MayDecember10
Casa Bartowski
"Please unzip me, Chuck." She smiled when she remembered her challenge to him at her apartment. She hoped he remembered.
He did and his lips traced their path from earlier. She shivered and turned in his arms.
"I want to take a shower first. Join me?" She grabbed his hand and led him toward the bathroom. They had all night and all the next day to be just Chuck and Sarah before Monday and they had to resume their roles. Besides, Ellie would be home tomorrow.
This time she ate his breakfast in bed. It was the smell of coffee that brought her awake but it was the sight of him busying himself with their breakfast setting that got her up.
"Mmm, I could get used to this, my love. Incredible sex, cuddling, sleeping next to you and waking up to breakfast and coffee. I should have moved in the night of the faculty mixer."
"I didn't even know you, Sarah, well, I flashed on you, but I didn't know the person, just the file. This is just me being nice to you, welcoming you into your new home. Don't get used to it. I don't do this every morning. Just special mornings when I wake up incredibly happy and wrapped in a beautiful blonde."
"Well, if that is your criteria, you'll be doing this for the rest of our lives, Chuck, because I'll be here every morning and my life goal is to make and keep us both incredibly happy."
He kissed her soundly, smoothed back her hair from her face and smiled. "In that case, every morning will be special and I'll have to get up earlier to do the cooking. Small price to pay, in my opinion. Now, eat. You need to keep up your strength. I've got serious catching up to do."
His cell rang and he frowned.
"Hello, Carina. Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Hello yourself, Chuck. Just wanted to make sure you were OK this morning. I gave John hell for bringing up Iraq again. So how'd things go with the CIA lady friend?"
"Well, it was incredible. She's incredible and I've asked her to move in with us and she agreed. Tell Casey he's forgiven this time but he can kiss my ass for his $17.00. That makes 4 sets of boards I've got now. When will he give up?"
"Have you spoken to Beckman yet?"
"Yet? You mean like today? Why on earth would she be calling…shit, it's update time again. I'd forgotten all about it. How late am I this time?"
"You're not. She was badgering Casey about your project. She's not in a good mood, Chuck."
"Have John call me sometime later, Carina, as in 10am or so. It's just 7:30 and we just got up."
"WE? Oh, Chuck. Be careful. She's got a rep like you wouldn't believe."
"Pot meet kettle. I will take it under advisement, Mrs. Casey. My breakfast is getting cold. Good bye."
"That was Carina Casey. John's going to be calling me later. Beckman's on his case about the project. I might have to at least pretend to be working on it this week. With the school term ending I'll be out of excuses."
"I take it she was less than thrilled about my presence here? 'Pot meet kettle'?"
"That's her problem, Sarah, not ours."
Later, after they ate and cleaned up the dishes, Sarah ran back to her apartment to pick up some papers that needed graded. Chuck went into his office for the first time in quite a while and logged into the NSA network and initiated his conference call.
"Major, what is the status of 2.0? The data files have all been transferred. Have you done any pre-testing? When will you attempt the download?"
"Pre-testing is complete and I was going to run the download test Thursday. If anything goes wrong, you won't have to figure out how to explain my disappearance. The school can just say I 'moved on' after the semester ended and let it go at that."
"I wish you'd allow someone else to be the test subject. We have volunteers…"
"No. You know our deal. No volunteers. No more dead agents."
"Fine. But at the first hint of trouble, discontinue testing. Um, on another topic. I spoke with Colonel Casey and he mentioned another episode at the O Club. I'm asking you to consider coming in for a few days of counseling, nothing long-term, just a few days talking with someone who shares your background. You shouldn't have to carry the burden alone, Major."
"I'm not alone, Colonel. I've met someone and we're moving in together and I have high hopes for the future. As for counseling, I'll think about it. Maybe it's time. Thank you for your offer."
Good luck, Chuck." She disconnected the call.
She'd never called him by his first name before, not that he could remember. He wondered about the sudden familiarity and damned Casey for mentioning his reaction at the party.
Sarah returned with a trunk load of clothes so large that she needed his help unloading. They had their first fight.
"Chuck, it's ridiculous for you to throw out all those clothes to make room for mine in your closet when I have closet space in my room."
"This is your room now, Sarah, our room. I haven't worn most of these since…hell, I can't remember the last time I wore some of these. I've bagged them and I'll drop them off at the Goodwill collection box on my in to school." The walk-in closet had 'his and her' sides but Sarah had a lot of clothes.
"Are you sure you're not just making room for me…"
"Sarah. Shut up. This is your room. You can keep seasonal stuff in the guest closet but I want your stuff here so when…ah, forget it. Do what you want." He was frustrated and annoyed. He picked up the trash bag full of his cast-offs and started to leave.
"Finish your sentence. You want my stuff here so when what?"
"So if you're not here when I come back from an op or a trip I'll know you're coming back, OK? Simple enough for you?"
'There it is,' thought Sarah, 'that annoyed and needy tone. He's still not sure of himself or us in this. He's afraid I'll 'pull a Jill' on him and I can't blame him, given what's in my file.'
"Yes. Thank you." She started unbuttoning her blouse with a sly smile.
"Chuck, we had a fight. You know what comes next, don't you?"
"No. I guess I owe you an apology?"
"No, Chuck. Make up sex."
Afterwards, Sarah whispered into his neck, "I'm sorry, I just didn't understand. A lot of this…a lot of being in love and living with someone I really care for is all new to me. Be patient, my love. I'm trying."
"Beckman heard about the O Club incident and she's nagging me about reporting in for a few days of 'counseling' after I run the final 2.0 tests on Thursday. I told her I wasn't alone any more but I know her. She's like a pit bull with someone's leg. She'll never let it go. I may have to slide up there for a few days. Got a reason to visit DC? I'd rather not go alone."
"I'll make one up, sweetheart. Ellie can stay with the Casey's since it's 'company business', right?"
"They won't mind. Carina needs her shopping buddy for a bit every once in a while."
Ellie returned home that afternoon and was typically all EllieJoy about the new living arrangements. In the back of her mind she'd been considering staying in Sierra Vista and going to ASU so her dad wouldn't be alone. Now she didn't have to but she did have to face the reality of leaving Devon for a year.
She broached the subject to Sarah while they worked on their tans out on the patio.
"Ellie, long distance relationships are very hard on a couple. You need to make sure you're ready for the kind of commitment it requires. Freshman in college, missing parties, long phone conversations, curtailed social life, only seeing each other on school vacations. They take a toll." She was being very honest with Ellie.
"We talked about that. He said he understood and didn't love the idea but understood that maybe I should date in L.A. He still says he won't but I can't see him spending his senior year alone. I guess maybe this won't stand the test of time."
They didn't speak much after that. Each of them had their own relationship issues to contend with.
Sarah discovered the hard way that Chuck had a monthly 'maid service' that came in and did the dusting, windows, vacuuming and other tasks. She was working on her tan while Chuck was in class and Ellie was off with Devon when she heard her name.
"Dr. Walker? What are you doing here?" The voice was young and she recognized it. She rolled over and looked up at the French doors and said "Oh, shit."
Standing in the door wearing cut-offs and flip-flops were several of her students. She remembered one of them handed her a business card for a maid service but she hadn't used it.
"I live here. What are you doing here?" Two could play the same game.
"I, that is, we, clean here, once a month. Is Doc Ice here? We try not to bother him and come during his class periods. Could you remind him that we'll be gone for the summer – again? He gets forgetful. Too much going on in that handsome brain of his."
"Sure. I'll tell Chuck at dinner. Thanks." Doc Ice? Handsome brain? Give me a break here. He's old enough to be your father.
"So, you and the Doc, a couple, huh?" She looked vaguely amused and the smirk on her face pissed Sarah off.
"Yeah. Isn't it great? He's such a wonderful…" She stopped; 'let the bitch wonder what he's so wonderful at…' The other girls had gone about their tasks but not the smirker. She wanted to get in one more zinger but just sighed in defeat. Even with her 20-year old body in a bikini, she couldn't compete with the blonde hair and blue eyes and killer body.
"Yeah. Great. Well, please remind him about the summer cleaning schedule." She closed the door with a bit more force than was necessary.
Sarah laughed in absolute delight. 'A 20-something coed has the hots for a 40-year old professor and I got him. She's almost Ellie's age. Sometimes life is fair'.
The real world reappeared on Tuesday morning to everyone's disgust. Both Chuck and Sarah had classes so they rode in to the University together and Chuck magnanimously allowed Ellie to drive to school in the Suburban. She'd whined and complained about it being 'the last week of my high school career and riding a bus is just…demeaning." The adult in the crowd smirked but wisely said nothing.
"Ellie, take the Suburban. Call me if you're going to be late or run over a traffic cop." A parent's job was never done.
Chuck's classes were almost always full and his TA was doing a great job of both teaching the occasional session when he was 'out' and keeping the administration off his ass about grades and reports.
"Joanna, you were a gift from the gods. What am I ever going to do without you? Are you absolutely sure you want to graduate? There's always the doctoral program to consider." He really would miss her. She sort of reminded him of Jill but in a good way.
"Nope. Got a job lined up thanks to a great letter of recommendation. I didn't even think of the NSA using a physicist but the money's great and I hear they do some cutting edge stuff on the sly."
"Well, I wouldn't know about that. Anyhow, here's a little something in the way of appreciation. And don't be a stranger. They do have email, y'know?" Ellie and Sarah had gone shopping and picked up a necklace that was appropriate and personal.
She was so thrilled with it that she hugged him and thanked him. She was close to tears. He'd always been considerate and always the gentleman, no matter how many hints she'd dropped.
And that's how Sarah found them when she walked into the small auditorium/classroom - in an embrace.
Her first thought was 'run', then came 'how many other girls does he have?' followed quickly by 'he's mine!' then rational Sarah came through thankfully. He must have given her the necklace. I should have picked out a pen set. Less personal and misleading.
"Hey, honey, if Joanna can peel herself off you, are you almost ready to go home?"
The sentence was calculated to deliver maximum information in a manner subtly direct without wounding. 'Honey', 'peel herself off you.' and 'home'.
Joanna leaped back, almost stumbling in her haste. Her face was lined with tear tracks and Sarah felt a moment – a very, very brief moment – of remorse.
"Dr. Walker, look, isn't it precious? I'll bet someone had help picking it out?" Message received and understood.
The walk to the faculty lot was long and quiet.
"I didn't do anything wrong, Sarah. I don't know why you're giving me the cold shoulder." She hadn't said a word to him or made eye contact since Joanna had slipped away after thanking him again for the necklace and the letter of recommendation to the NSA.
She wasn't angry with him. She was angry with herself. She'd been almost overwhelmed with jealousy and he had been totally innocent. She was the one in the wrong. She'd make this right the only way she knew how – sex.
Her pace quickened but she stopped when she realized he was no longer by her side. She turned around but the path was empty. She took out her cell and called him.
Before she could say anything at all, she heard 'I don't deserve this. I've done nothing wrong. You made an assumption that was totally baseless and now I wonder if this whole thing… You obviously have some issues to work out with regards to trust, Agent Walker. I can certainly understand that. I'm going to call for a ride out to the Post and do some catch-up, maybe run the download if I can find Casey. We'll talk when I get…back to the house."
She called him back but it went to voicemail. So did her next 5 attempts.
She had really screwed up. She should have just let it go or dealt with her self-disgust in her own way. He was right. He didn't deserve any of it. She'd been wrong but couldn't figure out how to explain it to him without appearing weak and needy.
Pride goeth before a fall.
A/N: I know 5 of you loyal tripe-readers are still there but is anyone else? Just curious. Don't like making buggy whips.
APR