Chapter 7 - Life Goes On

Thursday Penny when down to her Agent's office to go over what was being offered to her and hear her Agent's recommendations. Penny was at first surprised how well she was treated when she got there, it was like she was someone important. This treatment also made her feel a little offended, since every time she had been there before, she felt like she was keeping her Agent from working on something more important. However, after a few hours Penny knew her Agent was worth everything she paid her and Penny was glad to have her on her side. Penny's agent had pushed how Penny was a successful movie actress, her Serial Apiest 2 had actually turned a decent profit for a low budget film, that she now had a couple commercials under her belt and had become more popular since she appeared in an episode of 'Game of Thrones', and it had worked, Penny was going to get $20,000 an episode for each of the 10 episodes. Penny had never made so much money in her life, and for a short time she was pleased with herself, ignorant to the fact that the salaries of all the actors and the crew of her sitcom were still less than the requested salary of the lead actress of the sitcom they were replacing.

That little bit of joy she had at her Agent's office, however, slowly dissipated as Penny drove home during the afternoon rush traffic. It wasn't the slow moving traffic that bothered her, her mind was already moving below speed since the week before, it was the alone time she had with her thoughts. She thought how if she wouldn't have screwed up so bad, she would be going home to Leonard now with the greatest news she ever had since she got to California. Leonard would be ecstatic and his happiness for her would even make her more happy, they would go out for dinner and celebrate, and that night she would be happy and in his arms, the world hers for the taking. A tear slipped down her cheek as she told herself her daydream would never happen, and reality was that all she had to look forward to was her lonely apartment and another lonely nights sleep.

Friday Penny was downtown again, this time at the company producing the sitcom she was going to be acting in, to discuss her contract. It was basically a review of everything her Agent told her about the day before, only this time by the people who where going to actually pay her for doing the show. She was there all afternoon before they all agreed that all parties were content with the contract and Penny made an appointment, with her Agent, to sign the final contract the next week. Again Penny drove home that evening in even later rush hour traffic, thinking about her day and again wishing she had the man she loved at home waiting for her to tell him about her day.

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Saturday morning, Penny got up at 8 AM, not her normal waking up time, but after going to sleep at 8 PM the previous night, 12 hours in bed was enough for her. She had gotten home around 7 PM the night before, with a bag from a fast food place, not really hungry but eating because he agent told her she was too skinny. Penny knew she was right, because when she stepped on her bathroom scale that night she was almost 15 pounds lighter than a few weeks before. She had also had been able to put off Bernadette from coming over last night, because of the late hour she got home and after she explained about being tired, but today, both her friends were coming over, so if she wanted run this morning she needed to get up now.

Penny's leg was better, so she stretched out carefully, taking special care to not aggravate her previously injury, then started a not too aggressive pace on the jogging path. She went on for about 45 minutes then left the path and headed to the bakery, picking up a bear claw and walking the rest of the way home, her legs tired but not in pain. It was the routine she had performed from before that day, and it really didn't signify her moving on, it was just a routine she felt comfortable with, so she naturally fell into it again for a little bit of wellbeing. So once back in her apartment, Penny got her a bottle of water then sat at her little kitchen island and ate her bear claw, the quiet in her apartment deafening.

Penny actually found she welcomed the knocks on her door and had to admit to herself that seeing Bernadette walk in, with a bag of donuts, made it feel to her that her apartment warmed up significantly. She watched as the petite blonde looked her up and down, at her jogging attire, with a confused expression, then Penny noticed a small smile formed on Bernadette's face. "You have been running this morning?"

Penny nodded, "Yeah…..it is something to do."

Penny's response, made the smile vanish from Bernadette's lips, "Penny you need to move on. You need to get out there and audition again and continue to live your life."

Penny shook her head. "I can't Bernadette, I'm just can't."

Bernadette frowned, not knowing how to get through to her, but not ready to give up, "So you just plan on staying here, wallowing in you self pity?" Bernadette hated to be so blunt and to have to raise her voice to Penny, but she didn't know what else to do. "What are you going to do when the money runs out Penny….then what?"

"It won't run out." Penny quietly said.

"Wake up Penny, it is going to run out if you do nothing." Bernadette corrected her.

"I have a job Bernadette." Penny responded quietly again.

Bernadette stared at her in shock, like Penny had slapped her across the face, which metaphorically she did. "You have a job? What kind of job?"

"Remember, yesterday that I told you I was with my agent all day?" Penny watched Bernadette nod, then continued. "Well they picked up our show from the pilot. Something about them needing something to fill in a time slot, the second half of the season, so we are going to do 10 episodes."

Bernadette eyes got wide, "Oh My God, Penny. That is fantastic news, we need to go out a celebrate." However Bernadette's joy for her friend quickly dissipated as she watched her friend just turn her head to look at her bottle of water. "Penny." she quietly said to her friend, watching Penny turn towards her, "Honey, it will get better, it just takes time." Penny slowly nodded, not really knowing if she wanted it to get better, because she wasn't really sure if she ever wanted to get over Leonard.

Both girls just sat there for a moment, then both were brought out their own thoughts by the knocks on the door, which they knew were from Amy. Bernadette opened the door and Amy walked in to see both her friends with very serious expressions on their faces, it made her feel immediately nervous, "Hi Guys." she squeaked out.

The next hour the girls sat or stood around Penny's kitchen island, drinking freshly brewed coffee and eating donuts, while Penny's new job was discussed. The only thing wrong about the whole discussion was although they were talking about Penny's future, Bernadette was doing most of the talking, because enthusiasm still eluded Penny over the whole thing. Bernadette didn't know what else to say and as a quiet moment in the conversation extended out, beginning to become awkward, Bernadette noticed Amy looking at her watch and locked her attention on that, "Amy, have plans for later." Bernadette tried to make it sound like she was teasing her.

Amy froze, she knew she needed to tell them, but she was scared, with all that happened, the last two weeks, and the fallout of Penny's breakup with Leonard, she didn't want to create more tension between her friends. However she was going to have to tell them sometime, so she accepted now was just as good as later. "I have to meet up with Sheldon in an hour." Amy blurted out.

"Huh?" Bernadette looked at her with surprise and confusion, Penny just looked at her.

Amy swallowed, "I have been seeing Sheldon this week, a couple days for lunch and I drove him home yesterday. He hasn't said anything, but I think he is not as mad as before with me."

"Oh." Bernadette looked between Amy and Penny. Amy looked nervous, but Penny's face was impassive and Bernadette didn't have an idea what was going on in her blonde friend's mind.

Amy was looking at Penny too, waiting for her bestie to explode, it was scaring her to death, "I'm sorry Penny."

Amy's 'I'm sorry' broke Penny from her thoughts on Amy's announcement. Penny gave her a very small sad smile. "I'm happy for you Amy. You and Sheldon belong together and I'm glad you were able to work things out."

Amy's frown turned into a small smile. "Thank you bestie."

Penny nodded. "Guys I really need a shower, so if you don't mind I'm going catch a quick one." Both girls nodded and said 'Okay', as Penny got up and headed to her bedroom. Penny quickly stripped and went into her bathroom, locking the door, then turned up the shower to the hottest setting she could endure. The hot water made her body flush immediately and the closed doors along with the running water muffled the sounds as Penny then broke down and sobbed.

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Sheldon sat at his computer trying to work, but he had too much on his mind to concentrate, almost all of it concerning Amy coming over in the next hour. Sheldon never had been good at social dealings, so he didn't know if he should forgive and see Amy again or simply shun her because of what she did with Penny. That was the real problem though, with his eidetic memory he remembered everything about his life from being a small child, however in this case he didn't remember himself even being in bed with the girls. The alcohol had not allowed any of it to be recorded by his mind, so to him it didn't feel like it really happened, all he had was Amy's explanation of events. It didn't even seem like a dream, since he didn't remember a thing, so he honestly didn't feel that violated by her and he couldn't feel anything but mild annoyance at Amy's deed. After all, all she did was sleep with him nude, she didn't have sex with him, like Penny, who could be accused of raping him and actually did make him feel violated.

The other problem Sheldon had was that he missed Amy, she had become one of his constants in his life now, and he hated change in any form. There was also the loss of Leonard that had to be compensated for and, if he was honest with himself, the only person that was acceptable as a replacement for Leonard was Amy. If Sheldon looked at it logically, the one person he needed most was Amy and Sheldon was nothing but logical, when it suited his needs. He slowly began to smile, the solution is actually simple, he would forgive Amy and she would be back in his life, and with that now settled Sheldon looked back at his computer, finally able to work again.

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The weekend finally went by, after Amy left them Saturday to be with Sheldon, Penny and Bernadette spent the rest of the weekend together. Penny, after her sudden feeling of grief, was actually relieved that Amy and Sheldon were getting over what happened, she had long ago accepted all the blame for their situation, so seeing that her friend was not suffering for her mistakes was giving her a small amount of comfort. However, by Sunday night Penny was thankful the weekend was over, because the week ahead promised to keep her mind busy and occupied with her actual contract signing, pre production meetings and tiring exercise taking up the rest of her time.

It was Wednesday night of that week that Penny started to get really tired of Bernadette coming over every day or night, it was something she would never tell her and she knew Bernadette was only trying to help her, but Penny really didn't want to spend another week with her. It was while Penny was trying to think of a way to avoid Bernadette, that weekend, she got the idea and after about 20 minutes on Priceline, she got a round trip ticket to Nebraska for that whole next coming week. She would leave on Saturday, the whole next week was Thanksgiving week and it was suppose to be a time family came together anyway, so Penny thought Bernadette would be pleased she was going home. Penny was also hoping it might be a little bit comforting to her too, she would be with her family for Thanksgiving, if only for the week, and the thought of being able to talk to her mother was something she suddenly wanted to do.

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Meryl waited in the arrival area for Penny, she was confused and concerned about her daughter, even thought she loved having Penny home for Thanksgiving, the suddenness of this trip, which was probably expensive, was unusual for Penny. This trip home, with no prior warning, with Penny only wanting Meryl to pick her up and no mention of her fiancé, Leonard, sent alarms through Meryl about what this trip was all about. Also, Penny was never a very open child with her feelings, and although her being secretive about what she was doing was something Meryl was use to, right now this all somehow felt different. Those thoughts were all going through her mind when Meryl finally saw Penny come through the gate and the look in her daughter's eyes only seemed to validate Meryl's fears that something was horribly wrong. The hug Penny wrapped her mother in, as they finally came together, confirmed it to Meryl, as it quickly escalated to long desperate embrace of a daughter and mother when after something bad happened. It lasted minutes and Meryl felt more than heard her daughter sniffling as she squeezed her mom tight.

Meryl had to get them out of there, she knew Penny well enough that if they stayed that way long enough, Penny would start crying and the middle of the airport was not the place to comfort her daughter. "Sweetie, let's get you home where we can talk…okay." Meryl said softly and motherly to her daughter.

Meryl felt Penny nod and then in a voice, that reminded Meryl of her little girl, responded. "Okay mom."

The ride back to the farm was very quiet and Penny just stared out the window into the darkness, as Meryl just quietly drove going over things in her mind. Even though Penny had left California in the early morning, the long flight and the time change made it past eleven when they left the airport and it would be after midnight when they got home. Meryl wanted to talk to her, but knew it would better if they talked when they got home, her daughter was very upset and her breaking down in the car, where Meryl could not hold her, wouldn't do any of them any good.

Wyatt opened the door to the house as soon as the car pulled up, obviously waiting up for them, concern for this daughter and wife making it impossible for him to sleep until they both got safely home. Just like his wife, he knew something was wrong when Penny gave him a long hug that reminded him of how she would hug him when she was a little girl and scared. It made him look at Meryl, who just shook her head, before she put her hand on her daughters shoulder. "Sweetie, why don't we go upstairs, it is late and you are probably tired."

Penny let go of her dad and looked at her mother, then slowly nodded. "Okay, I guess I am tired."

Meryl went up with Penny and stayed with her until she got in the shower, then went over to Wyatt who was waiting for her, concern all over his face. "Something's wrong with her, Honey?"

Meryl nodded, "You should have seen her in the airport, she was about to burst."

"Leonard must have know she was upset, why didn't he warn us or come with her?" Wyatt asked confused.

Meryl sucked in a breath, "Maybe because she is upset about Leonard."

Wyatt now looked at his wife in surprise, "You don't think something has happen between them do you? I can't believe Leonard would hurt her, I can tell that boy really loves her, he is just not that kind of man."

Meryl sighed, "I don't know honey, what you and Penny told me about him, I wouldn't think so, but she is really hurting now." They both heard the shower stop, "Sweetie, why don't you go to bed, I might be with her for a while." Wyatt just nodded.

It was several minutes later, Penny was in bed and Meryl sat on the side, it brought up so many strong memories in her mother's heart of times before she had been there comforting her daughter. Even though she was an adult, Penny was still her little girl and Meryl had to help her. "Sweetie, what is wrong."

Penny stared at her mother, as her eyes started to water and her face turned into one of pure grief, and just before she began to sob, "Mother I lost him."

Meryl then took her daughter into her arms as she sobbed her heart out.

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The next morning Wyatt found his wife sitting at the kitchen table at dawn, she had bags under her eyes from hardly sleeping the night before, and was drinking coffee as she thought. She seemed to sense her husband coming in the kitchen even though her back was to him, still greeted him. "Fresh coffee in the pot."

As Wyatt walked to the coffee pot and saw his wife, he could tell she hadn't slept. "Honey, have you been awake all night?"

"Penny didn't fall asleep till almost 4, so I got a couple hours." Meryl responded.

Wyatt looked at his wife, who was just sadly looking at her coffee cup, he knew something bad had happened just by the way his wife was acting. "Honey what did she say?"

Meryl looked up at her husband, "Penny and Leonard broke up. Leonard went to England to work for while."

Wyatt looked at his wife in surprise, then slowly shook his head. "I really thought that boy loved her, that he was perfect for her and would never hurt her." Wyatt slowly looked down at his coffee cup, "boy was I wrong."

Meryl looked at him, she felt bad that her husband thought the man, he had bragged so much about, hurt his daughter, and she knew he was going to find out the truth anyway. Also, though she hated to admit it, Penny was their favorite child, she was the one who didn't really give them a lot of trouble and the one that seemed to be able to take care of herself, so her doing something like this was a huge disappointment to them. She always seemed to be the one of their children that was going to go somewhere in life, the one who would find her a good man to share her life with and it was one of the many reasons they were proud of her. Now Meryl would have to tell her husband that their daughter was a lot like her older sister, cheating on her man, who did nothing wrong but love her. "Wyatt, it wasn't Leonard's fault." she said quietly, watching as her husband looked at her in surprise again.

"I don't understand?" he responded and Meryl told him everything Penny told her that night, between her bouts of crying on her shoulder. It hurt Meryl to tell him the truth and the more Meryl explained the more Wyatt looked at her in disbelief.

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A/N: It is now time for everyone, who doesn't know, to find out what happened, besides the girls and Sheldon, and I thought Penny's parents should be the first to learn about it. Also, I am making Sheldon a little more lenient with Amy's involvement, because at first he really didn't know anything happened until Amy told him, also he knows Amy didn't have sex with him, and the sudden loss of all his friends, due to the situation, would probably confuse him. I think the loneliness would also push him to seek comfort in his strongest relationship, making him more willing to forgive Amy and put all the blame on Penny.