Chapter 14

It has been a week since William left California to settle in New Jersey for his research position at Princeton University. The university administration was kind enough to help him get settled in the city, assigning Jimmy - an undergrad student to assist him with whatever he needed to make his living arrangements comfortable. With Jimmy's help, William found a single room apartment suitable for himself that is only twenty minutes away from the university and decided to settle there.

William and Jimmy were carrying his stuff up to his apartment in the third floor when his next door neighbor opened their door, going out of the apartment. William was opening his door to put his stuff inside when Jimmy saw the neighbor - a young lady, lock her door. The young woman turned around and saw them standing on the hall.

"Oh? Hi!" she said.

"Hi!" said Jimmy as William turned around to face her.

"Hi!" William said waving at her and giving her an awkward smile.

"You must be my new neighbors? I'm Erin by the way!" said Erin.

"Hi Erin, I'm Jimmy, this is William." said Jimmy. "I'm not really staying here, I'm just helping him move." he added.

"Oh? That's nice!" said Erin. "Listen, I'd like to stay and chat but I gotta run. I'm gonna be late for work at the restaurant. Maybe we could hang out sometime?" Erin said giving William a lovely smile.

"Uh, yeah sure!" said William as Erin walked into the elevator and pushed the button, going down to the lobby.

William opened his door and carried his luggage inside as Jimmy followed close, putting the box on the floor.

"Is it just me or is that girl hot?" said Jimmy, wiping his sweat from his forehead.

"I guess." said William.

"Oh come on Will, don't tell you don't find her attractive!?" Jimmy said teasing him.

William sighed. "She is pretty." he said.

"Are you kidding me? That girl is smoking hot! I mean just look at her eyes and cheeks. And her long brown hair, makes me wish I was the one moving in here!" said Jimmy.

"Yeah, you'd like that won't you?" said William laughing a little.

"Come on man, it's not like you're gonna do something illegal or something, right?" said Jimmy. "And what if she has a hot roommate huh?" he added.

William lightly pushed him out of the apartment to go back to his car to bring up the last of his boxes. "I told you, I have a girl back in California." he said. "And I'm here to work and finish my doctorate, not go around partying and fooling around?" William added.

"Yeah you told me already. The sixteen year-old blonde that's almost your sister since her folks and your parents are best friends for life!" said Jimmy as they stepped out of the elevator. "Why did you two hide your relationship anyway?" asked Jimmy as they walked out of the building towards William's car.

"We didn't want our parent's friendship ruined." said William.

"And how did that worked out for you?" asked Jimmy.

"It got tense when they found out, but they eventually understood when we told them that we're gonna wait." said William and they took the last boxes out of the trunk of the car.

"Yeah, I can only imagine." said Jimmy. "Your dad must be very happy when you told him you're gonna go to his Alma Mater huh?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, he was cool with it. It's my mom who was hysterical. You know, his baby boy leaving home and such." William said.

"I get where you're coming from. I'm from Montana so my mom was sad when I told her that I'm going here to Princeton. You know, being so far away from home." Jimmy said. "Do you miss them?" he asked.

"I try not to think about it too much." said William. "I just want to focus on my work." he added as they set the last boxes on the floor of his apartment.

"Well, that's what you get for being a young genius." said Jimmy. "Do you want help unpacking your stuff?" he asked.

"No I got it." said William.

"So it's okay to you if I take a shot at Erin?" asked Jimmy making William laugh.

"Go ahead." William said. "It's not like I could go around partying anyways right?" he added.

"You have got to be kidding me! Who's gonna be my wing man?" Jimmy jokingly said.

"You do know that I'm only eighteen right?" William asked.

"Oh yeah that!" Jimmy said nodding his head. "Hey if you want, I know a guy who can get you a fake ID." he added.

"Are you kidding me!? I'm here on a research grant. I'm gonna be in heap of trouble if I do something like that!" said William.

"Hey, don't freak out. I was only joking!" Jimmy said laughing a little. "Anyway, I gotta go. Are you sure you don't want help with this stuff?" he asked.

"I'm sure Jimmy." William said. "Thanks for helping out." he added, patting Jimmy on the shoulder.

"Hey, it's no big deal. I'm your friend so if you need anything just let me know alright?" said Jimmy.

William gave him a fist bump. "Thanks a lot." he said.

Jimmy turned around and walked out of the apartment. "Say hello to Erin for me okay?" he said as he stepped inside the elevator making William laugh a little.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another week has passed and William was done settling in his apartment, buying a couple of used furniture and a new mattress for his bed. He also bought a few necessities for the kitchen and the living room to at least make his apartment feel like home as well as a couple of whiteboards to do his math and physics on, putting them on opposite sides of the living room.

After another couple days of arranging and cleaning up, he was finally satisfied with how his apartment looked. His apartment and furniture wasn't stylish or extravagant but it served the purpose. He took out his phone and tried to Skype his mother in California. After a few rings, Penny answered her phone, holding the phone to focus the camera on herself and Leonard.

W: "Hi mom! Hi dad!"

P: "Hi sweetie! It's so nice to see you again! We miss you so much!"

L: "Yeah. So how's New Jersey?"

W: "I miss you too mom! New Jersey's alright I guess. Is the princess there?"

P: "No. She's out with Jason and Sheryl and a few of her classmates."

W: "Oh okay. Let me show you around my apartment."

William moved his phone around to let his parents see his apartment and bedroom. After a few minutes, he focused the camera back to himself.

P: "Your apartment looks nice sweetheart. Seems cozy enough."

W: "It's okay I guess. I had to watch my expenses so I went around town looking for some cheap furniture."

L: "Well it seems you're settling in pretty nice huh?"

W: "Yeah, the university asked an undergrad student to help me get settled. He's the one who found this apartment."

P: "Well at least you already have a friend over there."

W: "Yeah. Jimmy's alright."

They were talking and catching up for another few minutes when William heard someone knock on his door.

W: "Someones at my door. I'm gonna go and see who it is."

William put his phone on the table for his parents to have a wider view of the living room. He opened the door and saw Erin standing on the hall, carrying a small fruit basket. Penny and Leonard saw the young lady on William's door and looked at each other, trying to watch and listen closely.

"Erin hi! What's up?" William said.

"Hi! I just wanted to give you a housewarming gift to welcome you to the building." Erin said.

"Thank you. You shouldn't have bothered really." said William as he took the small basket from her hands. "I'm on a Skype call with my parents." he said as Erin stepped inside the apartment, seeing William's parents on the phone's screen.

Erin moved closer to the phone to greet Leonard and Penny. "Oh hi! I'm Erin. I live across the hall." she said waving at William's parents.

P: "Hi Erin. Thank you for the housewarming gift. That was so nice of you."

L: "Yeah. It's nice to know that William has good neighbors. Kinda reminds me of my neighbor many years back!"

Penny looked at Leonard, slightly amused by his comment.

E: "Well, I met William a couple of weeks back when he was moving in."

Erin then looked around the apartment and saw the whiteboard on the wall, curious about the scribbles on it. "Holy smokes William, did you do this?" she asked walking to the whiteboard to get a closer look as Leonard and Penny paid attention to their son and Erin's conversation.

"Uh yeah, just some quantum physics for my doctoral thesis at the university." he said.

"That is so impressive. You must be one of those Beautiful Mind kind of genius guys huh?" Erin said smiling at him.

"I don't know. I mean, it's still a work in progress and I haven't been able to reconcile the terms yet." he said pointing at the whiteboard. "I still have a long way to go honestly." he added.

"Well I'm sure you can figure it out." she said. "Anyway, I guess I'll let you get back to your parents now." she said as she turned around towards the door.

"Thank you Erin." said William.

She smiled at him. "You're welcome. And welcome to the building." she added.

"Thanks again." said William giving her a weak smile.

Erin was about to turn around when she suddenly looked up to him. "Hey uh, my roommate Kim is getting Indian food. If you want, you could join us." she said.

Leonard and Penny was surprised as they looked at each other. They cannot believe at the moment happening in their son's apartment.

"Uh, yeah sure! Why not?" said William.

"Okay, great." said Erin. "I'll come over when she arrives alright?" she said.

"Okay. Thanks again for the fruits. I appreciate it." said William.

"You're welcome!" said Erin as she turned around, walking back to her apartment.

William closed the door and went back to face his parents on the phone. "Listen, mom, dad, I gotta go. I'll talk to you next week alright?" he said.

P: "Okay sweetheart. Stay safe alright?"

W: "I will mom. And say hello to Sarah for me."

L: "We will son."

"Bye." said William as he pushed the red button on his phone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile in Pasadena...

"Oh my god honey! Can you believe what just happened?" asked Penny.

"I know. It's like watching a re-run of our lives." said Leonard.

"Do you think that girl is trying to hook up with William?" she asked.

"I don't know. I mean it's just dinner. Maybe she's just trying to be friendly and a nice neighbor to him?" he said.

"Come on Leonard. Tell me you didn't want to hook up with me when you invited me over for Indian food when we first met!?" Penny said.

Leonard looked at his wife, slightly amused. "I was just being a nice neighbor Penny!" he said as Penny gave him the look. "But yeah, that was on the back of my mind when I invited you over to our apartment." he said smiling at her. "But look at where we are right now! Happily married with two amazing kids!" he added.

"I know." Penny said. "What do you think we should do?" she asked.

Leonard laughed a little. "We're not gonna do anything Penny. William's old enough to make his own decisions." he said.

"But what about Halley?" Penny said.

"What do you want me to do? Tell him not be a nice neighbor!?" he asked.

"I don't know!" Penny said.

Leonard hugged and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Relax honey, for all we know, that Erin already has a boyfriend or something." he said.

"I guess you're right." said Penny while leaning on her husband.

"Who's Erin?" Sarah suddenly asked, catching her parents off-guard while standing on the hallway.

"Can you not sneak up on us like that!?" Penny yelled.

"I'm sorry mom." said Sarah walking up to her parents and giving them a hug. "So, who's Erin?" she asked

Leonard sighed. "Fine, we we're on a Skype call with your brother and we met his neighbor who live across the hall from him." he said.

"Is that girl trying to steal William away from Halley!?" Sarah asked.

"What!? No!" Penny said. "She just said hello to your brother while we were on call with him." she added.

"He better not cheat on Halley or I'm gonna kill him." said Sarah making Leonard and Penny laugh a little.

"Would you just relax sweetie! They're just neighbors! Do you really think your brother would do that to Halley?" Penny said.

Sarah sighed. "No." she said.

"And don't you say anything to Halley, do you hear me!? We don't want her worrying about nothing, you got that!?" Penny said giving Sarah a stern look.

Sarah sighed again. "Fine mom." she said. "I'll keep my mouth shut." she added as she turned around, going to her bedroom upstairs.