Chapter 13

Pris tilted her head to the side. This was weird. What was Sheldon doing there?

"Please take him to my office." Pris said into the radio. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Roger." Arena said back.

Pris frowned and stared at the wall in front of her. "This should be interesting." She said to herself and stood up. "Very interesting."

As she stood up, the entire afternoon's dust and concrete fell off her cargo pants. She sneezed and headed to her office.

Arena walked down the long hall with Sheldon at her heels. The silence was awkward but loud as their footsteps echoed off the wooden floors. She showed Sheldon into Pris's office and with a curt nod, left the strange man behind. Sheldon stared around the room and felt a strange sense of warmth from the way that the light bounced off the walls and the many colors felt like a quilt covering him with comfort. He hated it.

He looked at the couches assembled around the coffee table and had the urge to fall face down into the soft looking pillows of the red couch. He took a deep breath, fighting that very urge.

"Doesn't look like an office." He mumbled to himself.

"It's my waiting area." Pris said from the door. "Or casual boardroom."

"You artsy people are crazy." Sheldon stated.

"Thanks." Pris actually smiled.

Sheldon looked up and saw the array of coffee pods against the wall and shook his head. "Who drinks that much coffee?"

"I do." Pris stepped deeper into the room. She wanted to cross her arms but decided that it was defensive body language. The fact the Sheldon was clutching the strap of his bag so tightly told her that he wasn't very comfortable.

"Just more proof that you're as benighted as you are vexatious." Sheldon stated coldly.

"Or just proof that I like coffee." Pris walked to her own favorite spot on the couch.

There was a long silence before Sheldon spoke again. "I read your recent paper online."

This surprised Pris. She had only posted that the previous night.

"Where do you come up with such garbage?"

Pris's new paper was entitled: The affect of Coffee, Sugar and comfort on drunken people.

"I have very strange friends." Pris grinned. "And with everything that's going on in my mind all the time, it's relaxing when I research and write silly papers like that. Albert Einstein took a…"

"I know. He took a menial job to refocus his brain."

"You want to sit down, Sheldon?"

"I don't plan on staying long." Sheldon looked at the red couch again and longed to feel its warmth.

"Okay. So. What can I do for you?" Pris eventually sat down in her spot.

"I want you to call Leonard off." Sheldon simply stated.

"What?"

"He's been mean to me all week, and it's all your fault."

"Please explain your hypothesis."

"Ever since your party, Leonard and the others have been giving me a cold shoulder. He's refused to take me to work and home and to the comic book store. I've had to wear bus pants all week!"

"Bus pants?" Pris thought that one through. "Sure. Pants you wear over your regular pants when one must ride on a bus."

Sheldon sighed exasperated. "Of course. Of everyone in this world, you would know what bus pants are."

"I don't drive, much." Was her only explanation. And that to him meant that she took the bus a lot.

"But you're rich." Sheldon stated. "Don't you have people to drive you around?"

Pris was shocked. He must have done some research on her to know that.

"Just for about a year now. But I had to take a bus to College for 7 years."

Sheldon didn't have much of a comeback for that. He would have hated to take a bus for seven years. He almost forgot why he was there.

"Sheldon, did you research me?" she finally asked him.

"I did. I know a lot more about you than Leonard does. In fact, I know that you have a criminal record."

Pris froze. Where was Sheldon going with this?

"What do you want?" she finally asked him.

"I already told you. I want you to tell Leonard to stop being mean to me." He whined.

"Sheldon. I have no control over how Leonard treats you. The way you treat people says more about yourself than it does about them. I did not set Leonard on you like a dog."

"I can't believe I have to resort to this, but none the less: If you don't make him stop, I will tell him about your criminal record."

"Blackmail? Nice." Pris stood from her seat and walked closer to him. "This is crazy."

"I'm not crazy. My mother had me tested."

Pris walked even closer and stood too close for his comfort. "Well, by your own words, I am."

"I'm not afraid of you. You're tiny. And I have information you don't want me to spill."

"Go ahead. Tell him." She dared after a long dramatic pause.