A/N This chapter (and the next two chapters, over the next two weeks) will go up about an hour to an hour and a half before my normal noon posting time. My play is currently running and Sundays are matinees, so I have to leave around the time I normally publish. To keep you all from waiting, I'll publish an hour or so early. With this chapter, Leonard has arrived in the UK. There is another author's note at the end, to explain some things in this chapter.

Chapter 78

London, 9:00 AM Wednesday December 26th 2012.

Leonard had come off the plane, feeling a little stiff, but not really tired. He was glad he had upgraded to first class, as he had been able to lay his seat flat, and get some sleep, before getting the snack on the plane, then another three hours of sleep, before breakfast. As a result, he wasn't feeling like a complete wreck. He found his luggage and put it on the dolly, pushing it toward the customs entrance. As he had nothing to declare, he went toward the green entrance, then waited in line. Finally, when called to the counter, he explained he was going to be working at Oxford. The woman at the counter gave him the paperwork to apply for a Tier 2 work visa.

Leonard entered the sponsor number on the forms and provided the woman with the documents Geoff had sent him. He also gave her his bank statement showing he had enough money to support himself for a while, along with his statement from the Pasadena police, verifying he hadn't broken any laws. He also handed over the salary offer from Oxford. He wasn't quite sure why that was required, but Geoff had told him it was part of the visa requirement. His US passport guaranteed he met the English-speaking requirement. He filled everything out, then waited while everything was checked, and finally he was handed his passport back, with the visa allowing him to work in the UK. He thanked the woman, pushed his cart to the inspection station, and the person there looked at his passport, his visa, and waved him through.

He looked at his watch and found it was noon. The time, and his rumbling stomach, made him think about getting some lunch. As he left the building, he was looking for somewhere he might eat, when he saw Geoff waving to him. Leonard was surprised to see him, but pushed his cart toward him.

"Geoff," said Leonard, "what are you doing here? You weren't supposed to come and get me until tomorrow."

"Yes," said Geoff, "I know, but today is Boxing Day, so there wouldn't have been anyone, at the university, to verify you having a room. So, to keep you from having to pay for the room, and to make sure you had a place to stay, I came to get you. If you don't mind, you get to stay with my wife and I, until we can get you a set of rooms at the university."

"That's fine, as long as you don't mind having me around," said Leonard, with a smile.

"Well, then," said Geoff, "let's get your luggage into the car, and we'll go back to my house. I also plan on stopping for lunch, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind," said Leonard, "I was just thinking about how hungry I was. Lead me to your car and I'll load it up."

Geoff started walking, "The car park is this way," he said pointing.

"The what?" asked Leonard.

"The car park," said Geoff. Seeing the puzzled look on Leonard's face, he continued, "the place where I parked my car."

"Oh, you mean the parking lot," said Leonard.

"The what?" said Geoff.

Leonard chuckled, "Well, there's a case of me having to learn a new term. Your car park, is called a parking lot, in the US. I thought you would know that from when you were at Cal Tech."

"Well, that's a strange term," said Geoff. "I didn't hear it when I was in California. Just follow me and I'll take you to my car."

Leonard followed Geoff and they were soon traveling on the M-25 and ten minutes after that, they were on the M-40. In about 45 minutes, Geoff exited off the road, then drove a short distance to an "Inn and Pub" according to Geoff, named 'The Three Horseshoes', where they could get some lunch. Leonard was grateful for the stop, he had been terrified as they drove. While Geoff was driving, everything was on the wrong side, according to Leonard. He always seemed to be looking in the wrong direction, causing him to gasp as cars went by, without his seeing them coming.

Entering the pub, it seemed crowded, and Geoff explained that families tended to eat out on this holiday. But, he told Leonard not to worry, as he knew the owner and his wife. Leonard heard someone call Geoff's name, and a happy looking woman came over. Geoff introduced her as Molly, and she led Leonard and Geoff to a table near the fireplace, a cheery fire crackling. Leonard let Geoff order the beer for them, then they looked at the menu. Leonard decided to get the battered cod and chips, Geoff got the Sausage and mash. It was a leisurely lunch, as neither of them seemed to be in a hurry, and they talked about differences in driving and words during lunch.

After lunch, they left the inn, and continued toward Headington, where Geoff lived, about a half an hour away. When Geoff pulled off the main highway, he explained that they were now on the main road to Headington, which would also lead to Oxford.

Apt 314, 9:30 AM Wednesday December 26th 2012.

Jeanie was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping her coffee, reading the entertainment news on her iPad, while taking quick glances at Penny. Today, they had gotten up at nine, and Jeanie was thinking about Penny's drinking, and her mood, over the last two days.

Penny had seemed to have a good Christmas Day, although the later it got, the more depressed she sounded. Jeanie was concerned that her depressed state was going to lead her to do more drinking. But, she was encouraged that even with how much Penny had been drinking, she didn't seem to have any withdrawal problems, when she didn't drink yesterday. Jeanie was going back and forth in her mind, about talking to Penny about it today. She decided she would see how Penny was doing today, because she was also waiting for a friend of hers to call, possibly with some information that would lead to Jeanie questioning Penny, about what had happened with Brent.

Headington, UK, 3:00 PM Wednesday December 26th 2012.

As they traveled into the city, Geoff made a left turn, and Leonard was amazed to see a shark, sticking out of the roof of one of the buildings.

"Geoff, what's that?"

Geoff chuckled, "That's the Headington Shark, it's rather famous. Look it up on the internet, later tonight."

In another minute, Geoff pulled into a driveway, in front of a small two story house, and shut off the car. "Well, here we are."

Apt 4A 10:00 AM Wednesday December 26th 2012.

Amy was sitting on the couch, watching Sheldon. Sheldon had promised to go with her, to do some shopping for some after-Christmas sales, but he was staring intently at his white board.

"Sheldon…"

"Shhhhhhh, Amy," said Sheldon impatiently, "I'm in the zone."

"Yeah, the crackpot zone," mumbled Amy.

"What was that?" asked Sheldon.

"Nothing, nothing," said Amy. She realized Sheldon was deep into whatever problem he was working on, so after setting her phone to record, she said, "Sheldon, how about I go shopping, and leave you here, with your white boards. Then, for dinner tonight, we can go out."

Sheldon waved it away, "Sure, sure, Amy."

"OK, then, I'll leave you here," said Amy, as she put away her phone that had captured Sheldon's agreement. Amy put on her coat, picked up her purse and left.

Sheldon continued looking at the board. I almost got the correct shape, last time. What variables, do I need to change, to make for it to work? Do I have to change the values of the variables for the stress-engery tensor, or do I keep the variables, and use a different tensor conversion?

He didn't have the answer to either of those questions, and it was going to take longer than Sheldon had realized at first. He thought about all of the different possible ways to calculate the stress-energy tensor, and all of the different values in each of the elements of the tensor, and just shook his head. He decided to change current curvature tensor, and if that didn't work, start changing the variables in each of the tensors. He sighed, since there could be 256 different combinations. With that decision made, he started doing the calculations.

Raj's Apartment, 2:00 PM Wednesday December 26th 2012.

Raj was sitting and watching a movie, feeling morose, drinking a beer. The group had gathered for dinner, at 4A, on Christmas day. There, he had spoken to Howard about getting together sometime today. However, when Raj got to Howard and Bernadette's apartment, Howard had evidently forgotten, as he had gone to the library, to do some more research for his project, and Bernadette was going over to her parents house.

So, Raj stopped by 4A on the way home. There he found Sheldon, in intense thought, working on a whiteboard. He asked Sheldon where Amy was, and Sheldon called for Amy, but when she didn't appear, he shrugged and told Raj that she must be out, and he had to get back to work.

Raj left 4A and went back to his apartment, and spent the rest of the day feeling all alone. Maybe if Leonard and Penny were still here, he could hang out with them, but they were gone, and besides, he had had a fight with Leonard. He got another beer, thinking that he couldn't find either a woman or a friend, and spent the evening feeling sorry for himself.

Headington, UK, 11:00 PM Wednesday December 26th 2012.

Leonard had just climbed into the bed in the guest room. Geoff had made dinner, and it was almost ready when his wife, Rita, who worked in the administration area of the nearby hospital, had come home from work around 7 PM. Geoff introduced her and Leonard, wine was poured and they sat down to talk, until dinner was done. At 7:30, they had dinner and when they were finished, Rita started working on the dishes. Leonard tried to help, but was good-naturedly run out of the kitchen by Rita. Geoff had poured Leonard and him a glass of wine and moved, to what Leonard would have called a family room, to sit and watch some TV, and talk. Rita joined them shortly, and the three of them started by discussing Leonard's trip.

They also talked about the upcoming days. Tomorrow was a day off for most of the university, including the administration, so Leonard wouldn't be able to get his rooms, nor do any of the paperwork, until Friday. So, tomorrow would be a trip around the City of Oxford, a bit around the University, and some of the areas outside of the city. Just to familiarize Leonard with the area. Geoff also suggested he fill out some of the paperwork Geoff had brought home. That way, it would go quicker on Friday. Around 10:30 PM, Geoff and Rita told Leonard it was their bedtime. Leonard agreed and all three climbed the stairs. Leonard said goodnight to the two of them, and then went to his bedroom. He did his usual preparations, and was now trying to get comfortable. It wasn't very long, as he had had a very long day, before he was asleep.

Apt 314 6:00 PM Thursday December 27th 2012.

Jeanie had just left, and Penny went to the fridge, grabbed and opened the first bottle of wine. She poured a glass and drank, as she thought about her day. Jeanie had come over early in the morning, spending the day with Penny, as she had done the last couple of days. Jeanie had tried to talk to Penny, but today, Penny didn't feel like talking, thinking about the events of the last few weeks. A few minutes ago, Jeanie had abruptly stood up, said she had to go, said goodnight, and left.

Penny felt so alone, and it had been getting worse and worse for her. She felt so bad, for everything that happened, because it was all her fault. The more she thought of how she had reacted to what had happened, the worse she felt about it, and the more she thought she deserved how much she hated herself. She didn't see any way to fix what she had messed up, she felt she just had to get through it. But, she thought about how she had destroyed her relationship with the one guy, she felt she truly loved, first by cheating, then by ignoring and lying to him. The thought, if I did these things, did I truly love him? Kept running through her mind.

Why didn't I just tell him? That question now haunted her. As she thought about it, there were two main reasons. One of the reasons was I was simply scared of his reaction. I couldn't bring myself to tell him, because I couldn't face not knowing if he would break up with me. But, the main reason, I guess, is I simply didn't want to hurt him. You stupid idiot, why would I think that if I didn't tell him, he wouldn't get hurt? Of course I'm an idiot, because I didn't figure out the only way not to tell him, was to not talk to him. I probably ended up hurting him worse by not talking to him. Then I wrote that fucking letter. It was just fucking stupid not to realize how bad breaking up in a letter was. Penny, you stupid bitch.

Now, as she thought about it, she understood it wasn't right. I'm worse than those other women I used to think of as skanks. I'm nothing more than a fucking skank, and a bitch, there was no use sugarcoating it. I'm those things for cheating, for hurting Leonard, for just fucking everything. The only good thing, thought Penny, was having Jeanie here. Thank God for Jeanie. If she hadn't been here, I don't know what I would have done. But, Jeanie wasn't here tonight, and Penny, to avoid thinking of what a worthless piece of shit she was, wanted another drink, and another, and another, until she was so drunk, she couldn't think about it.

Apt 601 10:00 PM Thursday December 27th 2012.

Jeanie had gotten the text at 5:45 from Robyn Harris, telling Jeanie she was going to try to call between 6 PM and 9 PM. Robin was an old friend, they had met just a few days after Jeanie got to New York the first time. Since she didn't want to talk about this in front of Penny, she said goodnight to her, left, going to her apartment.

She was going over her own thoughts. After watching her the last few days, Jeanie thought she had to talk to Penny about her drinking. It didn't seem as if Penny was addicted to alcohol, she didn't seem to need it all the time. However, while she might not physically need the alcohol, she appeared to be dependent on it, psychologically. It wouldn't hurt to recommend Penny talk to Jeanie's therapist, who might be able to help her get through things, without drinking.

Jeanie had wanted to hear back from Robyn, before she did recommend Penny see a therapist. Robyn had worked with Brent before, and Jeanie wanted some information. She had already talked to a few other friends and had some news for Penny, but this call could be the most important. When 9 PM passed, with no call, Jeanie decided she would talk to Penny about her drinking and try to find more information about what had happened with Brent. She would also mention to Penny about going to a therapist. She was now planning to do that, even if Robyn didn't call.

It was at 9:40 that her phone rang, and after hearing it was Robyn, they caught up on personal things for about ten minutes. Then she asked if Robyn had answers for her. In the next ten minutes, Robyn gave Jeanie, the information she was looking for. They said their goodbyes, and after hanging up, Jeanie knew her and Penny would have a very serious talk tomorrow.

Apt 4A 1:00 AM Friday December 28th 2012.

Amy had woken up to the sound of something falling. She woke up, turned her light on, and looked around. She didn't see anything, so she got up, put her robe on, and opened her door. She could see light in the living room, which puzzled her, as Sheldon had gone to bed, at his usual time of 9:00 PM. She walked down the hallway, to the living , she spotted Sheldon, in his pajamas and robe, picking up one of the two white boards he was working on. He looked excited, but Amy didn't know why. So, she asked, "What are you doing Sheldon?"

"Working on my idea," Sheldon said. "Leonard's, actually, but he didn't fully understand how his idea fit into the theory, so he couldn't take his any farther. I had an idea, and he told me to go ahead and work on it, but I've been struggling with it. There are so many choices, that I was thinking about giving it up."

"Yes, I know all that," said Amy. "What I mean is what are you doing up at this time of night?"

"While I was sleeping, I had a dream about a way to decide how to arrange the equations in the stress-engery tensor," said Sheldon. "So, I came out here to set them up. Then, I started working on them, and got so excited, I knocked one of the boards over, I'm almost done." His marker was flying across the boards. He was moving different terms and letters back and forth.

"Well, go back to bed," said Amy.

"Just a minute," said Sheldon. He transferred a whole term from one board to the other, canceled some terms and rewrote the equations. Suddenly, he excitedly exclaimed, "That's it. Amy, that's it."

"What's it?"

"See how the two equations on each of the boards are similar, they just have different terms?" said Sheldon, still sounding excited.

"Yeah, so what?"

"Don't you see?" asked Sheldon.

"See what?"

"The one on the left board is for the EM force," said Sheldon. "The one on the right, is for Gravitons."

"So?" said Amy shrugging. "Gravitons don't work in the equations for Quantum particles…"

"Amy," said Sheldon, "I just found Quantum Theory equations that produced the shapes of the experiment Leonard was doing. He didn't know what those shapes represented. I assumed they were gravitons, and tried to find an equation, from Quantum Theory, that produced a match to those reflection shapes, using the gravitational coupling constant."

"I started with the EM equations, because Gravitons are point particles, like photons. Leonard figured out the Electron shapes, using the EM equations. I now have the Quantum Gravitational equations that produces those the shapes for gravitons."

"Well, ok,' said Amy, "but, you don't have the actual equations, do you?"

"No, but I have a starting point, well, an ending point. What I have to do now, is to find the equations that give me the equations I found tonight. When I find those, I should be able to use them to solve gravitational problems, using Quantum Theory. Try to solve something like the precession of Mercury. If that works, I'll have actual Quantum Gravity equations that work."

"But, I won't know if they're are valid, so I have to derive those equations from first principles. What will make it easier, is that I'll know the answers. If I can derive the equations that lead to those on the board, I'll have combined Gravity, Electro-magnetism, and the Strong Force, under one umbrella, something neither Einstein, Feymann, or anyone else has ever done."

Amy was shocked, this was the holy grail for physicists. "Well, get back to work," she said excitedly

Several things. The paperwork Leonard needed is accurate for an American seeking to work in the UK. There is a Pun and Inn, named The Three Horseshoes, just off the M-40, Near High Wyecomb. You can find its web page by googling it. Finally, the Headington Shark is real, do as Geoff suggests and look it up. wikipedia had a nice write up with images.