Chapter 10
Bernadette had picked a quiet table at the back of a lounge that her and Amy had frequented before. She was going to be meeting Amy there shortly. She was relieved when she got Amy's text that she was willing to meet her to talk.
She had been up the past two nights thinking about the fight that she had with Amy and Penny. She knew that she had played a huge part in upsetting Amy, and she felt terrible about it. Amy didn't deserve that, all she had tried to do was diffuse the situation between her and Penny.
Penny. Penny was the whole reason that Bernie had gotten on edge. Why did she constantly feel the need to put down her husband? Yes, he was a different guy in the past, she knew that. But he was committed to her now, and he loved her. Why did she have this constant need to insult him all the time?
It was true, she had gone for the jugular on Penny, but she was pissed off at her. She heard through the grapevine at work, that Penny had bombed her interview…the interview that SHE had gotten her. She had put her reputation on the line to even get her that interview, Penny went in woefully unprepared and then GOT the job because her and Dan bonded over Bernadette being mean. Did she think that she wouldn't find out? The thought of them laughing at her just filled Bernadette with rage.
Bernie looked up and saw Amy come in through the door. She waved her over, and Amy slowly approached the table. She looked nervous and upset.
"Hi Amy", Bernie said quietly.
"Hi" Amy replied softly. She sat down and grabbed the drinks menu.
"Do you want to share a bottle? Or half a bottle?" Bernie asked.
"Oh, I don't know…things didn't really go too well the last time we were drinking wine." Amy mused. She looked down at the drinks menu, then back up at Bernie "Oh what the hell, let's share a bottle".
Bernie smiled and signaled the waiter over, who took her order. In a blink of an eye a bottle of Shiraz and two glasses were sitting in front of them. Bernie poured two glasses out, and then looked at Amy.
"Amy, I can't tell you how incredibly sorry I am for what I said to you. It was cruel and it wasn't fair. I should have never commented that way on your relationship with Sheldon and I shouldn't have made negative comments about your sex appeal. It's not true, and it's not how I feel. I really am sorry for hurting you."
"Why are you apologizing, if that's how you feel. Maybe you do think that Sheldon and I have a bad relationship. You do seem to think I have no sex appeal, you've said that twice now." she said in a monotone voice.
"Amy, really I don't believe that. I just…I just….When I'm mad, I go for the weak spot and attack. I've always done that with my brothers and sisters. I know that you are insecure about how you look, and that you've had people make fun of you in the past. So it was the first thing I went for." Bernie looked down. "I really have a temper problem…I know, I've known for a long time. I really need to work on it. I end up hurting people I love like you and Howie."
"I know I don't dress the most fashionably, but I feel comfortable in my clothes. I like dressing differently than everybody else. I didn't think I looked dowdy and unappealing though."
"Amy, you don't! My only comment is sometimes you wear so many layers of clothes, you are hiding that hot body you got under there. You should show off that cute figure you have a little more. I guess it's ok though, since Sheldon has already seen you naked!"
"Bernie!" Amy cried. She was turning a deep shade of red. She looked at Bernie sadly "He's also seen Penny naked, and I know that there is no way I could compare."
Bernadette sighed. "Penny is like a dime a dozen out here in California. She is just like every waitress actress out here. She didn't put Sheldon into a state of panic when he saw her in her prom dress, you did."
"I don't know if having a panic attack at the thought of sleeping with me is the most flattering thing." Amy replied.
"Amy, if he had no desire to sleep with you, then seeing you in your prom dress would have had zero effect on him. Or the teasing he got about having sex on prom night from Leonard and Penny would have no effect because he would just not worry about doing it. He started panicking because he DOES want to sleep with you and he doesn't know what to do about it, because he has it stuck in his head that he's above all this coitus nonsense. He's panicking because he wants it, and the idea that he is not Mr. Homo Novus is freaking him out. "
"Doctor Homo Novus.." Amy corrected quietly and smiled. She looked up at Bernadette. "That doesn't change the fact that you don't think that Sheldon and I have a good relationship."
Bernie looked into Amy's eyes. "Nothing is black and white all the time. There are lots of shades of grey. There are things about your relationship that I think are great. I see the love between you two is real and true. I see that you two genuinely like spending time and doing activities together. I see the way you dote on each other when no one is looking. But yes, there are things that I don't like also."
"Like what?"
"Like I don't like how he skews the relationship agreement in his favour all the time. I don't like how he puts you down and insults you. I don't like how he often thinks of himself before you. I really didn't like how he left you this past summer without a word, and when he came back, you just forgave him with no consequence."
Amy looked down at the table. Her eyes were filling with tears. "I hated that too Bernie " she sniffed. "I never felt more alone than when Sheldon left. I felt like he left because of me. I hated that he mocked my desires for our life together like it was some stupid joke. When he came back, it was like nothing had ever happened. He has no idea how many nights I spent crying over him while he was away."
"Amy, why didn't you tell him how you felt when he got back? He needs to understand how much his actions hurt you, and you need to be strong enough to tell him. You two really need to talk about these issues. The whole relationship can't be about him all the time. There are two people here, not just one. You need to figure out what you want out of this relationship, and so does Sheldon. If you two can get on the same page, then great, if not, then maybe it's time to walk away."
"Bernie, I don't think I could do that….I don't think I could leave Sheldon."
"I'm not saying leave him, but I want you to take a hard look at what you want. You may have that life with Sheldon, or perhaps it will be with someone else. But you can have the life you want. Remember that. You are an amazing person Amy. Strong, smart, beautiful…never forget that ok?"
Bernie and Amy looked at each other and smiled. They could feel the tension and hurt slip away. They began chatting like normal, and ordered a second bottle of wine. They started cracking funny stories to each other, and soon they were laughing away, the wine making them both a little loopy.
"Are we good?" Bernie asked
"We are good" Amy smiled. She pulled out her phone and started going through her emails. Bernie pulled out her phone and then gasped.
"Oh my god, Amy you have to see this!" Bernie thrust her phone in Amy's face.
Bernie had the Facebook app open on her phone, and the newsfeed was filled with pictures of Penny. A very drunk Penny. She was dressed in the shortest little blue dress imaginable, sitting on some beefcake's lap. She was surrounded by a bunch of girls all wearing similar little dresses in different colours.
"Is she wearing body glitter?" Amy squealed.
"OMG Yes!" Bernadette howled laughing. They scrolled through all the pictures. They could see as the night went on how Penny looked progressively more drunk , until the last pictures where she just looked glazed and was drooling.
"This is too funny. But who are those girls, and those guys? I don't recognize any of them." Amy asked.
"I recognize a few of the girls. Those were girls she used to party with before she met Leonard." Bernie replied.
"Wow, I guess she replaced us pretty quickly hey?" Amy said softly.
"Oh, who cares! Did she apologize to you? No! Did she apologize to me, or even try to talk to me? No! I have a boatload of issues with Penny right now, but tonight is not the night for that." Bernadette grinned up at Amy "Should we comment on any of her pictures?"
"Hmmm like what? How about "Any more alcohol and your NMDA receptors will block your memories but Facebook is forever?" Amy slurred.
"Oh Amy, even drunk, you sound too smart… I was thinking…"
She started typing S-L-O-R-E in the comment field.
"Bernie!" Amy squealed and grabbed the phone away from her, rapidly hitting delete.
"Don't you want to get back at her? Even a little? You know her and Leonard got into a big fight yesterday. Howie told me. Apparently she is sick of all of us, thinks we are all a bunch of geeks. She's sick of conversations on would you rather be an elf or goblin?" Bernie said.
"Elf or Goblin? Doesn't she mean Elf or Hobbit?" Amy asked. She giggled "Dummy."
Amy started thinking about all the cruel words that Penny had said to her. How she didn't turn Sheldon on, how she didn't activate that part of his brain, how if he was her boyfriend he would be begging for sex. She thought about Penny's callous text from the other day. She thought about the statement she made about Alex. You know it was funny, she made that statement about Alex and Sheldon, but the reality was that Alex liked Leonard not Sheldon. "How about this Bernie…", she navigated to a picture of Penny drooling. In the comment she wrote.
Leonard Hofstadter, you are such an awesome guy. You should be with someone Hot AND Smart, not just Hot – with Amy Farrah Fowler, Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz and Alex Jensen.
"Do it! Do it!" Bernadette goaded.
Amy looked at the phone, and then hit Post. It was done. She would probably regret that in the morning, but right now, it felt so right.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to ChaliceInnana who got me writing tonight and inspired me on a lot of the stuff I wrote about Penny. I promise, that Penny will come around and that they will all get along in the end. I'm not intending this story to be about slamming Penny, but I want her to feel a bit low, and then reflect on her friends and decide what she wants in her friends. Thank-you! And thank you all for the reviews, I love reading them.