"The most exciting attractions are between two opposites that never meet."

-Andy Warhol

"That was amazing, Penny. See you back here tomorrow."

The director waved goodbye to Penny before she left the set and entered her dressing room. She stripped off the black pencil skirt and blazer that the character she played wore and used the shower. Her first day filming was an unbelievable experience. She met all the cast and became friends with some of them.

The producers complimented her portrayal of Elizabeth Deane, and they believed her story the moment she told them. Her acting was so spot on, that most of them asked if she had done any roles before. She loved the faces the made when she told them no. Hearing all the wonderful things said about her acting, Penny wondered why the other roles she auditioned for back at home weren't given to her.

It's their loss, she thought. She would rather do a one-episode gig than a crappy commercial that probably wouldn't air.

After slipping into her t-shirt and jeans and blow dried her hair, Penny grabbed her purse resting on the couch before pulling out her phone and realizing she has an unread text message from two hours ago.

Penny beamed as she read the message from Sheldon, and quickly typed out a reply.

Sure :) I finished filming for today, so how bout a cup of coffee? I know a great place.

She exited out to the parking lot and got in her car. The phone vibrated once and Penny viewed Sheldon's response.

That sounds acceptable. Where is this coffee place that you know?

It's right next to the intersection of Spring and Vermont Ave, Penny texted back.

The car's engine ignited and she merged into Main Street when Sheldon sent another reply. As soon as she reached a red light, Penny quickly glanced down on her phone.

I do have one problem however. Leonard is using the car and I seem to not have a license with me at this time.

Her fingers started to speedily type another message. If you want, I can pick you up from your place.

The red light turned green and she proceeded to drive down Main Street. Her cell phone buzzed once more and Penny pulled the car to the side before reading Sheldon's reply. Only if you don't mind. I live at 2311 N. Los Robles Avenue. Please message me once you have arrive and I'll head outside when you do.

After putting in Sheldon's address into her GPS, Penny began to make her way to his apartment, anticipating their first outing.

Sheldon heard the front door open and close, presuming that Leonard had returned from work. He emerged from his bedroom and stepped into their living room, where he saw his roommate's body sprawled across the leather couch. Sauntering closer to Leonard, he poked his back, causing him to roll over and meet Sheldon's gaze.

"May I help you?" Leonard asked tiredly.

"Nothing. I just wanted to alert you that I will be spending the rest of the evening outside of our apartment." Sheldon casually answered before turning around and walking to his desk chair, picking up his blue windbreaker.

Leonard sat up from his position. "You're going out?"

"That is what I said"

"With who?"

Sheldon wasn't sure whether or not to mention Penny. He thought that if he did, Leonard would intervene with their conversations once more. "Amy," he lied.

"Oh, you guys made up?"

He heaved out a long sigh. "You little sir do ask a lot of questions." Sheldon's phone vibrated and he read the preview of the message sent by Penny, saying that she is parked outside in the front of the apartment. "My ride is here, I will call you if anything."

Leonard reached the door before Sheldon could exit. "Why are you acting strange and secretive?"

"What did I do that makes me seem such?"

The smaller physicist shook his head. "Never mind. Go ahead."

Sheldon nodded and left the apartment without another word. As he descended the stairs, he wondered to himself how and when the apartment elevator broke down. He was not a fan of walking up and down four flights of stairs when there could be an elevator functioning properly. Perhaps Sheldon could ask the building manager to have it repaired and ready to use.

He reached the lobby and walked out of the apartment complex. A few feet away was Penny waiting inside her car browsing on her phone. He approached her vehicle and lightly knocked on the glass. Penny looked up and mouthed a 'hello' before letting Sheldon inside.

"Thank you for giving me a ride." Sheldon said as he climbed in.

Penny smiled. "No problem. You'll like this place we're going to. They have some pretty tasty stuff and their latte is to die for."

"I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Let's go."

"How about one more sip?" Penny suggested. "Maybe because your taste buds aren't used to it yet?"

Sheldon pushed the cup away from him as Penny gave a slight chuckle. "It tastes yucky."

"Try the blueberry scone. I think you'll find it more delicious than the coffee." Penny hands him the plate with the scone she purchased for him. Sheldon stared at it before graciously accepting the pastry. With one big bite out of the scone, Sheldon relished its taste. He forgot what a scone tasted like and he was sure to savor the one he was eating at that moment.

Penny took another sip of her latte as Sheldon finished the pastry in a few more bites. "Pretty good, huh?"

"Better than I imagined. Thank you, Penny." Sheldon said sweetly, wiping his hands to remove the crumbs stuck to them.

"So, where are you from? Are you from Texas?" Penny asked.

Sheldon nodded. "Yes, Galveston."

"Oh cool. I got it from that accent of yours. It's a pretty neat accent you got there."

"Thank you. How about you?"

"Nebraska. Omaha, to be more specific. Moved down here three weeks ago, actually the day I found you," Penny answered.

"When you texted me that you were finished filming, what did you mean by that?"

"I'm an actress," she said proudly. "But as you saw a couple days ago, I also play the role of a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory all week except Wednesdays and Fridays, which explains why I'm here and not there."

"That's very interesting. I've never met an actress before."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a theoretical physicist," Sheldon responded.

"That's sounds cool, what is that?"

"I come up with mathematical explanations for natural events."

Penny drank the last drop of her latte before speaking. "So you're one of those beautiful mind, genius guys?"

Sheldon blushed. "Yeah."

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Penny cleared her throat. "Your friend Leonard? What's up with him?"

Sheldon shrugged his shoulders. "Well, he's my roommate and supposedly my best friend. If you're asking about what's up with him and you, I would say that Leonard is interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with you. It baffles me because of how little he knows about you yet he's convinced that you and he would be a perfect match."

"Sounds like my past boyfriends. Only asked me out for my body and not to get to know me." She dropped her head, before picking it up. "Besides, I have a boyfriend. We've been together for a long time. Longer than high school."

"Well, he must be a good partner to you."

Penny sighed. "It's been complicated. I mean he is a good boyfriend, but we barely see each another anymore because he cares so much about his work. His family hates me because of my acting career. I love him, but I'm not sure if that love is enough that I could spend the rest of my life with him. I like doing things independently, and I started working right away after moving to save up for a car. When he bought me one the next day, I was happy but disappointed. I could have worked for it."

"Are you questioning your relationship with him at this time?"

Penny nodded shamefully. "Crazy right?"

"Falling in love and having a relationship are two different things." Sheldon said. He didn't come up with it; he got it when he read a book that Raj left in his apartment a few days ago.

Her face lit up to his words. "Never thought of it that way." Penny knew what Sheldon had told her was right. Just because you call it a relationship, it doesn't mean you're in love with that other person in it. After a brief yet awkward pause, Penny spoke. "How about you? How's your love life, cowboy?"

Sheldon became quiet and lowered his glance. Penny knew he was having a rough time. "That bad, huh?"

"I'm not sure if we are no longer together. She stormed out of my apartment almost four hours ago. She kissed me and I didn't respond to her touch."

"Why didn't you?"

"I-I just... I don't see her as a romantic partner at this time. I've been doubting my friendships and Amy hasn't been there for me as she promised. I learned that she loves me, yet I do not see myself sharing that same affection she has for me to her."

"Oh, I see. Sheldon, always know that falling in love and having a relationship are two different things."

Sheldon smiled. "Now where did you get those words?"

"A genius told me."

Sheldon stared at Penny's empty cup of latte, and his memory about coffee came back.

"Sheldon, just take one sip, We need more hands on deck with this laser and it'll only take two more hours, I swear." Leonard pleaded as Sheldon began to doze off on the couch.

"I promised my mother I wouldn't start doing drugs." Sheldon murmured through the pillow.

Leonard sighed, but presented the cup of coffee to the half-asleep Sheldon. "Please. But, Sheldon, without your insight and leadership this entire enterprise will surely fail."

Sheldon lifted his body off the couch before Leonard handed him the coffee. "You're right. Very well, but if this leads to opiates or hallucinogenics, you're going to have to answer to my mother."

When Sheldon snapped out of his head, he sees Penny staring at him. "Sorry, I thought of something. Now I know why I don't drink coffee."

Penny gave him a nod and Sheldon's cast caught her attention. "When are you getting that off?"

"I have a doctor's appointment in two days. Hopefully, by then. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Alright." Penny looked at the time on her phone. "Do you want to do something?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Uhh, there's a nice mini-golf place I passed by a few blocks back. You want to go?"

Sheldon thought for a moment. His phone buzzed and he read a text message from Leonard.

Where are you?

He didn't bother replying to Leonard's question. He was enjoying the day too much.

Leonard stomped around the apartment as Howard and Raj eyed him from the couch. They watch as Leonard attempts to call Sheldon on his phone, but whines when he reaches his voice mail. "Leonard, just leave him alone. I'm sure he's fine. Now can we please go back to playing Mystic Warlords of Ka'a?" Raj tells him.

"You're right." Leonard places his phone down on his desk and makes his way to the armchair beside the couch. "Why am I fixating on this? I shouldn't be this worried about him."

Raj handed him his playing cards. "Sheldon's a grown man. I'm sure he's not going to be in any type of trouble."

"It's not that. It's just- well, before we left the Cheesecake Factory last week, he was with Penny. They were talking but I don't know what about. He looks like he was trying to flirt with her because he had that face on him." Leonard mused.

Howard looked to him. "Are you saying that you're jealous because Sheldon might get Penny and not you?"

"Nooo..."

"Sounds like it, dude." Raj said. "Can we start already?"

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Fine." He drew a card out of his hand and laid it on the coffee table. "Focused Locust."

Raj places his card on top of Leonard's. "Chaos Overlord."

"Colossal Serpent," Howard announced.

The two stared at Leonard, who was clearly unfocused. "What if they're meeting each other right now?"

Raj snorts derisively. "Seriously? First of all, Sheldon is his own person and if he wants to meet with this woman, he can and it's none of your business. Secondly, you're currently coming off as a pathetic jealous douche so back off. Third, I think he should at least have one good friend in his life like Penny."

Howard and Leonard gaped at Raj, before Leonard filled the tense air with his voice. "What do you mean he should have a good friend? What about us?"

"We're not good friends to him." Raj says. "Yes we may know his likes and dislikes, but we never treated him right."

"Where is this all coming from, buddy?" Howard asked.

"Let's just say that when you called me about what happened to Sheldon, I began to see things in a different way."

Leonard nodded. "Okay, but we are good friends with him."

"We aren't good friends to him, Leonard." Raj slammed his playing cards on the coffee table before standing up and headed towards the door. "I gotta run. Enjoy the rest of the game."

He exits out of the apartment, leaving Howard and Leonard to their own thoughts. They shared empty looks to each other, wondering if Raj was right. Inside Howard's head, at first he thought Raj lost his mind. They stuck around him for the past ten years, dealing with all his idiosyncrasies, as well as his finicky and pedantic personality. What Sheldon should do is thank the three of them for staying after all the crap they had to deal with him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that they were wrong. He was wrong.

Howard comprehended that what they did to Sheldon made them as awful as the bullies that tormented them throughout the years. He glances over to Leonard, who was also in deep thought and was curious about what was in his head. Out of the three of them, Leonard had betrayed Sheldon the most. Leonard was often the one who comes up with the schemes, and they followed right behind him.

In actuality, Leonard was still asking himself where and with who was Sheldon with.

Leonard was unwilling to accept the fact that Sheldon may be with Penny for the evening.

And as much as he hated to admit it, he was jealous.

Penny and Sheldon arrived at Blackbeard's Cove an hour before closing time. It was 18-holes of mini golf that they both took their time in. Before they started to play, the two waged a challenge. The person with the lowest score at the end of the game has to buy the winner a small ice cream cone from the snack place in the establishment.

At the first hole, Penny bluffed that she could get a hole in one with her eyes closed, to which Sheldon responded was impossible even though the ball would only have to roll in a straight line. Penny held her left hand up to her eyes as Sheldon watched from behind. She gripped on the pink club she picked out earlier with her right before putting herself in the best position. She vowed to prove Sheldon wrong, and with one gracious swing of the club, she left him to stare in shock and without words.

"You peeked," Sheldon accused her before she burst into a fit of laughter.

"No, I didn't," Penny denied as Sheldon placed his golf ball down on the ground.

It was more difficult for Sheldon to putt because of his hand in the cast, and Penny thought he would have trouble with it. Handling the club the best he could, Sheldon said to himself what the most ideal force he should exert to get a hole-in-one. He calculated the distance the ball had to roll and took in consideration the wind velocity at the moment. He mumbled words under his breath before moving the golf club in his hand back, and swung it forward, making contact with the ball.

The two watch as the ball roll straight into the hole, with Sheldon giving a smug look to Penny.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, Cooper." Penny teased before they moved on the next hole.

After hole 17, Penny and Sheldon were neck-in-neck. Sheldon was a few points behind from Penny, who was dominating the game. They reached the final hole of the game, which seemed to be the most challenging hole they have encountered. Penny was a little intimidated, but did not doubt for a second about how Sheldon could beat her in the game. By the looks of it, she could probably get a double bogey at least.

As Penny dropped her golf ball down, a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "It looks difficult, huh?"

"This is nothing new. I can do this." Penny said, showing confidence.

"We can dissolve our wager in the beginning, Penny." Sheldon suggested. "I can teach you my ways into getting a hole-in-one."

"Thank you, but I don't need it."

"Very well." Sheldon took a seat on the bench as Penny gripped on her golf club.

He was about to look at their scores before Penny called for him. "Wait."

Sheldon glanced up. "I suppose we can stop this wager between us and call it even. We are pretty good at this game right?"

"Yes, we certainly are."

"I guess it can't hurt me to learn some new tricks."

He grinned and rose from his seat. Sheldon gave Penny some tricks and advices, also showing her how to figure out how strong she should hit the ball. Penny listened to his explanation, being drawn to his slight Texan accent.

When Sheldon ended, she relaxed her touch on the club, and did what she was told.

She was more than proud when she was able to hit the ball into the hole in only three strokes.

"Good work, Penny. I think we should treat ourselves with ice cream," Sheldon proposed with a smile.

Penny gave him a quick nod and followed Sheldon to the exit.

Sheldon learned a lot about Penny during the evening they shared.

Penny told him her aspirations to become a successful actress and she was currently on her way there. Sheldon said that she was inspiring because she was following her dreams and taking risks. When it came to him to reveal things about himself, Sheldon told her the memories he remembered while growing up.

He told her about his twin sister Missy and his older brother George. He told her about his religious mother and his late alcoholic father. He told her about how some of the neighborhood kids used to beat him up because they were intimidated by his intelligence. Sheldon shared several stories about his Meemaw and Pop-Pop, and how much they supported his career in science.

Sheldon knew more of Penny than his other friends, and it didn't bother him that he did.

"Here we are." Penny announced as she pulled up next to the sidewalk in front of Sheldon's apartment. "I like hanging out with you. You remind me of all the fun I had back in Nebraska before things got complicated. Thank you, for that."

"Thank you for making my day better, Penny." Sheldon said as he unbuckled his seat belt.

He was about to open the car door when Penny stopped him by grabbing his hand. "Can I tell you something?"

Sheldon nodded.

"The reason why I gave you my number because I feel bad for you. One moment you were this successful physicist with everything planned out in life and then it all comes crashing down when you lost your memory. The memories you told me about your supposed friends made me think you were alone. Growing up, I didn't have that many real friends. They all did wrong things to me and I wondered why never stopped talking to them. I can relate to your situation with not having anyone to trust. I gave you my number so you wouldn't feel alone and think no one is here for you. Sheldon, I am and will be here for you. I've only known you for a short time but I know we'll be good friends. I'm comfortable sharing things with you and it seems like you do, too. If anything happens, call me up and I'll help you. Got that?"

Sheldon smiled for the millionth time that day. "Thank you, Penny. Things have been complicated for the past two weeks and this evening made me feel better about everything. You are the only one I can trust at this time, and I appreciate you being here."

"No problem. And also know if the guys ever pull some crap on you, tell me and I will be more than happy to tie them up and castrate them." Penny said with a wink.

"Duly noted."

Sheldon reached for the car door handle once more and climbed out of the vehicle. He gave Penny one little wave before she drove off. He entered the apartment building and walked up the stairs, stopping on the fourth floor landing. Fishing out the keys inside his pocket, he inserted them into the key hole and turned them to unlock the door to Apartment 4A.

Stepping inside his home, Sheldon placed his keys on the bowl next to the door and headed towards his spot on the couch. He plopped down on the couch, closing his eyes and going over the events that occurred that day. The corners of his lips fluttered when he thought of how Penny made him feel. He was grateful of meeting her, even under those circumstances. Some much had transpired ever since he lost his memory.

He had to reconsider the relationship he had with the boys. Amy seemed to end their relationship earlier, and though it upset him, he knew that it was for the best.

The greatest thing was meeting Penny. Even though she was much less smarter than him, she was helpful in dealing with his emotions.

Sheldon was about to doze off on the couch when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway leading to the bedrooms. He slowly lifted his eyelids and saw a middle-aged woman with brown hair falling on her shoulders. It was her similar blue eyes that made Sheldon realize who she was.

"Mommy?"

Proofread this a lot of times, but some mistakes may have gone unnoticed.

*Sheldon's quote, Falling in love and having a relationship are two different things, is by Keanu Reeves*

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