A/N- A little bit of a delay. Good news, my pilgrimage to Scotland has ceased. I'm a little behind in responding to the reviews and PMs. I absolutely appreciate getting them, so thank you. A big thankyou to michaelfmx for editing and suggestions. I don't own Chuck, I do own a mandolin, seems a fair bargain to me.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—'La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!'
-John Keats
***'Fagin' .. a little Dickens to lighten your day.
From Chapter 9
Sarah grabbed some soup and a salad. She spotted Chuck talking to a woman. She could see only the woman's back, but from every appearance she was a beautiful brunette, damn! Sarah had less than two weeks left with Chuck before she had to hand him over to Carina and the DEA.
She wasn't happy having to share him with a good looking brunette. As she got closer the woman turned towards her.
"Zondra!"
"Sarah!"
Chuck smiled. "Oh, you guys know each other, that's great."
The word great had barely escaped Chuck's lips when he knew something was seriously wrong. The instantaneous change in Sarah and Zondra once they saw each other made the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
An image popped into his mind of a Bengal Tiger and an African Lioness accidentally meeting. Zondra had stood up and the two women glared at each other. The air around them almost crackled with negative energy.
November 13, 2007-CIA Cafeteria, Langley, VA –Noon
Without taking her eyes of Zondra, Sarah hurled a question at Chuck. "What is she doing here, how do you know her?"
Chuck stood up and towered over them.
Against his better survival instincts he moved into the neutral space between them. "Ahh….six months ago… I worked with Zondra, just the one time,….you know, when all the agencies were directed to make Federal parks and sites safe."
Sarah took a half step back and the tension went down one tiny little notch. "Let's go Chuck."
She didn't want Chuck to be around Zondra and she was furiously thinking about what she was going to tell him about her. She sure the hell wasn't going to start talking about the CAT squad with him.
Chuck didn't move, he was stuck. The tiled floor felt like someone had put super glue on it.
Part of his 'stuckness' was because he was confused about the obvious animosity between Sarah and Zondra; he wanted to know more. Chuck's off the chart intelligence was matched only by his curiosity. He loved solving mysteries.
The other reason he was stuck was because he didn't like Sarah ordering him around as if he was some Helot from ancient Sparta. The tone in her voice when she'd ordered him 'to go' was similar to the tone she'd used in the interrogation room back in Burbank; that thought rankled him.
Zondra noticed Chuck's hesitation. She realized that this might be her only opportunity to get Sarah's attention. Zondra looked at Sarah and then closely at Chuck. What was going on between the two of them?
Chuck Bartowski was the person who'd given her hope. The hope that one day she'd be able to prove Amy was the real traitor. She blurted out in a whisper so that only Sarah and Chuck could hear her. "Chuck's found proof that "A" is the traitor. Ask him!"
Sarah couldn't believe her ears. How the hell would Chuck know about the inner workings of the CAT squad? Had Zondra broken all the rules about confidentiality and told him about what had happened? How close were the two of them? The fingers of jealousy increased their grip on her.
Sarah had always been suspicious of Zondra,. She'd betrayed the CAT squad, that was a venial sin. However, in comparison to betraying their friendship, that seemed like a pittance. Betraying their friendship….THAT was a mortal sin in Sarah's mind.
There was a time, a time before Zondra's betrayal, when Sarah was as close to Zondra as she'd been to Carina.
She had very few friends. It took a lot of work and time to overcome her natural suspicion of people. That suspicion, that inability to trust another person, had been honed and refined as she lived the life of a con woman with her father.
Jack Burton ended up playing a 'Fagin' like role in Sarah's life. She became his 'Artful Dodger'. Langston Graham took over the care of Jack Burton's 'Artful Dodger'. He led her carefully and slowly down roads that were new, exciting but became darker with the passing of time.
When Sarah Walker allowed you in as a friend, you needed to treat that friendship as a sacred trust. Zondra's betrayal of that friendship cut deep, right to the bone. When Sarah determined that Zondra was the traitor, she masked her hurt feelings, Spies don't get hurt feelings. Sarah did allow herself to feel angry, very angry.
At this particular moment, she was also angry at Chuck. He should keep his nose out of her business, who the hell did he think he was?
Zondra put her tray down on the table. She stood beside Chuck and gave Sarah a pleading look. "Sarah, give me five minutes, that's all I ask. Then….if…you still hate me that much…we'll go our separate ways. We'll never talk again."
Sarah looked at Chuck.
He saw the cold artic blue blazing from her eyes. He knew that anger wasn't directed at him and didn't get flustered. Chuck's agile brain landed on another thought. Was Sarah also angry at him? What for? Was part of Sarah's anger because she thought he was siding with Zondra about 'A'? Who the hell was 'A'
Sarah decided she would have a serious talk with him afterwards, a talk to avoid Zondra.
In her mind Zondra was one of the wolves wandering the halls of the CIA that he needed to be protected from. "Chuck, wait here, I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Don't move, understand!?"
Chuck bristled, he wasn't ten years old and he wasn't anybody's dog's body.
No one was explaining what was happening here. He was completely in the dark and totally mystified about Zondra's remark. He never called 'A' a traitor? He'd had enough.
Chuck grabbed his sandwich and the orange off of his tray.
He looked at Sarah and didn't blink when their eyes met. Sarah saw his brown eyes darken.
"I'm not your asset. I'm a colleague. So, no. I won't wait here." He took a couple of steps and turned back. " I think I'll take a walk up to conference room FC6045." If either of you needs me, I'll be there."
Sarah's eyes widened. She'd obviously struck a nerve ordering Chuck around. Shit.
They both watched Chuck walk out of the cafeteria.
Zondra and Sarah collectively knew of a dozen private places at Langley where they could talk and…. if it came to it, try to beat the shit out of each other. Sarah snarled out, "Follow me."
{o}
There was a small dojo buried down in the bowels of the sprawling structure, where they could turn off the CCTV and any other surveillance. A place where a person could have a private conversation. The two beautiful and deadly women squared off.
They were separated by two arm's length. It had taken them five minutes to reach the dojo. Not a single word had passed between them. Sarah was pissed. Her anger had been stoked by what she'd seen in the cafeteria.
Seeing Zondra near Chuck and observing the easy manner in which they had been talking struck a nerve. Sarah was still coming to terms with her strong attraction to Chuck. She didn't yet recognize within herself, how far she'd fallen for him. She never suspected how susceptible she was to the green-eyed 'god' of jealousy.
Zondra had crossed the line long ago. Now, by manipulating Chuck, or whatever she was trying to do, she'd added grievous insult to injury.
Sarah glanced at her watch, she then glanced around the dojo. She disabled the CCTV camera. Zondra pulled out a pencil like device and turned it on, effectively jamming any listening devices.
Zondra had rehearsed a thousand times what she would say to Sarah, but now her mind was blank. What she did observe was something new.
She'd seen Sarah Walker angry before. But Sarah's anger stayed deep and ran cold like the Humboldt current.
When Sarah Walker acted on her anger, the person on the receiving end was usually surprised and then often…dead. But back in the cafeteria, she'd seen Sarah's anger running red hot.
Sarah had snapped, she almost snarled at Chuck. Zondra hadn't missed Chuck's bristling at being ordered around, and there had been a moment when she wondered, what else was going on between the two of them?
Zondra and Sarah were pumped with adrenaline. Zondra knew that Sarah wouldn't really listen to her until they'd both let off some steam. In the past, when the CAT squad had been rolling along, she and Sarah had often spared. They were well matched.
Sarah used this dojo, when she was at Langley, to practice and do her Kata. She walked over to a little closet and pulled out her gym bag. She grabbed two pairs of sweat pants. She threw a pair of sweat pants to Zondra.
They changed quickly out of their dresses without a single word being exchanged between them. Sarah waited for Zondra to finish putting on her sweat pants.
Sarah gave Zondra a wolfish grin. "You've had this coming for a long time."
Zondra snarled back at her. "Your false accusations have cost me a lot, I'm going to enjoy whipping your ass."
They started slowly testing each other with feints and telegraphed punches and kicks. Sarah's fist broke through Zondra's guard with a flurry of fist strikes and caught Zondra a glancing blow on the mouth.
Sarah realized too late that Zondra had baited the trap by letting Sarah's punch get through her guard.
Zondra's counter blow to Sarah's rib cage connected. Sarah winced with the pain.
Zondra had pulled her punch as had Sarah. The idea in this bout was as old as the history of the Blackfoot, Cheyenne and Lakota. Sarah and Zondra were counting 'coup'. Touch your opponent and dishonor them and along the way leave a bruise.
The training at the Farm was practical and deadly. The course was a hodge podge of mixed martial arts and evolving techniques.
Sarah and Zondra had been trained to end any fight quickly, in seconds. Eyes, groin, throat, soft tissue and key nerve clusters are the target areas. There was no Marques of Queensbury rules, there was no fair fighting. Disable, disarm, kill your opponent and move on.
This was not a fight to the death. They would not use a lot of the techniques they could've. But there would be blood and possibly bruised ribs, broken fingers and lots of contusions.
Another two minutes passed. The tempo of the attacks and countermoves had increased. Sarah now had a bloody nose and Zondra a burgeoning bruise on her cheek. Both women would be very sore tomorrow from bruises on their face, arms, legs and torsos.
They were so intent, so focused on the fight, that neither noticed when the door to the dojo silently and slowly opened.
Chuck slid into the room unnoticed. He wasn't sure what to expect. When he saw both of them in their bras, sweat pants and bare feet, it made him blush a deep scarlet from his neck to the tips of his ears. Sarah and Zondra still hadn't noticed him.
Chuck quietly eased back towards the door. His coming here had obviously been a really bad idea.
The truth was he couldn't help himself, his curiosity had driven him to follow them by hacking into the CCTV cameras. Doug Cousins in Cyber Security also had responsibility for building security. Chuck had remembered the access codes to the internal cameras.
Once he knew where they had gone, it had taken him four or five minutes to find his way to the dojo.
Sarah saw him first. "Chuck! What the hell?" Zondra stopped a punch directed at Sarah and spun around. "Chuck!"
Chuck was wide eyed with embarrassment, he mumbled, "Sorry to interrupt….." Chuck, from the little he'd seen, had no doubt that both these women could kill him with their bare hands. " ahhh…my mistake. I'll….I'll leave."
Zondra seized the moment. "Chuck, wait." Chuck hesitated.
Sarah jumped in and took the edge off her voice. "Chuck, please go outside. Give us…. a couple of minutes to pull ourselves together…to get dressed…then come back in." Chuck nodded and left them alone.
Zondra turned to Sarah. "Let me talk to both of you and I'll prove I'm not the traitor. Please Sarah, five minutes is all I need."
{o}
Chuck gave them exactly ten minutes and went back into the room.
Sarah and Zondra were sitting cross legged facing each other on the tatamis. They were thankfully dressed and a little more presentable. Their hair was tangled and damp with sweat. Chuck could see dried blood on both their faces and on their knuckles.
He joined them on the tatamis and sat down.
As the silence grew he became more nervous. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer. "Did you guys manage to have…..a good talk?" Zondra and Sarah fought the grin pulling at the corners of their mouths, neither would let him know that he had instantly lightened the mood with his corny remark.
Zondra cleared her throat and then swallowed some blood. She looked directly at Sarah.
"When Chuck was an analyst with the NSA, he already knew about Augusto. He doesn't know about the squad, or about us, 'A' or the incident…"
Zondra took three of her precious minutes to explain to Sarah about how she and Chuck had met.
Zondra then took the last two minutes to explain about Chuck's insight into the transmitter, that back in 2003 it had to be a prototype, from a top secret DARPA lab. Chuck confirmed to Sarah what he knew about the transmitter.
Zondra pointed to her cell phone. "Chuck showed me an article from the Washington Post, about Thomas Shelby, a director at the DARPA labs. Shelby was selling state of the art technology to the Cartels for considerable cash."
Sarah's face gave nothing away as she listened to them both.
Zondra finished with, "I saw 'A' with Thomas Shelby. Carina was with me in the car, when we saw them together. Ask her, send Carina Shelby's photo."
Sarah had managed to finally listen to Zondra through the veil of her anger and jealousy. Chuck's presence in the room helped. She wasn't sure why his presence made a difference but it did. It calmed her in a way that no other person she knew could do.
Her anger bled away when she sensed that Zondra had not been manipulating Chuck, that she hadn't betrayed the CAT squad once again by breaking confidentiality to Chuck.
Sarah relaxed her posture, so did Zondra. "Why haven't you gone to Graham and told him about your…theories?"
Zondra laughed. "My evidence is at best circumstantial. Besides, 'A' is on his favorite agents list, while I'm on his shit list." Sarah didn't know whether Zondra's accusations against Amy were true or not. But she knew that Zondra sincerely believed they were true.
Zondra broke the silence. "I know why you brought me to this room. So, if you still don't believe me and want to pick up where we left off….let's go." Zondra waited.
Chuck found it uncomfortable to put his six foot three body into a sitting lotus position. He stood up.
"I think it's time the two of you started to trust me. I need somebody to tell me who the hell 'A' is and whether you want my help or not." He turned to Sarah and looked into her blue eyes. "Here's a chance for you to show that you trust me."
He looked down at both of them. "This time I'm really going up to conference room FC6045."
Sarah stood up. "Wait Chuck." Her tone was perfect, it wasn't an order rather it was clearly a request. Chuck stopped at the door and looked back.
Sarah looked down at Zondra. "Well….are you coming?"
Chuck led the way down the hallway to the elevator. "Chuck." He turned around at the sound of Sarah's voice. "Zondra and I will need fifteen minutes to…ah freshen up, we'll meet you in the conference room."
{o}
Sarah and Zondra were putting the finishing touches to their makeup in the washroom. Their efforts covered most of the obvious damage they'd inflicted on each other. Sarah sighed. "If you're agreeable… I think we need to tell Chuck about Amy, a little bit about the squad and why we fell out….okay?"
Zondra felt like a hundred pounds had been lifted suddenly from her back. "Yes, I think we need his help."
{o}
Conference Room FC6045-1:30pm
Sarah and Zondra joined him in the conference room looking much better after twenty minutes of what he imagined was some serious 'freshening up'. He marvelled that even bruised, battered and mussed up, they still managed to look better than all the women he'd ever dated, including Jill.
Before they contacted Carina, Sarah spent fifteen minutes 'reading' Chuck in on a little bit about the CAT squad, who Amy was and then the 'incident' with the transmitter. As Sarah gave him background about the 'incident' he could see Zondra tense up. Zondra pipped up and made it crystal clear to Chuck that she'd been cleared by the CIA of any wrong doing.
After listening intently and not saying a word he sat back. "So, you, Carina and Zondra used to be close partners and, I take it, friends before they found the transmitter on Zondra?"
Zondra nodded her head. She wore her sadness like sackcloth and ashes.
His initial confusion that started at the lunch confrontation, started to lift. Chuck connected most of the dots. He was starting to think about how he might help them.
Chuck completed the video link to Carina. She was somewhere in Chile. Sarah had sent Carina a text and told her to get to a secure WIFI site for the conference call. Zondra was still on speaking terms with Carina and sent her the photo of Thomas Shelby.
As the image on the screen sharpened up, Carina's image came into HD focus. In the background a million little diamonds could be seen sparkling off the Pacific Ocean as the afternoon sun raced towards New Zealand. Chuck took a guess that she was either in Valparaiso or Concepcion.
Carina saw the three of them seated close together. She was stunned to see Sarah and Zondra in the same room. They'd put Chuck in the middle, their own personal demilitarized zone.
"So Chuck, what kind of trouble have you got yourself into this time? Don't worry Chuck, soon you'll be in my tender loving care."
Sarah's jaw worked back and forth. She reminded herself to warn Chuck about Carina before he left for the DEA part of his training.
Zondra took the lead. "Carina, did you have a chance to look at the photo I sent you?"
"Yes, ahh…I'm not certain that I've seen this guy before. I've never met him up close, if I did, I'd remember."
Zondra knew that memories could be dredged up by linking it to a place, a sound or a smell. She had a clear memory of that night. "Carina, do you remember the 'I Bar' in Coronado. You hooked up with the tall red haired CPO from Seal team four?"
A big smile played across Carina's face. "Oh, yes. You picked me up after we had done some... consulting….He was amazing. I found out he was the demolition and explosive's expert for the team. He had the most amazing hands and fingers, such a delicate touch….…"
Sarah jumped in. "Carina, please…focus…do you remember being with Zondra?"
"Yes, we went looking for Amy." Carina's eyes shifted to the right…it was coming back. "Okay, we saw her outside the Shores Beach Club. We didn't connect up with Amy because she'd found a guy. Wait, I remember…. we thought Amy was slumming because he wasn't her usual type. He …was…older...with gray hair."
Carina grabbed her phone and looked at the photo again. "Okay, I'm not a hundred percent certain. But this could be the guy….Shelby that's his name…right?"
Chuck finally spoke up. "I'm assuming the three of you want to test out your theory that Amy might be the traitor." They all nodded yes. "Well…if she and Augusto have a connection. You can feed false information to either Augusto or to Amy. Obviously, the information has to be credible. Augusto and Amy need to believe that the information has to be passed on urgently."
Carina smiled. "Go on Chuck?" Chuck shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "I'm still in training, you guys are the spies….you tell me what bait we have to put into the trap."
Sarah, Carina and Zondra spent the next ten minutes batting around ideas. Chuck sat there and had a ringside seat into how the three of them used to work together. It was a master class on entrapment and how to manipulate people and situations.
As the conversation wound down Chuck had an idea. "If you can create the need for them to urgently contact each other and I know the exact location for Amy…I know a way to prove whether Amy is a traitor or not."
Chuck had seen some very interesting 'spy toys' at the NSA. He'd have to convince the three of them to get Casey's help. Chuck smiled, if he knew only one thing about Major John Casey, it was that he hated traitors.
Carina agreed to be the one to reach out to Casey. Chuck told her what NSA 'toys' he needed.
Chuck killed the link. It was obvious that Sarah and Zondra hadn't made peace with each other quite yet, but it certainly looked like they'd agreed on an armistice. Sarah stood up. "We'll meet here in three days. I'll find out where Amy will be."
Chuck and Zondra stood up. Sarah walked over to Chuck. "We still have a full afternoon of training ahead of us." Chuck said goodbye to Zondra.
{o}
Same Day- 7:20pm
Washington D.C.- 2660 Connecticut Avenue NW
Sarah Walker knew how to make five dishes in total.
Three of them she'd learned at the Farm. The other two dishes she'd learned from her father. Jack Burton knew how to conjure up a passable mince and tatties and spaghetti Bolognese. Sarah hated to cook, so none of the five dishes would be on display tonight. Besides, she was too stiff and sore to cook.
Tonight she'd order in some Indian food.
It had taken her an extra fifteen minutes in the bathroom to cover up some of the bruises on her arms and neck. The cuts on two knuckles on her left hand were scabbing over nicely.
Chuck was due to turn up in ten minutes. There had only been two men who'd ever been inside her one bedroom apartment. She'd invited Chuck here so they could have total privacy.
She'd taken the two photos of Bryce Larkin down long ago and hidden them in her dresser drawer. They would not be talking about Bryce tonight or if she could help it in the near future.
Sarah had surprised herself when, at the end of their working day, she'd blurted out the invitation. "Chuck, I think we need to spend some more non-work time together, especially after what happened today." Chuck's eyes and his smile told her the answer was yes.
The plan was simple. Sarah wanted to warn Chuck to be careful around Zondra, at least until they had positive evidence that Amy was indeed the traitor. Sarah, now for the first time, had doubts that Zondra had betrayed their friendship.
But the main thing she wanted to do was warn Chuck about Carina.
Carina was her best friend, but had a funny way of showing it. She would have no hesitation in bedding Chuck. In fact, Carina would take it as personal failure if, within the month, she couldn't entice and enthrall him into a fling. That's all it would ever amount to because Carina didn't do relationships. Chuck needed to be warned.
Sarah sat on the couch and wondered whether she could even do relationships. Thus far there had only ever been the one relationship with Bryce. Ah, dear, dear handsome Bryce, all the charm in the world, a skilled spy and technically at least, a good lover.
At first it had been exciting being with Bryce. They were, on the surface and according to Langston Graham, a 'perfect match'. And it was true, they were a great spy couple. However, the bloom had gone off the rose quickly with Bryce Larkin.
Bryce's charm was superficial, it was veneer thin. His devotion to missions was absolute. Everything and everyone was a means to a successful 'mission' end. Sarah slowly recognized that Bryce was not only a taker of life, if the mission parameters called for it, he was also a taker in life.
She thought about Chuck Bartowski, he was a giver in life. He gave willingly to his friends and to his family. Not because he expected something back, no, he gave because it was somehow encoded deep within his DNA. What kind of person gives up three years of his life to protect a friend from going to jail?
Sarah wanted a relationship with him not because she wanted to take from him. She smiled because Chuck would hold nothing back if he got together with her. She didn't want to take from him, for the first time here was a man she wanted to give something to. Chuck trusted people and he fully expected people to trust him. She wanted to trust him….she believed she was well on the road to trusting him.
Unlike Carina, she didn't want a fling with Chuck, she wanted much, much more than that. That thought terrified her and delighted her with equal measure.
She needed to let Chuck know how she felt about him.
{o}
Chuck had put on a blue shirt with a button down collar and acid washed jeans and a pair of converse shoes. Sarah had said come casual. He missed not having Ellie here to advise him on what he should wear when he was going on a date. Is this a date, or just a non-work thing?
When Sarah opened the door to let Chuck in, her eyes widened with delight. Chuck looked very good in the close fitting jeans. She gulped down a quick breath and her heart skipped a beat.
Sarah was wearing an orange blouse with spaghetti straps that left her shoulders bare. She also had an orange headband on her hair. Chuck's body language and his brown eyes told Sarah all she needed to know about the clothes she'd chosen for this evening.
Sarah didn't hesitate. She took a step forward, stood on her tip toes, leaned in quickly and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Welcome, come on in, here's the menu for the Indian takeout. Do you like it hot ….or mild?"
Chuck had zoned out. The combination of her outfit and the unexpected kiss on the cheek had somehow affected his ears. "Uhhh.."
Sarah coyly repeated her question. "I asked you whether you liked it hot ...or mild?"
{o}
One hour later
Sarah and Chuck had tucked into the Chicken Korma and polished off a couple of beers. The conversation had been relaxed as they went over what he'd learned this afternoon, working with Tom Corrigan. Apparently, Tom had shown him some of the latest AI filtering programs the CIA had just brought on line to go through huge databases.
Sarah suggested they move over to the couch and got each of them another beer. "Chuck, I'm sorry about what happened at lunch…I mean about ordering you around." She made sure he was looking right into her eyes. "Chuck, you're not an asset….you're my colleague, okay?"
Chuck smiled at her, the food and beer had relaxed him. "Consider yourself forgiven. Can I ask you a question about today?" Sarah gave him a nod.
"Is Amy a traitor?" Sarah let out a sigh. "I don't know Chuck, if she's a traitor, then she fooled all of us." Sarah paused. "Believe me Chuck, that is a pretty remarkable achievment, given the squad's collective experience." She gathered her thoughts.
"Chuck, we have about ten days left together before you go over to the DEA." Sarah paused, she had his complete attention. "I think we need to give you a taste of being in the field. Three days from now, there's a reception at the Austrian Embassy. You and I should attend…let's say as a married couple."
Chuck was leaning forward, hanging on her words. This was definitely new, it hadn't been on the program she handed him, when he first arrived at Langley. "So, what would be the purpose…ah sorry…what would be the mission objective?"
Sarah smiled. "Let's see if we can gain access to their computer room. We won't take anything. We'll have no incriminating information on us. The worst case is we get caught wandering away from the reception area. They'll throw us out. Are you willing to give it a try?"
Chuck smiled at her. "Sure, what could possibly go wrong?"
{o}
Sarah insisted on driving him back to his apartment in McLean, VA. The atmosphere between them was the most relaxed she could remember. Chuck had been trawling through the radio stations picking out songs he liked and singling along to them. His enthusiasm and joyfulness delighted her.
Chuck gave her a big smile. "Thanks Sarah, I had a great time tonight. The idea of going on a 'fake' mission with you…is…exciting."
Her attraction to him had been building slowly. It started in Burbank. When she reached out and touched his back after he'd found out where Carina was being held. The warmth and the little jolt she felt was the beginning.
She'd tried to shake it off. What good would come of it? She'd failed miserably in trying to forget about him.
Sarah could deal with a mere physical attraction. You could always scratch that itch.
Chuck Bartowkski brought so much more to the table than being merely handsome. The fact he didn't know he was handsome was attractive. It was his intelligence that was tempered with a genuine humility and humor. Those were the missing pieces she'd been looking for.
The hell of it was she didn't even know she'd been looking for that kind of man or those kind of qualities. She'd just been trying to survive another day as Graham's enforcer.
Sarah felt the enormous pull towards Chuck as he sat there smiling. Don't think Sarah, do it.
She leaned forward and put her right hand behind his neck. He moved towards her. For a heartbeat or two, Sarah was conscious of doing most of the work in the kiss. Just before she was going to end it. Chuck deepened the kiss and brought his right hand up to her cheek. She fought like mad not to moan as his tongue found hers.
After several seconds they parted and looked at each other. Sarah found her voice. "Good night Chuck, see you tomorrow."
She waited until he reached the apartment's main entrance. He looked back at her and waved. Sarah waved back at him.
She accelerated the Porsche away from the curb and merged with silky smoothness into the traffic. A quick thought popped into her head. Hands off Chuck, Zondra. She'd make sure Zondra got that message.
Sarah hit the Interstate's on ramp at speed and was soon doing eighty. The feel of the kiss lingered and she touched her lips a couple of times.
She now had less than two weeks to build up Chuck's resistance to Carina's undoubted advances. God, Chuck alone with that temptress for a month.
Tonight was the start of her own personal mission. Her objective was crystal clear.
A/N-If it is alright with those following the story, I'm probably going to need more than twelve chapters to complete the story. I promise I won't drag it out.