I want to thank you for the reviews they were like candy for my soul, yes soul candy what else can you ask for. Also for all the story alerts and favorites, really thank you, you guys are awesome.
Now I must regretfully announced that NBC is playing hardball, they have refused my offer of two lint balls, a pretty green button and my now not so lively moth. (It´s been a long time, one can not expect one´s moths to be spirited all the time.) but well that means I still do not own Chuck.
But well that´s life, well here is chapter 2 hope you like it.
"Charles, let me introduced you to my daughter." said Jack proudly and with what Sarah thought was somewhat of a warning tone, to whom it was directed she was not sure.
Apparently Jack had just uttered the magic words, for Charles´s face, which had been quite friendly albeit it had shown signs of nervousness, was now adorned with the biggest and most charming smile Sarah had ever seen.
"Hi!" Said the smiling man excitedly. "I´m Chuck, it is really nice to meet you..." he said, prolonging the last syllable hoping that she would fill in the blank.
She send her father a fleeting glance, not seeing any reaction she said:
"Sarah." Generally she was great thinking under pressure but the man with the megawatt smile in front of her was making it a little difficult to think on her feet, so she just went with the name she felt most comfortable with.
"Well it is a pleasure to finally meet you Sarah. I must say you are not what I expected, by the way Jack talks about you I always kind of picture you with pigtails and a scout girl uniform."
While usually stoic she found his comment strange and could not fight the eyebrow that lifted inquiringly. Not only had his father been working with someone else but he had apparently talked about her. She was uncomfortable knowing that this man possessed information about her, more so since she had no idea of his existence prior to this meeting. She would have admonished herself for showing her emotions if Chuck hadn't misinterpret her reaction.
"Not that I´m picturing you in a girl scout uniform, I mean I was, no wait I meant before I used to, wait no, all I meant was that I don't think anyone but your father would have described you as a cute little girl scout." Said Chuck rapidly, which only cause Sarah´s eyebrow to go higher. "Wait that didn't sound the way I thought it would, I mean, I'm not saying only your dad would have said you were a cute girl, I'm sure you were, after all I think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, I meant like he tends to describe you as if you were still eleven ridding your bicycle and me being an idiot never thought that you weren't a kid anymore."
By now the poor man in front of her was red as a tomato, it might had been for lack of oxygen, since he had delivered his speech without a pause. But if she had to bet on the reason, she would have put her money on him realizing he had just called her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, so she decided to make him feel at ease. After all she needed answers and calming him was the fastest way to get them, it had nothing to do with the giddiness she felt after hearing him called her beautiful or the desire to see him smile again, at least that is what she told herself.
"Is nice to meet you too Chuck" She said with a smile, to which he responded with one of his own.
"Well now that introductions are over, I suggest that we relocate this party someplace else. Business is done for today and we haven't really eaten so what do you say if we go get some dinner, I know a great Italian place where we can go, my treat."
"Sounds good"Said Sarah. She needed time to think what she would say to the director anyways, plus she was a little a hungry, she wanted to learn more about Jack´s partner and truth be told she had missed her father. But more importantly she was worried about the whole Sheik Amad situation.
"Great!, what do you say Charles?"
"Sorry, I have already made dinner plans with Ellie and you know her, I would never hear the end of it if I canceled. Actually I must be off now or I´ll be late. Sarah it was great to meet you and thank you so much for helping us out. I hope I´ll get to see you again."
"Thank you, you too"
"By the way Jack, we need to make a plan, see you tomorrow for coffee?"
"Sure. Tell Ellie I said hi."
"I will. Well, gotta run now or I will end up hearing that sermon. Bye" Said Chuck, waving goodbye a little awkwardly.
"Girlfriend?" Asked Sarah once Chuck was out of earshot.
"Sister." She knew it was ridiculous but Jack´s answer made her feel better. "Shall we?" Asked Jack.
"Yes, lets go."Answered a smiling Sarah.
The food at the restaurant was good, she have had better but to be fair she had been in Italy at the time. The place was small with just a few tables, most of them were occupied but still it wasn't crowded. The separation between tables was enough so that you would be able to enjoy your dinner while having a nice conversation. The clientele was conformed mostly of couples so the tables were arrange to proportionate privacy. They have chosen a table in the back, right next to the emergency door, which also had a nice view of the main entrance, apparently spies and con men alike knew it was important to have an exit strategy. Aside from pleasantries they had yet to talk, yes he had asked her how she was doing and they had reminisced about that time the armored truck had been too close for comfort. But they still hadn't talk about the events of the night.
"So you have a partner now."
"Well it´s nice to have someone to watch your back."
"I didn't thought you trusted anyone to watch it for you."
"I always trusted you."
"Do you trust him?"
"You met the kid, what do you think?"
"He seems nice."
"He is."
"Nice people don't usually steal the hard earned money of others."
"Our latest donor isn't exactly a pillar of the community."
"No. He is an oil magnet and a very dangerous one."
"You know your Arabs. Then you must understand that we aren't stealing anyone of their savings, a million dollars for this guy is nothing but chump change."
"So that makes it right?"
"That does not make it wrong."
"What about the salvation army?"
"I don´t do that job anymore, Chuck would be appalled if I ever mentioned it. He has a rule, we only con people who have acquire their fortunes through shady dealings."
"So the good guy thing is not just a front."
"The kid keeps me honest, or well as honest as he is able to."
"I´m not sure if I trust him, he seems too nice."
"Really? People usually feel at ease around him."
"That´s what being a con man is all about, having the charisma to manipulate people into giving what you want."
"Trust me on this one, the guy is unaware that he is capable of manipulating anyone. And yes he may appear as too nice but that's only because he actually is. He is a regular boy scout, who just happens to con bad people now and then. "
"Bad people like the Sheik who is I repeat a very dangerous man."
"Don t worry Sweetie we know, I promised we´ll be careful."
She noticed the time, she needed to go back to her hotel room and explained why she hadn't make contact with her target, though they probably didn't expect a call till the next day, since they would assume she had been successful.
"If you get in trouble promise me you´ll tell me."
"Nothing is going to go wrong."
"Dad please."
"I promise."
"Ok, I'm sorry I need to go. Please be careful."
"Do you maybe want to go out while you are in town. We can go to dinner the three of us, it will give you the opportunity to get to know you old man´s partner a little better."
"Yes, I´d like that." She like the prospect of seeing Chuck again, if only to prove that there was not such thing as a nice con man, or at least that was what she kept telling herself.
Despite their little discussion the meal had been very pleasant, even if she was a spy and was accustomed to lie that didn't mean she was not relieve when he did not ask her how she earned a living. By the time she had arrived to her room she still didn't know what she would say to the director. She knew she didn't have that much time, she expected the phone call to arrive the next morning, that´s when she decided she would just tell the truth.
I wanted to apologize for the amount of time it took me to write this, and the fact that it is quite short. But well I´ll do my best to try and publish the next chapter faster, and I would really appreciate some feedback. Thanks for reading. Till the next chapter, I wish you all a great day :)
