A/N These characters belong to Chuck and Bill. I'm just borrowing them for a while

Penny's stubbornness paid off big time when after driving around the mall parking lot for fifteen minutes, a parking place opened up directly across from the main entrance. Deftly pulling her pickup into the spot, she turned off the engine and disembarked. Even though it was only two weeks before Christmas and there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground, the temperature was in the high forties and she was getting by with just a jacket.

She crossed the roadway to the entrance. Once inside, she pulled out her list and located a display of a map of the Mall. Although she knew exactly what she was looking for, it had been a long time since she had visited the Mall and she wanted to be sure the stores were located where she remembered.

Locating her first stop, she headed for it; gratified that the crowds were reasonably light for this close to Christmas. Entering the store, she was heading for the department she wanted when her eye was caught by a surprising display. To her astonishment, there was a supply of Komfy Kelly dolls. They were the hot item for this Christmas season but she had despaired of ever finding one. Unfortunately, as she rushed to the area, she saw another reason she had not strongly sought finding the doll; the price. It would cost three times as much as the gift she had budgeted to buy. Worse, it would leave her with less than half the money she had set aside for her other four gifts.

Convincing herself she just could not afford to purchase it, she headed for her original destination. But then she had an image of Sara opening the package and the look of joy on her face. Aw, to hell with it, she thought and before she could change her mind, grabbed one of the dolls and went to the checkout line. She felt good about what she had done until she got outside the store and looked at the money she had left. She resigned herself to the fact she was just going to have to settle for much less impressive gifts than she intended for the others, thinking ruefully they had not been all that impressive in the first place.

But then she realized she could not cut back on the gift for Jeremy. After all, Christmas is for kids; right? She quickly went to the next store on her list and purchased her original planned gift. With a sense of dismay, she looked at her remaining funds for her last three gifts. Oh, well, they were adults and would understand, especially when they saw what she had gotten for Sara. She did decide that they deserved to have some thought given to their gifts, however inexpensive, and headed for the Discount Store.

After salving her conscience somewhat by taking over an hour to pick out what she considered actually respectable gifts under the circumstances, she looked at her watch and was surprised at the time. She knew she should go get something to eat and head for work. But, since she wasn't sure when she would be back at the Mall, she was not going to leave without engaging in one of her favorite pastimes, trying on expensive shoes. The fact that she had no possible means of buying any did not dissuade her. If a man waited on her, maybe she could make up for the time he was wasting on her by flirting with him. As far as eating, she had some granola bars in a drawer at work. So, without any further discussion with herself, she headed for the shoe store on the fifth level.

Sometime later she started down the escalator to the fourth floor. She had thoroughly enjoyed herself, although leaving without any of the wonderful shoes she tried on was heartbreaking. As it turned out, the clerk had been kind of cute and she felt she made his time worthwhile.

As she continued down to the main floor, stepping off the escalator onto the third floor, she saw him, not more than twenty feet away looking at one of the Mall Maps. She stood there stunned as if an apparition had suddenly appeared. It seemed surreal. She had convinced herself that see would likely never see him again. She stared like a deer in the headlights wondering if she should get away before he saw her. But then fate decided things for her as he chose that moment to turn. She saw his eyes focus, then widen in amazement, before he got a huge smile on his face and moved toward her. "Penny?"

He reached her and gave her a hug which she reciprocated as much as possible with her bags in her hands. She managed to get out, "Hey, Leonard."

He stepped back and looked at her, "It's so good to see you; you're as beautiful as ever."

She blushed slightly and looked more closely at him. He still looked about the same, the hair maybe a little longer and more curled, but he still had his same glasses. The usual hoodie was replaced with a more fashionable brown leather jacket. He had on some worn blue jeans and his signature sneakers.

Still a little stunned, she went on to say, "What are you doing in Omaha?"

"A couple of guys that were on one of the expeditions with me asked me to come down and look at a project I might be interested in. It really didn't sound like something that would interest me but when they said it was in Omaha, I decided to tempt fate and come down." He smiled, "We always kind of thought this is where you were. We thought of coming down several times; but decided if you wanted to see us, you would have contacted us."

He continued, "I was wondering if I should check on your Dad while I was here but had convinced myself would probably be better not to."

Suddenly, Penny remembered what time it was. She quickly interrupted and said, "I'm sorry Leonard, but I have to go. I'm going to be late for work."

As she turned to leave, he called out, "Here, take my card and give me a call tonight or tomorrow. I would really like to have lunch or something and talk."

She turned back and surprised herself by saying, "Why don't you come out to the farm tomorrow. I am sure Dad would like to see you. Do you have something to write on?"

Taking out his phone, he entered the address and directions she gave him. She then took his card and saying she really had to go, headed for the elevator.

He called after her, "What time should I come?"

"About ten-thirty in the morning."

Racing down the last two escalators, treating them like stairs, she rushed out through the Mall doors; her mind running a mile a minute. Why had she done that? Why did she invite him to the farm? Then she realized that from the moment she saw him she took it as a sign that the time had come. It was time to let them know what happened five years before. She also realized she wanted to know what had happened to them, how their lives had gone, how Leonard's life had gone. About Priya… As she opened the passenger door of her truck and threw the bags inside, she realized she hadn't noticed if he wore a wedding ring or not. Slamming the door and going around to the driver's seat, she looked at her watch and surmised a lot was going to have to go right if she was going to make it to work on time.

Apparently, there were three miracles on this day. First finding the Komfy Kelly doll, then seeing Leonard, then she hit every single light and the traffic was eerily light so she pulled into the Employee's section of the parking lot of "A Gentleman's Club" in plenty of time.

A/N I just want to state I know nothing of Omaha. If they have a "Gentleman's Club" it is just a coincidence (I didn't see one on Google)

I also want to say, I am not an expert at any of the occupations that occur and thus apologize if I step on any stereotypes.