I walk up the stairs of the North Los Robles apartment building with my girlfriend. I'm supposed to be joining Sheldon and his geek squad for dinner after they return from the renaissance fair, but I decided to bring Jacqueline with me for reasons that can only be identified as 'mischief'.
"I'm glad you decided to bring me along," Jacqueline admits, "it's going to be fun scaring your brother's nerdy little friends"
"Fine, but don't be too scary," I plead, " I don't want you getting us kicked out like last time"
"I can't help that the fork somehow mysteriously ended up in Howard's hand" Jacqueline shrugs with a smirk.
"I don't know, somehow I think you can," I respond with a raised eyebrow.
We hear familiar voices as we approach the third floor. We seem to have stumbled upon some awkward silence. Jacqueline, ever quick to discern situations, leans over to me. "It's about the guy."
I look over the situation, taking it in. Penny is stood beside a new guy - some clean shaven, well-built fella I've never seen her with before. Leonard is looking quite sad in a knight costume. The rest of the guys look like they feel awkward being part of the situation. Sheldon's the first to notice our presence. He's always been quite vigilant. "Oh, it's the lesbians."
"Oh, hi Callie. Hey, Jacqueline," Penny greets us with a wave.
"Hi, Penny," I greet her back.
"How's it goin'?" Jacqueline asks politely.
Penny takes a look around, and sensing the awkwardness, says "We should probably go," to the man she's with. He agrees, and he and Penny leave. On their way out, the guy says, "Like your hat," to Howard.
"Thanks, my mom made it," Howard responds with a hint of surprise. I can tell he's not used to being complimented, especially by people who seem normal.
"Mommy?" Jacqueline asks him with a mocking smile.
"Oh, shut up, demon woman" Howard snaps, earning a hearty laugh from my girlfriend.
"Be careful Leonard, the Irish are prone to violence," Sheldon warns. It's hard to take him seriously in his medieval monk costume. Of course, it's hard to take him seriously anyhow.
"What a harmful stereotype!" I chastise, offended by his insensitive generalisation.
"And yet here's the proof," Sheldon says, gesturing to Jacqueline, who shrugs with a grin.
"I don't mind it, people have got to know to watch out for me somehow," Jacqueline says ominously, earning a smile from me.
"Well, then I'm happy that I wasn't warned," I tell her with a wink, kissing her on the cheek.
"I'm gonna be sick," Leonard says as we all continue up the staircase to the fourth floor. One could infer that Leonard is referring to the interaction between Jacqueline and me, but I know that it isn't that at all.
"Aw, Leonard, does it hurt to know you totally screwed things up with Penny by implying she was stupid?" I ask mockingly. Penny called me and told me everything - the secret that Penny had asked Sheldon to keep (that she didn't finish community college) was eating at him so badly that he moved out of the apartment for a little. When Raj took him in, Sheldon annoyed him to the point that he dumped him on Howard, who couldn't get him to go to sleep so he drugged him with Valium in his milk. That didn't put Sheldon to sleep and only made him loopy, so Howard brought him back to the apartment and Sheldon, in his benzodiazepine-induced haze, revealed the secret to Leonard. That reminds me, maybe I should let Jacqueline get at Howard one last time. Who drugs their friends? More importantly, who drugs my little brother?
"Yes, it does," Leonard replies, clearly feeling very blue about the whole thing.
"Please tell me what you thought was going to happen," I sigh as we reach the fourth floor and stop at Sheldon and Leonard's apartment door.
"I thought I was helping her. Clearly, she was embarrassed by not finishing community college and I just thought maybe she needed an extra push to do it," Leonard explains.
"That wasn't your decision to make," I say as Sheldon allows us all entry into the apartment. "Maybe you should have asked why she dropped out first, and then decided what the best course of action was based on that."
"Indeed, Leonard, perhaps the situation could have been approached with empathy instead of judgment," Sheldon agrees.
"Did I hear him correctly? Was he the one who said that?" Jacqueline asks me, seeing the irony in Sheldon lecturing Leonard on empathy.
"Nevertheless, he's right," I say, supporting my brother despite his lack of self-awareness. "Leonard, you might have thought you were doing the right thing, but all of this was really just about your ego."
"How can you say that?" Leonard asks incredulously.
"With a Texan drawl," I retort, "you want me to say it again?"
"No," Leonard says, seemingly dejected.
"Leonard, I'm afraid that Charlotte is correct," Sheldon says.
Raj whispers in Howard's ear.
"Yes, her name is Charlotte," Howard says to him. Raj leans in and whispers another question. "No, I don't know how they get Callie from Charlotte. It's Texas."
"Ignoring that," Sheldon says with a glare at Howard, "perhaps you truly cannot see yourself romantically entangled with someone with no college degree, Leonard."
"That's ridiculous," Leonard scoffs indignantly, "this is why I hate having you both here."
"Because we're both right so often?" I ask.
"Because you're in the same vein of annoying," Leonard answers.
"It runs in the family, trust me," Jacqueline interjects with a slight smirk.
I put a hand to my chest in mock offense "The betrayal!."
"Am I wrong, my love?" Jacqueline raises an eyebrow.
"I suppose not," I concede. She ruffles my hair a little.
"As annoying as we may be - which is not at all on my part - it's clear you annoyed Penny," Sheldon states to Leonard, who scoffs again.
"Not only did you annoy Penny, you hurt her feelings enough for her to not want to date you," I add, always happy to add insult to injury.
"Guys, we get it, Leonard made a mistake and ruined his chances with Penny," Howard says, breaking in to the conversation. "Can we move on now?"
"Why, Howard? What ever would you like to talk about?" I ask sarcastically.
"I don't care," he says, matching my energy, "as long as it doesn't involve Leonard and his absolute failure with Penny."
"It was not an absolute failure," Leonard says, clearly in denial, "it was just a little bump in the road."
"Ah, the sun don't shine on your crops, does it, Lenny?" Jacqueline asks.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Leonard asks, not seeming to know whether or not he should be offended by Jacqueline's comment.
"It means you've got absolutely rotten luck," Jacqueline clarifies. "This thing with Penny, I can't help but notice that it never goes your way."
"So?" Leonard asks, annoyed but curious to see where Jacqueline is taking this.
"So, she's clearly moved on with the lad that was out in the hallway with her," Jacqueline continues. "What if you moved on, too?"
Leonard seems to contemplate her suggestion for a moment. "I don't know, Jacqueline…"
"The wicked witch of Texas has a point," Howard says, "maybe to get over Penny you need to get under someone else."
"What, so fast?" Leonard asks. "Isn't that disrespectful?"
"Does it look like she's respecting you?" Howard asks, raising an eyebrow. "She's out on a date right now, and you're in a knight costume eating dinner with a monk, a court jester, a medieval gentleman and a couple of lesbians."
Despite myself, I laugh at Howard's 'lesbian' comment. Sheldon gives me a puzzled look, perhaps wondering why I would have found that funny. Jacqueline chuckles a little, a rare moment of tolerance toward Howard.
"Yeah, but that's fine that she's out on a date," Leonard asserts. "I'm just not moving on as quickly as she did."
"Come on, Leonard," Howard says, his tone mildly teasing. "What could it hurt?"
"It could hurt Penny," Leonard points out.
"As much as I love the girl, Leonard, Penny clearly isn't worried about hurting you," I point out. "So maybe you should just move on. Go on a date."
Leonard sighs. "I'll think about it, okay?"
"Okay, just don't overthink it," Jacqueline says.
Then, almost immediately, Leonard says, "Well, what if it doesn't go well with this guy and she wants to come back and try again with me?"
"Oh, here we go," Sheldon complains.
"I mean, if I move on, then I'm not there when she wants to try again and it'll make her look stupid," Leonard says as if he's trying to convince himself more than us.
"Leonard, I mean this in the nicest way that is possible for me," I say, "but if things do not work out for Penny with this guy, there is little to zero chance that the first guy whose arms she falls into will be you."
"Surely there's not little to zero chance-"
"Let's say there is," I interrupt, my patience wearing thin. "Look, just give this movin' on thing a chance? And if it doesn't work, we'll explore other avenues."
"Okay," Leonard nods. "If it'll get you off my back, I'll do it."
"Thanks," I say
"Now, on to more pressing matters…" Sheldon starts, delving into some scientific mambo-jumbo I hardly care about.
I realise how comfortable I've become here. I used to dread coming over, and now I'm willingly coming to dinner and trying to help these imbeciles with their life problems. It's been a nice change of pace. I've missed having people that I could hang out and talk about things with that weren't either romantically linked with me or related to me. While there's a person from each of those categories present in this apartment, there are also other people that are present that can give their own insights and that I can give my insights to, and I like that. I really do.
We spend the night listening to Sheldon ramble on about his sciency stuff, Howard playing devil's advocate and talking for Raj as he whispers his thoughts into his ear, Leonard switching between being present in the conversation and sulking about Penny, me finding any opportunity to poke fun at the boys, and Jacqueline listening in mostly silence, observing the environment around her.
As Jacqueline and I head down the staircase, Jacqueline says, "That was surprisingly fun."
"You think so? I found myself a bit irritated," I respond.
"Yeah, sure, Leonard might have been frustrating, but we ended up having an alright night, yeah?"
I smile to myself as we head out to the car. "Yeah, I suppose."
What started as a reluctant obligation to my brother has become something I, as much as I still kind of hate to admit it, enjoy and perhaps even look forward to. As we pull out of the parking lot, I even find myself anticipating the next time I visit the nerd herd.
…
I'm in my office, as I often am since Jameson Records forces a six-day workweek upon its managers. I'm looking over the latest release date plans and tracklist confirmations. "These all look good," I say to myself.
Someone walks into my office, and I look up to see Liam. He looks nervous, and somewhat sad. "Hey, Charlotte, can I talk to you?"
Charlotte? He never calls me that, I think to myself. "Yeah, go ahead," I say.
He closes the door, which rings alarm bells in my head. "What's going on?" I ask him.
"Listen, I've been thinking a lot about this, and I think you should resign from Jameson Records," Liam says in a strained voice. He clears his throat. "I think it's best for this company."
"You can't be serious," I say softly. "You know I love this job."
"I know, that's why this is so difficult for me," Liam says, looking everywhere except for me in the eyes.
"Well, I'm so glad you're thinking about what's difficult for you," I say bitingly, beginning to get angry at his lack of explanation or not even seeming to care about what's going on here.
"It is," Liam insists.
"I'm good at this job, Liam, I don't deserve to lose it," I say, trying to appeal to his sense of preservation. This company could go south in a minute without me.
"That's highly subjective," Liam says calmly, but it feels forced.
"Really? Look at your stats, or is daddy's little mistake too good to do that?" I snap. Maybe that wasn't a good thing to say, but I don't have good things to say about this man right now.
"'Daddy's little mistake'? Really, Charlotte?" Liam looks hurt, but I ignore it and continue.
"Well, it's what you are, isn't it? A mistake. And not even just his. My biggest mistake, too. Only good thing I got out of us was Georgia."
"You're just mad, Charlotte," Liam says, more to himself than to me. "You don't mean that."
"I do. And now, I'm gonna clean my desk out, go home, and tell Georgia what a mistake her daddy made," I seethe.
"Don't bring Georgia into this," Liam shakes his head.
"Why not? You're messing around with her life, too," I point out. "Now, are you done? I'd like to clean out my desk and I'll be tempted to throw every single sharp object I have in your direction if you don't get the hell out."
"How very mature."
"How ironic for someone who hasn't truly changed since he was 18 years old!"
"Oh, we're just lying to hurt me now?" Liam raises his eyebrow, his frustration growing. I don't see how he's frustrated. He could have just avoided this by not firing me.
"Why not? You're still out for yourself!" I retort.
"You're gonna learn just how wrong you are in time," Liam says, seeming to restrain himself from stooping to my level.
"Whatever, just leave this office,"
"Fine."
He exits and I pack my things up in a rage. After doing so, I make my way out to my car as quickly as possible, making sure to avoid eye contact and block out the whispering that occurs as they notice my presence. I feel as if I've done something bad, but the truth of the matter is that I was unjustly fired. California is an at-will employment state, so there's nothing that I can do about this because the reason for my termination wasn't illegal - it just didn't exist. Neither will his relationship with me or his daughter if he's not careful.
I drive home, fuming. How dare he leave me high and dry like this? After all I've done for him and his division, and for our child? I pull into our driveway. I see Jacqueline looking through the curtains, her pale face decorated in a puzzled expression. I know she's thinking that she didn't expect me home for a few hours, but here I am now, and I'm pissed.
I get out of my car, and Jacqueline meets me at the front door. "Callie, what happened? You're home early."
"Liam fired me." I announce, storming into the house.
"He…he fired you?" Jacqueline asks, her expression remaining puzzled.
"Yup."
"Are you sure he didn't tell you something else and you misheard him?" Jacqueline asks, unable to fathom Liam suddenly doing something that would hurt me like that.
"Nope, definitely just terminated my employment at his pathetic little division. No reason, just did it." I say, my anger palpable.
"That doesn't sound like something he'd do"
"Well, he did it!"
"Did he have a gun to his head?" Jacqueline asks, tilting her head.
"Jacqueline!" I chastise, but she only shrugs.
"I don't like the guy, I just have a hard time believin' he had no good reason for firing you, " she defends.
"Well, believe it, because he had no good reason." I say stubbornly. It's hard to believe that Jacqueline would be defending him right now.
"Did you ask him why?" Jacqueline raises an eyebrow at me.
"No, because I was too busy trying not to wring his neck!" I say, the anger bubbling back up inside of me.
"Understandable," Jacqueline nods.
"God, Jacqueline, what are we going to do? Neither of us have jobs now," I ask, the anxiety setting in. I don't expect her to have the answer, I'm just upset that I don't have it.
"I don't know. But we'll figure it out. Why don't you go grab a nap, okay? I'll try to straighten things out on the phone with Liam," Jacqueline suggests.
"Really? You think that you can do that?" I ask skeptically, knowing that conversations between the two don't usually go as planned. If you plan them to go well, that is.
"Oh, you underestimate me, beauty. Go get some rest, you've had a hard day."
"I love you, Jacqueline."
"I love you, Callie."
I head off to bed to take a nap, and upon lying down I feel a lot more tired than I thought I was. I drift off fairly quickly, grateful to have Jacqueline in my life.
…
Later, I'm again walking up the staircase to the apartment to see if Sheldon has some problem that I could focus on other than being fired, but as I approach the third floor, I notice Sheldon and Penny sitting on the steps. Sheldon has a laptop on his lap connected to a power cord, and Penny is beside him looking quite confused.
"So, we just sit on steps now?" I ask.
"Hello, Callie, if you were hoping to go to the apartment, consider your hopes dashed," Sheldon says bitterly, his eyes still trained on his screen.
"Don't worry, they've already been. Make room," I say, gesturing for them to move out of my way. I perfected that, being an eldest sibling. Once they move over enough, I sit. "What is the matter? Why aren't you in your apartment?"
"I'm trying to convince Penny to try again with Leonard, and I would like you to assist me," Sheldon informs me.
"And I'd like to pass on that, I'm already dealing with my ex," I scoff, rolling my eyes.
"Ooh, did he finally tell you he loves you?" Penny asks, causing Sheldon to look up from his computer with a puzzled expression.
"No, he fired me."
"What?" she asks, surprised. "Why?"
"Absolutely zero idea," I respond. "Just did it."
"That's so odd," Penny says. "He seemed to really like your presence in his company. Even invited you to lunch."
"I know," I sigh, "and he even paid my way too. I guess he was just trying to cushion the blow of firing me later on."
"I'm sorry, Callie," Penny says sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, too. To be out here listening to this instead of in my apartment where I should be," Sheldon comments.
"Ah, yeah, it's always about you, Sheldon. We know. Now, why are you out here anyway?" I ask, looking between the two of them.
"Leonard has a date with Leslie Winkle and needed me to clear out. Again," Sheldon complains.
"Wait," I say, "isn't that the girl who didn't want anything serious with Leonard? Not that I blame her, of course."
"Yes. She's apparently changed her very small, overrated mind and wants commitment now."
"With Leonard?" I ask.
"Yes, glad you've caught up with us, finally." Sheldon says, rolling his eyes.
"Great, all of this is really dumb," I say. "I guess I'll go back home and wallow."
"Goodnight, Callie," Penny says, her voice conveying a mild sympathy that I appreciate.
"Bye," is all Sheldon says.
"I hope they stay up there all night," I say to him.
I return home, and after a night of not saying very much to anyone, I crawl into bed with Jacqueline, trying to calm my brain down enough to sleep.
"Goodnight, Callie, love. You'll be okay,"Jacqueline says softly, wrapping her arms around me.
And for God's sake, I hope she's right.