38

Meanwhile, at Alex & Nora's apartment

Penny slept until after 11. She woke up refreshed and a bit disoriented. She went over the events of the previous evening in her head and decided that she still needed a bit of space before she wanted to think any more about them. Or Leonard. What she really needed was a distraction. She walked out of the bedroom and headed for Alex and Nora's kitchen hoping there was coffee.

"Good morning, Penny."

"Morning, Nora. Oh, thank God you made coffee. I could use a cup or ten. What's going on?"

"Well, Alex had one of her science brainstorms last night so she's going to the university to get everything written down. We have a "No whiteboards in the apartment" rule. If we didn't she'd work 24 hours a day."

"What about you? I was kinda hoping we could hang out."

"Well, I just got a call from a bunch of artists who get together on Sundays. Their model canceled at the last minute and they offered me double my usual rate if I can be there in an hour."

"Well, you've gotta go then. Not really sure if I want to hang by myself though."

"Hey, you're welcome to come with. I'm pretty sure that this isn't a place where you'd run into Leonard."

"That's for sure. There isn't an artistic bone in his body. And if there is he's probably taking a pill for it."

"So come on along. Grab one of Alex's sketch pads."

"I'm really not that much of an artist."

"Don't worry about it. You can keep me company. And we can kind of talk while I'm posing."

"Okay. Do I have time to take a quick shower?"

"You're gonna need to make it real quick."

"On my way."

On their way over to the studio where Nora was going to work, Penny had some questions for her.

"So how much do you usually get for a gig like this?"

"Usually it's sixty to seventy five dollars an hour. They're paying me one fifty an hour for today."

"Didn't think artists could afford that much."

"They like having a live model that knows what he or she's doing. They pass the hat. It works out. I've worked for these particular folks a few times before as a group and some of them individually. A really nice bunch of men and women. All pros. I've been to more than one gallery show of theirs and found myself face to face with me. Painted me. Sketched me. Sculpted me. It never gets old."

"So you're kind of their muse."

"I'm not sure I'd go that far."

"If I'd known that you could make that kind of money I probably would have considered doing some modeling myself."

"I'm kind of curious, Penny. Sheldon told us that before he hired you that you hadn't worked at all for a long time. Why didn't you try modeling?"

"Yeah. It's not like I'm shy. But I'm pretty sure Leonard wouldn't have gone along with it."

"Doesn't like to share, huh?"

"That's part of it. He's got a kind of a jealous streak. He also doesn't want me working. He wants to start working on having a family."

"Is that what you want? You sure that's a good idea right now?"

"Yeah, I know. We're really not on the same page on a bunch of stuff."

"So why marry him?"

"I keep asking myself the same question lately."

The studio was a loft in Glendale. Nora parked her car and Penny accompanied her upstairs. As soon as they entered Nora spotted the guy who hired her and went over to give him a hug. Penny couldn't help but be surprised.

"Stuart!?"

"Oh, um. Hi Penny. What are you doing here?"

"Nora's kind of a new friend of mine. Thought I'd come along and see what she was up to."

"You guys know each other?" asked Nora.

"I've known Stuart for years. He owns the comic book store the guys go to every Wednesday."

"Stuart's been part of this little artist's collective forever. Wait a second. Stuart, I've been modeling for you on and off for two years and you never thought to mention you own a comic book store?"

"Um, well, outside of ComicCon, telling women you own a comic shop is not exactly a way of keeping a conversation going."

"Yeah. I guess I get that. Well, you should probably be prepared to see wearing clothes me visiting your shop sometime soon. I've got a serious comic book habit and have for years. So, how soon do you want me to get started and how do you want to handle it?"

"So, um, there's still a little problem."

"I thought I was solving your problem."

"You are. Partially. But there were actually supposed to be two models working together. The one we originally had was supposed to bring another model along. And I promised everyone we'd have two models. I'll probably need to refund a bunch of money or I'll end up posing myself which I really, really don't want to do."

"Stuart, give me a minute."

Nora dragged Penny off to the side.

"What do you think, Penny?"

"What do you mean?"

"You want to clear your head. Trust me, this is a really good way of clearing your head. Gives you some interesting perspective. And you'll make a little money too."

"I don't know. It's not like I'm shy but being naked in front of a bunch of strangers…"

"All you need to do is follow my lead. It's really easy. It's kind of like meditating."

"Um, let's talk to Stuart first. I need to ask him something."

They walked back over to Stuart.

"Stuart, Penny is considering helping you out of your bind but she has a couple of questions."

"Um, okay?"

"Stuart, if I do this you are to never, ever mention it to the guys. Especially Leonard. Can you promise to do that?"

"Um, yeah. Okay. And I'll pay you the same rate I'm paying Nora. And I promise that I won't say anything. The guys really aren't interested in this part of my life anyway. I don't think it would ever come up."

"Okay. So what now?"

"There's dressing room over on the side where you can leave your stuff. I figure we'll start with three or four 5-minute poses to get everyone warmed up. Then a couple of 15-minute poses. We'll finish with one half-hour pose. Will that work, Nora?"

"Yeah, that should be fine. Penny, just follow my lead. Trust me, this'll be fun."

"I could use a little fun."

Next: Penny and Nora. Gratuitous nudity.

A/N: Based on the reviews, follows and favorites I see a bunch of new folks are reading this story. Welcome to my corner of the Big Bang Theory multiverse. A couple of you are worried that I may leave you hanging and never finish the story. First, I've known how this story ends from the moment I started it. Second, I have finished every story I've ever posted. Third, I won't be driven away by those members of the TBBT fan community that are so insecure in the canon version of the couplings that they try to drive other versions away. They just piss me off and make me continue writing (and do nastier and nastier things to their favorites). So, enjoy the rest of the ride. We're headed towards the end, well, at least the end of this part of the story.