Love Is Hell
Chapter Eight: The Briar Recurrence
It'd been too long since the girls had a date night, and between Penny-and-Leonard's engagement and the upcoming Christmas holiday that would soon unfold, it was only predictable that while all of the gang/group were enjoying Wednesday's Halo Night, although that featured the men playing Halo and the girls alone, the said females were congregated in Kate's bedroom, choosing that as a proper place to get all hyped about the upcoming nuptials.
The entrance to Kate's bedroom was a eye-opener to the similarity between she and Sheldon, for she exemplified the same organization and comic book hero memorabilia that Sheldon had in his own room. Penny wasn't too surprised, but Amy and Bernadette were amazed. They looked up in thought, only to see that Kate had a poster of the Joker and the Dark Knight, back-to-back.
"Does that get a little disturbing in the dark?" asked Bernadette, looking up at the Joker's sinister smile; it was not the scars that made him smile, for it was genuine, although this might have been the creepier part to which Bernadette referred.
"You mean as disturbing as it is to see a picture of a famous actress who portrayed Catwoman on Howard's ceiling?" Kate remarked to Bernadette.
The short microbiologist merely glanced at Kate with surprise.
"Sheldon told me about it when he saw my poster. In retrospect, he prefers mine to his but I think it's because he's biased," Kate replied. She looked up at the poster lovingly, then gestured for the girls to happily sit where they wished. Penny, Bernadette, and Amy sat on the bed, on the edge.
Kate closed the bedroom door and looked at them.
"So," said Kate, grinning. "Have you and Leonard placed a wedding date?"
"Not exactly," said Penny. "We're unsure when to get married. We know it's sometime after this year is over."
"Ever predicated the idea to being married in April?" Amy suggested. "It's perceived in superstition that a couple married in the Spring months are less likely to divorce than those married in the months where the frost is generous and the weather is wintry. Personally, I think a wedding in the winter would be the utmost beautiful, although I've wondered how on earth women could wear dresses revealing so much skin in a freezing temperature like those felt in December and January."
Bernadette smiled at Penny and said, "Well, as long as Leonard doesn't have a big trip to space to go to, I think you can get married without any hurry. If you don't want a minister, you can be safely reminded that we are still ordained to marry you and Leonard. Shoot, you and Leonard can marry yourselves!"
Bernadette and Penny giggled at the idea while Kate and Amy remained perplexed, glancing at each other, clueless to the humor.
Amy looked at Kate and said, "So, are you and Sheldon okay now?"
"What do you mean?" asked Kate. "We've always been okay."
"The last time I spoke with you, you claimed to be a flipping Catwoman; of course, the way you worded it was profane and somewhat titillating. Not only that, you told Sheldon to, in a word, screw himself. I was wondering if you and Sheldon revised your words to one another and made up with passionate sex."
Kate gazed at Amy for a second only to hinder a smile when Penny and Bernadette raised their eyebrows to her.
"To comment, Amy, my memory is a bit cloudy. I was drunk so the memories are only vaguely there, but to answer your question, yes, Sheldon and I made up. Besides, his feelings and mine are, as it turns out, mutual."
"He said he loves you?" blurted Penny.
Bernadette and Amy glanced at her then at Kate expectantly.
"Well, in his own way, at first. Then when I was talking to his mother, she pretty much forced it out of him," said Kate.
"That's why you fainted?" inquired Penny. "He told you he loved you and you fainted?"
"Yeah," said Kate. "Wouldn't you?"
"Yeah, but for a different reason," replied Penny. "Kate, how come you didn't tell us?"
"Yeah," said Bernadette. "I tell you all everything that happens between my Howie and me, and I know Amy has no restraints on her kiss-and-tell stories. Why are you holding back?"
Kate smiled, standing.
"I'm not accustomed to sharing my love life with people, girls." She shrugged and said, "Mary agrees with me that Sheldon is a very private and conscientious man so I try to contain the information regarding love or sex life as much as possible."
"Blah, blah, blah," said Amy. "Kate,"-she turned to her completely—"As our friend, you know very well our secrets remain secretive. It's sharing those confidences that bond girlfriends, so to say you're not going to tell us stuff is like saying you're not our friend. Aren't you our friend?"
"Of course I am," Kate returned. She sat in front of the three. "I'm more than happy to be a friend. It's just that I happen to be a private person too." Kate shrugged and said, "But if it means that much to you all..."
"Yeah, it does, spill," instructed Penny. She crossed her legs eagerly. "What's the gist on the physicist?"
Kate acknowledged her word play then said, "Sheldon and I are on equal grounds now. We're not fighting or anything."
"Didn't bother with the passionate love-making then?" Amy inquired, sounding a bit disappointed. She shook her head and said flatly, "Woman, you have the raw sexuality of a tiger; I would have expected you to do more than just kiss and make up." She looked at Penny. "You need to teach her a few things."
Penny gazed at Amy curiously then looked at Kate.
"Kate, I'm going to probably ransack your comfort zone by asking but what draws you to Sheldon sexually?"
Amy and Kate returned simultaneously, "Are you kidding me?"
Penny's eyes widened in astonishment and Kate and Amy glanced at each other with the same expression. However, Kate only smiled; she and Amy understood and that seemed enough. However, because this was girl's night, Kate was passing a threshold. She leaned forward, legs crossed as well, and decided to indulge.
"All right, thanks to peer pressure... I will tell you, but I swear to God, if I find it spreading the gossip chain, I'm going on a woman-hunt."
Amy nodded and said, "Agreed. I'll join." She smiled happily and said, "It's always nice to be a part of things."
Kate and Amy exchanged understanding looks although Bernadette and Penny did as well, yet theirs resided to the fact of how Amy and Kate were starting to bond...over someone as intricately complicated as Sheldon Cooper.
Before Kate divulged however, there was a knock on the door, or rather, several of them.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Kate, Bernadette, Amy, and Penny."
Kate stood to her feet and in front of the door, waiting.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Kate, Bernadette, Amy, and Penny."
Knock, knock, knock.
"Kate, Bernadette, Amy, and Penny."
She opened the door when he'd finished and smiled at him serenely.
"Hello," said Kate.
"Hello, Kate." Sheldon responded. He glanced at the other girls and said, "Hello, Bernadette, Amy, and Penny." Then to Kate, he said, "I need a word with you."
"Okay." Kate said. Without questioning him, she merely turned to the girls and said, "I'll be right back." She closed the door. At some point, she'd thought the two of them would go into the living room and talk but instead, she found herself in the bathroom with Sheldon closing the door.
"Sheldon?" Kate inquired carefully. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," said Sheldon.
"Then how come we're in the bathroom...together?" Kate asked.
"To talk privately," said Sheldon.
"In the bathroom?"
"Yes."
"About what?"
"Have you and your gal pals discussed an intermittent Date Night?" asked Sheldon.
Kate leaned her right side against the wall, crossing her arms. She thought for a moment then only shook her head.
"No, I don't recollect we have. Why?"
Sheldon stood in front of the door, arms crossed.
"Apparently, Leonard, Rajesh, Howard, and Stuart are formulating dinner plans where Penny, Bernadette, Amy, you and I would be meeting Raj's new girlfriend." Sheldon said. He glanced behind him at the door, but more to the fact that he was gazing through the wall to his friends. He turned to Kate, uncrossing his arms, and stepping towards her thoughtfully."Does that sound suspicious to you?"
"No," said Kate. She looked him up and down and said, "Although I have further doubts about my being locked in an enclosed space with you, Sheldon."
"Oh, right. I seldom times forget you have claustrophobia. My bad...," said Sheldon. He began to open the door, but Kate stepped towards him, and closed it, pushing his back against the surface rather abruptly.
"It has nothing to do with my fear of small, cramped places." Kate replied quietly. "Why does it make you suspicious that the guys and girls would be meeting Raj's new squeeze? I thought it would be good for him to have a girlfriend, considering what happened with Chance."
"There lies the suspicion." Sheldon said. Despite his discomfort of Kate being in his personal space, it seemed that the problem he was currently dealing with overshadowed it.
"Suspicion of what?"
"Raj's new girlfriend," said Sheldon. He shook his head. "Gossip suggests that it's not a new girlfriend, but a fairly recent one, AKA, Chance Briars."
Kate stepped back from him. Her libido was repressed.
"Chance and Raj?" said Kate, clearly taken aback.
"Yes." Sheldon confirmed. "Now you see my predicament."
"Why would we have dinner with Chance?"
"Isn't it obvious?" replied Sheldon incredulously. "She's left with the threat of coming back in a vengeance and now, she'll poison all of us with a warm greeting of how she and Koothrappali are back together, despite your banishment."
Kate smiled and said, "Sheldon, I don't ascend to banishment. They're your department."
Sheldon looked at her and said, "I thought after our prior assuage that we've begun to share power; then again, I prefer a dictatorship compared to that of a democracy."
Kate shrugged and said, "Well,"-she ignored his recent statement—"if Raj wants to date Chance again, I don't see a point in arguing. I mean, Chance isn't stupid. She knows that by continuing a relationship with Rajesh would only mean running into me again."
Sheldon looked at her.
"Kate, I think you're forgetting how tremendous her efforts in sabotaging my comfort zone are. I assure you that while your memory may suffer, mine is clear as day." He shook his head. "The horror."
"It's been weeks," said Kate. "Maybe she's changed."
"And maybe you're pregnant," Sheldon remarked disparagingly. "But I see no signs of that either."
Seeing his panic begin, Kate merely glanced at the floor in thought. How easy it was for him to become distressed. It was up to her to calm him down and it wasn't hard to do; she'd had plenty of practice. She stepped in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Sheldon, listen to me. We don't know where this dinner will take us. For all we know, Chance is coming back to be with Rajesh and possibly apologize to me for being the bitch she was two weeks ago. After all, the last time we saw her was two days before the Thanksgiving Party and that was two weeks ago."
Sheldon rolled her eyes, sarcastically saying, "Is this supposed to somehow calm me down?"
Kate shrugged carelessly and then sat on the edge of the bathtub. She glanced at the periodic table decorated curtain, admiring its logical appeal. Sheldon watched her with a hint of annoyance. He clasped his hands behind him.
"Kate, are you anticipating the notion that Chance will apologize?" Sheldon asked cautiously.
Hearing the tone, Kate turned her eyes from the curtain, to him.
"Anticipating?" She repeated. "Not exactly. She's as stubborn as you." To say so, Kate gestured to him. However, there was a small indicative notion that she was still hoping for the woman to say she was sorry. Although, Kate surmised that in the end, Chance was right; Sheldon could be an asshole just by accident, so technically, it was Sheldon who was obligated to apologize.
"Then you'd have no qualms about saying 'no' to this dinner," said Sheldon.
Kate stood.
"Sheldon, I'll level with you. I'm not eager to see Chance after the words we exchanged. But, if she wants to be with Raj, which is a surprise on my part, considering the only thing they had together was a love for feminine movies and sex, then who am I to stop them?" Kate asked reproachfully.
Sheldon stared at her as though she was insane.
"Who are you to—Kate, do you have any idea about what you're saying?"
"Yes," said Kate. "I don't agree with Chance and Raj being together, considering how mean she can be, but if that's what they want then I'm not coming in between them."
"Why not?" complained Sheldon. "It didn't stop you from pushing her out of here in the first place!"
Kate looked at him and said, "For all we know, Sheldon, she's recognized the error in her ways, and in yours. If one can't conform to the situation, they leave, or accommodate themselves in a fashion where they will tolerate."
Sheldon glared her, saying, "Nothing that happened that day was my fault. She knew the spot on that couch was my entire universe. She knows I don't like to talk about what transpires between us and personally, Kate, I don't much care for the implication that she spouts off her sexual prolictivities to the group whenever she pleases." Sheldon rolled his eyes.
"That's just how she is, Sheldon," Kate remarked defensively.
"I don't like it," Sheldon told her. "I prefer that she never enters our apartment again."
Kate shrugged and said, "Fine, she doesn't have to. But that won't get you out of seeing her again when we go to dinner."
"I'm not going," he argued. "If she's there, I won't be."
"Fine," said Kate. She leaned her back against the sink and put her hands up with surrender. "If you don't want to go, don't go."
"Good, I won't."
However, in spite of himself, Sheldon merely stared at her. When Kate returned the gaze, he sighed in defeat.
"What, Sheldon?"
"Now I feel obligated to go," said Sheldon.
"You said you wouldn't."
"Well, apparently, now I am."
Kate narrowed her eyes at him curiously. What was going on in that brain of his?
"Why?"
"It's beyond me because I clearly don't want to see that hotsy totsy woman again," said Sheldon. He shook his head slowly and then told her, "I have a notion that you're partly to blame."
"How's this," said Kate gently. She bounced herself from the sink and stepped towards him in counter offer. "Neither of us will go to the dinner, considering it's more than obvious that neither of us want to see Chance Briar again."
Sheldon smiled.
"Good," said Sheldon happily. "I know you'd understand."
"I know." Kate stated. "Now, is the discussion of Chance over?"
"Yes, I believe so. Meeting adjourned." Sheldon said. Kate moved past him and opened the door. As they walked out the bathroom, Kate felt his hand guide her lower back and she felt a warm flash find her face, and a seek missile of sudden lust formulate itself in her lower anatomy. As he moved past her to the living room without a thought of what he'd just incurred, Kate watched after him. The guys glanced back to see Sheldon then saw Kate.
Kate bit her lip as she walked back to the room. Oh, did Sheldon not see what he did to her with the simplest of human contact.