Chapter 5 – Photos, Promises and Premises.
Apologies to anyone who read this when first uploaded - unfortunately, a lot of gobbledeegook had crept in for some reason so I've had to edit all out.
Stuart had a stupid grin on his face all the next day. He didn't need to look in the mirror to see this, he had enough comments from customers. So by the time Leonard and the gang swung by in the evening, Stuart had spent some time trying to control his expression. He was half sorry that Alice didn't appear, half glad as he wasn't sure he would have been able to control his face. He did think about taking a selfie and putting up on the Wall of Heroes but decided that it would be tacky.
Stuart looked up when the door opened and Sheldon, Leonard and Raj trooped in for the customary weekly Comic Night.
"Where's Howard?"
"Bernadette found the photo of Alice. Howard is proving how sorry he is and how much he loves her by taking her out to dinner on Comic Night," Raj told him.
"And not have Comic Night for the next six weeks," Leonard added.
"Sheldon snorted his disgust. "Fancy giving up Comic Night."
"Right," said Stuart, wishing Howard had found another way to win over Bernadette without eating into his profits.
"Hi Stuart."
The next evening Stuart was looking at the preliminary sketches that Alice had done on paper. Sheldon aka Grant Wheeler and Leonard aka Stanley Di Caprio were brilliant when he was surprised by Howard sidling through the doorway. He quickly slipped the sheets under another comic.
"Hi Howard. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
Howard looked shifty. "I said I wouldn't come here on Comic Night, I never said that I wouldn't come here any other night. And Sheldon told me that you'd just acquired a copy of Action Comics, 802, Attack of the Supermen?" He came across to the counter and glanced down. "Hey, is that the latest Deadpool?"
"His hand started to move towards it. Stuart immediately pulled the comic and the papers underneath, further towards him.
"Sorry, I've already sold that copy," he It was a stupid thing to say but it was the first thing that came into his head.
"Howard raised his eyebrows and was about to argue when his name was shouted, "Howard Wolowitz!"
Stuart winced. Bernadette at full decibel was hard on the eardrums.
"She stormed into the store.
"Bernadette darling, how did you know I was here?"
"Because I know you're a double crossing weasel," she snarled.
Howard cringed and then rallied. "Why shouldn't I be here?"
"Because you promised me you wouldn't."
"No," Howard corrected her. "I promised not to come to the comic store on Comic Night. I didn't say anything about any other night of the week, so you see I haven't really broken my promise," he finished weakly, glancing at her flushed face.
Stuart shook his head. This would not end well.
"Don't try and bamboozle me. You're trying to wriggle out of your promise. Well, I can do that too, Howie. I promise no sex until you prove to me you haven't been to the comic store at all for six weeks."
Bernadette flounced out of the store, head held high.
"When you say no sex," Howard called after her, "do you mean..."
"The banging of the comic store door was his only reply. Howard gave a weak smile to Stuart and darted out of the store.
He told Alice all about it when she came in, bearing two large Mochas. When they had finished laughing, she asked, "Is Bernadette always so jealous?"
"I don't know. The guys told me that it wasn't so much he had the photo as he pretended he didn't have one and hid it."
Alice nodded her head. "I can see that. I hate guys who don't fess up when they've done something wrong."
Duly noted, Stuart thought.
"So what did you think of the scenes I've done?" Alice asked.
"They look even better inked in," Stuart enthused, "but won't they be real expensive in colour?"
"I've had an idea about that. Why don't we try Kickstarter?"
"What's that?"
"It's crowdfunding."
Seeing Stuart still looked bemused, she explained, "It's a way of getting funding for a project. You raise money by getting contributions from a lot of people via the internet. You show people what you want to produce, we could upload the first few pages, and they give you money to help you do it if they like the project."
Stuart gaped. "People do that?"
"Yeah. Loads of people have got projects off the ground that way. Why don't we try it?"
Stuart hesitated. "I'm just worried that the guys will find out about it.""I think the risk is worth taking, Stuart."
"Let me think about it."
"Ok,' Alice said but from the determined set of her mouth, Stuart knew she wouldn't forget about it and would bring it up again soon.
"I've had some more ideas," he told her, hoping to distract her.
"Shoot."
"What about if Rat Man can control rats? That would be a big boost to his talents."
"And if Mouse Boy could do the same. Oh and that could give us some great story lines, you know, the Pied Piper of Hamelin and Cinderella."
Stuart thought she was so pretty when her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm.
"And I had a great idea about Grant Wheeler."
"What?" Stuart asked.
"What if he was an alien, landed here as a young boy?"
"Kinda like Superman?"
"Yeah but not as a baby."
Stuart thought about it. "That could work. It would help to explain why he's so terrible around people. Or he could be an android."
They continued to kick around ideas and Stuart smiled to himself. He realised he was actually happy. Here he was drinking a nice coffee, talking about one of his favourite things, comics, to a pretty girl who liked comics too. And he was helping to create an original comic. Plus the lovely girl liked him, liked kissing him. Could life get any better than this? Yes, a little voice whispered to him and a film started playing in his head, which involved Alice taking off her clothes, so he got distracted and didn't hear what Alice said to him.
"Earth to Stuart?"
"Sorry, what?"
"I said, 'How about calling it a night?' It's past eleven."
Stuart looked at his battered Star Wars watch and realised she was right.
"Time just goes so quickly when you're here."
Alice smiled. "You say the sweetest things."