Chapter 16

Leonard and Penny sat in the living room. Both dressed to the nines and waiting. Penny was wearing a long purple evening gown and had her hair pinned up in a style. Leonard was wearing a brand new suit and custom made Circuit Board Cufflinks that Pris has sent him.

"Are you sure we should wait?" Penny asked after a while.

"Yeah I think so. We might need to help carry Sheldon out of here, and between the three of us, you have the best upper body strength, so we need you." Leonard stated and Penny nodded with a smile.

Mary walked out of Sheldon's room with a satisfied look on her face. She was also dressed to the nines in a long baby blue and gold dress that Penny had help her pick out.

"Is he okay?" Leonard asked carefully.

"He is on his way." Mary said and turned just as Sheldon walked out of his room wearing a dark blue suit.

"Don't you look handsome?" Penny noted when she stood from the couch.

"I don't know. Most likely, given my stature and this beautifully tailored Suit." Sheldon said dryly.

"So are we ready to go?" Leonard asked.

"I just want to say, that I'm going against protest. And that once this night is over, I will never speak you any of you again." Sheldon pouted.

"Good. Then let's go, so this night can get started." Leonard grabbed his keys and they all headed out.

This was the night of the grand opening of Pris's gallery. It was a highly formal event and the guest list was of a wide variety of people. Every time that Leonard had spoken to Pris, she had been excited about the people who RSVP'd. From Movie celebrities to important professors.

Arriving at the gate, Leonard noticed that there were already a lot of guests. The valet took his car and he walked up the red carpet steps of the newly renovated terrace.

"This is really fancy." Mary noted as she looked at all the other well-dressed guests and the fairy lights and drink stands with waiters attending to guests. Leonard walked closer to a table and stared at the option of drinks. Drinks were labeled with their chemical structures and formulas.

"Is that wine?" Penny asked when she pointed to a glass and a strange chemical formula printed on it.

"Yes. That's wine." Leonard laughed.

"Thought so." Penny grabbed a glass and took a few sips. "See, I can be just as smart as you guys."

They all got drinks and walked further up the steps towards the door. Arena, Pris's assistant stood by the door with a tablet, dressed in a sleek black dress.

"Dr. Hofstadter, welcome." She greeted Leonard formally. "Dr. Cooper." She nodded towards Sheldon. His head snapped up and he frowned at her.

"You know who I am?" he asked.

"Yeah. I can retain the faces, names and facts about up to four hundred guests." Arena smiled. "Plus, you're on our VIP list, so I expected to see you."

"Arena. You look nice. Hi." Leonard wondered for a second if Arena even had a title. He only knew the way Pris addressed her. Arena tapped on her tablet and then looked up at them again.

"Please take a booklet and enjoy the gallery." Arena pointed to a table stacked with booklets and continued on to the next guests.

They each took a book and walked into the foyer. The room had more tables with books and drinks and guests standing around.

"I wonder where's Pris?" Penny asked.

"Probably hiding somewhere." Sheldon said under his breath.

"Whatever would I hide from?" Pris asked as she walked into view. She was wearing a peach silk gown that flowed behind her like wings. "Hi guys." She grinned and greeted Penny and Leonard. "Dr. Cooper. Thank you for coming."

Mary elbowed Sheldon in the ribs and after he caught his breath he said: "Thank you for inviting me." And after a thought he added: "Dr. Prior, this is my mother. Mary Cooper. Mother, this is Pris."

"Dear Heavens, the good Lord did bless you with beauty, didn't he?" Mary stared at Pris as she shook her hand.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cooper. And thank you for coming. I'm sure you will enjoy it."

"I doubt that. I'm not really into this science stuff. Oh and please call me Mary."

"Believe me, you will enjoy this." Pris grinned and stepped away. "Please go ahead, I'll be… everywhere."

They all nodded and started heading down the hall. They reached the first door to their left that was labeled, Rain room, and walked in. It was a large room and a few guests were already inside. In the middle of the black room was a bit of a platform the size of a stage and a rainy mist was coming down from the ceiling. A guest stood on the far end of the platform under the water, though he wasn't getting wet. He walked a few steps and the dry gap followed him. Everywhere he was standing, it wasn't raining, but everywhere else the water poured down.

"That's cool." Penny said and walked closer to the platform. She picked up the edge of her dress and carefully stepped onto the platform. The water stopped pouring above her and she remained dry. "Really cool." Penny grinned.

After they had a bit of fun and dance in the rain room, they walked out and down the hall to the next room: The cloud room.

They walked into the room and were met by a black wall. It took them a second to adjust to the light and noticed that the middle of the wall was a large window. They walked closer and looked through.

"What?" Leonard asked no one in particular with a wide grin on his face.

On the other side of the window was a rather large theatre. It was empty for the most part, except for the actual cloud that hung in the middle of the room.

"What is it?" Penny asked.

"She made the circumstances for a cloud to form inside a building." Leonard read from his booklet.

"That's a real cloud?" Penny stepped closer to the window to check it. "She can do that?"

They moved on to the next room. It was the large hall where she had hung from the ceiling. It had been completely transformed. There were strings everywhere from the floor to the wall and the very high ceiling. In some places the strings pulled together to form an image.

Sheldon huffed and slapped his hand over his mouth. Penny and Mary stared at him, wondering about his mood. Leonard's jaw dropped and quickly looked in the book.

"Oh my god." Leonard said and also started hyperventilating.

"What?" Penny asked.

"Oh my god." Leonard repeated as he walked deeper into the room. Sheldon was already hallway into the room and tears were streaming down his face.

"Sheldon?" Penny started worrying.

"I love her." Sheldon whispered in a teary daze. "I really love her."

"Why?" Penny started getting frustrated with Sheldon and Leonard's reactions.

"This is string theory." Leonard explained, also teary eyed. "She made a life-size representation of string theory."