Chuck was moping around the kitchen again. This was the umpteenth time in the last month and Sarah hated seeing him like this, distracted and unhappy. She came up behind him as he was looking through the fridge for about the tenth time that evening, still finding nothing, and grasped his arm. She closed the fridge door and led him into the living room where she sat him down on the couch and lowered herself onto his lap.

"Tell me all about it, sweetie," she said as she wound her arms around his neck and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Chuck slumped backwards, letting his shoulders fall. He sighed heavily and pouted at the floor a bit before turning his face towards Sarah's and kissing her lightly on the lips.

"It's not working. I've tried and tried and it's just not coming out right," he whined. "Maybe it's never going to work. I should just give up, I guess."

He pouted some more and then checked to see if this was going to get the right kind of sympathy from his wife. It did.

"Oh, poor baby," Sarah crooned in his ear, making the hair on his neck stand on end as she breathed the words out softly. She stroked the back of his head, twining her fingers in his curls while arching her lower spine forwards and laying his head on her chest. Triple play!

"Seriously, though, Chuck," Sarah continued while comforting her husband, "why don't you give Morgan a call. Maybe he can help you out with this. He does own several computer gaming stores, after all."

Chuck knew he should be concentrating on what Sarah was saying to him. She was using that reasonable and logical tone of voice. But it was pretty difficult. She was warm. And soft. And smelled so nice. And her heartbeat was firm. And the spot where she was sitting was hot. And getting hotter. And – and –

Chuck pulled his attention back to the conversation with an effort. Raising his head, he replied, "Yes, you're right, I should call him. I probably should have called before now. It's just that with Anna and everything that's going on, I guess I've been putting it off."

"Well, now you've got a good reason to go and see him," Sarah stated, "and maybe you can help him out while you're at it."

Sarah put a palm to each side of Chuck's face and positioned his head so he was looking squarely into her eyes.

"And now maybe you can help me out with a little problem I'm having," Sarah purred as her mouth quirked up on one side before covering Chuck's in an unashamedly lustful kiss.

Chuck was a bit surprised that he actually felt nervous as he got out of his car. Maybe it was because the Morgan's Mindgames store he was meeting Morgan at was a location in a large mall that reminded Chuck a bit too much of the Buy More plaza. It certainly couldn't be that he was going to see his old friend again. Chuck finally decided it was because he wasn't sure how Morgan would react to his idea, and he squared his shoulders and gripped his attaché case a little more firmly before pushing the door open and going in.

"Chuck! Buddy! Great to see you again!"

Morgan's voice boomed through the store over video game sound effects and the shouts of patrons trying them out.

When they met in the middle of the store, they exchanged a warm bear hug, both laughing with the pleasure of seeing each other again.

After the two men had released each other, Chuck swiveled around to look at the store.

"This is new," he observed, indicating the bank of units where the games were being played.

"Yeah, it was an idea I had about a month ago. This is just a pilot program, but it's been successful so far so I'm going to put it in at all the locations. I got the idea from Tron, you know, like the old video arcades. The kids buy a magnetic debit card that they have to swipe to play for a certain time period. They get to try the games first before buying them. Anna's dad said that they wouldn't buy the games if they could play them first, but I was right and sales have increased dramatically since these units were installed. And," Morgan added with pride in his voice, "we get the extra income from the arcade portion as well."

"I always knew you were a genius, Morgan," Chuck said, sincere in his praise for his friend. "Just a different kind of genius. And that's why I wanted to see you, old buddy."

"Well, come into my office, sir, and we'll discuss it. Have you had lunch yet? I'll call for a pizza," Morgan said as he wheeled Chuck around and directed him towards the back of the store.

Chuck patted his stomach and brushed the pizza crumbs from the side of his mouth.

"Morgan, Sarah is going to wonder why I'm not eating supper tonight, but that was terrific. The goat-cheese-and-fig combination was inspired!"

"Yeah, well, now that we're loaded up, what's this problem I can help you with, Chuck?"

Chuck reached down into his bag and pulled out a couple of memory devices, putting them on the table in front of Morgan with a flourish.

"I've been writing a game," he said, "but I'm stuck. I need your input, Morgan. We can go partners on it too."

Morgan placed a hand over his heart and looked humble.

"I'm flattered, Chuck. Let's have a look at it."

He picked up one of the units and attached it to a nearby gaming console, fired it up, and began to play the game. Chuck moved his chair around to sit behind his friend and they discussed the different features of the game as Morgan played by himself, and then Chuck joined in on the other controller so they could experience the two-player version.

When they had played for about an hour and a half, the men put the game controllers down and sat without moving. Morgan, his eyes darting around a bit while his brain worked through the problem, finally snapped his fingers, crying out, "I've got it!"

Chuck leaned forwards in his chair in anticipation.

"What, Morgan?" he inquired.

"The main character, the guy?" Morgan began.

"Mm-hmm?" murmured Chuck, completely captivated by his friend's obvious excitement.

"It should be a girl!" Morgan exclaimed.

He grasped Chuck's shoulders as a look of pure glee mixed with the most tender love washed over his face as his eyes unfocused a bit.

"And I know just who the character should be modeled after," he added wistfully.