Title: The Railroad Recalibration (2/9)
Author: phantagrae
Rating: G
Summary: My idea of how Sheldon's train journey might have gone. A million thanks to my super beta, FoxPhile!
Feedback: Yes, please. phantagrae@earthlink.net
Author's Notes: A million thanks to my super beta, FoxPhile!
Chapter Two
At the train station, Sheldon paused on the platform to take a picture of the California Zephyr, gleaming in the sunshine, then boarded the train, allowing the sleeping car attendant to show him to the little "roomette" he had reserved for this leg of the journey. He arranged with the attendant to have his meals delivered to his room, allowing himself the most privacy possible on the train, then took great delight in arranging his things around the tiny room. He had a beautiful window through which to watch the passing scenery, a comfortable seat which would convert into a bed, and most importantly, his own private toilet.
There was a shared shower outside his room, but he figured he could forego a shower until he got to Denver. He had no desire to share a shower with total strangers. Sharing a shower with Leonard involved enough compromise. As he settled in his seat and waited for the train to set off, he contemplated the idea of having his apartment back home entirely to himself. Living room, kitchen, bathroom—all to himself.
Without Leonard in the bathroom, he wouldn't have to worry about making sure that Leonard stood the proper distance from the sink or toilet, squeegeed the shower when he was done, and cleaned toothpaste and shaving cream residue out of the sink. Not having to share the bathroom was by itself almost worth being all alone in the apartment.
Without Leonard, he could turn the second bedroom into a home office and spread his whiteboards out and not have to worry about them getting in the way in the living room. He could put his desk in there, with his laptop, and maybe even a second television. And he could expand his comic book collection, as well.
In the living room, he could still have his friends over for dinner, movies or video games, but have the added luxury of sending them all home at the end of the evening. And if he and Amy chose to have date night at his apartment, he wouldn't have to worry about Leonard or Penny getting underfoot. He and Amy could drink tea in the kitchen in peace.
He would have the whole kitchen to himself! Only the cereals that he liked, the refrigerator stocked with only the food that he liked. He wouldn't have half the space taken up with Leonard's lactose-free milk and cheese and other foods that only Leonard liked to eat.
He could have it all to himself. All alone. Everyone would go home at the end of the night and he'd be alone in his Fortress of Solitude. If he didn't want to invite anyone over, he could order the food that only he liked without having to take anyone else's tastes into account.
It was definitely an option to consider.
But he'd never lived alone.
While he was in college and graduate school, he was too young to be on his own. His mother had driven him to campus every day and had even temporarily moved out to California with him while he worked on his graduate degrees. When he turned eighteen and was legally able to live on his own, his mother had helped him find a roommate. Of course, his roommate arrangements were repeatedly unsuccessful until he'd met Leonard. With Leonard he had found not only a roommate, but ultimately a real friend.
And now Leonard was going to leave him.
Just as he arrived at that thought, the train lurched and began to move forward. The excitement of a new train journey pushed all other thoughts from his head for a moment.
He spent the morning looking out at the passing scenery, letting it calm his mind and body, and alternatively making notes in a document he had decided to call "Sheldon's Odyssey", chronicling his journey and the various notable sites and cities along the way. He drew on the information in the travel brochures he had picked up at the train station as well as his own observations. It was a simple way to occupy one part of his mind while he could feel another part still churning away over the dilemmas that had driven him from his home.
He eventually ordered lunch and relished the quiet and privacy of his room. Would it really be such a bad thing to live alone?
The only thing that gave him pause was the idea of night time. While he enjoyed solitude, when he wanted it, he had become used to Leonard being there, even when Leonard spent the night across the hall with Penny. It was ridiculous to imagine that Sheldon could not function on his own, that he needed Leonard to be there.
Still, Sheldon did sleep better when he knew Leonard was on the other side of the wall.
Though Sheldon had grown up with an older brother and a twin sister, he'd never been particularly close to either of his siblings. They had never understood him and he'd had a difficult relationship with each of them in turn. He was convinced that if it hadn't been for his mother, his brother George, Jr., would have sold him to a passing circus caravan. And Missy was always playing tricks on him.
Going to college when he was eleven, no longer having to endure the foolishness of other children, had been a blessing. He had learned to function in isolation, even though his mother drove him to and from campus every day. He had loved their long commute each day, and he had loved being allowed to tell her all about everything he had learned, even though he was sure she didn't understand him at all.
He was used to isolation. But being alone was quite another matter. One that he didn't want to think about any more today.
He finished his lunch and set out for the Lounge Car to stretch his legs and get a different view of the passing scenery. He came across a man sitting alone at a pair of chairs in the somewhat crowded car.
"Excuse me," Sheldon began. "Would you mind if I joined you? There aren't any other empty seats."
"Sure," the middle-aged man replied, looking up from his magazine. "Go ahead."
Sheldon looked out the window for a moment, then turned to his fellow passenger.
"Have you ever travelled by train before?"
The man looked up at him briefly before returning again to his article. "No."
"I love trains," Sheldon said, feeling joy rising up in him again for the first time in days. Words came out of his mouth in a rush.
"This train, the California Zephyr, was named for the original passenger train route operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and Western Pacific Railroad. It was inaugurated on March 19th, 1949, with five vista dome cars and four sleeping cars."
The other man was now staring at him, his head tilted to one side.
Sheldon returned his gaze, breathless in being able to begin to share the train knowledge that had been building up in his mind since he'd purchased his tickets.
"Would you like to know more?"
"No," the man replied curtly. He held up his magazine. "I'm trying to read."
"Oh," Sheldon replied, his voice faltering a little. His mouth worked silently as he thought through a few possible responses, none of which seemed likely to induce further conversation. As the man continued to stare impatiently at him, Sheldon felt the color rising in his cheeks. He finally pressed his lips together and turned to look out the window again. He wished his friend and fellow train-enthusiast Eric was here.
A seat opened up on the other side of the car, a few feet away and Sheldon made his way to it. A child was kneeling in a nearby seat, looking out the window as they approached a tunnel. His mother sat in a seat beside the boy.
"This is Mount Judah," Sheldon began, indicating the terrain outside. "We're approximately 7000 feet above sea level."
The boy looked at him, but did not reply, then turned to look again out the window. His mother smiled apologetically at Sheldon, but did not say anything as the train passed through the tunnel.
Sheldon fidgeted in his seat, but kept silent.
"What's that lake?" the boy suddenly asked him, pointing ahead as they emerged on the other side.
"Oh, that's Donner Lake," Sheldon enthused. "That's where the infamous Donner Party became stranded in the winter of 1846. There were 87 people to begin with, but only 48 survived. Some of them resorted to cannibalism."
"What's can…can…na…ba…li…sum?" the boy asked.
"They ate each other," Sheldon said simply.
By now the mother was frowning at Sheldon.
"Come on, honey," she said, taking her son by the hand. "Let's go find your dad and go back to our seats. It's almost time for our stop."
"Oh," Sheldon persisted. "You're getting off at Truckee? That town was named after a Paiute chief, Trukizo, father of Chief Winnemucca…"
"Thanks," she replied curtly, hurrying down toward the end of the car.
Sheldon sat alone and looked out the window until he saw a sign marking the California/Nevada state line. Reno would be the next stop and he didn't know what sort of people might board the train in that town. He needed to use the restroom and clean up for dinner, so he made his way back to his room and entertained himself with making notes in his journal and playing a few video games.
After dinner, the train pulled into its next stop and Sheldon took advantage of the strong cell phone reception to place another call to Amy.
"Hello?" she said, answering after just one ring.
"Amy?" he began. "It's me."
"Where are you?"
"I'm on the train. We just stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada. We'll be pulling out again in a few minutes, but I'm afraid the cell phone reception might be spotty later tonight."
"I see," she replied.
"How are you, Amy? How did you spend the day?" He didn't want to talk about himself just now and he knew she wouldn't want to hear about the train.
"Oh, um…" She stammered a little. "I just did some housekeeping, laundry, the usual Saturday stuff."
"Are you doing anything tonight?" He pressed the phone closer to his ear.
"I'm getting ready right now to go to the movies with Penny, Bernadette, and Raj's new girlfriend, Emily."
He could hear that she was moving around her apartment. Was she getting dressed? He both did and did not want to think about that.
"What movie are you going to see? Something fun, like 'Captain America'?"
"Sheldon, you cannot be serious," she said, the familiar gentle disdain in her voice with which she always dismissed the kinds of movies he liked.
He knew exactly the expression on her face.
"What are you seeing then?" he teased. "Some chick flick?"
"We're going to see 'Maleficent'," she said firmly. "It's not a chick flick!"
"Amy," he said, "it's a child's fairy tale. It's the story of Sleeping Beauty!"
"It looks like it's going to be a good movie. Besides," she continued, "we didn't want to see the slasher movie that Emily first suggested."
Sheldon frowned and nodded, as if Amy could see him.
"What do you think of Emily?" he asked, happy to be having a seemingly normal conversation.
The train began to move. It was the first time Sheldon was reluctant to feel a train journey get underway.
"Oh, I think she's fine," Amy continued. "Excuse me a moment, Sheldon," she said. "I need to put on my lipstick."
Sheldon almost dropped the phone. He swallowed several times before he could speak.
"Why are you wearing lipstick? You're not going out on a date, are you?" He sat up straight and his left knee began to bounce.
"Sheldon," she said, audibly smacking her lips together. "A woman can wear lipstick for other reasons. I like the way it makes my mouth look."
"Well…okay," he finally said.
The way it made her mouth look…
"I'm going to have to go in a minute, Sheldon," she said, a hint of reluctance in her voice.
"Yes, me, too," he replied. "The train is underway and I might be out of range soon."
He looked down at his lap, plucking at imaginary lint.
"Um…well…you girls enjoy yourselves at the movies," he said quietly, all the energy gone out of him at the thought of having to end the conversation.
"You take care, Sheldon," Amy answered. "Are you going to be comfortable, sleeping on the train?"
"Yes," he replied. "I have a roomette…a private room." Ordinarily, he would have told her all about it, but now he could only picture her grabbing her jacket and keys, slinging her purse over her shoulder, standing impatiently at her door, waiting for him to stop talking.
"Oh, that's good," she said, sounding genuinely happy.
"Well," he continued quietly, "I guess I'll let you go. Say hi to everyone for me."
"I will," she said simply. "Goodnight, Sheldon. Get some rest."
"Goodnight, Amy," he replied, keeping the phone to his ear until he was sure she'd ended the call.
The sun was setting outside his window, turning his room into an oasis of light in the inky darkness. He stared out the window at nothing until the attendant came to transform his room for the night.
Sheldon set about brushing his teeth and preparing for bed, purposefully trying not to picture Amy's lips.
Continued in Chapter Three