I'd hoped to announce here that I do now own 'Chuck.' However, due to a said misunderstanding, it turns out that I own the rights to the movie 'Good Luck Chuck" instead. Believe me, I'm not happy about it either.
Chapter 7
"So now what?"
Chuck raised the question to his three fellow agents as they returned to the Castle's conference table. They had gotten very little additional information from Schumacher. This TV show was the first time Schumacher had worked with him, and the pairing had been Iselin's idea. He had never actually met Iselin; instead all conversation had been through his assistants or by email and texts.
"We keep Schumacher here for now. We don't know if he was right about those shots being meant for him rather than you." Chuck shivered slightly at Shaw's words. Even being accidentally shot at wasn't something he was thrilled about.
"In the meantime, I think we can take it on faith that Iselin knows that you and Sarah aren't who you claim to be. He may not know who you actually are, but I doubt he believes you're from a rival network like Schumacher does."
"Then we can't continue with the cover," Sarah said.
"Actually, that's exactly what we have to do. We need to draw him out."
"Wait, wait," Chuck protested at the idea of being bait. "Why can't we just go in and take down that computer room we found? Make sure they don't find the Intersect."
"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about that right now. It's perfectly legal, as far as the government is concerned. Our best bet is to get the people trying to use it."
"Are you sure that's our only option?" Sarah asked.
"I don't like it any more than you do," Shaw said to her, giving her a brief smile. "But it is."
At that moment, the muffled sound of John Philip Sousa appeared in the room. Casey quickly reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. "It's the 'Single Girl' producer," he said after he'd glanced at it.
"It could be Iselin, or someone connected to him," Shaw said. "Put it on speaker."
"Is this John Reagan?" a female voice said after Casey answered the phone.
"Reagan? Seriously?" Chuck commented before being answered by a chorus of shushes.
"This is him."
"Hello, Mr. Reagan. This is Nancy, from the 'Single Girl' audition. I just wanted to let you know that we would like you to come in again tomorrow. That story you told, and the sensitivity you told it with, it really touched our hearts." Chuck saw Sarah raise an eyebrow at this, but nobody commented.
"I see. And what about…" he turned to Shaw and whispered, "What name did you give again?"
"Jones."
"And what about Daniel Jones?" Casey asked into the phone.
"Oh. Is he a friend of yours?"
"We travel in similar circles."
"Well, to be honest, we thought he was quite the eye candy. But, a dishrag has more personality."
Chuck bit his lip to avoid laughing.
"Would you mind telling him that we don't need him to come in again?"
"Um, of course. Thank you very much." Casey disconnected the phone.
Shaw saw the three pairs of eyes on him and shrugged. "Well, clearly we can't assume that these producers will make predictable decisions. We'll need to make sure that you two stay on that show's radar." He headed back towards the interrogation room.
Chuck looked at Casey. "That must have been one hell of an interview."
"What can I say. I'm a chick magnet."
A few minutes later, Shaw returned. "I had Schumacher contact the show, and apply a little weight to make sure you guys get another meeting. It seemed to work; they want to see the two of you this evening."
"Tonight?" Sarah asked. "Where?"
"Well, apparently they'd like to see you two on a more casual setting. So, you two are going on a date."
Chuck's immediate smile lasted for a few moments, before he was reminded of something. "Tonight? But I was supposed to go out with Hannah."
"Sorry, Chuck," Shaw said. "Duty calls."
The restaurant was only half-full when Chuck and Sarah entered. The representative from the show had organized the meeting, so Shaw hadn't been able to choose the location. Because the meeting had been scheduled so quickly, there had only been time for Chuck to quickly go home and change. The trip to the restaurant had been spent reviewing the plan with Shaw, Casey and Sarah. Shaw would stay in the van outside the restaurant, while Casey would monitor under cover. Chuck and Sarah had spent the rest of the time making sure their back stories were consistent. As a result, Chuck had barely managed to send off a quick apologetic text message to Hannah. He checked his phone a few times to see if she'd responded to the message. Each time, he felt Sarah's eyes watching him.
"I think that's them," Sarah pointed at a table as they entered the restaurant. "We're in the middle of the restaurant," she added to Shaw through her earpiece. "Lots of escape routes just in case."
"Good. Chuck, are you flashing on them?"
"Nope," Chuck responded. The woman seemed fairly young, as she was staring ahead somewhat nervously. She was dressed in a yellow blouse and blue slacks, with her blonde hair tied back. The man seated beside her looked somewhat unhappy to be there. His eyes were shielded by the rim of his Angels baseball cap, and his goatee failed to mask the pout on his face.
"Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael?" the girl jumped up as they approached. "I'm Tracy. You interviewed with my boss earlier today, but she can't make it."
"Oh?" Sarah said. "Everything ok?"
The girl shrugged. "Probably. She runs out sometimes. Being Mr. Schumacher's assistant keeps her real busy. Uh, this is my boyfriend Steve."
Steve gave Chuck and Sarah a bored wave.
"Steve, you've got the camera, right?"
"Of course I do. I know what I'm doing, ok."
"Steve's a director," Tracy explained. "Or he will be someday."
"On movies," the man added. "Not this crap."
"Steve!"
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. If these two were enemy agents, the Ring must be falling on hard times.
"So, guys," Tracy turned to them. "I saw your interviews, and I know you made quite an impression on Mr. Schumacher. I'm hoping to get more of a feel for what you two are really like."
Chuck nodded as he began flipping through the menu.
"I hope you like this place. We come here all the time. The food's great." She glanced over at her boyfriend, who shrugged.
"So," Tracy turned a beaming expression back to Chuck and Sarah, "Is this the kind of date you guys go on?"
"Uh, sure, we go out to eat all the time."
"Not as much as we used to," Sarah said from behind her menu. Chuck gave her a look. It was true of course, since they were no longer cover dating. Still, he was surprised that she would say that.
"Well that's not true honey. We go out all the time."
"Not since we got married. Now you work all the time, and when you're home you just like to sit on the couch and watch TV."
Chuck's surprise faded away as he began to catch on. "Good, Sarah. Remember, Chuck, the Carmichaels are having marital problems," Shaw's voice echoed Chuck's realization.
Tracy was nudging Steve, who yawned noticeably before finally pointing the camera at Chuck and Sarah. "Well I'm sure you work very hard, Charles. Personally, I find having ambition, and actually acting on it," she said, turning towards her boyfriend, "quite attractive."
Sarah merely shrugged. "Just as long as you don't let it change who you are."
The table was silent for a few moments before the waiter finally approached to take their orders. Chuck quickly debated whether Carmichael would be the type to order for his wife.
"I'll have the shrimp scampi, and my wife will have the pasta primavera and a garden salad. Oh, and make sure you put the olives to the side." He glanced at Sarah, but she gave no indication of whether she approved or not.
"The lasagna," Steve said gruffly.
Tracy watched him for a moment before finally saying, "Just a salad."
"Anything to drink?"
Chuck saw all eyes were on him. "We'd like a bottle of your merl…" Sarah coughed slightly. "A…chardonnay?"
The waiter nodded, and walked away. Chuck resisted the urge to sink into his chair.
Ellie scanned the coffee house's bulletin board for available space. Unfortunately, there were enough lost dogs and yard sales in the greater Burbank area to make this a difficult task. Finally, she saw a notice saying 'Do you want to hire the greatest band in the world? Call Lester at 555-3294 to ask about Jeffster.' With a sigh of satisfaction, she tacked the blood drive flier right over it.
As she was about to leave, she glanced across the tables, and recognized a young woman seated alone. She walked over, and asked, 'Hannah?"
"Oh, Ellie? Hi." Hannah motioned for Ellie to sit down.
"Thanks. Running around with these fliers is tiring. I'm not in your way or anything?"
"No, no."
"So you're not here with Chuck?"
"No." After a pause, "But he'll be here shortly."
"Oh, ok. He's not late is he?"
"Not really." Hannah looked down at her coffee cup. Ellie couldn't help but notice that there wasn't any steam rising from it. Clearly, she had been here for a while.
"He's really…secretive, isn't he?" Hannah asked after she looked back up at Ellie.
"He can be," Ellie admitted. "He's become a bit more private recently."
"I know he's been through a bad breakup recently, and that probably made him a little more guarded," Hannah commented. "But it sometimes seems like he can be two people."
Ellie had often said the exact same thing, but she didn't want to worry Hannah. "Don't worry. I can tell he likes you. You two will be fine."
Hannah smiled. "So he doesn't have any deep, dark secrets? Nothing to be ashamed of?"
Ellie wasn't sure if Chuck had mentioned Stanford to her, but it wasn't her place to mention it. "No, none at all."
The door to the coffee house opened, and Ellie glanced up. Seeing who was walking in, she added, "Other than him, anyway."
Hannah followed Ellie's eyes and smiled. "Hey Morgan," she said, waving to him.
Morgan walked over to the table. He nodded slightly to Ellie, before turning back to Hannah. "I see you like the coffee here to. I find it has an…insouciant quality to it."
Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you start drinking coffee?"
"Well, Ellie, I'm management now. Grape soda is more of a … labor kind of drink."
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just remember about the blood drive tomorrow. No skipping out, right?" She stood up, nodded goodbye to Hannah, and headed out of the coffee house.
"Ok, Charles. Spotlight's on you. Tell me about how you proposed to Sarah."
Tracy's question caught Chuck off-guard, and he couldn't remember whether this had been covered in their preparations on the way to the restaurant. After a moment, he decided he'd have to improvise.
"It was on the beach. We have this spot. Our spot. We'd gone out there to look at the stars one night. I told her, 'I know the stars aren't as beautiful as you are, but maybe this could come close,' and I handed her the ring."
Tracy was giving him a wide smile. Beside her, Sarah's expression was unreadable.
"That's so beautiful!" Tracy said. "Wasn't that beautiful, Steve?"
"Hmm, what? Yeah, beautiful."
"So, tell me about your wedding," Tracy leaned forward in interest.
"It was amazing," Chuck spoke up first again. "All our family and friends together, string quartet, the church decorated with gardenias. The reception was outdoors in the evening. Our wedding song, 'At Last', you know it?"
Tracy nodded mutely.
"Yeah, I remember dancing outside to that. It was great. Wasn't it, honey?" He glanced over at Sarah, who was giving him an odd look.
"Lovely. Still, I would have been happy with something nice and simple." Sarah commented.
"Do your families not get along?" Tracy asked, looking at Sarah.
"Oh no, Charles's family is lovely," Sarah asked. "Maybe a bit meddlesome at times, but always nice. Now his friends, on the other hand…"
"An insouciant quality, huh?" Hannah asked as Morgan sat down in the chair Ellie had just vacated. "I just think it tastes like coffee."
"Well, when you've been around the world like I have, you develop an appreciation." Morgan noticed that one flier had been left on the table. "What Ellie said, about me being afraid of giving blood, that's totally not true. She's just confusing me with someone else."
"Hey, I get it. Needles are scary. It's good that you're willing to give anyway."
Morgan sighed in relief. "I know, they're so big, right? I don't know if I can do it."
"Well, I can teach you some relaxation techniques I learned. You'll barely even notice when the needle goes in."
"Ok, ok, that would be great. You know you don't have to do this, just because I'm your boss."
Hannah shrugged. "I'm not."
"Is it because you're Chuck's girlfriend then?"
"You're my friend, Morgan, that's all."
Morgan looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I'm sorry I pretended to be this brave guy. I guess it's not really me. But I promise, I'll always be honest with you from now on."
Hannah smiled. "That would be nice."
Sarah stood up. "I hope you'll excuse me, I'm going to go freshen up."
A moment later, Tracy smiled apologetically, and went to follow her, leaving Chuck seated at the table alone with Steve.
"Your wife is mad at you," Steve said after a minute of silence.
"No kidding," Chuck muttered. He wondered if he should make sure that Sarah was ok. Tracy didn't seem to be dangerous, but his instincts weren't always dead on when it came to recognizing enemy agents. Still, she could take care of herself, and Casey was nearby.
"So, movies, huh, that's…cool. What kind of movie do you want to direct?"
Steve gave Chuck a look for a moment, before finally relenting and shrugging. "None of those action films with no plots. I prefer small films. You know, a bunch of people having dinner and talking to each other about what really matters. Nothing the studios would ever want to make."
"Huh," Chuck said, then suppressed a sigh of relief when the waiter approached with the wine. He popped the cork and poured into each of the glasses. Steve barely gave the waiter time to finish pouring before he grabbed the glass. Chuck waited for a moment, debating whether it was a good idea to drink on the job. That was when the flash hit.
The periodic table of the elements surged into his mind, stopping at the element Tl, followed by the sight of a dropper being dipped into a bottle. Chuck turned white, glancing a the wine bottle on the table. He reached over, and smacked the glass out of Steve's hand.
"Dude!"
"Uh, sorry. I'm a bit clumsy today." He looked around. Most of the other patrons, and the restaurant staff, were staring at him now. No one looked familiar, or led to a flash. Still, the message in the flash had been clear. One of Iselin's Agents was somewhere in the restaurant.
