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Penny knocks lightly. Then loudly. Then really loudly. She checks her watch and it’s two o’clock on the nose and just as she’s about to knock one more time, the door opens and she sees him. He’s tall, all lanky limbs and awkwardness, kind of unusual looking but in the good kind of way, and he looks more than a little surprised to see her.
She passes it off as being surprised that she’s so young or blonde or something else and enters the apartment without an invitation.
“Excuse me – what are you –“
“I’m Penny. We have an appointment at two so I can look at the available apartment? You’re the landlord, right?”
“Well, no, I think you’re in the –“
She barely registers that he’s even speaking because she’s too impressed. It looks completely different from how she imagined it, it’s much nicer and has a lot more room. She heads into the hallway and towards the bedrooms and hears him calling “Penny” as he trails behind her.
“Oh, there’s two bedrooms. I thought –“ Penny turns around to face him and continues, “I’m confused, I thought it was a one bedroom. And it’s fine that it’s not. So this is a roommate situation and you’re the roommate?”
“Yes, but – the other room –“
“I don’t think I caught your name? I spoke to someone else on the phone so –“
“I’m Sheldon. Dr. Sheldon Cooper. But what I’m trying to tell you is –“
She turns back around and looks from one door to another. “So which one would be mine?”
“Well, that one is Leonard’s room, but you’re not listening to me. You’re clearly in the wrong –“
She doesn’t hear the rest because she’s already bounding into the room. It’s definitely not her taste, a bit too, well, kind of what you’d expect from a guy named Leonard. But she can definitely redecorate, and maybe even spread a little color into that drab living room while she’s at it.
Penny hears footsteps in the hallway, turns to see a short guy with curly hair and she greets him with a friendly smile. “You must be Leonard. I’m Penny, and I guess I’m going to be Sheldon’s new roommate when you move out.”
Leonard is clearly confused and his eyebrows start to merge in the middle of his forehead to show it, before he says, “Excuse me? You’re what?”
Now it’s Penny’s turn to be confused as she looks from Leonard and towards Sheldon who is still pale, but his ears are bright red and his mouth is in a straight line.
“This – this woman is clearly in the wrong place. She’s looking for an apartment and I’ve been trying to tell her she needs to be at 4B and not 4A, but she refuses to listen and – and – Leonard, this is infuriating.”
“4A? But that’s what the guy told me on the phone, I wrote it down even and – hold on –“ She digs in the back pocket of her jeans and pulls out a wrinkled piece of paper. “It’s right here. 2311 North Los Robles, apartment – OH. Ohhhh.”
Her face turns as red as Sheldon’s ears when she sees that she clearly wrote down 4B and not 4A and somehow her brain flipped a switch on her during the trip from Kurt’s apartment to here. Penny walks back to the living room and both men follow her.
“I am so embarrassed. I’m not this stupid, normally, I swear. I am so sorry for all of this. I’m sorry for wasting your time and I’ll just get out –“
Leonard waves a hand to interrupt her as he gives her an appraising look from head to toe and she barely resists the urge to roll her eyes. “Wait. Don’t go. What if you take my room and I take the empty apartment across the hall?”
“Why would you do that?”
He stammers long enough that she wonders if there’s something wrong with this Sheldon guy and he’s just begging to get away from him. “I – I – I’ve been wanting a little more privacy, and uhm, I think splitting utilities and rent would be a better deal financially for you, so, uhm, we both win? I can have my stuff moved by Sunday.”
Penny looks at him suspiciously and then back towards Sheldon. Sheldon looks harmless and unlike his friend, he didn’t give her the pervy gaze she’s used to getting, so he’s either not interested or he’s really subtle. And the short one is right, splitting the bills would be a lot easier on her crappy waitressing salary.
“I guess that’s fine.”
“Do I get a say?” Sheldon is still frowning and crosses his arms over his chest.
Leonard answers, “I’m sure Penny will happily sign your roommate agreement, and I’ll still drive you to work every day, so not much will change.”
He doesn’t look happy about it but he finally nods in acquiescence. “I suppose it’s okay. Maybe this one will actually respect the schedule. “
Penny isn’t sure she likes the sound of that but she’s just desperate enough to get out of Kurt’s apartment that she’s willing to give it a go. She grins widely and gives Sheldon a light punch on the arm. “I guess I’ll see you on Sunday, roomie.”