Chapter Eleven
Kat suddenly found herself in another place. She did a slow spin and looked around the bar she was now standing in, wondering where she was. There was soft music playing from the jukebox. This place had a different energy to it and she realized she was no longer on earth. It was some sort of replica of a bar from earth. She noticed one of the booths was occupied and she couldn't see who it was, only his arm. She did see a coffee cup sitting on the table that said 'Worlds greatest dad'.
She slowly walked over to the strange man whispering a soft "Hello?" As she came closer he turned, giving her a smile and a wave. Her eyes widened in confusion. "What is this place?" she asked him. "It's a bar." He replied simply. "This isn't just a bar." She responded looking around. "Its something else. Somewhere else." He smiled and took off his glasses, setting them on the table. He looked to be in his late thirties with, mousy brown hair and a kind smile. He looked cute, in a nerdy sort of way. She had so many questions spinning around in her head, she didn't even know where to begin. He was just staring at her, waiting.
Kat cleared her throat, unsure of what to say. He gestured towards the bar and offered "Help yourself, its an open bar." She might actually need it, she thought to herself. She obediently walked over to the bar and poured herself a scotch while trying to collect her thoughts, then returned to the table. She slid into the booth across from him, took a sip from her glass and set it down on a coaster. "Okay, so.. who exactly are you?" she was finally brave enough to ask.
He grinned widely before saying "Oh that's right, I forget. People can't see me unless I want them to." He sighed. "It's all very confusing. Here, visual aid. Put them on. It will help. Just do it. It's a whole thing. " He said quickly, handing her a pair of sunglasses. She awkwardly took them, slowly sliding them onto her face and looked at him waiting. He gestured with his finger as if flicking a light switch. She could now see beyond his physical form. Bright, swirling light poured out of him. It WAS him. He was the light! It was beautiful, powerful and glorious even. She was overwhelmed by his energy.
She stared at him in shock with her mouth open. "Are you.. God?" She asked slowly. He just smiled wider in response. Her jaw dropped as she stared. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that. Should I kneel?" she asked quickly, getting up out of the booth. He turned off his glow and got up as well, holding out a hand to stop her. "Oh no. That stuff always made me deeply, deeply uncomfortable. Just don't use the G-word, okay? Just.. Just call me Chuck." She stared at him. He smiled and nodded his head. "Chuck." He repeated softly.
"Okay, first of all.. Chuck.. I want to apologise. As you probably know im not exactly a church goer, I don't really pray ever, and in all honesty I could drink a bit less. If you brought me here to punish me or something.." Chuck held out a hand. "Oh no, nothing like that. You're actually one of my favorites."
Kat looked at him in surprise. "Okay?.." She nodded slowly, looking nervous. Kat tossed the sunglasses back on the table and tried to figure out how to approach God himself. She was never really religious, but it was God. She had so many questions, she didn't know where to begin. "So your The God..Chuck.. Wow. I have so much to ask you." "Please do." He encouraged her, smiling patiently. She remembered Sam mentioning that heaven wasn't quite what it used to be since God had been MIA and it had sparked her curiosity. She thought of her first question. "You haven't been in heaven for a long time. Where have you been? Can I even ask that?"
"Oh yeah. I have been super busy. Yeah, I travelled. Mhmm. I started a blog. Mostly just pictures of cats. They're so cute." Chuck paused, laughing. "And uh, I signed up for snapchat." He said excitedly. "And I started writing a new series of books. Yeah. Revolution." He paused a moment. "Mm I don't think it's going anywhere."
So he had been on earth? She wondered what would possess him to leave everything behind and live amongst humans. "Okay so what made you become Chuck? I mean you're God!" She exclaimed. He looked at her like the answer was obvious. "Because I like front row seats. I figured I'd hide out in plain sight. You know?.. Plus, you know, acting is fun."
"So you have just been around, on earth, the whole time? Why are you HERE?" She asked and gestured around the bar. "Why did you bring ME here?" Kat asked. Chuck gave her a small smile and began walking away. She followed slowly behind him. "Do you know what humanities greatest achievement is?. Music! That and nacho cheese. Even I couldn't have dreamt up that deliciousness." He said excitedly turning back to her. "But music.. is magic." He said softer. "A lot of the worlds greatest music was created right here. BGs Canteen. Now, it's not as well-known as The Bitter End or The Gaslight, but some amazing musicians got their start on this stage. I'm here, hoping I can tap into some of that magic and finish what I started a few months ago." Chuck pointed at a table where she found a stack of printed pages. The top page is titled 'God, an autobiography'.
"You wrote an autobiography?" She asked in disbelief. "Ish. But, I don't know. Something's missing. I'm uh stuck, I guess." Kat picked up the stack. "And you want MY advice?" he nodded, smiling. She didn't know why in all of earth, he wanted HER advice. She wasn't a scholar, a writer, or an editor by any means. But when God asks you for a favor.. She sat down at the booth, slid a page off of the stack and began to read. Chuck hovered behind her, watching over her shoulder. "Are you in a hurry?" She asked him after a few minutes, making him chuckle. He slid into the booth opposite her and clasped his hands in front of him. "So.. what do you think so far?" He asked her. She smiled tightly and nodded. "Its great, I love it." She said. "Oh no, you hate it!" he replied. "no." She began to argue. "Oh come on. The last time I saw that look on an editors face, I had just handed in Bugs. It's okay, this is a safe place. What do you really think?"
Kat thought about it. "Well, I think the details are what make a story great. This is just lacking some details.. Like all of them." "What do you mean?" he grabbed the first page. "In the beginning there was me. There details. What a grabber. I'm hooked and I was THERE." "Okay but who were you with? Where were you? What were you doing? Thinking? Feeling?.. Details." Chuck snorted and crossed his arms waiting for her to continue reading. He didn't seem to take criticism well and she worried about upsetting him. Although he did say he wanted her honest opinion. So she kept reading. Hours passed. When she was finished she set the last page back on the stack and sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. She needed another drink. Chuck followed, as Kat walked to the bar and poured another scotch. "That bad?" he asked.
"No, there's some great bones in there. It just.. lacks balance maybe. It doesn't answer the big questions. There are certain things you give too much real estate." Chuck waited for her to elaborate. "Like all your chapters about being chuck." Chuck looked utterly offended. He started pacing as he spoke. "Hey I did some pretty great stuff as Chuck. You read about my cat blog?! I travelled a lot.. And uh I dated. Yeah.. I had some boyfriends, some girlfriends, your mother. Oh, and I learned to play guitar." He said, quickly hopping up on stage and grabbing an acoustic off of a stand, and settling into one of the chairs. "Well, I didn't so much learn. I gifted myself the ability."
She froze in place, staring after him. "Wait. What did you say about my mother?!!!" "Oh yeah, I'm your dad." He said nonchalantly. "You were about to find out anyways so I figured now would be a good time to meet." He strummed the strings of his guitar, beginning a little tune. Kat was in shock. She just stared at Chuck while he closed his eyes smiling serenely and playing his music as if nothing could ever bother him.