Sheldon had a busy week. His lectures in Texas went without a hitch. Luckily Meemaw had attended each one and kept a firm reign on Mary who became less impressed with each lecture.
"Shelly I cannot understand how you can spout all this mumbo jumbo! I thought I had raised you right. In not one of those fancy talks did you acknowledge our Lord and Saviour!" Mary ranted at Sheldon the evening of his final talk.
"Momma, lets not argue please," Sheldon begged. "Or at least agree to disagree on this. I only have one more day here and I would rather not spend it debating religion vs physics."
Missy grinned from across the table
"Oh Shelly that's not like you you normally love a good debate!"
Sheldon frowned. "Missy in just over 24 hours I am going to have to fly to England. I do not want the last discussion I have with my mother to be a heated one!"
"Come now Shelly, flying is perfectly safe. And I will be praying for you so it'll be fine" Mary tried to reassure him.
Sheldon just rolled his eyes and turned all his attention to his food and let his mind wander.
He had a lot to do tomorrow. He wished he had told Amy he was coming now. She would be able to reassure him and he could go through his check list with her. Tomorrow he had some shopping to do and currency to purchase. He had received the email from Cambridge with flight details just this morning and also details of the hotel they would be putting him up in. Sheldon hadn't even told Leonard he would not be home straight away. His ticket, being open ended, meant he could hopefully come home with Amy; but he didn't want to ask her flight details yet as he had decided to make the whole thing a surprise.
He would be in Cambridge for 3 days. On the first he would meet with Professor Hawking, on the second he would deliver his lecture and on the third he would be given a tour of the university before leaving to travel to London.
Once in London Sheldon was not sure what he would do. He had not booked anywhere to stay and he had no idea how he should go about surprising Amy. But for now his biggest fear was the flight.
73~73
Amy couldn't believe her time in London was coming to an end. The research project was all but complete, the results being significant enough that Amy would be able to take the findings and use them at home. She was still hoping to secure links between home and UCL and had finally persuaded James to agree to at least a couple of trips over. Simon being persuaded by the lure of a holiday in warm weather if not the opportunity to work at Caltech, on this he was still undecided.
As a result of the slowing down of work this weekend a group of them were going to go to the club James had promised to take her too months ago. Amy was excited. Where she had been nervous before now she felt that it would be a nice ending to her trip.
What she was really excited about though was going home. She had spoken to Penny a few nights previously and things there seemed the same as normal. Tuesdays at The Cheesecake Factory, Friday night vintage video games and even though Sheldon was in Texas the others had continued the routine. When Amy had spoken to Penny she had been waiting for Leonard to come back from the comic book store with Raj and Howard and then they, along with Lucy and Bernadette were going to go see a film. It was then Amy missed home most. Missed her friends and her apartment and the reassuring routine of day to day life.
London had been exciting, she had made new friends seen new places and made real progress in her research; but now she wanted to be sat next to Sheldon on his sofa watching some stupid Dr Who programme and planning a trip to the zoo!
73~73
Two days later Sheldon found himself surrounded by his mother, sister and Meemaw at the airport. Mary was crying, Missy was looking bored and Meemaw was stroking his arm and explaining the dosage of the pills she had got to help him relax on the flight. He was not really taking any of it in though. They had packed his comics and work papers in his hand luggage and Missy had given him an old mp3 player that she had loaded with old lectures of Hawking she had found online. Sheldon had been touched by this gesture. Turning to hug them before going through to check in Sheldon said "Thank you for taking me today. And for letting me stay."
"Sheldon you are my son of course I would have you stay and come see you off. Now you quit your worrying and go have fun in England. Go show the wheelchair man how clever you are then bring your girl home!"
Sheldon smiled. Meemaw pulled him in tight and whispered "Show her how much you missed her Moonpie and never let her go!" blushing Sheldon nodded then avoiding Mary suspicious gaze turned to Missy.
"Thank you for the lectures, it will definitely help on the flight!"
Waving Sheldon reluctantly made his way through the doors towards the waiting aircraft.
Sheldon had been booked business class on the flight to London Heathrow. He settled down in his seat having taken Missy mp3 player and a comic out of the bag he had stored in the over head locker. Sheldon rested his head on the back of the seat and closed his eyes. He tried the deep breathing exercises Penny had taught him all those many months ago. He knew he had to do this. He knew Meemaw was right and he would regret it forever if he didn't, but right now Sheldon wanted to jump up and get off the plane.
He had sent Leonard a brief text before boarding just to say he would be away for a couple more weeks at least and he would let him know when he had a date for his return; then turning off his phone Sheldon stashed it in the bag that was now above his head.
As he watched the safety checks being performed by the flight attendants Sheldon felt his pulse race. He hoped Meemaw's pills worked soon! As the plane began to taxi to the runway Sheldon closed his eyes and began to recite the periodic table. Then the planets in order of closeness to earth then as the plane took to the air Sheldon began replaying his favourite episode of Star Trek in his mind. Sometimes he was truly grateful for his eidetic memory.
Once the seatbelt signs had been extinguished Sheldon turned on the mp3 player and began the first lecture. Soon he was so engrossed in the talk he almost forgot he was on a plane; scrabbling about for a pen he began to make notes, questions he had that he could ask Hawking when they met. Soon 3 hours had passed and Sheldon had listened to 2 lectures. As drinks were brought round Sheldon accepted a diet cola and some pringles, then opening his comic book began to read about batman's latest adventure.
Meemaw's pills had worked wonders. Having slept for an hour and read another comic Sheldon realised he only had an hour left before they were due to land in London. He was due to be met by a university representative who would take him to his hotel. Gathering the papers he had been reading Sheldon packed them and his comic books back in his bag. He slipped the mp3 player into his pocket and looked out of the window. There were lots of clouds so he could see very little, but just knowing he was so close to Amy helped. As the sign to fasten seatbelts came back on Sheldon's nerves were replaced by excitement.
73~73
"Amy this is Linda. I am going to be away for a few days, but as the research is almost complete I thought you would not mind. Please feel free to take off time yourself if you want too, or use the time out of the lab to finish of the details in the reports. Don't let James and the others lead you astray too much and if James tries to take you clubbing say no!"
Linda Greensmith's message on Amy's work phone made her smile. The woman who had been quite distant when she first arrived was now offering her almost motherly advise. Grinning
Amy called James "Hey, the boss is away do you want to go out tonight?"
"Sure, Simon wanted to go for dinner in town. What say we all go and make a night of it?"
"Great, take me somewhere I haven't been yet I don't have long left and want to have fun!"
"You got it! But we have work tomorrow and Friday so we wont go mad. On Friday night we are taking you to Heaven"
"Heaven?" Amy queried
Giggling James said "You'll love it! Its the best club in town"
Shrugging Amy decided to let her fried have his fun. Arranging to meet him at 7 Amy returned to work.
That night she got ready and met her friends in a pub near work. They spent a lovely evening drinking and laughing and looking round Amy realised she really would miss them.
"You will all have to come to LA" she grinned. "You will be able to meet Sheldon and we can take you to dinner at the cheesecake factory and..." laughing she stopped "OK so that sounds boring. But hey you would get a tan!"
The others laughed. This shy American girl had really grown on them. Her clipped way of talking and her no nonsense attitude that had achieved such great things in the lab and hospital, combined with the socially awkward girl who spoke non stop about a guy that to be honest just looked odd in the photo on her phone and geeky in the picture on her desk. They had heard so many stories about Sheldon and her 'bestie' Penny it felt like they knew them already.
"So can we go to the beach and Disney if we come over?" James laughed
"Yes! Penny loves the beach and Sheldon loves Disney so its all good!" Amy grinned. "Simon I know I keep saying it but you would have so much in common with Raj, he is great, maybe not so much Howard but he is harmless really."
"OK Amy you have convinced us, even if the work thing doesn't happen we will come visit for a holiday but I can tell you now I am not visiting a train store or a comic book shop!"
73~73
Sheldon was amazed at the beauty of Cambridge. Thing's like that didn't normal catch his attention let alone interest him; but he spotted things Amy had mentioned in her calls and he could not help but compare the beauty of the buildings and grounds with all their history to Caltech and its modern facilities and surroundings. Bringing his attention back to the building he had been taken too Sheldon glanced around. Whilst the building itself was steeped in history the equipment was top rate. He had been shown the lecture room where he would be tomorrow and was now waiting to meet Professor Hawking. As the door opened Sheldon stood up. Surrounded by both students in jeans and sweaters, and lecturers in suits, Professor Hawking was almost swamped. As he neared Sheldon though the people dispersed and soon Sheldon found himself alone with the man he admired a great deal.
"Professor Hawking may I say 'thank you' for affording me this opportunity to come to Cambridge."
"Dr Cooper, after that disastrous last round in our game I wanted you in the room this time so I could watch your defeat!"
Sheldon was momentarily stunned then grabbing his phone out of his blazer pocket he quickly began punching the keys. Soon Sheldon's indignant huffs and puffs and the taping of the keyboard were the only sound in the room.
A door opened behind the men and food was place on a table. Neither man so much as looked up.
An hour passed then "ha ha, or should I say ner ner!" the computer generated voice of Hawking mocked "I believe, Dr Cooper, I win. Again!"
Throwing down his phone Sheldon huffed in disgust. Then looking up said "I guess you are a worthy opponent to loose too"
"Twice!"
Glaring Sheldon refrained from replying.
"So Sheldon are you ready for your lecture?
"Yes, do you need to see it before I deliver it?"
"You want me to check it for mathematical errors?"
"No! Listen about that, I have left that paper I showed you in LA with your secretary. The error is corrected. I would be honoured if you would look at it"
"I will do so tonight. I must say I had thought Amy would be with you. "
"Amy doesn't know I am here. I wanted to surprise her." Sheldon blushed. He had not intended to discuss personal matters like this.
"Well I am sorry she can not join us. It was a pleasure to meet her. Perhaps you will return together before you return to the States?"
"Really? I am sure that would be most agreeable" Sheldon grinned. "I know Amy loved her day here."
Leaving Hawking to return to his hotel Sheldon thought about the day. He had come expecting to discuss physics and instead had spent the day playing games. Grinning Sheldon was happy.
The lecture the next day had been an invitation only event. Sheldon had not seen any details and had just agreed to deliver the lecture he had done in the states.
He was unaware of the names or professions of any of the audience. His main concern was delivering the lecture without a familiar face in the front row. He had not done this before and was nervous that he would choose today, and this place, to let his nerves get the better of him.
Picking up his phone he put through an international call.
"Penny? Its Sheldon. I am about to give a lecture and I am nervous!"
"Sheldon do you have any idea what time it is!" Penny groaned "I thought someone was injured or dead!"
"Penny I'm sorry but I am here alone and scared"
"I thought your mother was going with you?"
"Penny I am not in Texas, it doesn't matter where I am exactly, I just need you to tell me what to do."
Sighing ad now awake Penny tried to focus. "OK sweetie, listen you need to pick a face, just 1, in the front row. That person is the only one you need to talk too. Pretend they are me or Leonard and deliver the lecture as if we are in rehearsal. It will be fine. When are you coming home? It wont be long before Amy is back and I am sure she would be devastated if you weren't here!"
"Thank you for your advise Penny, lecture wise that is. As for Amy and I do not concern yourself!"
Snorting Penny said "OK well you have fun Sheldon."
Sheldon took a few deep breaths and gathered his notes. Walking out on to the platform he looked up slowly and picked out a face in the front row.
"Good Afternoon, I am Dr Sheldon Cooper..."
73~73
He had done it! He had managed to get through the whole lecture without passing out, without being trampled and remaining focused just as Penny had suggested. As with the other lectures people wanted to talk to him afterwards, but he was relieved at the more reserved attitude here. He was therefore surprised at the woman now before him grinning.
"Well well well, Sheldon Copper! How come Amy did not mention you were here? In fact how come Amy is not here to support you?" she frowned.
"I'm sorry do I know you?" Sheldon asked, wary that this woman seemed to know about himself and Amy
"I'm sorry Dr Cooper it is remiss of me not to introduce myself. I am Linda Greensmith. I have had the pleasure of working with your girlfriend for the past 5 and a half months!"
Sheldon nodded now "Oh well … err... actually Amy doesn't know I am here! Would you mind not telling her. I am going to London tomorrow in the hope of surprising her."
"Well I can assure you it will be a surprise. We have heard many stories of you Dr Cooper and seen many, many, many photos! Amy is going to be so excited. Let me give you my number and if you need any help in your surprise let me know. Where will you be staying? With Amy?"
"Well I haven't thought that far to be honest, my aim was to get through today!"
"You are honoured to have been invited, Amy said you were good and I have a colleague who saw one of your lectures in the US. I was curious when this invite came to see if you were the famous Dr Cooper Amy has been telling us about. She didn't lie! Now as for where you stay how about I hook you up with James and Simon until you spring your surprise on Amy, James is all for surprises. I believe they are all going clubbing tonight but I am sure he will be happy to have you stay at his for a night or two?"
"Err.. I'm not sure." Sheldon felt awkward. He knew Amy and James were close but to stay with people he didn't know...
"Listen Sheldon I will give James your number and get him to call you, if you don't want to stay that's fine but he will be able to give you details of Amy's movements if nothing else."
Nodding Sheldon gratefully exchanged numbers.
"Well it was a pleasure to meet you Dr Cooper. Make sure to have Amy bring you to work before you go home"
73~73
"Penny, I am sorry for waking you so early. Thank you for your advise. The lecture was a success. S x"
Sending the text Sheldon lay on his bed. He had thought about Linda Greensmith's offer. He thought it probably best he found himself a hotel though and then once settled contacted either her or James to discover where Amy would be. Pulling his laptop toward him Sheldon began to search hotels. He didn't need anything fancy, just something local to where Amy worked.
Finding a Holiday Inn near to Euston Sheldon quickly made reservations for 2 nights. Deciding he could extend his stay if necessary. Now it came to it Sheldon was feeling nervous.
He knew Amy would be pleased to see him after she got over the shock. His concerns were more due to the expectation of seeing her again. It was something that had got him through the last 6 months and now that it was here he was feeling shy, nervous and excited all at the same time.
Linda said Amy was going out with friends tonight so feeling safe that she would not want to chat for long Sheldon rang her number.
"Sheldon! What a lovely surprise! Is everything OK?"
"Hi Amy, yes I just wanted to hear your voice!" Sheldon confessed realising how true it was as the words left his mouth.
"Sheldon it wont be long now. In less than 2 weeks I will be home. I cant wait!
"I cant wait to see you either Amy" Sheldon grinned.
"What are you doing tonight?"he knew the answer but was keen not to give this away.
"Well I am going to a club. I was nervous about it before but excited now!"
"Well you behave yourself you little vixen "Sheldon laughed.
"Sheldon it is a gay club! I am going with James and Simon and some of the girls form work. I think I should be safe!"
Laughing they spoke for a few more minutes before saying goodbye.
73~73
Sheldon enjoyed the tour of the university the next day. He was also looking forward to coming back with Amy. Saying goodbye to his guide he made his way to the office of Stephen Hawking. His secretary informed Sheldon that unfortunately Professor Hawking was not there and had passed on his apologise. He handed Sheldon an envelope and said they hope to see him again before his return.
Disappointed Sheldon arranged for a taxi to take him to the train station. Returning to the hotel he checked out and gathered his belongings then took the taxi to the train station. The journey by train to London was not very long but Sheldon enjoyed it none the less. He had a map of London and knew he would be able to walk to his hotel once in London.
As the train pulled into London Sheldon felt his nerves return.
What if he bumped into Amy by sheer chance? How would he explain that away? What if she was cross she had missed his lecture in Cambridge? What if James or Linda had let slip he was here?
Sighing Sheldon made his way to the hotel and checking in sat on his bed.
"Good afternoon. I am Dr Sheldon Cooper. Linda Greensmith gave me your number. I just wanted you to know I am in London now and had hoped you would assist me in surprising Amy tomorrow regards Dr Sheldon Cooper"
Sending James the text he knew now he just had to wait.
73~73