slapped his arm as he turned to go.

After Leonard left, Penny got up and poured herself a cup of coffee. She drank her coffee while she checked her email and messages, then took a shower. While it was her first meeting with the agent, she was told it was informal.

Looking at her clothes, she decided on a hot pink shirt, with a red, swirling design and jeans with black flats. After getting dressed, she applied her make-up. She filled her travel mug with coffee, turned off the coffee maker and walked down to her car.

It was normally a 40 minute drive to Beverly Hills, where the William Morris agency was, but Penny left at 9:15, to give her some extra time, in case the morning rush hour traffic hadn't completely gone away.

William Morris had three buildings in the Wilshire-Rodeo Drive area, and Penny found the one where her agent was located. She asked at the front desk and was directed to the fifth floor, and another receptionist there asked her why she was there. She gave the receptionist her agent's name, she waited while the receptionist called him. She sat down and waited un til she was approached by a middle-aged male, who introduced himself as Neil Parker, and asked Penny to come back to his office.

Penny had steeled herself to ask for another agent if she wasn't happy with the one that had been assigned to her. Her meeting was scheduled for an hour, but her and Neil talked for an hour and a half, with Neil then asking her to lunch to continue the discussion. Neil reminded Penny of her father, tall, no-nonsense, but charming.

After returning from lunch, Penny gave Neil a hug and told him she was very happy that he would be working with her. He also recommended a publicist for her and promised to set up a meeting with him, the next time she was in LA.

Penny left Neil, and drove to Warner Brothers, to meet with the show liaison, Gail. They talked for over an hour, mostly about how well she did on "The Late, Late, Show". Gail asked when Penny would be back, so she could set up an appearance on "The Tonight Show". Although shocked, Penny told her she would be back in two weeks, and with that, the meeting was over.

Penny drove home, getting there at about three. She decided to take a nap, so she kicked off her shoes, laid down on the couch and was asleep 15 minutes later.

Apt 4B, 4 PM Monday September 29th 2012

Penny felt lips on her lips and opened her eyes. She was looking at Leonard. She quickly looked at the clock, thinking it was five, but it turned out to be four fifteen.

"What are you doing home so early?" asked Penny.

"You're leaving tomorrow, so I took off early," said Leonard. "Come on, tell me about your day."

Penny got up, while Leonard poured a couple of glasses of wine. They sat at the couch, and Penny told him of her agent here in LA and how Gail was going to set up Penny going on Jay Leno's show. Leonard told her he had made some progress on his idea.

It was now just after six, and Leonard left, going to get some Indian food. Penny went over to 4A to get everything set up. By 6:30, the rest of the group had arrived and Leonard had returned. For some reason, Leonard and Penny were on the couch tonight, not their usual chairs.

Everyone made small talk, asked Penny about her upcoming week, and talked about their own weeks. Everyone had finished eating but clean up hadn't started. There were containers of food scattered around the coffee table.

Penny was snuggled under Leonard's arm. They were turned toward Amy, who was next to Sheldon, and talking with her, when Bernadette snapped a picture with her phone. They looked surprised, but Leonard asked Bernadette to take another and send him the pictures.

Shortly after the picture, everyone started cleaning up. When that was finished everyone said their goodbyes to Penny, and then her and Leonard went back across the hall. Leonard helped Penny finish packing, then they prepared for bed.

Penny hadn't seen Sheldon since the quick visit on Saturday night, but as they were getting into bed, Penny said, "Let's make sure he has something to complain about to you tomorrow," as she leaned over to kiss him.

After finishing their love making, they cleaned up, and got back into bed. They were holding on to each other, knowing Penny would be going back to New York in the morning.