Chapter 7

Monday. The official start of their trial. They'd agreed to a 30 minute getting to know you lunch with 50/ 45/ 5 communication time. Amy couldn't convince Sheldon to get rid of the required silence.

With Amy's excitement she arrived to lunch early at the table they'd agreed upon. She set out her entire lunch in perfect order. Water to the right, sandwich the centerpiece while her chips and apple adorned the sides. Her napkin rested in a perfect triangle beside her fork and knife. Finally, a stack of flash cards with conversation points rested in her lap.

Perfect.

Did this make her look too eager? She didn't wanted to look like a fan or a stalker, but she was so excited she wanted everything to go swimmingly.

Look cool, she drilled to herself. Unfortunately, she was wouldn't know what cool was if it hit her. She scanned the cafeteria for anyone resembling cool and landed on an art student in the corner. Eccentric clothing, reading a collection of Isben while his booted feet rested on the table.

Nah.

If Sheldon saw her shoes where he was expected to eat, he'd not only end the agreement but probably call the health department. Another gentlemen sat in the window seal. Black leather jacket, black boots, and greased black hair. He had a box of matches in his hand lighting and burning the stick until it almost touched his fingers then dipping it in his drink.

Nuh-uh.

The last one look...promising. A cheerleader at a table full of jacketed jocks. She was leaning against the columns casually flipping her hair and tossing her head back when she laughed. The guys followed her like lambs.

Now that's cool!

She thought as she saw Sheldon maneuvering through the crowd. She leaned against the column waiting for him to approach.

"Sup, Coops." Cool!

"Good afternoon Ms. Fowler." He look her up and down at her unusual body position. "Are you tired?"

"What? No, why would you say that."

"You're slumped on the pole like you're exhausted. Do we need to reschedule?"

"NO!" She screamed. "No, I just mean...I'm not tired. I'm actually very excited."

"As am I. I've come up with a stack of cards for conversation and questions. Nothing worse than a jaded conversation."

"Great minds think alike." She smiled and shyly lifted her stack from her lap.

"Ah, question 35 seems promising." He said tossing another chip in his mouth. "If you could pick a national fruit what would it be?"

"Hmm, avocado. So versatile, it can be used in smoothies, dip, sandwiches, savory, sweet. Such an anomaly, that fruit. Too bad I'm allergic."

"Allergic to avocados. Good dropping of information. We can add it to the allergies and immunization records."

"My turn, what's your favorite childhood cartoon?" Amy said.

"Now when you say cartoon what do you mean? Favorite comic to cartoon series? Favorite book to cartoon series? Also, what constitutes as childhood because I considered myself an adult once I was potty trained."

"Tell me all of them!"

"Wowza!" His eyes exploded in excitement. "Well comic to cartoon is The Flash, book to cartoon is Garfield. I love that indifferent, ginger cat." He shuffled through the cards until he came across one that made his eyebrows raise. "Hmm, it's a bit personal."

"That's what we're here for isn't it."

"Agreed, plus knowing your recent criminal history is imperative. So, what the most recent thing you've done in secret or after being told not to?"

Amy wasn't a person who did wrong. She was obedient to a fault so she scrounged her brain to find something bad.

"Last Friday" she began like she was confessing to a crime. "I hid in the closet and read A Lovers Affair. I do it every weekend and my mother doesn't know that I'm up that late or that I'm reading a book like that".

"Like what? Is it a steamy romance novel?"

She nodded, blushing at her confession. "But it's so much more than that." She milled her hands in circles trying to create a phrase that was worthy enough to describe such a wonderful book. "It's magical! It's poetic, romantic, and witty, and-and. UGH! You don't want to hear about it."

"No, I do. Tell me about it."

It was Amy's time to brighten. She was like a puppet to her excitement. Bending forward when the tension heightened and falling into her hands when describing the romance, her energy radiated from her fingertips. Without noticing, Amy spent 15 minutes yammering on about her story.

"Oh my goodness, Sheldon. I'm so sorry!" She cowered in embarrassment. He didn't understand her sudden apology. "I've talked for 1/2 of the lunch. I'm breaking the contract on the first day. I'm truly sorry, I'll make it up to you. Next lunch, I'll be as quiet as a church mouse. I promise!" She motioned across her mouth like she was zipping it.

"Hm. We do only have ten minutes left." He waited for his irritation to raise. He hates people hogging the conversation and breaking contracts and Amy had done both in one day. The truth was he didn't want to speak, a first for Sheldon, he wanted to listen. He hung on to every word like a child and took the journey with her. He wanted to see go into her mind and recall the memory and see her act it out. She was captivating. Wait, this is Sheldon Cooper, the only captivating person in his life is himself. "Well we will just have to make up for lost time then. How about lunch tomorrow?" He tried to sound stern. He was a stickler for rules and therefore they must be adhered to but Amy's innocent face weakened his stubbornness.

"Sure, that sounds great. "

"Good." He said.

"Good." She said.