AN1 Thanks for the feedback for the last chapter. I hope you're all having a good week! NFL is back this weekend! Hell yeah!

New Beginnings

Chapter Three

Sarah ran a cloth over the surfaces behind the counter in the Orange Orange. Bored out of her mind due to a lack of custom, her stomach started to growl repeatedly in hunger.

Try not to think about it. I have no choice but to wait until I finish work before I can eat. A hungry stomach is a small price to pay to have seen that heart-warming moment between Chuck and the young ballerina. He made her feel so special. His girlfriend, if he has one, and he inevitably must, is a very lucky woman

Sarah continued with her task for a few minutes until she was alerted to someone arriving at the store. Looking up in the direction of the entrance, her gaze connected onto Chuck, who had entered the shop. In his hand, he was carrying a bag from Lou's Deli, and he was grinning at her with a smile that was simply from out of this world.

"Chuck, what a surprise," she said as a smile lit up her features.

"I was feeling kind of bad that you had wasted your lunch waiting on a phone repair, Sarah," he said as he arrived in her vicinity, and he stopped just in front of the counter.

"Chuck, it really was ok. I only have a few more hours until I finish work," she tried to protest.

He shook his head. "Sarah, nevertheless, I couldn't shake it from my mind, so I went to Lou's Deli and got you a sandwich. I hope you'll like it, 'cause it's my favorite," he said, donning a massive grin towards her.

Sarah suppressed a laugh as her face erupted with a radiant smile. His gesture towards me is the kindest, most adorable thing ever

"In that case, would you like to share it with me?" she offered.

Chuck turned uneasy as he started to grimace, and he broke eye contact with her. "Uh, I'm not sure, Sarah. I'm a little pressed for time, and I wouldn't want to intrude," he said, though Sarah sensed that there was another reason that he hadn't disclosed as to why he was reluctant to sit down with her.

Not feeling dissuaded by Chuck's reluctance, she crossed her arms, and she said, "Chuck, please?"

Chuck raised his gaze to make eye contact with her again, and she conveyed her desire to want to eat with him with a persuasive look towards his person.

"Ah, screw it. How could I resist such an amazing offer? Especially after that look you just gave me," he said as a grin returned to his face.

Sarah matched his grin, but she raised it as she gave him an adoring smile.

She promptly departed from behind the counter, and she moved with Chuck to sit at a table facing each other.

"So, Chuck, tell me about yourself and how you came to owning the Buy More," Sarah said with their relocation complete, and Sarah started to unpack the contents of the bag that Chuck had brought.

Chuck nodded as he laughed briefly. "Yeah, um, well, where to begin?" he paused as his brows sunk into a frown, but he soon continued on. "I took a scholarship at Stanford University in computer engineering. While I was at Stanford, instead of engaging in hacking and building my own computer game like the cool kids, I took the boring approach, putting all of my efforts instead into founding my own company. Heh," he stopped briefly, and he proceeded to grin towards her. He was obviously looking for encouragement from her for him to continue on.

Sarah found his nervous personality to be an exceptionally cute one, and she did not consider his awkwardness to be unsettling. On the contrary, it only served to make her feel completely at ease around him. She giggled as she beamed him an affectionate smile and waited in silence to encourage him to continue.

"So, yeah, that company became a reality, and I gave it a fitting name for a nerd. The Nerd Herd, heh," he chuckled.

Sarah snorted as a full smile took shape. "Wow, so the Nerd Herd is yours?"

Chuck started to chuckle. "It sure is. I created the initial foundations of the company while I was in my final year of High School, and as soon as I arrived at Stanford, I applied the finishing touches. I've always been good around technology, and I knew that working in that specific field was my natural habitat. While I was at Stanford, in my free time outside of studies, I performed many remote repairs for multiple reputable companies, and slowly but surely, my company attracted interest from investors and clients alike."

The passion and enthusiasm that Chuck had for his work were unmistakable for Sarah to misread. "You're very successful. In my final year of High School, I was just thinking about prom," Sarah laughed.

Chuck shared the laughter with her. "Prom was the last thing in my mind back then, Sarah," he said.

Holding her friendly gaze towards him, she asked, "Why?

Chuck turned nervous as he started to play with his arm. "I'm not really good with relationships," he said.

Sarah shook her head in a sudden moment of surprise, and she looked on pensively towards him. "I doubt anybody was good at relationships at that age, Chuck. Have you gotten any better with that as you've matured?" she asked.

He shook his head as he suppressed a laugh, and she smiled sympathetically towards him. "I'm sorry," she said.

Chuck met her glance once more. "It's ok. I don't really date all that much. My career keeps me busy. I'm a career-driven guy, plus I have Lucy. She's my baby," he declared with a loving grin.

The warm emotions present on her face towards him held. "I know that feeling. I feel the same way towards my baby, too," she laughed.

He nodded, suppressing laughter. "I think they liked each other," he said.

"Yeah, I think they did," she said, nodding. "But it sounds like you had to really earn your success with hard work, Chuck."

He laughed. "God, I did," he said, shaking his head.

Sarah giggled sweetly.

"If someone told me success was easy, then I would laugh in their face. The only easy success is the success that you're born into. But enough about me. Tell me about yourself," he said, holding his friendly glance.

Sarah turned fidgety as she brushed her tank top, and she broke her gaze with him. Looking back at him a few seconds later, she said, "Um, there's not much to tell about me," her tone filled with apprehension over sharing her modest life with a very successful Stanford graduate who owned his own company.

"Nonsense, Sarah," he said instantly. "I hope you won't mind me saying this, but you strike me as someone very intelligent, extremely beautiful, and for someone so young, you seem to have a great degree of independence and a free-thinking mind."

Sarah broke eye contact with him, and her gaze hit the floor. She felt her cheeks reddening as she started to blush. For someone not good at relationships and not dating that much, he sure knew how to compliment and make a girl feel good about herself.

Glancing back at him, she shyly said, "Thank you," as she played with her arm.

"So tell me about yourself then. Are you planning on going to college? What's the deal in regards to that?" he inquired, holding his gaze on toward her.

Crossing her arms, Sarah took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Um, the thought of going to college has not entered my mind. I left San Diego to move on from something, and I came here intending to go straight into a job, and that's what I did. It doesn't pay much, but I'm happy," she said, looking at him as she waited with bated breath to hear his response in the hope that he approved of the choices she had made, which was somewhat concerning for her as he was a stranger.

Grinning, he said, "You look happy."

Sarah gave him her biggest smile yet as she flashed her teeth towards him for a long moment.

"But Sarah, if I can speak freely, there's nothing wrong with not going to college. If we're lucky, we're limited to seventy, maybe eighty years in our lives before we die. You should live each moment of that the way you want to live it, and not the way others expect you to. So long as you are happy, that's all that matters. Everything else is just noise. Keep doing what you want to do, and if that's not college, then good for you. Nobody should hold that against you, and if they do, then they aren't worth your time," he said.

Her breath caught as her eyes started to sparkle, and she raised a hand up to play with her neck. "Chuck, that was the most sincere thing that anybody has ever said to me," she declared with a lot of emotion in her voice.

Grinning, he said, "Sarah, that's because I meant every word I said. You have been really nice to me too. I'm usually not good talking to women, but for some reason, I just feel so at ease around you."

Sarah suppressed sweet laughter. "Chuck, I feel really comfortable around you too. I'm usually not good at talking to guys," she said.

"Sarah, I won't come out with any clichés such as you're too beautiful, so you should be confident talking with people. But wow, most guys would do anything to be able to just have a conversation with you, and if you smiled at them, then that would be it. They'd probably drop dead on the spot. Heh," he chuckled.

Sarah broke her gaze from him as she started to blush profusely once more, and she didn't know where to look because she didn't know how to register his compliment. After all, firstly, she was already in a relationship, and secondly, she found the guy sitting facing her very appealing to speak with and to look at.

Sensing Sarah's embarrassment, Chuck spoke once more. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm probably, absolutely, overstepping the boundaries of making friendly conversation with you. You're already in a relationship, and I've no intention of coming between that, not that I'd even have a chance anyway if I thought of doing something like that, which I would never. Heh."

Sarah rose her gaze to look into his chocolate eyes once more. "Chuck, it's ok. I know that you're just being friendly with me," she said in reassurance.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sarah locked the doors to the Orange Orange with the shop closed for the evening.

Nobody had come into the Orange Orange during the time Sarah had spent eating lunch with Chuck.

By the time he had departed, it was more than an hour after he had entered. In Sarah's opinion, Chuck was funny, kind, warm, considerate, compassionate, most charming, and cute as hell. Frankly, he was the most amazing man she had ever met, and that wasn't an exaggeration.

The woman who was lucky to have him, and she was beyond convinced that someone would, would be resoundingly blessed. If love was a pack of cards, then Chuck would be one of the best of the bunch, and whoever was given that golden ticket should thank all of their lucky stars for being blessed with such a perfect package.

Meeting Chuck when she had been at that park three days ago and the encounters with him throughout today had unquestionably opened her eyes in regards to the men with whom she shared this world. Concerning the topic of men at least, Sarah had minimal experience on that subject by her own admission. Firstly, there was her father. There was not much to be idolized and respected in that regard. In addition to her father, the only other man that had been in her life was her boyfriend.

Daniel Shaw was not the greatest guy that Sarah could have met. That revelation, of course, was not suddenly a new piece of information for her to have uncovered just because she had met Chuck. While Sarah was indeed young, and also extremely inexperienced in interactions with other human beings, she was not naïve. Sarah knew all of the sweet-talking that her boyfriend did was just for the sex from her. Daniel Shaw, plainly speaking, wanted her body and what was inside of her pants. He was not in love with her. She already knew that without asking, and she was most certainly not in love with him. However, despite knowing that they would never be America's best couple, Sarah still appreciated and held loyalty to him. He was there for her when Burbank and its surrounding area was a very intimidating place for her. And he gave her safety in a world that was a very confusing place, and she would always be thankful for that.

Moving towards her car, she entered it, and she drove the short distance back to her apartment.

Entering her property, her loyal companion and her best friend let out a high pitched whine as Charlie ran to Sarah, and he jumped up at her.

Laughing affectionately, Sarah moved to sit on the floor of her apartment, and she hugged and kissed her best friend.

"I missed you, baby," she said affectionately to Charlie.

Charlie continued to whimper in extreme excitement as he licked away at Sarah's face, and she continued to laugh in absolute joy and happiness.

After a long moment, the thought to take Charlie out to the park entered her mind.

Gazing adoringly at him, she said, "Let's go walkies."

Charlie instantly started to tilt his head as the canine's mind registered its favorite word before it leapt at Sarah, which caused her to tumble back, and she fell as her back landed on the floor.

Laughing at her best friend's actions, Sarah soon picked herself up, and she departed with Charlie to head to Echo Park.

Arriving at the park sometime later, the companions entered it together.

I wonder if Chuck will be here this evening. This was around the time when I first met him a few days ago. I hope he is. Charlie got on so well with Lucy, and I'd quite like to continue talking with him some more

Sarah walked deeper into the park with Charlie at her side as her glance scanned around the park in search of Chuck and the loveable German Shepherd.

After a few minutes of walking, she paused in place, and Charlie stopped with her. "It looks like it's just us tonight," she declared as her lips creased in sadness.

Charlie's ears lifted as it attempted to interpret his owner's words.

Smiling at him, she revealed his ball in her hand, and the canine locked its glance onto Sarah's hand.

"Go fetch, baby," she said affectionately as she threw the ball to another location, and Charlie rushed to collect his ball…

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sarah closed her laptop with her job searching for the evening at an end. Sinking her gaze, she looked at the floor in despondence at yet another unsuccessful day in her attempts to find a new career.

In under a week today, Sarah would be jobless. The countless emails she had sent applying for a job, any job, had so far came back fruitless. Sarah could accept rejection, but the least she thought she could receive is a response telling her that her application had not been considered. It was the uncertainty of whether her applications had even been bothered to be read that hurt her the most.

It was late evening, and her boyfriend should have been home from work several hours ago. She had already tried calling him once, but he had not answered her call.

He had never been home this late before, nor had he ignored her call. Sighing to herself in an attempt to shake off her worry about her boyfriend and her despondence over her job searching, Sarah departed for her bedroom to change into her nightwear.

Sarah had finished changing when she heard the door to her apartment opening. Her boyfriend and herself were the only ones with a key. Nevertheless, she promptly departed the bedroom to ascertain who had entered her home.

Walking deeper into her apartment, her glance connected onto her boyfriend.

Sarah smiled at him as she walked towards him, and as she arrived in his vicinity, she could smell alcohol on him.

Gazing at him, he appeared spaced out, and he was undeniably intoxicated.

"I tried calling you several hours ago. I've been worried. Where have you been?" she asked him.

"I got fired at work because the grade-A asshole that so happened to be my boss didn't like what I had to say to him in an argument," he slurred.

Sarah broke her gaze from him because of the offensive language that he had used. She was not used to somebody speaking like that to her. "I'm sorry," she said.

"He was a smug prick. I felt like punching him," he said, shaking his head in frustration.

Sarah became extremely uncomfortable by his comments. She was sure it was the alcohol he had consumed, but he had never spoken like this to her before, and she didn't know how to react to it. "I'm not used to hearing you speak like this, Daniel," she said.

"Well, I've never been fired before," he said.

"I know. But you'll find another job. It's not the end of the world," she said.

He ignored her as he brushed past her, and he made his way towards the kitchen area.

Gazing at the back of him as he walked away from her, she stepped closer to him.

"You could have called me to say you were staying out. It's really late, and like I said, I've been really worried about you for the past few hours," she said softly.

He turned to face her, and he shook his head as Sarah observed frustration start to seep out from his features.

"Sarah, I've just been fired! I don't need this inquisition right now!" he snapped.

Sarah arched herself back to query the change in personality from her boyfriend. She had spent the whole evening worrying about him, and this is how she was treated for doing it?

"I was only worried about you. If I didn't let you know where I was and that I would be home late, then you would have done the same," she protested.

Her boyfriend remained in a state of irritation towards her. "I would have thought that you would be at least a little sympathetic to the fact that I've just been fired! I don't need you down my ear right now!" he shouted at her.

A feeling of anger started to consume Sarah. She did not deserve to be treated this way by him. She was only concerned about where he was. She didn't consider herself to be in an argument with him, but if that's the way he wanted it…

"Ok, fine! Do what you want! You don't need to explain yourself to me! Clearly, I'm unworthy of receiving an explanation! Good night!" she shouted back at him as she shook her head in frustration, and she quickly stormed off to her bedroom, and she slammed the door shut.

Rushing to her bed, she yanked back the covers, and she threw the duvet over her face as she started to shake her head in an attempt to clear her rising frustration over the treatment of her by her boyfriend…

AN2 Next chapter: Chuck comes back to the Orange Orange with a taste for frozen yoghurt. Maybe it's just an excuse so he can talk to her again, though. Yeah, I'd absolutely say it's an excuse just to talk to her again! Haha! Also, Sarah gets a job offer. And more!

AN3 Are you still liking New Beginnings? Leave a review and let me know :)