A YuleTie Tale
By Steampunk . Chuckster
Summary: Sarah Walker was dumped the day before Christmas Eve, and her Plus One at her work's annual Christmas Eve Soiree is now officially a Plus Zero. Her best friend Ellie Bartowski has a solution to her problem, and Sarah finds she isn't quite as sure about it as Ellie is. AU Christmas Charah.
A/N: Yes, yes...another of my Christmastime whims. (extra h sound in the wh part of whims) What can I say? I just can't get enough Charah, and honestly, we could all use some of that Christmas spirit. Phew. I want to thank my friend halfachance for the spur of the moment conversation today, which ended up giving me this RIDICULOUS title. I'll be laughing about this title for years to come, I'm sure. Thank you, friend! (Read her fics!)
Disclaimer: I don't own CHUCK. I don't own the characters. I am poor and will remain poor even after I post this fic, because nobody's paying me for this.
The text came in halfway through her last meeting of the day.
It was close to noon, she'd already been getting that antsy feeling in her chest, her fingers and toes tingling, like a high school senior who is a week away from graduation. After today, she'd get her two weeks of a paid vacation, something she'd earned after putting in four and a half years of rock solid, imaginative, groundbreaking work at ROAM Magazine. All she had to worry about was tomorrow's annual ROAM Christmas Eve Soiree and then she was free for two whole weeks.
For the first time in years.
It was going to be a big night for her, either for the good or for the bad.
And the moment she spotted the text on her phone she left sitting face up on the conference table in front of her, she had a sinking feeling it might be for the bad.
She just kept staring at it, at the words shining white on her screen next to his name.
Sarah Walker, managing editor of ROAM Magazine, looked up from the phone and peered at the ROAM Magazine's owner as he clapped his hands together once from where he sat at the head of the table. He climbed up to his feet and beamed at them all.
"Well, I think it's safe to say, we've got some big shoes to fill with our next editor-in-chief. You'll be missed, Roan."
Harvey slapped his hand down onto Roan Montgomery's shoulder and squeezed.
"Well, thank you, Harvey. You know it's been a real hon—"
"But come tomorrow night, somebody will be filling good ol' Monty's shoes, though," Harvey continued as though Roan hadn't even opened his mouth.
Sarah felt a thrill, or maybe they were nerves, she wasn't exactly sure, shoot through her body. Her fingers and toes went numb. And she swallowed hard, slipping the usual mask she always had on at work over her potential reaction.
Who was she kidding? She kept the mask on outside of work, too. Pretty much everywhere, even when she was alone behind closed doors at home.
She'd learned how to do that at a very young age.
"And we'll find out who that is at the Soiree, folks." Always playing for drama, this guy. Harvey grinned big, his teeth shining white in a way that reminded her of someone else she used to know. A grin that used to be charming, but now whenever she thought about it, it left her feeling nothing at all. ROAM Magazine's owner, Harvey Lichtenstein, owned more than just ROAM Magazine. He owned Kill Time Magazine, Sunrise, and the National Eagle. And hundreds of smaller publications, both print and online. He also owned Sarah's future in the magazine business, in a lot of ways.
So she would suck up to that freaking grin if it meant she was the one promoted to fill Roan Montgomery's shoes during their ROAM Christmas Eve Soiree tomorrow night.
She'd been working her ass off and she'd gotten so much praise from Roan, and from his partner Diane Beckman who was editor-in-chief at the National Eagle. Sarah had guest managed in their editors' room for a few months last summer. She'd also received praise from Harvey Lichtenstein himself. She stepped in where they needed her. She worked overtime. She saved ROAM's ass on numerous occasions by catching things before they even got to Roan's desk.
She had a good working relationship with everyone just about. Almost everyone. And she could at least figure out how to be pleasant and business-like with Decker, the one thorn in her side.
She had the respect of everyone who worked underneath her, and most importantly, she'd formed a bond with Roan, one that had made the work ROAM produced exemplary, award-winning.
Sarah Walker was up-and-coming in the magazine business. And she'd already been sat down by Harvey to be vetted as a potential to replace Roan after his announcement that he'd be retiring.
Tomorrow night could be the biggest night of her life thus far.
But the chair next to hers was going to be empty tomorrow night. And it was her own fault, really, wasn't it? Because she'd invited someone to be her date for said potential biggest night of her life when she'd only been on a few weeks' worth of pretty good dates with him so far.
And now he'd bailed.
Through text message.
And it wasn't just that he wouldn't be there tomorrow. There was more. A half-assed and very clear extra bit at the end there, with no extra explanation, but she didn't need extra explanation because it was loud and clear what he meant.
That relationship was over and done with before it had even really started.
She swallowed hard and felt that realization settle in her gut.
That…actually sucked really bad. She'd just been bailed on and dumped in one fell swoop. I've got a lot on my plate right now and I think it'd be best if we took a break.
Bullshit. That was such bullshit. Took a break? As if they were hot and heavy in the first place…? For a lawyer, he was absolutely shit with words.
Who said something like that, seriously? They were both adults. He was, what'd he say, like thirty-three? That was old enough to figure out how to tell a person he didn't want to date them without reverting to indecisive language like "I think it'd be best if we took a break". A break? And what…come back to it at some point when he had the emotional maturity and respected her enough?
And just like that, her disappointment became anger.
But by the time they were all dismissed to go back to their offices, the anger was back to disappointment and even sadness.
As she walked back into her office and shut the door behind her, Sarah closed her eyes tight and turned to face the door, letting her forehead thunk against it a few times. "Fuck you, Zeke," she muttered.
Because not only was she now extra single and nursing a massive wound to her pride, she was dateless tomorrow night. And who was she kidding? It was more than that. She'd actually liked him. More than she'd liked the others probably. He'd had potential to break through her hard shell. Maybe. Maybe not.
But it was over and now she had to deal with the fact that she'd written down "Plus one" when she'd RSVP'd to the extra formal, always overdone Christmas Eve Soiree that the Lichtenstein Corporation put together for them every year. He'd even texted her his dinner selection last week: the vegetarian meal. Oh God, she'd have an empty chair next to her and an uneaten plate of fucking steamed vegetables.
What was she thinking inviting Zeke to that party with her? Why didn't she just go alone?
And she knew why. Because nobody went to that thing alone. It was a display of prejudice against single people, honestly, and she knew it was, but that was just how things had been done at this damn party for years at ROAM. It was Harvey's bag. He hadn't even had to say it. Everyone just made sure they had a date because that was what was done at the ROAM Christmas Eve Soiree.
Sally in the membership department brought her landlord one year because the guy wanted to see a chocolate fountain in person, allegedly.
It was a mess.
She and Zeke were having a good time, she thought the relationship had the potential, had legs (so to speak), so she'd asked him to go. And he'd agreed.
Granted, she hadn't talked at all to him about her work, about the chance she might be getting a raise, a big raise. A raise that might put her name and the work she'd created on the map. She hadn't told Zeke there was actually a really good chance she'd be the new editor-in-chief of ROAM Magazine.
So he didn't know how important tomorrow's party was.
But she knew now he probably wouldn't care if he did know. He would've broken up with her through text in the middle of her mid-day meeting anyway.
Through text.
She almost threw her phone.
Instead, she growled and walked around her desk to start packing up. She was done for two weeks. She didn't want to be here right now. She wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or not. It wasn't like Zeke had gotten that deep under her skin.
She was a little worried there might not be a guy who could get that deep under her skin, because maybe there was somebody else already there, taking up the room. But she banished that thought because it made her uncomfortable, and she hated feeling uncomfortable about him. She didn't want to make things weird when she adored being around that family as much as she did. There was a sense of calm, comfort, and belonging when she was with them, and she wasn't about to ruin it with these kinds of uncomfortable thoughts.
Sarah wasn't about to call her childhood friend and rant at her for setting her up on that first blind date with Zeke. She shouldn't have trusted a lawyer with her love life, especially not Carina Miller, whose tastes and requirements for a relationship were very different from Sarah's own.
She knew she wasn't being fair to the San Francisco-based redhead. They'd been chatting at the time and Carina said, "I've been working with this super cute lawyer in the DA's office down there in LA, Sar. Tall and blond, like you. But way nicer than you." And Sarah had laughed, had been a breath away from telling her to stop trying to set her up on dates, and then at the last second, thought… what the hell.
Well… This was what the hell.
She was screwed. Royally.
On second thought, maybe she would text Carina rather than call and yell at her. She knew the other woman didn't deserve to be yelled at, so texting was a way Sarah could ensure she didn't let any of her disappointment and anger show in her voice.
She sat on the end of her desk, her coat on, her briefcase hanging from her shoulder, her purse from the other, ready to go, and she texted Carina: "Well, happy day. Zeke bailed on the Christmas Eve Soiree and on me in general. So that's all over." She sent the emoji of the woman shrugging.
That was a good way to signify that she wasn't that cut up about it, right? She really wanted to project that. That she was just fine. Not necessarily about the extremely mortifying prospect of the empty seat where her plus one was supposed to be, but about Zeke himself and their could've-been-a-relationship. She was totally fine.
Carina texted her back right as she got into her car and shut the door behind her, sloughing off her purse and briefcase into the passenger seat with a grunt. She snagged her beeping phone out of her coat pocket and looked.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? WHAT HAPPENED?"
Sarah sent a screenshot of his break-up text.
"THAT FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT. He's so lucky he's on the other side of the state. I'm going to tan his ass the next time I have a meeting with him. He'll HEAR from me."
"PLEASE DON'T!" Sarah typed back. "I just want to be done with the whole thing."
Sarah hit send, tossed her phone onto the seat with her bags, and started her car, groaning to herself. And by the time she was halfway back to her apartment, she was crying. It was stupid. There was no reason for her to be crying. But she was crying. Her pride had been smashed to smithereens. And she was way more nervous about the soiree now that she'd be there alone. Not to mention she was starting to doubt she'd even get the promotion. This was some kind of sign of bad things to come.
And then she reminded herself that she didn't believe in that stupid superstition shit. Getting tossed away like garbage by the guy she'd been dating, by her date to the party, didn't have any effect on the way her work was perceived by the ownership team, by Harvey Lichtenstein himself, and mostly by Roan Montgomery. She'd put in the work and the time. She was ready for this.
And everyone knew she was ready for it.
She felt ridiculous pulling into her designated parking spot outside of her apartment building with tears streaming down her face, a voice in her head screaming I EARNED THIS with a side of SCREW MEN.
But it had been a long, hard week, getting their Christmas edition to the printers and onto shelves, as well as up on the website. They'd all worked into the early morning hours. She was tired and that had made her easily triggered, perhaps.
This wasn't the first time she'd been dumped, and this didn't hurt nearly as bad as the last one had hurt. Instead, she thought this was just a combination of things all avalanching down on her head, something inside of her just…snapping.
Sarah showered and let herself enjoy a beer before she started to feel that awful sensation most people got when they'd just been broken up with: that deep sense of longing to be around literally anyone who cares even remotely about them. Or maybe it was just a need for distraction that got Sarah up and searching for her car keys.
Depression just wasn't her go-to. And for someone who'd been an introvert her entire life, someone who spent her life up in her own head, she really did need people. And right now, she needed one people in particular.
It was a testament to how much she trusted Ellie Bartowski that she showed up at the brunette's apartment door eleven minutes later wearing sweatpants, and an oversized sweatshirt from her college days, her phone, credit card, and ID shoved in one of the pockets.
A smile blossomed on the doctor's face the moment she saw her standing there. "Well, hello there, stranger."
"Ugh, hi," Sarah breathed, unable to stop the smile at seeing her best friend for the first time in a whole week.
Ellie opened the door wider as Sarah stepped inside, and the blonde hugged the slightly shorter woman tight, clinging.
"Oof!" Ellie giggled, hugging her back just as tight. "Good to see you, too. And you're looking ravishing in your…uh, sweatpants." Sarah pulled back and gave her a dry look. "I'm teasing. You know you don't have to dress for a coronation to show up at my place. Actually, you look insanely comfy, which makes me want to go put on my own sweats."
"Feel free to."
"I can't. They're in the wash."
Sarah laughed. "Okay, fair enough."
When they finally stepped back, Ellie must've spotted something in Sarah's face, something Sarah had apparently let through that mask. And that, more than anything, was a testament to just how deep her bond was with the other woman. Deeper than any other bonds she'd ever formed in her life, she thought.
"What is it? What happened?"
Sarah didn't even do Ellie the disservice of trying to play it off or build up to it. Really, she'd just come here to be around someone who cared, to do something besides just sitting in her room and blasting her brain with all the reasons why she was doomed with men and doomed in her job. And whatever other horrible self-disgusted things she could come up with.
But since she was here…
"In about a two second period today during a meeting at work, every bit of shit you can imagine smacked up into the fan and splattered everywhere."
Ellie made a grossed out face. "Ew, what? What happened? Wasn't today your last day before vacation?"
"Of course it was," Sarah drawled, her voice drier than the Sahara. She stepped inside and waited for Ellie to shut her apartment door behind her before she continued, letting Ellie lead her into the kitchen. "No thanks, I already had a beer at home. But water sounds good," she said when Ellie wordlessly pointed to a bottle of wine. "But yeah of course my last day before vacation is when everything has to go wrong. That's how it goes, right?"
"Ugh. Shit. What happened? Is it work?"
"Sort of?" She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. "But then not. I guess it's both."
"Come on." Ellie had filled a glass with water from the fridge and now she was thrusting it into Sarah's hands, waving her out of the kitchen towards the living room. "Let's go sit. And you can tell me about all of it."
Sarah sat down and promptly set the glass down on the coffee table, forgetting about it immediately. "Tomorrow is ROAM's annual Christmas Eve Soiree—"
"Soiree?" Ellie asked, making a face.
"I know, it's so lame. But the actual party is intense and fancy and typically pretty epic and fun. Even though I feel like it's unnecessarily…extra." She shook her head. "That's beside the point. Remember the medieval culture of shame directed towards anyone who doesn't bring a date that I told you about?"
"It's Sarah!"
She looked over her shoulder as Ellie's boyfriend walked into the living room from the hallway, dressed in his scrubs. "Hi, Devon."
He didn't pause on his way to the couch, leaning over the back of it to grab her by her shoulders, squeezing gently. "How are ya? Oooo, those sweats look comfy."
She gave him a flat look, and she was actually getting a little embarrassed now that she'd shown up like this. She just felt so tired and spread thin. Changing hadn't really even occurred to her. But she was almost ashamed now as she looked down at what she was wearing. She could've at least put on some damn jeans.
"I'm pretty sure I got dumped today."
And maybe she could've eased into that. But the words just tumbled out as she picked at her sweats, the embarrassment and general bad heart feelings threatening to bubble over.
"What?!" Ellie turned to face Sarah better, the small smile on her face gone, and instead there was surprise, with a hint of anger. "What do you mean you got dumped today?"
Sarah let out a long sigh, her head falling against the back of the couch. She blinked at the ceiling a few times. "Decisively. But with indecisive words. And in the middle of my last meeting of the day. It just…showed up on my phone."
"What do you mean it just showed up on your phone?" her best friend asked, annoyance plain to hear in her voice.
"Zeke texted me and said he wasn't going to be able to make the ROAM Soiree tomorrow night, but he also added that he has a lot on his plate right now and thinks we should take a break." She rolled her eyes.
"Text message?!" Ellie exclaimed, her jaw dropping.
"What a jackass," Devon said, walking around the couch and sitting on the coffee table in front of her. "You don't break up with someone over text message. That's so trashy."
Sarah snorted, shaking her head, a hint of bitterness in her face because she let it be there. "Trashy or not, it's what Zeke did."
"Fuck that guy," Ellie said. Sarah sent her a wide-eyed look. "What? I get you two hadn't been dating for a long time or anything, but everybody deserves to be shown some respect in a situation like this, no matter how long you've been dating."
Sarah shrugged. "Honestly, I'm glad I didn't have to see his face as he tried to break up with me gently. I can just picture the pity he'd have there." She was embarrassed as Ellie sent her a sympathetic look, leaning in to wrap her up in a tight, comforting hug. "It's okay. I'm okay. It wasn't a serious relationship." And she'd sort of made sure of it in a lot of ways, hadn't she? Why she'd done that, she didn't want to ponder. Pondering that might lead her down a path she didn't want to go down. That way lie danger.
"You'll find a better guy, Sarah," Devon said, and she felt his large hand pat her knee reassuringly.
She laughed, because she knew of a better guy. She had known of a better guy for a while, ever since that day she'd first spotted him behind a coal barbecue nestled in the center of a neighborhood block party, in an apron with a Stormtrooper holding a spatula instead of a blaster on it, and waving his own spatula to the Earth, Wind, and Fire song that was blasting over the speakers. "Yeah," was all she said in response, though.
Ellie let go of her and sat back a bit, but she still held Sarah's hand in hers. It was keeping Sarah tethered to Earth, which was a little strange considering she was on the fifth floor of this apartment building.
"Anyway, that isn't the worst part of it." Ellie and Devon exchanged looks. "I've told you before about the archaic bullshit at that party where you're silently shamed and shunned if you show up to the thing alone, right?" Ellie rolled her eyes and nodded. "Well, I stupidly invited Zeke to go with me, as my date, and…that's what he bailed on. That was his intro into the 'it's best if we take a break' bullshit. And Christmas Eve is tomorrow night. So I'm fucking screwed now. It's this super formal dinner and I even got his dinner order, so this empty seat will be next to me with this uneaten plate of food and what if I have to tell the waiter nobody's coming and to take it away? It's just going to be so embarrassing." She buried her face in her hands. "I wouldn't actually care this much if tomorrow wasn't also the night Harvey is announcing who's replacing Roan as editor-in-chief."
"Oh, shit," Devon muttered.
Ellie sent him a bit of a dark look and Sarah chuckled. "No, he's right," she said quickly to defend him. "'Oh, shit' is absolutely right."
"They've probably already decided who the new editor-in-chief is, Sarah. Aka you. Obviously." The brunette got a flat look for that. "What? It is obvious. You've worked hard for this. You have all the qualifications, the experience, the talent. You're a proven leader. Whether or not someone's sitting next to you at dinner isn't going to sway the decision."
"You don't know Harvey Lichtenstein if you think that."
"You're right, I don't."
"It sounds really silly, I know. But Zeke bailing on that party is worse than the fact that he broke up with me." They both gave her quiet looks and she rolled her eyes, pushing a hand through her hair. "I know, I know. I sound… I know how it sounds. That my job matters more than my love life and honestly, it does." She shrugged. "I've worked my ass off for this. And Zeke is—was—just a guy I thought was pretty hot and I kind of liked him."
"Sounds valid to me." She smiled at Ellie for that.
Devon glanced at his watch then. "Listen, I have to get to the hospital, but know that I'm rooting for you tomorrow, Sar. Okay? Forget that jerk. This is his loss, not yours."
It was such a cliché thing for him to say, and Devon Woodcomb excelled at cliché, but he also excelled at making cliché purely genuine. She loved that about him. It was such a rare thing to be able to do. And he had no idea he was doing it. Which made him even better.
"Thank you, Devon."
"And you're getting that promotion because you're awesome," he said, pointing at her and showing those perfectly straight white teeth of his as he climbed to his feet.
They watched him grab his coat and shrug himself into it at the door. "See ya in the morning, El. Love ya."
"Love you too. Don't forget the Christmas cards!"
"Oh!" He stopped, backtracking and snagging a basket of cards. He held it up for Ellie's benefit. "Love ya!"
He was gone just as quickly, leaving Ellie and Sarah alone.
Sarah sagged against the couch. "I'm just tired, Ellie. Tomorrow is this final hurdle to getting what I've been working for since I was practically a kid. I'm so stressed about it. I feel like everything hinges on it. My path forward in the magazine business, where I go from here." All of the shit she'd been through, the hurdles she'd had to clear to erase the stain of her father's misdeeds from her existence, cutting the ties to his name, and creating her own persona—one that could actually succeed in the world, not through lies, manipulation, and cheating, but with honest, legal work she could be proud of.
She was tired of getting tossed to the side, not just by men, but by virtually everyone, everything. No matter how hard she tried to fit into her place in the world, it was like she was the misshapen piece of the puzzle that never quite fit with any of the other pieces. The ugly duckling, so to speak. Always apart from the world.
That wasn't something she would ever tell anyone, though. Not even Ellie Bartowski, the person who knew more about her than anyone ever had. It sounded trivial, trite, dramatic. Even in her own head. It would sound even worse if she said it out loud.
"I know, Sarah," the doctor said, squeezing her hand again. "It's going to be okay no matter what happens."
"Tell you what, having a date tomorrow would really ease at least some of the stress."
"The kid next door has some sort of pet gerbil. You could take it. Set it on the little dinner plate and let it eat Zeke's dinner."
Sarah cracked up. "Shut up. I'm serious. The guy I have on my arm is going to make a huge difference. That's why I invited a fuckin' lawyer from the DA's office."
"Maybe you could just drug everyone."
They both laughed as the door to the apartment was swept open again.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "What'd you forget nowwww?" she called over her shoulder, turning her head.
Sarah followed her gaze to the door, and a head of curly dark hair popped out from behind it, brown eyes wide, lips pressed into a thin line. She froze, but only for a split second, not nearly enough for anyone to notice.
"I didn't forget anything, sis. I just wanted to know if you had red onion I could borrow for my omelet."
"Oh! It's you!" Ellie chuckled, turning to face Chuck better. But then she stopped. "An omelet? Chuck, are you only now eating breakfast? It's the middle of the afternoon. I know you like to sleep in, but this is pushing it."
"If you must know, I was at work." He made a snippy face, stepping all the way into the apartment. And that was when Ellie stood up to greet him, which brought his attention down to Sarah. A smile spread over his face immediately and he lifted his hand in a slight wave. Sarah merely smiled back, a genuine smile, one that reached far inside of her and made her blood pulsate.
"Sarah! Hi."
"Hi, Chuck."
"How are ya?" he asked, folding his hands together in front of him and playing with his fingers.
"Okay." Ellie gave her a bit of a look. She read it loud and clear. Liar. She gave her a look back. Leave me alone. "How are you?"
"Good. Pretty good. Hungry, but can't really complain too much about that." He chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets.
But then he must've felt that something was off because he furrowed his brow a bit and stepped further into the room, taking a few steps to the side so that he could come around the couch. Maybe he had the same observant and perceptive super powers that his sister had. And she inwardly smirked wondering if he'd be proud that she'd just inserted "super" in front of powers.
"So what's going on here?"
"Just chatting," Ellie provided, walking up to him and slinging her arm over his shoulder, pulling him in for a side hug. "Sarah came over after her last day of work before her vacation to chill. That's all."
Sarah outwardly smirked this time, knowing Ellie was following her lead even if she did give her that look when Chuck first came in.
"I'm nervous about my work's Christmas Eve party tomorrow night."
"You're nervous about a party?" He raised his eyebrows and walked closer. She noticed that he didn't sit on the coffee table to be close and comforting the way Devon had. And she thought if he knew everything, he probably would. That was who he was.
But he didn't know, so instead he sat in the nearby recliner that was facing the couch. Ellie plopped back down on the couch again.
"It's a party," he said with a shrug, the corner of his lips turning up. "What's so scary about a party? Just remember not to drink the punch and you'll be fine." He lifted a scholarly finger.
Ellie clicked her tongue in annoyance, giving him a dirty look.
Sarah giggled. "He doesn't know, Ellie. I never told him about the…" She sighed. "…potential…um, promotion."
Chuck's eyes popped and he sat up straight, his slipper-wearing feet thumping emphatically against the floor in front of him. "Promotion? You're getting a promotion? You didn't tell me that! Holy shit, Sarah, that's amazing! Congratu—"
"It isn't a sure thing," she interrupted, holding up her hand. "I'm just one of the names being floated for editor-in-chief."
"EDITOR-IN-CHIEF! Wow. Sarah, that's—Wow." He clapped his hands together, looking so genuinely happy, brimming with it, that it almost cured her hurt insides wholesale. God, he was so sweet. "But obviously you're the favorite to get it," Chuck said, thrusting his hand out and shrugging as if what he'd just said was a foregone conclusion. And this was part of what made her come back over and over and over again over the last two years since she first interviewed neurosurgeon Eleanor Bartowski in her office at Westside Medical for a piece she was doing on the heroes here at home, wasn't it?
It felt like home, being around this much sincerity—pure and unadulterated sincerity. They didn't just say things to be nice, they meant them. And they meant them about her. That just hadn't been a part of her existence before she met the Bartowskis. A home hadn't really been a part of her existence, either. Not since she was a kid. And even the rare memories she had of her childhood were fraught with arguments and yelling she couldn't shut out even when she smothered her head under her pillow.
"This is so exciting, Sarah! No wonder you're nervous. I get being nervous, but I'm sure you're a shoo-in. You write pure gold. And you've gotten awards, too. They're going to want an award-winning journalist as the ROAM Magazine editor-in-chief. Come on." He was so sure of what he'd just said, she could see it in every facet of him. In his face, in the way he sat even. She could hug him. But she…refrained.
"That's what I told her," Ellie said, shrugging. "In not so many words."
"Well, thank you. But I'm not as sure as you two are."
"What's new?" Chuck drawled, giving her a half-serious chastising look. "But that's what we're here for."
She giggled, shaking her head at both of the Bartowskis.
But then Ellie sat up, as if something had just occurred to her, and she waved her arm out towards her brother who now melted back against the recliner as if he was just as at home here as he was in his own apartment. "Sarah, oh my God. Why didn't I think of this before? Duh!"
Sarah blinked, then turned to look at Chuck's confused frown, before she looked back to Ellie again. "Uh…w-what?" she asked slowly. "Think of what?"
"The Soiree, Sarah." Sarah still wasn't figuring it out. "You need to bring someone with you."
Sarah blinked.
"You need a date for tomorrow night? I offer you my brother."
A/N: Zeke ruined his whole damn life with one stupid text message, and for what? FOR WHAT? It's fine. It's better this way.
More soon!
-SC