Chapter 2 The gang come to the Comic Store

Stuart was unsurprised to see Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard troop in, the next Wednesday evening. Wednesday night was always Comic Bookstore Night.

Sheldon and Howard were playing the "Got it, got it" game from either side of one bin of comics while Leonard and Raj were strolling round the store, looking for new items. Raj spotted the little poster Stuart had tacked up as well as the photo of Alice in her Angoran slave girl costume above the small rack of Alice's comics.

"Buy this comic by a local artist and get the photo free," he read out loud.

He picked up the comic and gave it a cursory glance before inspecting the photo more closely. Leonard saw what he was doing and came over for a closer look.

"Hey, that girl looks familiar," he said. He stepped nearer to the photo and studied it. "Oh, that's Alice, I went out with her once or twice."

"While you were still going out with my sister," said Raj, frowning.

"Hey, she was in India and we hadn't seen each other for a long time and anyway, nothing happened."

"Nothing happened?' Raj asked.

"Nada because I told Alice I had a girlfriend before anything happened, and she kicked me out. And I confessed to Priya and she told me that she had cheated on me. That's why we broke up."

"Oh, that's ok, then," said Raj.

Leonard was outraged. 'What, so it's one rule for men and one rule for women?"

"No, no, it's one rule for Koothrapolies and one rule for everyone else," Raj corrected him.

Howard was drawn over by the discussion and gazed at the photo.

'I'd certainly buy a copy of the comic for that photo," he said.

Sheldon, at last, came over to see what the fuss was about. He peered at the photo and said, "I can't see why. I don't think her skin is the correct shade of pale blue and her ornaments look rather amateurish to me."

'I'd be happy to check her ornaments with a magnifying glass," Howard offered with a chuckle.

Stuart overhearing this conversation was filled with mixed emotions. On one hand, his storekeeper side wanted as many men as possible to be attracted to the photo and buy the comics, on the other hand, he disliked hearing them talk about Alice like that.

"Is anything the matter, Stuart?" Raj asked. "You've got a funny look on your face."

"No, nothing at all," Stuart lied.

"So, who's buying the comic?" Leonard asked.

"I'm buying the comic because I haven't got a girlfriend and I'd like a photo of a pretty girl in a Star Trek outfit on my wall to cheer me up. What's your excuse?" Raj asked the others.

"Who needs an excuse?' said Howard. 'But I won't be keeping it on my wall. Bernadette might be annoyed."

"You think?' Raj said.

'Well, I'm buying the comic to support a local artist," Leonard said, tilting his head.

"So you don't want a copy of the photo?' Stuart asked.

"I never said that," Leonard replied.

"Just don't let Penny catch you with it," Howard warned him.

"I wouldn't buy the comic with or without the photo," Sheldon said. "I only buy comics about superheroes."

"Good for you. I'll have a copy of the comic and the photo please," Howard told Stuart. Raj and Leonard both said at the same time, "me too!"

Stuart rang up three sales.

Some time after the departure of the guys, Alice came into the store and approached Stuart. He thought she looked adorable with her hair in plaits and a short skirt, and her rucksack over her shoulder, like a schoolgirl on her way to high school. Then his mind started wandering to naughty schoolgirls and he had to tell it to behave.

He greeted her with a, "oh hey, I sold three copies of your comic today."

'That's great. How many have you sold altogether?" Alice asked.

"A few."

Alice's face fell.

"It's not been in the store long," Stuart consoled her. "And the photo gimmick really works."

She brightened. "Good to know. Anyway, how about doing some work on our latest and greatest creation?"

Stuart swept a look round the store. There were only one or two men browsing.

"It's not long till closing. Shall I make us a cup of coffee and we'll start once I close up?"

Alice nodded her agreement. Stuart was a little paranoid about anyone overhearing them discussing their project.

Once the store had closed, Alice pulled her pad out of her rucksack.

"Where had we got to?' Stuart asked, moving closer and craning his neck to see.

He looked at her sideways. Gosh, her eyelashes were so long and she smelt nice. He thought of complimenting her on her perfume and decided against. He had a feeling that it might all go horribly wrong.

"We've decided on the names for Howard and Raj. Howard is going to be Chinese. His name is Cameron Lee and Raj is going to be an African Moslem, his name is Joseph Adebayo." Alice hesitated. "I've done some preliminary sketches. Do you want to see them?"

"Of course I do."

Stuart took the pad from her and turned to the pages with sketches of the characters. There was a short, fat, red headed man next to a gangling, tall, skinny man with curly blond hair down to his shoulders. Over the page was a short, slim, Chinese man with a ponytail and a tall, large, Negro. All wore sweatpants and hoodies.

"These are great," Stuart enthused then he hesitated, not wanting to criticise.

'What is it?'

"Maybe the guys should wear different clothes to each other? It looks a little like a uniform."

Alice frowned and Stuart's heart skipped a beat and he tensed. He had offended her.

"I was trying to get the right height and shapes for them. I wasn't really thinking about the clothes at this stage." She didn't sound annoyed.

Stuart relaxed his shoulders. "Maybe swap what they normally wear, around," he suggested. "Have Grant aka Sheldon in hoodies and Stanley aka Leonard in double tee shirts. No, even better, have Leonard wearing Howard's clothes, the tight fitting ones and bulging out of them."

"Great idea," said Alice smiling. "You haven't got any photos of them that I could use?"

"No but there's always Facebook."

'You're a friend of all of them?"

"I was until Sheldon unfriended me after an argument about the best Batman. But I'm a friend of all the rest."

"Or even better," Alice suggested, "we could all go out together one evening and I could observe them."

Stuart wasn't keen on this idea. For one thing, it sounded expensive and for another, he didn't want Alice comparing him to the others.

"I don't know, nowadays they usually hang together in their apartments."

'Why don't you wangle an invite and bring me along? I think it would really help with preliminary sketches and drawing the comic. I'm sure that a smart guy like you could manage it."

She looked up at him from under her eyelashes and Stuart succumbed. He could refuse her nothing; it was lucky she didn't ask for the comic store or his kidneys.

"I guess I could try to arrange something," he said.