Chapter 6 – Things Heat Up

Leonard, Raj, Howard and Sheldon finished their game of world of Warcraft. Sheldon had won and was being insufferably smug

"Hey, remember Alice, the girl who came over with Stuart the other day?" Raj asked

Leonard looked up from his laptop. "Yes?"

"She's in a video about a new comic on Kickstarter."

"Let's see the cover," Howard said.

Raj pulled it up and Howard bent over the screen. "Oh," he said in a disappointed tone.

"No big breasted, scantily clad women on the cover then?" Leonard asked, correctly guessing the reason for Howard's disappointment.

"Do you often look at Kickstarter?" Sheldon asked Raj.

Raj shrugged. "Occasionally. I look at the projects and see if there are any I'd like to support."

"How many have you supported?"

"About twenty. I've had some fun rewards."

Leonard had also got onto the site with his laptop and played the video.

"Have you pledged any money?" he asked Raj.

"A hundred dollars. For that, you get a bunch of stuff."

"Such as?"

"A print copy of the first edition and a pdf, the chance to be a character in a future edition, and you choose the name, a bunch of other comics by her and you send in a photo and get a sketch of you as a superhero."

"Sweet."

Both Leonard and Howard pulled out their wallets, plucked out credit cards and donated a hundred dollars.

"Are you sure Penny and Bernadette won't mind about this?" Raj asked.

Howard shrugged his shoulders. "I can keep my woman in line," he declared.

Leonard and Raj looked at him for a moment before exploding into laughter.

"What about you, Leonard?"

Leonard adjusted his glasses. "I'm just helping a good cause."

"So, what's the story about?" Howard asked.

Sheldon said sharply, "I can't believe you've just pledged a hundred dollars without even knowing what the story's about."

"Hello," Howard said, "did you not hear you get a picture of yourself as a superhero?" He turned to Raj. "So, what is the story about?"

"It's about four guys who become superheroes. There's Ratman who was bitten by a radioactive rat and his lab assistant who was bitten by a radioactive mouse and became his sidekick Mouse Boy."

Sheldon sneered. "Sounds like a rip off of Spider Man."

"Since when has Spider Man had a sidekick?" Leonard asked.

Sheldon ignored this. "What about the other two?"

"Captain Encyclopedia and Mr. Muscles. They're scientists and their day job is working at MIT.'

"What sort of scientists?" Sheldon asked, leaning forward.

Raj said, "From memory, one is a biologist."

"Ooh a biologist so not a real scientist then."

"Don't let Bernadette hear you say that." Howard warned Sheldon.

Stuart gently placed several copies of Issue One of The League of Supergeeks into the prime position on a prominent stand and stood back to admire them. He couldn't believe that they had actually gotten this far. Here was a real, paper work of art created by Alice and him. He knew that there was a digital version as well, but he was old-fashioned enough to enjoy the feel of turning the papers and looking at the art work, magnificent if he did say so himself. Alice had persuaded him into the crowdfunding project and it had raised enough money to do it both in colour and in print. And the origin story wasn't half bad either. The test that Sheldon had given Leonard before he moved in and the Flat Mate Agreement would be a dead giveaway to Leonard and the gang if any of them read it but such comic gold, it had been impossible to resist putting it in. He had laughed almost until he cried when Raj told him the story originally.

As he stood there, he felt two hands go around his waist. Alice hugged him from behind and kissed the side of his neck. Stuart glowed. He didn't want to turn his head, but he hoped there were some customers watching enviously. He couldn't believe he could be so lucky. This might be one of the best days of his life.

'Well, hello there, sailor,' Alice said in his ear. 'What's a nice boy like you doing in a place like this?'

Just then, Leonard and the gang crowded into the store. It was Comic Store Night again. Stuart did his best not to tremble and not look at The League of Supergeeks. Alice had overruled him about the placement of their comic, she had argued that it needed the best positioning to make as many sales as possible. Stuart was just paranoid about Leonard and the others.

He saw Raj's, Howard's and Leonard's eyes widen as they caught sight of Alice's arms around his waist. Raj nudged Howard and Leonard smiled. Sheldon was oblivious.

"What new offerings have you got for us, Stuart?" He asked.

Alice peeped out from behind Stuart's shoulder and piped up to his horror, "There's a brand-new comic out called 'The League of Supergeeks'."

"Is it by Marvel or DC?' Sheldon asked.

"No."

"Not interested."

"Sheldon is strictly mainstream," Stuart told her.

She disentangled herself from Stuart and gave Sheldon an unfriendly look. He didn't notice. He walked over to a comic stand and started flicking through.

Howard sidled up to him. "Stuart, you dog."

Stuart turned back.

"Congratulations," Leonard said smiling, "Alice is great."

That made Stuart feel even worse. Leonard was a nice guy.

"Don't let Penny hear you say that," Howard warned.

Leonard shrugged. "Penny isn't the jealous type." He said it wistfully.

"I'm very happy for you," said Raj in a tone that showed he was anything but.

"How did you get such a pretty girl to go out with you?" Howard asked.

"Gee I don't know. How did you get Bernadette to go out with you?" Stuart asked. He had never understood why Bernadette had.

"It was my charm and charisma."

"Penny set them up," Raj said bluntly.

Stuart tried and failed not to laugh. Howard gave Raj a furious stare.

Stuart watched Leonard move over to The League of Supergeeks' stand. Leonard picked up a copy of the comic. He moved away from them to get nearer to him. Leonard waved the comic at Raj and Howard.

"Hey guys! Come and have a look, the cover looks even better in real life."

Stuart's mouth dropped open. Leonard flipped through the pages.

"Would you like a copy?" Alice asked.

"No thanks," replied Leonard. Alice's face fell. Leonard continued, "As I'll be getting my copy delivered any time now, I suppose."

Alice's face lit up. "You're the L Hofstader who donated to our Kickstarter campaign."

"Of course, how many Hofstaders do you think there are around here?"

Alice kissed him on the mouth. Just as Penny walked through the door.

Penny stared in astonishment and then her face filled with fury. She stomped over to Leonard and Alice and shouted, "What do you think you're doing?'

Alice held up her hands and spoke in a placatory tone. 'Hey, no big deal. I was just giving him a little thank you kiss.'

'Oh really? What for?' Penny asked, pulled out the photo of Alice in the blue Angolan slave girl costume and thrust it towards them. 'Has it got anything to do with this?'

Leonard's eyes widened in shock. 'You've totally got the wrong idea —' he began.

'Have I really?' Penny snarled.

"Hey, calm down," said Alice. "It was just a thank you kiss."

"A thank you kiss for what?" Penny demanded, hands on her hips.

"He's very generously donated to our Kickstarter campaign."

'And why would he do that?"

Sheldon who had moved closer during the commotion, unfortunately chose to make his contribution now.

"Probably because Alice is an ex-girlfriend of his."

Penny whirled on Leonard. "She's your ex-girlfriend. You never told me. When did you go out with her?"

"Not while I was going out with you, it was after we broke up."

It was Raj's turn to intervene. "To be precise, it was after Priya moved back to India and you were having a long-distance relationship."

Penny stared at Leonard. "You're a pig," she said and stormed out of the store.

'Penny!" Leonard called and rushed out after her.

Alice stood, looking after them and shaking her head. "I can't see why she made such a big deal about the kiss."

Stuart could. He hadn't liked Alice kissing Leonard one little bit. "Perhaps you should have kissed him on the cheek," he suggested.

Alice swung around. "Are you jealous?"

"No," Stuart denied. Of course, he was.

"Way to go, Sheldon," Howard said. "Why did you tell Penny that?"

Sheldon shrugged. "She asked for reasons why Leonard donated."

Just then a tall man in a sharp suit came into the store and made a beeline for Alice.

"Alice!" he exclaimed and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Jasper!" She turned to Stuart. "Stuart, this is Jasper Radorson. Jasper, this is Stuart, the co-writer of the comic I told you about."

Jasper grasped Stuart's hand in a very firm grip and shook it. "Pleased to meet you, Stuart." He looked him straight in the eyes. "Any friend of Alice is a friend of mine." He laughed and released Stuart's hand.

Stuart massaged his hand and decided there and then he didn't like Jasper. Jasper was too tall, too good looking with blond hair and blue eyes, wore way too nice clothes and was standing too close to Alice.

Jasper carried on talking. "I read about your project on Kickstarter and got in touch with Alice. She showed me the first draft of your comic. I was impressed,"" He smiled at Alice. "I think it's very promising," he purred.

Patronizing jerk, Stuart thought.

"I'd like to talk to you about a possible further investment." Was he talking to both of them or just to Alice? "How about dinner after you finish here?"

That sounded expensive.

"Sorry, I can't make it tonight," Stuart said.

"Too bad." Jasper didn't sound sorry at all. "Alice?"

'I'd love the chance to talk more about the project to you, Jasper." She glanced at Stuart. "You can manage without me, can't you?"

No, he wanted to say. No, stay here with me. But instead he said, "Yeah, sure."

To his fury, Jasper put his arm around Alice and steered her away. "Nice to meet you, see you again," he called over his shoulder to Stuart as they left the comic store.