CHAPTER 17
Penny walked down the stairs, to the basement with her laundry basket, while humming a popular song. She was surprised to find that Sheldon was there, frantically loading up the washing machine with a lot of clothes. Although it was Saturday, and it was laundry day; it was only 4 pm and Sheldon always washes his clothes at night.
"Sheldon, honey, you're washing your clothes earlier than usual, huh!" Penny told him.
"Well, in fact I decided to start earlier because I have to get my clothes ready to pack", Sheldon said as he put a load of clothes in the dryer.
"You… have to pack?, Are you going somewhere?", Penny asked surprised.
"Yes! Why else would I pack if I were not going somewhere?", Sheldon replied with a tone of disgust, as he anxiously folded his clothes.
"Yeah, you're right! Are you're going to Texas to visit your mom?", Penny asked, still confused for Sheldon's behavior.
"Of course not! I'm going to… Stockholm", Sheldon muttered.
"You're going to Stockholm? Are you going right now?", Penny was baffled.
"Am I going right now?, just listen to yourself. No! Penny, that would be ridiculous!. First, I have to take care of important issues at my office, and second, I could only get a ticket to travel within a week. I'm leaving next Friday night".
"Does Amy know you are going to Sweden?" Penny was glad to find out that Sheldon couldn't resist any longer being away from her friend. "She's gonna be so happy".
"No, she doesn't know it yet, and I hope you don't tell her, I'd like to surprise her". Sheldon feigned a casual tone.
The annoying voice inside his head started saying: "I'd like to surprise her, in the arms of that Viking. I must protect my woman, as a good Texan". He wrinkled his nose and nervous tics attacked him again.
"Aw, I'll keep the secret"; Penny said smiling as she raised her right hand, making this promise to Sheldon. "Amy will be very thrilled when she sees Sheldon"; Penny thought, she was pleased to know that her friend was actually able to experience feelings and emotions.
"Thanks Penny, and… changing the subject, I wanted to tell you that you should use the influence you have on Amy and assure her that she doesn't need to modify her physical appearance to attract anyone. She is attractive for reasons deeper than mere appearance" Sheldon said, recalling the look of Amy during the video call a few hours ago. "I don't know why women are so shallow. It's a waste of time."
"Wha… what? Mhmm, I'll tell her that later, I guess" Penny didn't know what Sheldon meant to say.
When leaving the club, where they had a great time with all of their colleagues, Mattias offered his arm to Amy and they walked to the parking lot. The young and tall Swedish doctor, opened the car door for Amy, like he always did.
"It was a wonderful night, don't you think?", Mattias asked her. "We had fun; we should do this again sometime".
"Yes! I mean, you did an outstanding presentation of our project", Amy replied, resting her head on the car seat. She was feeling a little dizzy and nauseous, although she only had two or three cocktails. Maybe the drinks in Sweden have a higher concentration of alcohol, she thought. They should warn you before you try a shot.
The streets of the city seemed desolate. It was about 2 a.m. and Mattias drove in silence for about fifteen minutes, until they reach their destination. When they were there, he opened the car's door for Amy and offered her his hand. After a short elevator ride, they got to Amy's apartment. Her feet were so sore that she had to carry her heels in her hand.
"Well, here we are. You're safe and sound as I promised. Would you like to know what was the best part of the night?, Mattias smiled as he asked Amy.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe… the dinner?; I loved the salmon, I hope your vegetarian dinner was equally good", Amy replied.
"No, I'm not talking about food", Mattias laughed as he brushed Amy's hair away from her face. ─ "The best part of the night was… your presence, right next to me" the neurologist said while leaning his head down, until his lips were just inches from hers, he was so close that Amy could hear him breathing heavily.
A cold shiver ran down her spine. Amy pushed him gently and turned her face away. "This is not happening", she thought.
"No, Mattias! No, this isn't right!", Amy said firmly.
"But ... Amy, I thought there was something between us, we have this… special connection", Mattias was somewhat embarrassed by Amy's reaction.
"We do... have a connection, but I can only offer you my friendship. You know I have a boyfriend and ... I love him, I love him so much", it was the first time Amy admitted and said that she loved Sheldon Cooper.
Despite everything that had happened between her and Sheldon; Amy had never told him that she loved him. To tell the truth, she'd never told anyone that she loved Sheldon Cooper. While admitting it, gave her an indescribable sense of freedom, it was also frightening. Sheldon had never said he loved her either. "He'd probably never say that", she told to herself.
"Amy, please excuse me!, I got carried away, it was a mistake", Mattias was feeling defeated. He didn't know whether he'd acted on impulse or just because he was very lonely.
"Mattias, don't worry!. Everything's fine, we need to get some rest and tomorrow we'll see things clearly". Amy said goodbye to Mattias with a kiss on his cheek. "Good night!".
"Good night Amy!", Mattias slowly climbed the stairs to his apartment.
Amy put on her pajamas and sat on her bed, wondering if Sheldon loved her and if he would ever say that. Warm tears streamed down Amy's cheeks, as she realized that there was still no answer for this question. "Why do this has to be so complicated?. How come Mattias tried to kiss me?".
Mattias opened the door to his apartment and Max his dog welcomed him joyfully, wagging his tail from side to side. Mattias opened his fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He drank it slowly, sitting on a couch and watching TV without even paying attention.
He was lonely, that was obvious. But feeling that way, didn't entitled him to try to steal someone else's girlfriend. He thought about Frida, his ex-girlfriend and how she'd cheated on him, with one of his closest friends, not so long ago.
He considered that Amy's boyfriend was so lucky to have her in his life. Amy was so special, so… unique. "I hope he loves her with the same intensity she does; because if he doesn't, he'll deal with me".
The next day Amy woke up with a strong headache, as if someone drilled on her brain cortex. It was weird because, since she met Penny, her social life was exciting, and she had learned how to tolerate greater amounts of alcohol, even more than she'd drink that night. She tried to suppress her gag reflex, she took a deep breath to keep from vomiting but it was impossible.
Amy ran quickly to the bathroom, emptying the entire contents of her stomach for several occasions. "I'm never going to drink again, in my life. Oh, God, what a terrible hangover!, she thought.
When she was finally starting to feel better, she was able to call Sheldon to tell him everything that had happened the night before. Well, everything except that Mattias tried to kiss her and that she had the worst hangover. He was better off without knowing it.
Sheldon didn't tell her either that he already had tickets to Stockholm. In just five days, they would be together again, at least for about two weeks. That was all the time he could stay away from his job; now that he was in that project with Kripke.
"Amy, I was thinking of preparing myself some spaghetti with hotdogs for dinner. Of course, the one you cook is my favorite, but don't tell my mom" Sheldon smiled. When they said goodbye to each other, Amy affectionately kissed the screen of her iPad, longing that the kiss could reach to Sheldon.
"Where can I buy that marinara sauce that Sheldon likes?", Amy was suddenly craving for spaghetti with little pieces of hotdogs cut up in it. She was feeling in a brighter mood, immediately after hearing his voice.
