Chapter 8

Penny gazed outside the front window of Leonard's childhood home waiting for Michael to arrive. The sun was shining brightly, and it was turning out to be another hot muggy day. Leonard had already headed out earlier in the morning to meet with Ainsley at her place to work on the wedding presentation. She glanced at her watch. He was twenty minutes late which was not too bad. Leonard had warned her that Michael was notorious for being late. Suddenly a gunmetal grey Aston Martin Vantage with yellow trim pulled up to the house. Penny waved to Michael gesturing that she would meet him in the car.

Penny opened the door. "Nice car!" she exclaimed as she sat down on the soft black leather seats. She looked at Michael who was smiling at her. He was dressed casually wearing jeans and an untucked light blue button up shirt. He took off his Armani sunglasses and set them upon the dash. His bright brown eyes were looking intensely at her.

"Well…it seems like I spend a lot of time stuck in traffic. I might as well enjoy the ride right? I bought you a coffee" he said tapping at the cup that was sitting in the passenger side cup holder. "I hope milk and sugar is ok?"

"Oh wow! Thanks! You didn't have to do that. But yes, that's perfect" Penny exclaimed as she took a big sip of the creamy coffee. "I could have met you in the city, I feel bad that you had to backtrack all the way back to New Jersey to pick me up. I could have taken the train in."

Michael smiled. "Oh not a problem at all…I had a few errands to run here in New Jersey for the wedding. Plus this gives me a chance to get to know my future sister in law" he said as he took a large sip of coffee. He put the car into drive, and they were on their way.

Penny looked at Michael. He seemed much more relaxed and at ease today. At lunch the other day he seemed super relaxed, and grew tense as his sister and fiancé were bickering. Lunch was a curious affair, she was starting to get a bit of insight on the relationship between the three siblings. Her first impression was that the three were not close at all, but she kept observing how the three operated off each other. Hayley came off as confident in her role as the oldest child. Michael seemed the typical youngest child with a playful and teasing nature. It was obvious that Leonard was much closer to his sister than his brother. But there was a definite closeness between Hayley and Michael. It was amusing that he seemed to side with Hayley more than his fiancé Emily.

Penny thought of Phoebe's words to her. She seemed to have a deep mistrust of Michael. He looked like quite the playboy with his good looks, outgoing personality and flashy car. She met guys like him in that past, and most of them had turned out to be bad news. It would be interesting to observe him today, and to find out a little more about Haley. She was still a bit of a mystery, she hadn't formed a solid opinion of her yet.

Michael cleared his throat and looked at Penny nervously. "The drive to Columbia University from here is probably around an hour. Umm….listen. I don't want you to get the wrong impression on what we are doing here. I'm just seriously worried about my sister. She's just been really on edge lately, and she hasn't opened up to me. I just want to see if something is stressing her out at work, that she hasn't told anyone about. That's all. I don't make it a habit to spy on my sister."

Penny looked at him curiously. "Of course not. I would never assume. That's why I am here. I want to help, and little Phoebe looks as if something is bothering her. I'm not about spying on people either."

"Great…well as long as we are on the same page." Michael smiled. "So tell me…how did my brother manage to catch a fox like you…"

Ainsley adjusted the thermometer in her apartment. She turned it up just enough to make it uncomfortably hot, but not so much that it was not tolerable for a few hours. She went over to the mirror to make last minute touches to her make up. She adjusted short little sundress that hugged her curves in all the right places. Hopefully this outfit would help do the trick. She heard a knock at her door.

"Leonard! " she said as she opened the door. She launched into a warm hug. "It's so nice to see you here. I feel like our last visit got cut short a little too quickly. I was enjoying catching up with you at the party the other night. At least Emily's annoying request can have some good come out of it."

Leonard walked in and walked towards her living room. "That's true. It will be nice to catch up. I still find it a little bizarre that she asked us to do this so last minute. If this was such a big deal, she should have really asked us this months ago. Something seems a bit weird about it…" Leonard trailed off as he set his bag by the couch.

"Oh you know brides…they have a million things running through their heads. Then they see something in a magazine, and think it would be a tragedy if they didn't have that at their wedding" Ainsley laughed.

"Sure, I guess" Leonard replied. He shifted his hoody uncomfortably. "Man it sure seems hot in here? What do you have your thermometer set at?" he said glancing around.

"Oh believe me I know. We got a note from building maintenance today saying that they are having trouble with the furnace. They are working on it today, hopefully they'll sort it out soon." She smiled at Leonard. "You should take off your hoody. Here let me help you." Ainsley started to put her hand up to the zipper.

"Oooh…I got this…no need to help" Leonard said nervously turning away unzipping his top.

Ainsley laughed. "Why so jumpy Leonard? It's not like I haven't seen you naked before. It's just a sweater" she smirked.

"Ainsley! Come on…that was a long time ago. Lots of things have changed since then." Leonard said quietly. He sat down on the couch and threw his sweatshirt onto the nearby chair.

"I know" Ainsley said softly. "Sorry, I just forgot how much I like teasing you. I've really missed you Leonard. I wish we had kept in touch all these years. We had so many good times together." She sat down on the couch beside him.

He smiled at Ainsley. "Well…it was a long time ago. Sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago. We had some good times, but I'm a firm believer in things working out the way they were meant to. I think we are both in good places in our lives aren't we?"

Ainsley bit her lip. "Yeah…you are right Leonard. We are." She pulled out a notepad and a sketch pad. "How about we get started."

"Wow, I thought the traffic in LA was slow. It's slow here, except everyone is honking and yelling at each other!" Penny exclaimed as Michael turned toward the exit to Columbia University.

Michael laughed. "Welcome to New York. Where the drivers have no filter." He pulled into a visitor spot in the parking lot near Hayley's building. They gathered their things and headed into the reception area. There was a big sign near the elevators that stated that no unauthorized guests were allowed in the building and that a security access card would be needed to get into the elevator.

Michael turned to Penny. "I think this building is pretty secure. I don't think we can just walk up to her office without signing in and getting some sort of pass. But I don't want her to know we are here." He glanced at the pretty brunette girl sitting at reception. "Let me see what I can do."

Penny grinned at Michael. She had a feeling that she was about to see Michael Hofstadter work his charm. "I'll be waiting" Penny laughed as she sat down on a plush grey chair.

Michael went up to the lobby desk and gave the receptionist a warm smile. "Hi there! How are you today?"

"I'm great thank-you." She smiled warmly back at him, a slow blush rose in her face as she looked at his sparkling smile. "How can I help you today?" she said eagerly.

"Well, I was hoping to see my sister. She doesn't know I'm coming, and I really want to surprise her." Michael said.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked sweetly as she twirled her hair looking him up and down.

"Dr. Hayley Hofstadter. I believe she works in this building right?"

"Oh Dr. Hofstadter. Yes she works here. How do I know you are really her brother though?" she said coyly.

Michael glanced at her name tag. He opened his wallet and handed her his driver's license. "Laura…nice to meet you. I'm Michael Hofstadter, and here is my license for proof." He took her hand and shook it and gently held it in his. "Now that we all know who each other are, would you please be able to do me this favour and give me a pass to go see her?" He raised his eyebrow and smiled. "You can keep my license while I'm up there seeing her….It has all my most valuable information." He gave her a little wink.

Laura smiled and realized that she was still holding his hand. She slowly returned her hand to her desk and glanced over at Penny. "Who is that?"

"Oh that's my brother's fiancé." He leaned in towards her and whispered. "I much prefer brunettes."

Laura's face flushed red, and she opened a drawer and pulled a card out. She typed something into her computer and then handed the card to Michael. "I could get in big trouble for this, so you better return it. Dr. Hofstadter's office is on the 6th floor in room 612, her lab is down the hall in room 630. I'm keeping your license as collateral until you do…okay?"

Michael smiled. "You do that. Don't worry, I'll definitely be back to return your card….I look forward to it Laura." He took the card and headed back towards Penny.

Penny gave him a knowing look. "Well that was quite the display. Do you always get what you want?"

"Most of the time Penny…most of the time" he said. "Let's go."

Leonard wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Man…this heat is killing me." He put the notepad down on the coffee table.

Ainsley got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. "I'll get us something cold to drink." She went to the kitchen and got two glasses and filled them with ice. She took a pitcher of water from the fridge and filled the glasses to the top. She brought them back to the coffee table. Leonard eagerly grabbed the water and started gulping it back.

"Oooh that's so good" Leonard gasped.

Ainsley laughed and took the cold condensation filled glass and put it against her chest. "This feels so nice…" she cooed as she slowly rolled the glass. She put it down, and pulled her long dark hair up into a messy ponytail. She then took her glass and moved along her chest again, moving slowly…oh so slowly. Small droplets of water were collecting on her chest and were started to drip down. She could feel Leonard's eyes on her.

Leonard gulped nervously. "Ummm…well we got most of the story written out. I think it's pretty good. We just need pick a style for the presentation, and of course you'll need to make the drawings that we discussed for each page. I think we could actually get this all done in a couple of hours. Your sketches are really good, I don't think we need to do a lot to make them presentation worthy."

Ainsley turned in towards Leonard. "Well we make a great team. We always did Leonard. Working on this project together really reminds me when we first made the fairy tale story together in university. We locked ourselves in my dorm room for two days straight." Ainsley slowly licked some water off the rim of her glass as she stared at Leonard.

Leonard stared at her. "Aaahh..yeah we did. Ummm…Ainsley – "

"-You know we hardly spent any time that weekend working on that story. Just like this it probably only took a few hours. We spent that whole weekend making love. Over and over again. We were insatiable." Ainsley said dreamily.

"Why are you bringing this up Ainsley?" Leonard said softly.

Ainsley leaned in towards Leonard. "God..I just miss you so much. I miss what we had. We were just so compatible on so many levels. Intellectually we matched, interest wise we had so much in common…sexually…we were off the hook. I've learned in life that you don't meet someone that you mesh perfectly like that too often. That it super special when it happens."

"Ainsley…we were so young then. I've changed. I'm sure that you've changed. We are not the same people that we were back then. While we may have been compatible back then, we probably aren't anymore. I mean that's besides the point. I have Penny –"

"-Penny. Yes you have Penny. But have you asked yourself Leonard how much you and Penny have in common? I'm sure that she is a very sweet person, but why has it taken eight years for you guys to finally get engaged? I've heard that you've broken up and gotten back together numerous times. When things are right, everything should just click into place. You two have very different interests. Sometimes sexual chemistry is not enough Leonard."

Leonard sat up straight on the couch. "You don't even know Penny, I don't know how you can make all these assumptions on what our relationship is like. She is unlike anyone I've ever dated. I've never felt that way about another person…and that includes you Ainsley. You were the one that called off our relationship for a fancy job in Europe."

Ainsley looked at Leonard sadly. "I am well aware of the mistakes I have made in my life. It's been one of life's brutal lessons. I know what a gem I have before me. I'm wiser now though, I know if I ever had a second chance, I would never let you go. I would make it my life goal to make you blissfully happy."

Leonard sighed. "Ainsley..I don't know how to put it more clearly to you than this. I love Penny. That's it. I love her, and she loves me. I'm sorry that you are not happy right now, but looking to the past is not the answer. You're a beautiful woman, sweet and kind. I know that your perfect match will come along for you one day." Leonard stood up. "Listen…I think we've gotten through what we need to do together on this presentation. You can just email me your additions and I'll polish it off. I think it's probably best we stop now."

"Leonard….I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Just do me a favour" Ainsley said.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Just think things through before getting married. Every facet of your life…imagine how it would be with Penny, and if she is truly the right woman for you. Do that for me, that's all I ask."

Leonard stared Ainsley in the eye. "I will. I know in my heart I already know the answer, but I will." He shifted uncomfortably. "Do you mind if I use your washroom before I leave?" he asked looking down the hallway.

Ainsley sighed. "Sure, it's the second door on the left."

"Thanks." Leonard walked down the hallway and entered the bathroom. He locked the door behind him. What had just happened in the living room? Ainsley was propositioning him? It came out of nowhere. He hadn't heard from her in over ten years, and now she wanted to rekindle things? She seemed a bit different. She had a bit of an edge to her that was not there previously when they had dated. Leonard turned on the tap and splashed some water on his face to cool off. He grabbed a towel from the hook but it knocked something off her shelf onto the floor.

He looked down to see what he knocked over when he saw it was a watch. A man's watch. That was curious, considering that Ainsley was currently single. Why would she have a man's watch on the shelf next to her shower…like it was recently put there? He picked up the watch and looked at it. It was a Patek Philippe watch. Very expensive, he knew it well because Michael was obsessed with their watches since he was a kid. Leonard frowned. Michael….could this be Michael's watch? No…that would be ridiculous. Ainsley and Michael weren't even friends. She was Hayley's friend, and his former girlfriend. Michael had never paid much attention to her at all. Leonard put the watch back on the shelf. He stared at it for a minute before pulling out his phone and took a quick picture of it. He put his phone back in his pocket. It was time to head home.

Michael and Penny strode down the hall. They slowed down as they approached Hayley's office. The door was open. Michael peered from around the corner and found it to be empty. "Damn! She's not here."

Penny glanced into her office. "Wow…that sure is a lot of papers everywhere. It's like a paper explosion in there. Well maybe she is in her lab. I know my friend Amy seems to spend more time in her lab than in her office."

"I hope so." Michael muttered. They kept walking down the hall. He glanced at the office next to Hayley's. Dr. Mitchell Forrester was written by the door. This was the fellow that Hayley was texting and emailing with. His office was empty also. They continued down the hall when Michael heard his sisters familiar voice laughing.

"That's her…she's in her lab. She's talking to someone" Michael whispered. They leaned against the wall and watched through the hinge of the door that was open and listened.

Penny looked into the lab. Hayley was sitting at lab bench her hair tied high in a ponytail and she was wearing a lab coat. A man was sitting beside her at the bench also wearing a lab coat. He was tall and skinny, and looked like your stereotypical nerdy scientist. They had a large Tupperware container filled with what looked like bread. Hayley took a large piece and started eating it with a big smile on her face.

"Mmm….Mitchell…this is so good. What do you put in these? " Hayley asked as she munched away.

Mitchell laughed. "Cheddar Jalapeno Scones…it's my grandma's special recipe. If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

"That's ok…I don't need the recipe, as long as you keep bringing these in." Hayley replied as she reached for a second scone.

Michaels eye's narrowed as he watched the scene confused from the corner of the door. "What the hell?" he muttered.

"What?" Penny whispered. "Those do look good."

"She's eating" Michael hissed.

"So?" Penny replied.

Michael shook his head. "Hayley doesn't eat. She just doesn't. She always eats like a bird..and she never eats bread. Bread! She's eaten two scones in a couple of minutes. This isn't like her."

Penny shrugged and continued watching them through the gap in the door. Hayley looked really happy and relaxed. They appeared to be talking about work again. She glanced up at Michael. He genuinely looked troubled, and was shifting around uneasily. Why was the fact that his sister was eating, bugging him so much?

Mitchell took a large sip of coffee. "So Hayley, when do I get to hear your next original piece? Am I going to lose my colleague into the New York music scene?"

Hayley started laughing. "Hardly. I'm no where near the level of musicians that play for a living are out there. It was just for fun, just an open mic night. I'm sure I wasn't that good, you are just being nice."

"You underestimate yourself Hayley. You were really really good. The whole room went quiet when you started playing the piano and singing. You could hear a pin drop. You are really talented, you should feel proud." Mitchell stated. He got up and walked over to the sink to wash his hands.

"Thank-you" Hayley said softly. "That means a lot that you have faith in me."

Mitchell turned around at the sink and smiled at her. "Why wouldn't I Hayley?" He turned back to the sink and continued washing his hands.

"Hayley is playing piano and singing at Open Mic nights? This is really not what I was expecting as a secret she was hiding." Michael whispered. "It's unexpected for sure….but there is not really anything here that explains why she's been acting like a stressed out head case."

Penny continued watching Hayley and Mitchell through the door. Mitchell was washing his hands. He was tall, skinny, had a terrible haircut, and his outfit was unfashionable to say the least. He wasn't the playboy type at all, which Hayley's husband Nate appeared to be. She turned her eyes to Hayley who was watching Mitchell intently as his back was turned away from her. She was staring at him with a quiet smile on her face. But it wasn't just a quiet smile…there was something else there. The look on her face was familiar to her…she knew that look well.

"That's not her secret" Penny whispered.

"What?" Michael said confused.

"She's in love with Mitchell. Completely, utterly, head over heels in love with him. I know that look anywhere. She completely adores him" she said softly.

Michael gently pushed Penny out of the way and gazed at his sister through the gap in the door. He saw her soft smile as she watched her co-worker. Really, it was a look he had never seen on his sister before. She seemed so calm, so happy. She never seemed that way around Nate. Nate was an asshole, but Hayley never said too much about it, so he left it as her own business. Penny was right…he couldn't believe it. Hayley was in love with this fellow. Michael's mind began to swirl at the thought of what they were doing, and his hands began to shake as he felt panic start to build up inside of him.

"Let's go" Michael said tensely pulling Penny's hand. "There's nothing left to see."

Michael leaned over the sink in the bathroom of the building's lobby and splashed water on his face. His heart was racing and his hands were shaking. What…what was he doing? Hayley was probably the only person in the entire world that he truly cared about. His mom, dad, Leonard, Emily…honestly, he could not care less about. Hayley was different. She had been there for him. She had protected him the best she could. Could he knowingly go in and mess up her life completely? He couldn't care less who Hayley slept with, but this was different. She appears to truly love this Mitchell guy. It was all over her face. It didn't appear that they were in a relationship, but knowing his sister, her feelings probably ran deep. Hayley had been through so much herself, and truth be told, he didn't want to hurt her. This would probably hurt her too deeply. He needed to call this off. At least get Hayley out of this scheme. There had to be another way…a better way.

Michael dried his face with a paper towel when his phone started ringing. He glanced at the phone. It was Emily. He hit talk.

"Hey Em" Michael said quietly.

"Hi Michael. I'm dying to know what you and Penny found out. Anything juicy?" she asked.

Michael sighed. "Oh I think she may have feelings for this Mitchell guy she works with, but Em listen…we need to talk. Let's leave Hayley out of this whole plan. I don't want to get involved in her life, and really she's not that important to the plan. The main issue was Penny's family embarrassing me. We don't need to drag Hayley into this whole thing at all. I'll talk to her, you don't need to worry about her."

"What!" Emily exclaimed. "We can't leave Hayley out. What do you mean we don't have to worry about her. She will interfere for sure. She thrives on interfering! Michael you know that!"

"Emily, I'm serious. Drop the Hayley thing. End of story! We'll figure something else out ok." Michael said sternly. "Listen, I've got to go. Penny is waiting in the car for me."

"Fine, I'll talk to you when we get back." Emily said flatly.

"Ok bye". Michael hung up the phone. He dried his hands and headed back to the parking lot.

Emily put down her cell phone on the coffee table. What was going on? She should have known not to trust Michael to plot against Hayley. He always had this frustrating soft spot for his "dear sister". Well, Michael didn't always know what was best. She walked over and opened her laptop. She opened Google and typed in Dr. Hayley Hofstadter and Mitchell. She didn't know his last name, and hopefully this would help.

The search page flooded with publications from Hayley and one Dr. Mitchell Forrester. So that was his name. She clicked on a link and quickly read his bio. It appeared that he worked at Columbia University and the two of them did most of their research together. Emily quickly googled the number for the switchboard of the university. She picked up her cell phone and dialed.

"Can you please connect me with Dr. Mitchell Forrester?" She paused as the operator connected her call. "Hello! Dr. Forrester? I'm calling under very serious circumstances. I am a psychiatrist that is treating Dr. Hayley Hofstadter. Of course under normal circumstances, I would never speak to you under doctor patient privilege, but Dr. Hofstadter has developed a dangerous romantic obsession with you, and I fear that you may be in physical danger…."

A/N: Oh Oh….Michael called off the plan on his sister, but Emily put it in play. How will Hayley react? Leonard found Michael's watch….will he put two and two together? Thanks for reading and as always I really appreciate your reviews!