7 Interrogations and Insights

Sheldon POV

I walked into the apartment after seeing Ali to her door in a good mood. I learned that I could touch Ali without wanting to scrub myself down with a vat of Purell when I had to catch her from falling after Penny almost ran her over on the stairs. The stunned look on her face was quite fetching and the blush on her cheeks was endearing if I am being honest with myself. 

Sitting in my spot to think about today and Ali was calming that was until Leonard came up to me and started with his own version of the inquisition. He looked at me with a large smile and said, "So buddy, How was your day with Ali? 

I found myself unwilling to tell him how my day with Ali was. Leonard has displayed shocking amounts of idiocy when it comes to his interactions with women. The incident with Grace Kim being a prime example of the utter levels of stupidity he will stoop to in order to impress those of the opposite gender. With that in mind I say, "It went wonderful, I got some new bins for my comics and I have a new shelf for my room coming tomorrow." At this statement I remembered that Ali will be coming by to sign my delivery acceptance approval form so I got up to walk over to my desk to grab said forms from the drawers.

After placing the forms on my desk there was a Knock at the door I was about to turn to open the door when Leonard practically ran to the door to open it. Ali was standing there and I could see the smile she had on her face tighten when she saw Leonard but she managed to maintain a cordial demeaner and said, "Hello Leonard. Is Sheldon still up I have to sign some papers for him?" It was at this question from her that I stepped forward and said, "Ali I have the form over here on my desk if you would be so kind as to sign this so I can accept your delivery for you tomorrow." 

Ali read the papers quite thoroughly much to my approval and then signed her name on the designated line she also checked the box for key use approval and protection. This because I will have to keep her key in order to let the delivery men into her apartment to complete delivery. She looked up at me smiling and said, "Thank you so much for this Sheldon it's a big help here is my spare key. I appreciate it and I will be by when I get home to pick my key back up." 

"It is no trouble Ali I appreciate you taking the time to fill out the proper forms for me. I hope the rest of your evening is pleasant. Good night Ali." With this Ali turned to leave but Leonard stopped her and said, "Leaving already we could talk some more." Ali maintained that same tight smile from earlier and said, "Sorry Leonard, I am really tired and need to get some sleep I have a big meeting tomorrow. Good night Leonard." with that she walked across to her own apartment and shut the door. 

Leonard shut our door then turned to me and said, "Wanna catch me up buddy?" I loath when he does that to me. It makes me feel like he is talking down to me as if were a troublesome toddler and I am no such thing. However, I push down my irritation with him and say, "Nothing much Just Ali coming to sign my delivery acceptance approval form, because she and Penny will be away when her stuff is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow." Leonard sighed in what I believe to be relief and said, "Oh so that's all, that's good. I'll take the key so you don't have to trouble yourself with it. I will also help you out by accepting the delivery on their behalf so you can do something you enjoy more, Ok buddy."

I looked at Leonard with confusion but said, "I can't do that Leonard I am now bound by contract to look after and protect Ali's key as well as to accept her property from the delivery service tomorrow. I appreciate the thought but I can not in good conscious accept your offer. With that being said I think I will retire to my room now, as I have had a full day and am rather tired. Good night Leonard."

**The next morning**

Ali POV

"Hey Pen I know your on the morning shift, you have to get up I'm leaving for my meeting." It didn't take long before I heard a muffled goodbye from Penny's room before I left the apartment. I thought about knocking on Sheldon's door to say good morning and thank him again for today but decided against it when I thought of Leonard. 

I made it to my publishers office to discuss the second book in my Twilight of Neptune series. The first book in the series did well with sales and has begun to pick up recognition. The first book didn't really have any actual scientific information in it and was a building block for the rest of the series. From the second on it will have a lot of theories, formulas and real experiment findings so I need to have a science liaison to fact check me. While waiting on my editor to come in I took out my laptop to pull up the second book. I began going over the plot to check for any inconsistencies in the story line when my editor finally came through the door. 

"Hey Ali, so I read the e-mail you sent me with your partial draft and I think it's good but I want you to try and focus on developing the relationship between Kathrine and Louis you set a good stage in the first book now we just need to build on it. Also I know the second book has more of an emphasis on science than the last one so I want you to get in touch with Caltech. I have arranged for a meeting with President Siebert, he is the head of their science department to iron out some of the science stuff in your books. We want to make sure there is no room for mistakes. Your book is getting some really good traction with the public and I think this would be a good step in amping up your story. President Siebert mentioned that he will set you up with one of his scientists that will help you via e-mail with whatever you need." 

"Well that was an info dump if I ever saw one Martha but thank you for all your hard work. I have some good news on my front though I might not need help finding a new scientist to work with. It just so happens my new neighbor is coincidentally a theoretical physicist at Caltech. I can ask him if he would help me out but I will still meet with President Siebert. If we go through the university we could use them as a source for all the science topics covered in the novel with links to their articles on the books website like we had talked about. This way we can garner more attention in the sciences for future generations as well as some good publicity for the books." 

"Geeze Ali sometimes I forget how cunning you can be. I guess your masters in marketing and communications comes in handy even though you are a writer. Well I have two more meetings today so I will leave you with that. Email me once you have that meeting at Caltech with the name of the scientist you are partnering with so we can get it added to the cover's draft for approval. You know to email me with the draft and any questions you have, see you next month."

With that she was gone and I was packing up, this was a productive meeting. Now to drive home from LA in rush hour traffic yay me. 

 Picking up my cell I called Sheldon before I got on the road **ring**ring** 

"Hello, this is Dr. Cooper"

"Hello Sheldon this is Ali. I was just about to head back to the apartment, it should take me about an hour which should be just before lunch. Would you like me to pick up lunch for us to eat once I am back? I would also like to ask you for a favor."

"Ah yes, Ali how thoughtful of you to offer to get my lunch for me. I would like the tangerine chicken from Szechuan Palace and an order of dumplings for us to split if that is amendable. As far as the favor is concerned I will hear you out and give you my answer after I have all of the information."

"I think I can handle that Sheldon I will be home in an hour and thank you for being willing to hear me out. I will see you soon."

"Goodbye Ali, drive safely"

The drive back wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be I made it back to Pasadena in under an hour. I picked up lunch for Sheldon and myself and headed home. Four flights of stairs later and I'm knocking on Sheldon's door.