[TBBT] Ch: 26 [A Long-Overdue Catch-Up] (Patreon)

AN: This is a big and dialogue heavy chapter. 3.7k words. It took so much time to write lol. Let me know if you find any mistakes, I'll fix them. See you soon.

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After leaving Martin Klein's office, I had a new problem: transportation.

For weeks, I'd been using taxis, buses, and occasionally Penny's car whenever we went somewhere together. It worked well enough, although asking my girlfriend to drive me around when I could easily afford my own car was starting to feel ridiculous.

So, instead of going straight home, I took a taxi to an Audi dealership.

I already knew what I wanted. A two-seater sports car seemed fun, but I preferred something with four doors, enough space for people, and good performance to make driving enjoyable.

The Audi S8 fit the bill.

And luckily, the dealership had one.

It was white with a black leather interior. It looked even better in person than in the online pictures.

A salesman named Daniel seemed happy when I asked for a test drive.

After about twenty minutes, I understood why people buy expensive cars.

The engine had 450 horsepower and responded well. The inside was comfortable, and the car handled nicely for its size. This was the Premium Optioned version, so it includes a Bang & Olufsen 1,000-watt sound system, keyless entry and push-button start, an advanced parking system with a rearview camera, power door closers and trunk, a full leather upgrade, heated rear seats, and power rear sunshades.

I could already picture taking it on long trips without feeling cramped. Though, in the future, I'm gonna get a custom-made BMW M3 GTR. This will do for now.

Back at the dealership, I spent another fifteen minutes negotiating the price.

It cost a little over $125,000 after taxes and fees. I paid from my personal savings, earned from my patents. Yesterday I got a massive royalty transfer to my account, $131,880, so yeah, it was all good. 

Daniel handled the paperwork, and I got insurance.

The insurance cost was high. Apparently, being 21 and buying a fast luxury car makes insurance companies nervous. But everything was settled that afternoon, and I now owned a white Audi S8 with a black interior.

While Daniel got the car ready, I called my mom.

"Hi, sweetheart," she answered within three rings. "How was your meeting?"

"It went well. Hey, are you busy this afternoon?"

"I have a few things to do, but nothing urgent. Why?" She asked.

"Can you meet me right now? I want to show you something."

She sounded curious. "What did you do this time?"

"C'mon, Mom. Have some faith in me. I have done nothing bad, I promise. I'll text you the address."

After we hung up, I looked through the dealership's windows at my new car.

I wanted my mom to be the first person to ride in my new car on its first real drive.

Mom showed up about forty minutes later.

I saw her through the dealership windows as she got out of a black Mercedes. Her driver stayed by the door. She was wearing a cream blouse, dark pants, and sunglasses. She looked right at home walking into a place where most cars cost more than most people earn in a year.

She saw me standing by the S8 and walked over.

"Hi, sweetie," she said, giving me a hug. Then she looked around. "So, why did you ask me to come all this way?"

I kissed her cheek and pointed to the car. "What do you think?"

Mom looked at the Audi, then back at me. "It's beautiful. Are you thinking about buying it?"

"I already bought it."

She stopped looking at the car and turned to me. "You bought this?"

"Yeah. I decided it was time for me to get a car," I answered.

She walked around the front of the S8, looking at the white paint and the inside through the windows. "Well, you have great taste. Your dad had an Audi a long time ago, but I can't remember which one."

"This is an S8. It has a V10 engine, 450 horsepower, all-wheel drive, and enough space for five people."

"That's great, honey. Please tell me you'll drive it safely."

"I haven't even driven it home yet, Mom."

"That means I still have time to give you some advice."

I laughed and opened the driver's door, showing her the black leather inside. She leaned in to get a better look while I told her about some of the features.

After she stood up, she looked at me again. "So, why did you want me here? Was there a problem with the payment?"

"No. Everything's paid for," I said.

"What about insurance?" She asked.

"Done. Though it turns out insurance companies aren't too happy about twenty-one-year-olds buying cars with powerful engines."

"Imagine that," she replied dryly.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the keys. "I asked you to come because I wanted to take you for a drive. You'll be the first person to ride in my new car."

Mom looked at me for a moment. Then she smiled and reached out to fix my shirt collar, just like she used to when I was little. "Well, that's very nice of you, honey. I guess I have time for my favorite son."

"I'm your only son."

"And you've done a great job of staying that way."

I laughed as I opened the passenger door for her. Mom got in, adjusted her seat, and started looking at the dashboard.

Once everything was set, I got behind the wheel and started the engine.

The V10 engine roared to life with a satisfying sound.

Mom looked at me. "Wow. That sounds expensive."

I smiled. "It was."

We left the dealership, merging into the afternoon traffic. I kept the drive relaxed while I got used to the car, enjoying the smooth acceleration and the comfortable seats.

For a while, Mom seemed perfectly content watching the buildings pass outside her window. Then she turned toward me. "So, how have you been doing, sweetheart? And I mean you personally, since I already know your music is doing well."

“Pretty good, actually. I've been busy, obviously, but I'm enjoying myself. The apartment's comfortable, I've made some friends, and the music thing has turned out better than I expected," I answered.

“I've seen your songs all over the internet. Even some of my friends have been talking about them.” Mom looked pleased as she continued. “Margaret called me two days ago to ask whether the young man singing 'Just the Way You Are' was really my son. She was quite impressed, and I might've bragged a bit.”

“Well, that's nice to hear. I'm glad she liked it.”

“She also wanted to know whether you were single.”

I glanced at her before returning my attention to the road. “Mom, please tell me you didn't start arranging blind dates.”

“Of course I didn't. Her daughter is thirty-one, and I thought that might be a little much for you.” She laughed at my expression before settling back into her seat. “Although I am glad you're getting out and enjoying yourself. For a while there, I was beginning to wonder whether you'd ever leave those laboratories.”

“I've barely been near a laboratory since moving to Pasadena. I've been working on some research at home, but most of my time went into recording. That's been keeping me pretty busy lately.”

“And are you sleeping properly?” she asked, giving me a look that suggested she already had her suspicions.

“For the most part,” I replied, although that wasn't convincing enough because she immediately said my name in that familiar warning tone. I gave in and admitted, “Okay, the last few weeks were rough. But the songs are finished, and my lawyer is handling most of the business stuff now. Things should calm down.”

“Good, because when I spoke to you last week, you sounded exhausted. I know how you get when you're working on something.”

I assured her that things were getting better before telling her more about what I'd been doing since moving to Pasadena. We talked about the recording sessions, the online promotion, and the increasingly strange experience of being recognized in public. Mom seemed interested in all of it, although she was particularly entertained when I mentioned the two elderly women who'd chased me outside Subway.

“Wait, you're kidding me, right?” she asked, already laughing as I explained what had happened.

“Nope,” I shook my head at the memory while Mom laughed even harder. “You know, everyone I've told this story to thinks it's hilarious. Nobody seems particularly concerned about my personal safety.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I wish I'd seen that. I can only imagine the look on your face.” Mom was laughing so much that she eventually had to reach into her handbag for a tissue. It took her a little while to compose herself, and even then, she was still smiling as she looked toward the road again. “Speaking of your music, I caught your father doing something interesting yesterday.”

That immediately got my attention. “What did Dad do?”

“Well, I went into his study to ask him something, and he didn't hear me come in because he had his headphones on. Normally, I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but he wasn't working. He was standing beside his desk, singing along to one of your songs.”

I turned toward her for a second before looking back at the road. Dad listening to music wasn't particularly unusual, but the idea of him singing along was something else entirely. “Wait, seriously? Which song was he listening to?”

“'I'm Yours,' and I swear he was doing a little dance too. It was more of a shuffle, really, but his shoulders were moving, and he was tapping his foot,” She said.

I burst out laughing as the image formed in my head. Robert Peterson, the man who could negotiate multimillion-dollar investments without blinking, was dancing around his study while listening to my music. I would've paid good money to witness that.

“Oh, God. Please tell me you recorded it. I need to see Dad dancing at least once in my life.”

“I wish I had. Unfortunately, he noticed me standing there and stopped. He took his headphones off, sat down, and told me he was reviewing some audio equipment. Can you believe that man?” She gave me a knowing look. 

That only made me laugh harder. “Audio equipment? That's the best excuse he could come up with?”

“Yep. And when I asked whether he liked your song, he said the production quality was acceptable.” Mom looked thoroughly amused as she repeated his exact words. “He also wanted to know whether you'd recorded everything yourself.”

“Acceptable?” I repeated, shaking my head with a grin. “I spend weeks making music, and the best review I get from my own father is that the production quality's acceptable. Well, at least he was listening.”

“You know how he is. He might not say much, but that doesn't mean he isn't interested in what you're doing.”

I smiled at that, feeling better about the whole thing than I wanted to admit.

Dad and I still hadn't spoken much since our argument. He'd been determined that I should accept one of the research positions I'd been offered, and my decision to pursue music instead had practically offended him. We'd both been stubborn about it, and neither of us had made much effort to revisit the conversation since then.

Knowing that he was secretly listening to my songs, though, was reassuring. Apparently, he was keeping up with what I was doing even if he wasn't ready to admit that he enjoyed it.

“Well, tell him his favorite musician appreciates the review. I'll try to make sure my next song earns something better than acceptable.”

Mom laughed at that. “You can tell him yourself. He'd like that, even if he doesn't admit it.”

“Maybe I'll call him this weekend. We've barely talked lately, and I suppose it's time we had a proper conversation," I said, after giving it a little thought.

“I think he'd enjoy hearing from you. Just give him a call when you have some time.”

We continued driving, eventually turning onto a quieter road where the traffic wasn't quite as heavy. Mom looked out the window for a while before returning to something I'd mentioned earlier.

“You said you've made some friends since moving to Pasadena. Tell me about them. I don't think you've mentioned much about the people you've been spending time with.”

“Well, there's Leonard. He's an experimental physicist at Caltech, and he's probably the most normal person in the group. Although considering the rest of them, that's not saying much," I said.

Mom looked interested. “And what exactly makes the others so unusual?”

“Let's start with his roommate, Sheldon Cooper. He's brilliant, I'll give him that. Two doctorates, works in theoretical physics, and has very strong opinions about practically everything.”

“Sheldon Cooper?” Mom repeated, thinking for a moment. “I remember hearing that name before.”

“Yeah, he's pretty well known in his field. The problem is that he has an opinion about absolutely everything, including where people should sit, what time they should eat, and how many times you're supposed to knock on a door. He even has a designated spot on his couch that nobody else is supposed to use.”

She laughed at that, although she seemed more curious than anything else. “And you two get along?”

“Hahahaha. Hell no. We argue about something almost every time we meet. And having two doctorates in applied sciences makes me intellectually inferior because my work involves engineering.” I shook my head, remembering some of our conversations. “He actually called engineers the Oompa Loompas of science.”

Mom started laughing again. “I can imagine how well that went over with you. You've never been particularly fond of having someone question your intelligence.”

“You have no idea. And the worst part is that he genuinely believes half the things he says.” I went on to tell her about some of Sheldon's stranger habits, including his obsession with routines and the time he'd designed an entire language examination because Howard refused to believe I could speak so many languages.

That particular story amused her, especially when I explained how seriously Sheldon had taken the whole thing. By the time I finished, she seemed to have a reasonably good idea of what spending time with him was like.

I moved on to the rest of the group, explaining that Howard was an aerospace engineer who constantly tried to impress women, while Raj was an astrophysicist from India who was friendly and funny but had serious trouble talking whenever women were around.

“They sound like an interesting group,” Mom said once I'd finished describing everyone. “I'm glad you've found people you can spend time with.”

“They're fun to hang around. We go out for food, visit comic book stores, and argue about ridiculous things. It's nice having people around when I don't feel like working.”

“I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. You never really had many friends your own age growing up, and sometimes I wondered whether you were missing out on things,” Mom said, looking a little sad.

“Yeah, I guess I missed out on a lot,” I admitted. “But I'm enjoying myself now, so I suppose I'm making up for some of it.”

“Well, you've got plenty of time to make up for it,” Mom assured me.

I nodded, slowing down slightly as we approached an intersection. We were almost through it when I remembered someone else I hadn't mentioned.

“Oh, there's also Penny. She lives across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon, one floor below me.”

“Penny?” Mom turned toward me with renewed interest.

“She's from Nebraska. She moved to California to become an actress, and she's working at the Cheesecake Factory while she goes to auditions,” I said.

“That sounds interesting. How did you meet her?” She asked, looking really curious.

“She was moving into her apartment, and I helped her carry some furniture. We started talking, and we've been spending time together since then.” I kept my attention on the road as I explained how we'd gotten to know each other. “We usually go out for dinner, watch movies, buy groceries, stuff like that.”

Mom was quiet for a few seconds, and when I glanced at her, I could already see where her thoughts were heading.

“So, you're dating this girl?”

I considered her words for a moment before deciding there wasn't much point in hiding. “Yeah, actually. We went on our first proper date a couple of nights ago.”

Her reaction was immediate. "Wait, you've been dating someone, and I'm only hearing about it now?" She sounded surprised.

"Uh-huh," I nodded.

"Karl, that's wonderful! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I'd have given you some advice. Please tell me everything went well and you didn't do anything stupid like being too pushy or yapping on about science.”

"I didn't yap about science or act too pushy. It was really a great date," I said. “And you don't have to sound so surprised.”

“Of course I'm surprised! You spent your teenage years in universities and laboratories, and every time I asked whether there was a girl you liked, you told me you were too busy. Now you're telling me you've been going on dates, and you expect me to act like this happens every day?”

“Well, things change,” I replied, still smiling at her reaction.

“They certainly do. Now tell me about her. What's she like?”

I thought about Penny for a moment before answering. “She's twenty-two, she's blonde, and beautiful, and she's really fun to be around. We've gotten along pretty well since we met.”

“That sounds promising. Does she know about your work?” Mom asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, she knows about the doctorates and the music, although she doesn't really care about all the science stuff.”

“And does she treat you well?” Mom asked, looking considerably more interested in that than in Penny's appearance.

“She does. We have fun together, and I can actually relax around her most of the time. She likes teasing me, though, so I wouldn't say she's always making my life easier.”

Mom laughed. “Then I think I already like her. It's probably good for you to have someone who enjoys teasing you occasionally.”

“Of course you do. I should've known you'd take her side before you've even met her," I said with a sigh.

She was still smiling when she asked, “So where did you take her for your first date?”

“A nice restaurant. We had dinner, talked for a couple of hours, and she said she'd like to go out again. It went pretty well, and I enjoyed spending time with her.”

“That sounds lovely. And did you kiss her goodnight?”

I glanced at her in disbelief. “Mom! Do you really have to ask me that?”

“What? It's a perfectly reasonable question. I'm your mother, and you've just told me you're dating someone for the first time in ages.”

I shook my head, although I couldn't stop myself from smiling. “Yes, we kissed. Can we please leave it there? I'd rather not give my mother a detailed account of my first date.”

Mom looked delighted by the answer. “My little boy is growing up. I suppose it was bound to happen eventually.”

I gave her a quick look before turning toward the road. “I'm twenty-one, Mom. I bought a car with a V10 engine about an hour ago, and you're acting like I just asked someone to my first school dance.”

“And you've also discovered girls. This really is an exciting afternoon,” she replied, clearly enjoying herself.

I laughed and decided there wasn't much point arguing with her. Once Mom got into this sort of mood, anything I said would only give her more material to work with. Then I stopped at a cafe, and we grabbed some coffee and cakes. 

She continued asking about Penny for a while, mostly about her acting ambitions and how we'd been spending our time together. I answered her questions without getting into anything too personal, and she seemed happy enough with what I told her.

Eventually, she mentioned that she'd like to meet Penny sometime.

“Maybe later,” I replied. “We've only just started dating, and I don't want to rush into introducing her to my parents.”

“Of course, honey. There's no hurry. Whenever you're both comfortable, I'd be happy to meet her.”

“Thanks, and please don't tell Dad yet. I'd rather be the one to bring it up when I'm ready.”

“I won't say anything about Penny unless you want me to,” Mom promised. “Although I reserve the right to tell him about that ridiculous car you've bought.”

After the quick snacks, I drove us back toward the dealership. At least that was one thing I didn't particularly mind Dad finding out about, even if I suspected he'd have a few opinions about my choice of vehicle. From what I remember, he now loves Aston Martin.

Mom's driver was waiting near the entrance, and I parked the S8 before getting out and walking around to open her door.

She stepped onto the pavement, straightened herself, and gave me another hug.

“I'm happy for you, Karl. Really. You've worked so hard for so long, and it's good to see you enjoying yourself.” She held me for another moment before stepping back. “And remember to call your father. He misses you, even if he's being stubborn.”

“I will, Mom. I'll give him a call this weekend and see how he's doing," I said.

“Good. Now drive carefully, and don't forget to take Penny somewhere nice in your new car.” She kissed my cheek before stepping back to admire the Audi one last time.

“I was already planning on it. I'll see when she's free, and we'll figure something out.”

“Of course you were,” Mom replied with a smile before heading toward her waiting Mercedes.

I watched her leave before climbing back into the Audi. As I settled into the driver's seat and started the engine, I found myself thinking about our conversation, particularly the part about Dad secretly listening to my music.

The thought of him dancing around his study was still hilarious, and I couldn't help laughing again as I prepared to leave the dealership.

I was definitely calling him this weekend, although I had no intention of mentioning what Mom had told me just yet. If I could somehow convince her to catch him doing it again, preferably with a camera ready, I'd finally have something to embarrass him with for the next twenty years.