Late-Night Signal

{Another long chapter, lots of dialogue but I think you'll really like the ending! Thank you all for your comments and support!}

"I'd better be going. I have appointments in the morning," Emily sighed as she lazily twirled her fingers in Penny's long blond hair.

"That's okay. It would be nice if you could stay but I've got a brutal schedule over the next couple of days. Closing shift tomorrow then I turn around Wednesday and open," Penny said, lying on her side in the crook of Emily's arm.

"Do you think we might do this again soon? I mean, maybe not the kicking and screaming animal sex, though that was a lot of fun!" Emily laughed.

Penny giggled. "Yeah, that really cleared the air, didn't it? But yes, I'd like to get together again." Penny bit her lower lip, then, "I was having a serious problem with this for a while, Emily. Like, really wrestling with my conscience. On the one hand, I was having these crazy feelings after we ran into each other at the Cheesecake Factory, but on the other hand, I love Leonard."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't exactly subtle. I was in a bad place. But you helped me so much just by being a friend when we really didn't have much of a previous history. I think that only strengthened my resolve to pursue this..."

"Well, I certainly didn't throw up any roadblocks," Penny laughed, extricating herself from Emily's embrace. "Come into my parlor," said the spider to the fly!"

Emily laughed as they both got up from the bed. Her eyes were held by the sight of Penny's magnificent ass and swinging breasts as she bent over and slid into her panties.

As they dressed, Penny continued. "But Bernadette had some...enlightening advice. She pointed out that we wouldn't be hurting our own relationships by...well, you know," she said, blushing.

Emily laughed. "Oh, hell no! Leonard and Raj would explode in their pants if they found out!"

Penny laughed as she walked with Emily to the living room. "That's exactly what Bernie said!"

Emily collected her purse and slipped on her flip-flops. "Don't forget our Thursday evening Pony party!" she said excitedly.

"Why don't you stop by Wednesday night and I can give you more of an idea of what you're in for?"

"Ooh! Do you have another salacious video?" she asked with a sparkle in her eye.

"I might have two by then! Bernadette's still editing the one we made on Sunday."

"Wednesday sounds great! Looking forward to it!" Emily said with enthusiasm. Penny unlocked the door and gave Emily a long, lingering kiss.

"Good night sweetie!"

Penny watched Emily step into the stairwell as she closed the door, then padded barefoot to the kitchen for a glass of water.

"Whew! That really took the edge off!" she thought as she walked to the bedroom. "Bernadette's gonna shit herself. But she was right. Just gotta keep it casual!"

Penny sat her glass of water on the nightstand and plugged in her phone to charge, then crawled under the covers, a satisfied smile on her face.

Bernadette stared at Penny, mouth open and eyes wide. "Yeah, if she had come on to me like that I would have jumped her too! Jesus, Penny!"

Penny nodded. "It was so fucking hot! I just lost it. Next thing I know, we're in my bed and I'm all up in her business. She went off like a rocket and then totally returned the favor. She even got me to squirt again! Took it like a champ!"

Bernadette just shook her head. "Stop it! I'm going to have to take a long bathroom break if you keep going," she laughed.

"You and me both! I'm getting worked up just thinking about it!" Penny giggled. "She's coming back over Wednesday night," she said nonchalantly. "How's the edging video coming? I thought she might want to get a better picture of what she's in for."

"Uh huh," Bernadette smirked. "That's why."

"Pickup for table 8, Bernie!" the cook yelled.

Bernadette turned to grab the tray from the window. "It's almost done. I'll have it finished up tonight, probably before you get off work." She scurried off to serve her table. "I'll send you the file!" she called over her shoulder.

Bernadette's shift ended at five o'clock but Penny didn't finish up until almost ten. True to her word, Bernadette sent the file over of their Sunday session as Penny was pulling into the parking area of her building.

Penny had just enough time to upload the new video to her laptop and grab a shower after wolfing down a burger that one of her customers had sent back because it wasn't well done. "What the fuck is wrong with people? Who wants a fuckin' piece of shoe leather?" Penny mumbled as she sat at her table and inhaled the juicy chunk of perfectly cooked medium rare beef.

Showered and shaved, Penny crawled into bed. Her opening shift started at nine but she was wrecked from the events of the last couple of days. Guiltily, she realized that she hadn't called Leonard all week. He hadn't called her either, which was a little concerning, but the project he and the guys were heading up at the Keck observatory in Hawaii was probably consuming his attention. She sleepily vowed to give him a call if she hadn't heard from him by the weekend and quickly dozed off.

Penny was up well before her alarm, bright eyed and bushy tailed. She felt like everything had just fallen into place over the last week or so. Everything was coming up Penny!

She skipped into the kitchen and made some coffee, then began frying a couple of eggs and making some toast. She had the morning shift today and with any luck she would be home by four, three if it was slow. That gave her plenty of time to get ready for Emily's visit tonight.

Penny got to work a little early, impressing Brigitte. Feeling particularly bold, Penny unloaded. "So who do I have to screw around here to get a Saturday off, Brigitte? I mean, I like splitting my days off as much as anyone but it's nice to get a whole weekend off occasionally, don't you think? Three weeks of Saturdays is a bit much!"

"Jesus, Penny! All you have to do is ask! I'll put you down for next weekend."

"Thanks sweetie! You're a peach!" Penny called over her shoulder as she headed for the bar.

Bernadette got in for her closing shift at noon. Penny was still bopping around like she owned the place.

"She's my cherry pie, cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise...Hey Bernadette!" Penny sang as she swished into the waitress station. "Check this out! I've got almost two hundred bucks in tips so far today! I'm never working a Thursday again!"

"Wow, you're amazingly chipper for someone who just did a close/open!"

"I know!" Penny exclaimed, wide eyed. "Get this...I woke up before my alarm went off, I got to work early, I confronted Brigitte and scored a weekend off, AND she's letting me bail out at two o'clock! Can you fucking believe it?"

"Geez, maybe Emily will seduce me," Bernadette laughed.

"Always after me lucky charms!" Penny giggled in her best Irish accent.

"So listen," Bernadette said, getting serious for a moment, "at some point you and I need to sit down and talk over the financials of our little project. We could literally be sitting on a gold mine!"

Penny giggled. "That's funny! Okay, okay. When we pitch ideas for plays and skits in acting class, the first thing we do is determine our audience. What do they dream of? What's missing in their lives? Then we build the scene around that. We're already past that point. The next thing we need to do is figure out how we attract that audience."

"Wow, Penny! I was all "how much does this thing cost to build" and "how much do we sell it for" but you really have a grasp on the marketing slant. I think we'll make great partners! If I can get the particulars on the money end and you do some brainstorming on the psychology of our audience, we might be able to make some sweet ass money off this thing!"

"And have a lot of fun in the process!" Penny laughed. Then soberly, "It needs a face."

"A face? What do you mean?"

"Think of every movie poster you've ever seen. Don't you associate the person with the movie?"

"Where is this coming from? Okay, you're way too good at this. Congratulations! You're now the director of marketing."

"Aw, I wanted product testing," she pouted. "Oh well, thank you "Shark Tank"! Gotta go! She's my cherry pie..." Penny sang as she danced off to her next table.

At about two-thirty, Penny was just getting into her car when her cell phone rang.

"Hey Emily!" Penny said excitedly.

"Hi! Are you still at work?"

"No, I just got off. Early! I'm having a great day!"

"I know! I heard!" Emily giggled.

"Um...what?"

"Well, one of the girls from the office was in the Cheesecake Factory today about 11:30 picking up our lunch order and when she got back, she told us this wonderful story about a hot blond server that was dancing around and regaling her customers with 1980's hair metal songs."

"OH MY GOD!" Penny laughed. "Hey, in my defense, I made killer tips from my performance! How about I take you out to dinner tonight?"

"Honestly? If it's all right with you, I'd rather just stay in... and be your cherry pie," Emily giggled.

"Stop it! You're terrible!" Penny blushed.

Emily laughed. "Okay, all kidding aside, I'll tell you what I'm really in the mood for. A Long Island iced tea."

"Ooh, I make a mean Long Island iced tea. I think I have everything we need except the tequila."

"Tell you what, you pick up the tequila and I'll grab a pizza from this amazing little place I found about a month ago. Meet up at your place about 6:30?"

"That sounds fantastic! I can't wait!" Then in a playful, sexy voice, "Bye bye, cherry pie!"