A/N So, since I haven't made this point in a while, I'll take some time now. I don't own any of these characters, that's between Warner Brothers and the other author. Although, come to think of it, I guess the lighting guy is mine. This chapter (and the next several) are a bit shorter, about 2700 words (in my word processor, the number there, doesn't usually match here, plus, there is also the A/N that isn't on the master document). For some reason, I missed that I had a very short chapter (about 2200, from my normal 3000), so I ended up moving some stuff around. I didn't want to just pad it, to get it to 3000, so we have a few shorter chapters here.

Chapter 50

Apt 314, 8:30 AM Friday Nov 2nd 2012

Penny rolled over to turn off her phone alarm. She had taken some aspirin with a large glass of water before going to bed. She had also woken up around 2 AM and had drank another glass of water, to try and reduce the intensity of her hangover.

She got up and stumbled to the bathroom, before going out to the kitchen, to turn on her coffee maker and take some more aspirin, before heading for the shower. After her shower, she sat at her table, drinking a cup of coffee, then got dressed and ready for work. Before leaving, she poured a full travel mug of coffee, then left her apartment for work.

Walking to the studio wasn't a struggle, because she had only drank a bottle and a half, before drinking the water, coffee and taking the aspirin. Because of this, she didn't feel all that bad physically, however, emotionally she wasn't just feeling depressed, it felt to her as if a whole cloud had enveloped her life.

She thought about how, before she left, her and Leonard had agreed to talk about problems. But last night, she didn't talk to him, she simply told Leonard what amounted to a lie, because she was afraid to tell him what was actually happening.

She wasn't sure if she felt worse about not talking to him or lying to him. Actually, she knew what she felt the worst about, sleeping with Brent. And the events of the last few days had pushed out just about everything else in her life.

Penny managed to make it to her dressing room, without anyone stopping her. She unpacked her bag and decided it was best to stay in her dressing room. She pulled out her script and tried studying until Penny heard the loudspeaker call her down to the set, for the first run through.

Penny got through the first run through, although she struggled a bit, inwardly, when doing the four scenes with Brent. Steve said they would be able to move on, with Steve telling Penny while he could still see a bit of the previous problem with her and Brent, it wasn't quite as noticeable today. This made her feel good, considering how she felt about him now.

Dave and Brent moved down to one of the sets built for this week specifically. Penny got a cup of coffee and was waiting at the women's apartment, when she realized she had left her script at the guys apartment. She walked down there, found her script on the couch, picked it up, and started back towards the women's apartment.

Just as she turned, she heard someone call out her name. Looking around, she saw one of the lighting guys setting up a ladder. Penny looked at him and said, "Yes?"

The guy looked over toward her, and grinned.

"What?" Asked Penny.

He continued grinning and said, "I hear you're pretty good with zippers, when you're on your knees."

Penny was shocked. She looked around and found it was just the two of them, no one else was in the area, and so no one else had heard. Penny was becoming angry, but she didn't want to let him know he had got to her, so she turned and simply walked away, while shaking her head. She needed some time to gather herself, and so she walked down to where Steve was and told him she'd be back in 15-20 minutes, before heading off to her dressing room.

While she climbed the stairs, her eyes started filling with tears. She opened the door and entered, looking in the mirror. I have to pull it together. I can't be crying, because I have the scene coming up, and I can't give any of them the satisfaction. Penny pulled out a few tissues, wiped under her eye, blew and wiped her nose. She went over to her sink, and splashed her face, the cold water bringing her around somewhat.

She fixed her makeup, then went back down to the set, determined to get through the scenes. How the hell was she going to fix the problem of doing scenes with Brent, when she couldn't even stand to be next to him, without getting that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She got through the one scene she was in with Brent, and then, Steve called for a short break.

After the break, Penny again managed to get through the rest of the scenes she had with Brent. Afterward, Steve again mentioned her body language with Brent, but Penny really didn't care. She knew the problem was still there, but considering the circumstances, she was just happy to get through it. She didn't know how to fix it herself and she just hoped Jeanie would be able to give her some advice, on how to work with him, when she got back from Boston on Sunday.

Penny headed up to her dressing room, packed up her things and left, closing and locking her door. She walked to the stairs and when she was about ten steps down, Brent started walking up. She looked straight ahead, not wanting to look at him.

She could see his arm move, drawing her eyes to him, just in time to see his middle and fore fingers move to either side of his mouth, and his tongue flick out of his mouth several times. Penny moved her eyes away from the image, but she heard his chuckling as he went by.

Penny hurried out of the studio, then out of the building as fast as she could, trying to appear as if there was nothing wrong. Once out on the sidewalk, her eyes filled with tears, and she decided a trip to the grocery store was in order, she knew she was going to need some wine, to get through the weekend.

Apt 4A, 6:30 PM Friday Nov 2nd 2012

Leonard heard his call go to Penny's voicemail, and after the beep, said, "Hi Penny, just calling to check into how you are feeling. What's going on? If you are still feeling bad, please call me and let me know. I love you. Bye."

Leonard disconnected and looked at his phone. Maybe Penny is feeling better and went out. Or maybe the group planned something for tonight. I'll just have to try tomorrow.

Apt 314, 10:30 AM Saturday Nov 3rd 2012

Penny woke up slowly, knowing she was going to have another hangover. She could already feel the headache, without even trying to sit up and she expected to be generally feel bad. Hell, I finished two bottles of wine last night, of course I've got a hangover.

She slowly moved to a sitting position. As expected, she just felt "fuzzy" as she called it, so she stayed in that position for a few minutes, letting her body settle down. She couldn't stay there though, the liquid she drank last night was creating something of an emergency for her, forcing her to get up and move toward the bathroom.

She made it to the toilet and managed to sit down, in time to urinate. After finishing, she washed her hands and slowly walked to the kitchen, to turn on the coffee. then went back to her bedroom, putting on her robe and slippers, before coming back out to the dining table. As she passed it, she saw there were three bottles on the table. This puzzled her as she remember only finishing two bottles.

She got her coffee, trying to put the previous night together. She had felt so bad about the comments the lighting guy had made, not to mention the thing Brent had done, that she started drinking as soon as she got home. It seemed the only way to bury the feelings she had about herself, over what had happened over the last week.

She took a couple of aspirin, then drank a large glass of water. By this time her coffee was ready and she poured a cup, then took it to the couch, where she turned on the TV. I'm not doing anything today.

Apt 4A, 9:30 AM Saturday Nov 3st 2012

Sheldon and Leonard were waiting for Raj and Howard to come by, the four of them were going to Legoland for the day. Bernadette and Amy were at a convention for various biology disciplines, so the guys had planned a day of it. The problem, as Leonard saw it, was that Penny had not yet called back.

After Raj and Howard arrived, Leonard decided he didn't want to go, as he didn't know when Penny was going to call. Howard pointed out that it was after noon in NY, and if she hadn't called yet, she probably wouldn't call until the evening. Leonard grudgingly agreed, and the four of them left.

Apt 314, 3:30 PM Saturday Nov 3rd 2012

Penny was sitting on the couch, not paying attention to the TV. She had finally figured out she had finished the half of a bottle from the previous night, and the one bottle was still more than half full, so she really only had finished two bottles of wine, not three, although she was still feeling the effects of the hangover and thought, I shouldn't be happy about drinking almost two bottles.

She had had a couple of bowls of cereal, for breakfast, and left the bowl on her coffee table. The plate and bowl from her lunch and the remains of the soup and sandwich on them, were thrown into the sink. She was still in her robe and slippers. She had seen and heard Leonard's message, but she didn't want to call to talk to him, so she simply ignored it.

One good thing about the hangover, she felt too bad, and had such a painful headache, even with the aspirin, she hadn't been able to think about what had happened, though most of the day. However, by now, the effects of the hangover had lessened, somewhat, and she was now wallowing in self pity for the actions of the previous week, along with the comments she had gotten from Brent and some of the crew.

She went to her fridge, and pulled out a bottle of wine and opened it. I don't want to think about it, I can't deal with it. I got a couple of hours before I have to make dinner, might as well start early. Penny poured a large glass of wine.

Apt 4A, 6:30 PM Saturday Nov 3rd 2012

Sheldon and Leonard entered apartment guys had left Legoland around 4 PM, with several large Star Wars themed building sets. They had stopped at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, something they hadn't been doing much of lately, since Penny no longer worked there. Along with dinner, Leonard had answered Cheryl's questions on what Penny had been doing, and he promised to say hi to Penny for her.

Arriving back at the apartment, Leonard took an imperial cruiser set, while Sheldon carried a death star kit, into Sheldon's bedroom. Leonard came back out to the kitchen and again looked at his phone, and was wondering why Penny hadn't called back. He pulled up her number and tapped it, then waited.

He heard it again go to voicemail, causing some frustration for Leonard. After the beep, he said, "Penny, what the hell is going on? I call, leave a message, then you don't call. You haven't answered. I've also sent a couple of texts and an email, and I'm getting nothing back. I know you said you were sick, but can't you take some time to call and let me know how you are doing? Please call me back when you get this message."

He disconnected and stared at this phone. If she's that sick, maybe she needs to go to the hospital. I'll call again later, and ask if she thinks she might need to go. Leonard sighed and put his phone in his pocket. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, and began flipping though the channels, hoping to find something worthwhile.

Apt 314, 6:00 PM Sunday Nov 4th 2012

Penny was looking at the bottle of wine, wondering if she should open it, finally deciding she shouldn't. She had again woken up hungover, after drinking another two bottles of wine. The feelings of being hungover continued throughout the day, even with water and aspirin, until around 4 PM.

She had stayed in bed until almost eleven, finally getting out of bed to get some aspirin, water and coffee. She was still wearing the same pajamas she had worn all weekend, her hair was disheveled and she hadn't had a shower, and she didn't care.

After she got her cup of coffee, she had taken it to the couch and put it on the table, then laid down on the couch. Around 12:30, she managed to get up and get some cereal, because she didn't feel energetic enough to do anything else. She did get a second bowl, again leaving the bowl on her coffee table.

Finally, around four, she had felt well enough to start going over her script, and had spent the last two hours doing just that. Since deciding, for now, against some more wine, she started making dinner.

She made a salad, some ramen, and a couple of slices of bread. She brought her dinner over to the coffee table, pushing the cereal bowls out of the way to make room. After she finished, she just pushed the bowls and plate, from her dinner off to the side. It was almost 6:30 when she flipped on the TV.

She spent the next half hour looking for something to watch, and also started thinking about the last week. She started feeling more and more depressed about the whole thing, when she looked over at her table and saw the wine. Getting up, she walked over to the table and saw there were two uncorked bottles, among the six that were empty.

She reached for one of the uncorked, thinking it was time to start drinking. But, just before she was able to grab it, she heard her doorbell. She looked at her door, wondering who it could be, Jeanie wasn't due back until late. Walking to the door she peered through the peep hole and found she was looking at Jeanie.

She gave a cry of joy, unlocked the door, opened it and before Jeanie could say anything, Penny desperately wrapped her in a hug and just held on.

Jeanie was surprised, but returned the hug, until Penny broke it, then led Jeanie into her apartment. She closed the door and took Jeanie to the couch.

"Do you want some wine?" asked Penny.

Jeanie looked around the apartment, seeing the dishes on the kitchen counter and the dishes on the coffee table. Finally, she noticed all the empty wine bottles laying on the kitchen table, "No, I think I'll just have some tea."

Penny looked disappointed, but nodded, put the bottle down, and walked over to the fridge and poured two glasses of iced tea. She brought them to the couch, giving Jeanie one of them. Before Jeanie could ask anything, Penny said, "So how's your mom and how was your trip?"

"My mom is doing fine," said Jeanie. "It looks like they got the tumor out, and she is recovering nicely. The trip went well, I was even able to get back a little early, as you may have noticed."

Jeanie was getting ready to ask Penny about herself, and the mess she saw around her apartment, when Penny's phone rang. Penny looked at it and noticed it was Leonard, and she put it down. Jeanie had also seen it was from Leonard and said, "Why don't you answer it?"

"No," said Penny, "You're here now, I'll call him back later." The phone finally went silent.

Jeanie had noticed Penny wouldn't look at her, when her phone beeped, indicating Penny had a message. "You going to listen to the message?" asked Jeanie.

"No, go ahead with your story," said Penny.

"I'm finished," said Jeanie, "I'll go ahead and leave and you can call Leonard back."

"No, I don't want to talk to Leonard," said Penny, avoiding looking at Jeanie.

"Why don't you want to talk to Leonard?" Asked Jeanie, sounding puzzled.