Chapter 5 – Wind Shift
A/N: I had good intentions of getting this out last night, but I got home too late from, guess…flying :)
I'm going to tell you up front that I pivoted a little in how much time will be spent in Chicago. It won't be much.
I again want to thank nevr for being my beta. I like to throw ideas and thoughts at him and he never disappoints. Thank you my friend. And to my wife for the final read through. My wife taught high school English and Theater before we had our boys. When she graded papers at school she never used red ink. She doesn't with me either. Her color of choice is green. A little fact that I wanted to share.
Nevr suggested I have some terms for this chapter since I get a little technical on their departure out of Burbank. I'm keeping the terms on basic side because I really don't want your eyes to glaze over before the story actually starts. That would be bad.
Glossary:
FBO – Fixed Based Operator – I liked this definition the best: fbo-meaning/
APU – auxiliary power unit – provides electrical and pneumatic power to the plane. Electrical is self-explanatory, pneumatic would be the heating and cooling of the cabin. There are other reasons for it, but this is another level of technical.
Arrivals/Departures – At major airports there are arrival and departure "gates" to get to the airport. To keep it simple and what is mentioned in the story, a RNAV departure is a set up GPS waypoints in the sky that the jet must cross, unless ATC directs otherwise, that creates an orderly traffic flow when exiting the airport environment. The departures can be as simple as turns right after takeoff, or in the case of the one mentioned, one hundred and eighty miles.
I will mention that there is a part in the story where there is only one pilot in the cockpit. Per the FAA regulations, if the jet is above 35,000 feet and only one pilot is in the cockpit, they are required to wear a mask. That is not spelled out in the story and I'll leave it to the reader whether the lonely pilot is wearing one or not.
As always, I do not own Chuck or am I getting any type of payment for it, but if I did, hmm, let me get back to you on that.
As he went through the doors of the FBO on his way to the jet, Chuck lifted his face to the late-morning sky. The heat on his face was a reminder of what he wouldn't be feeling the next few days while he was in Chicago. It was going to be a cold weekend in The Windy City.
Chuck unlocked the baggage compartment and put his suitcase inside. He also plugged in both ship batteries that powered the Sovereign. He took his time walking around the wing to soak up as much heat as he could. As excited as he was to go on this trip, this time of year he preferred a more tropical destination. He shook his head realizing how selfish he was being.
Chuck climbed the air-stairs to the main cabin door. He placed his flight bag on the two-place divan and leaned into the cockpit to turn on the main batteries. The aircraft systems powered up to do their initial self-tests and at the same time, Chuck verified that there was seven thousand pounds of fuel onboard and the oil levels showed normal. After he pushed a couple more buttons to confirm everything passed, he pushed the battery buttons again to turn everything off. Chuck proceeded to do his preflight walk-around, checking control surfaces, verifying there were no obstructions, hydraulic levels were normal, and various other checks.
He glanced at his watch: 12:10. Chuck just had to pay the fuel bill and get their clearance for their flight to Chicago Executive airport. It was decided earlier in the week that 1pm would be the departure time, since the Bamboo Dragon didn't open until noon for Morgan to pick up the shrimp dish.
He had time. He hadn't contacted Sarah since they had last seen each other Sunday night and wanted to hear from her in some form.
Chuck got his phone out and texted Sarah, "Hi! Enjoying yourself in New York?" He climbed back into the plane to get the credit card to pay for the fuel and headed back to the FBO.
His phone vibrated. It was her. After paying the fuel bill he read the text. "Hi! It's good to hear from you! New York has been fine. We are staying near Central Park so Carina and I have been able to run the last few days even though it has been cold. Ate at a couple of nice restaurants so far and Carina dragged me to a club last night."
Chuck felt a pang of jealously about the club part, though he shouldn't. Any male attracted to the opposite sex would very much be mesmerized by the beauty of Sarah Walker. "Did you behave yourself? Wink emoji"
"Always, Chuck. Are you inferring something?"
No emoji, never good. Chuck was already backed into a corner. He was pretty sure Sarah was messing with him, but you never want to assume. He jumped when his phone buzzed.
"Yes, I am messin' with you, lol."
"Miss Walker, you must have known what you just did to me there."
"I did, that's why I saved you. :)" She quickly followed with another text. "To answer your question, I really did behave myself. A few guys tried to hit on me, but I made it clear that I wasn't interested. It is one of the reasons why I don't like going because I'm rarely left alone. You should come with us sometime, that way I won't get hit on."
Chuck wasn't sure if he wanted to address what Sarah had just said about going with her to a club, so he played it safe. "I am not a good dancer."
"Lol. That's okay, Chuck. I can teach you."
Chuck shook his head as thoughts of going to a club and dancing with Sarah filled his head. "How about we go out for Mexican or burgers or something first, then we can go to a club sometime?"
There was a pause and Chuck was about to send a text walking back what he had just said to her when he saw her start typing. "Ok"
What did she mean? 'Ok' was vague. "Ok. As in, 'Ok yes' or 'Ok I'll think about it'?"
"Ok yes"
"I don't want to push you."
"Chuck. Yes."
A huge grin appeared on his face. He looked and saw that she was typing again.
"I have a big smile on my face."
"I do too."
"You need to get going, don't you leave soon?"
"Yes I do. Bye!"
"Bye!"
Chuck had to focus. But he was going on a date at some point with SARAH WALKER. He shook his head to pull himself out of his cloud-9 state. He climbed into the jet, fired up the APU, did more checks, listened to the current weather, and then called clearance delivery to get his route from Burbank to Chicago. As Chuck finished entering the route and performance numbers into the FMS, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Devon and Ellie had pulled up in their SUV.
After quickly doing a once-over of the flight deck, Chuck crawled out of the cockpit to help with all the food that Ellie had made as well as help Morgan with the shrimp trays from the restaurant.
"How many people are coming on this trip again?" Chuck jokingly asked the group. "I don't think the plane can carry as many people as we have food for." The group snickered as they looked at the piles of food in the plane.
"Well, us Bartowskis know how to throw a party, whether on the ground or on a plane, apparently." Ellie got a sheepish look while directing her comment at Chuck.
"Bro, I'm pretty sure the Volkoffs will have no problem with what we brought," Devon added, thinking that Chuck was serious.
Chuck came up next to Devon and put his around him. With a serious a look on he said, "Devon. It's you or the food. Something has to stay behind." Devon's eyes popped as he looked between Morgan and Ellie. It wasn't until he felt Chuck laughing against him that he realized what Chuck had done and pushed him away.
Slightly embarrassed at how easily Chuck fooled him, Devon laughed as he shoved him away, "Get out of here, punk."
Chuck fell away, acting as though Devon shoved him hard. With a faux expression of pain on his face, he winced, "I'm not sure I can fly the plane now that I've been assaulted by my own brother-in-law."
"Such a drama queen," Ellie piped in. "Do you need help with anything else before the Volkoffs come?"
"We're good. They should be here in ten minutes." Morgan poked his head in the jet. "Morgan, did you review the flight plan and make sure I plugged in everything correctly in the FMS?"
"Everything looks good, Chuck. I just want to get airborne so we can eat."
"Is it safety first? Or your belly first? Morgan?" Chuck asked, shaking his head.
Morgan stroked his beard. "I'm not sure, Chuck, that's a pretty tough question."
When the 'CABIN DOOR OPEN' message extinguished Chuck knew that Morgan had just closed the door. While Morgan got everyone situated in back, Chuck started up the right engine, waiting for it to spool up to the proper RPMs before introducing fuel. The start sequence of the Sovereign is one of the longest because it is the largest engine that is started electrically, not pneumatically. Chuck watched the internal temperature of the engine rapidly rise and made sure it stayed within limits while it spun up. More lights went out on the screen, indicating that the startup sequence had finished on the right engine.
Chuck felt a tap. It was Morgan. "You ready for me to come up?"
He leaned over to give Morgan room to climb into his seat. Chuck looked past Morgan into the cabin and asked, "Everything good back there?"
"Pretty sure Ellie and Devon didn't even pay attention to the safety brief I gave them," Morgan quipped as he rolled his eyes.
Chuck laughed through his nose as he looked over at Morgan. "Don't we all ignore the safety brief, Morgan?"
"You're not supposed to say that out loud." He glanced towards the back and then again at Chuck. "But it is true."
Chuck shook his head as he repeated the startup procedure on the left engine. After the engine stabilized Chuck called for the 'Before Taxi Checklist'. Morgan verbally ran through the checklist, Chuck confirmed items where appropriate.
Chuck started to put his headset on and saw that Morgan was too. "I'm ready when you are, Morgan."
"Sounds good." Morgan keyed the mic, "Good morning Burbank Ground, this 884 Hotel Juliet from Atlantic ready to taxi with information Delta."
The female voice of a good friend of theirs, Sam, came across the airwaves. "884 Hotel Juliet, this is Burbank Ground, good morning! Delta is current. From Atlantic taxi to runway 33 via Delta 8, cross runway 26 at Delta 8, Charlie 8, Charlie, Golf, hold short of runway 33."
Chuck released the brakes and pushed the throttles forward enough to get the jet moving. He heard Morgan read the taxi instructions back to Sam as he watched the ground marshal guide them from their parking spot, making sure they cleared the other aircraft parked around them.
While they taxied out to the runway, Morgan continued to run through the 'Before Takeoff Checklist'. Chuck briefed the departure with Morgan to make sure they were on the same page once they took off. After running through the checklist, Sam told them to monitor tower and bid them a safe flight.
Morgan switched over to the tower frequency and waited to hear from tower. Chuck looked back. He caught Alexei's eye and received a thumbs up to confirm they were ready to go, a routine that the left-seat pilot had with him.
Suddenly the radio came alive. "884 Hotel Juliet, you up on tower?"
Chuck gave Morgan a nod to confirm that they were ready to go before Morgan talked to tower. "884 Hotel Juliet, holding short runway 33, ready to go."
"884 Hotel Juliet, fly the RNAV Slapp departure, Hailo transition, runway 33, cleared for takeoff."
"RNAV Slapp, Hailo, cleared for takeoff runway 33, 884 Hotel Juliet."
Chuck released the brake and steered the jet onto the runway. "Confirm runway 33."
"I see 33. Let's go."
Chuck pushed the throttles to takeoff power. The engines spooled up and the jet quickly began to accelerate down the runway. Chuck heard Morgan call out speeds and then "Rotate." Chuck pulled back on the yoke until he felt the front landing gear lift off the ground and then relaxed a little so the jet didn't "launch" off the ground. He prided himself in finesse when it came to flying the jet and used techniques that made sure the passengers were safe as well as comfortable.
Once the main landing gears left the safety of earth, a lot happened that was typical with every takeoff. Gear up, flaps up, yaw dampener on, autopilot on…Chuck could do the routine in his sleep. It was a well-oiled machine between him and Morgan. Fifteen minutes later, the jet leveled off at 39,000 feet, accelerating to 515 miles per hour.
"I'm going to hop in back and help with the food, if you're okay with that?" Morgan asked, already unbuckled.
"Of course, just save something for me," Chuck bumped Morgan as he took his headphones off.
Morgan bumped him back and grinned, "We'll see."
Over the next hours Chuck and Morgan rotated flying duties so the other could join the everyone else in back to eat. It wasn't normal for them to not be both in the cockpit, but this wasn't a normal flight as Ellie and Awesome were on the plane. Both of them had come up front to check out Chuck's "office" and couldn't believe all the information that was displayed in front of them. Ellie had never been on a flight with Chuck and saw him in his "pilot hat" as she liked to say. Chuck could see that his sister was proud of him. But didn't hug him or do anything to embarrass him in front of his boss, just a pat on the shoulder and a proud look in her eye as she went back to sit with the rest of the group.
While Morgan helped put away the remaining food, Chuck's mind drifted to Sarah. He felt like he was getting ahead of himself about the feelings he had for her. Was this how he had gotten hurt in the past? Jumping in with both feet, going all in with whoever he was interested in? She hadn't been scared off, yet. But why did he have to go there, assume that he would scare her off? She bantered with him, even initiated the teasing herself sometimes. That threw him off. There was something else about her that he couldn't put his finger on yet. His texting earlier with her…she had known he was at the airport. How had she known? Had Vivian given her a heads up where he was at?
Chuck was pulled from his thoughts when Morgan rejoined him up front in the cockpit.
"That dinner was almost as good as Thanksgiving at the Bartowskis'," Morgan sighed as he held his stomach.
"You can't fall asleep Morgan, as much as you want to."
Morgan rolled his eyes as he looked out his window. "Aww, come on, Chuck. I'm pretty sure I'm feeling the onset of food coma coming on."
"That's your problem for not knowing when to stop your grazing. I'd feel bad for you, but I saw how much you had. Ellie's cooking and sizzling shrimp. You didn't stand a chance."
"I know, right?! I didn't have a chance. So, give your buddy a break and let me rest in peace."
"You live by the shrimp, you die by the shrimp." Chuck was enjoying this. He also knew that they would hear from ATC shortly to begin their descent into Chicago.
Morgan groaned when ATC contacted them and instructed them to descend. "Sorry, Morgan, your nap time is up," Chuck said.
"But I didn't get one!" Morgan snapped.
"I know, and my, aren't we a little moody? I think I'm going to have to monitor your shrimp intake when we're flying in the future if you're going to get all crabby." Chuck grinned.
Morgan looked over at Chuck, a mixture of irritation and amusement on his face. "Crabby, good one," he shook his head while he responded to ATC.
The descent into Chicago was uneventful. Morgan started to go through the 'Descent Checklist' and entered the performance data so that Chuck knew what approach airspeed to fly. The sun had set an hour earlier, so the outline of the south shore of Lake Michigan was very clear. Both Morgan and Chuck were taking pictures since this was their first time visiting flying into Chicago at night.
The airport was difficult to find because of all the lights surrounding the airport. Chicago approach cleared them to PAMME, a GPS waypoint that was part of the approach for runway 16 at Chicago Executive Airport. At the same time, Chuck and Morgan both spotted the airport. Morgan called the controller and let him know that they had the airport in sight. The controller cleared them for the visual approach and to contact tower.
After contacting tower, Morgan ran the 'Before Landing Checklist' to verify everything was complete. It was a calm night, so the approach to the airport wasn't bumpy, a nice change compared to being out in California. The mountainous area that surrounded Burbank made for some bumpy approaches. Chuck had heard from other pilots that in the Midwest, even though there are no mountains, Lake Michigan was a force of its own. Tonight, the lake lay dormant.
The landing was uneventful. Morgan was busy writing down numbers for Chuck. "I'm going to go in the back and help them gather everything up, think you can handle yourself up here?" he asked.
Chuck smirked at Morgan's wise crack. "Is someone excited to see Alex or what?"
Morgan raised his eyebrows and pushed his lips together, avoiding eye contact. "Maybe." He took off his headset and made his way back to help everyone.
Chuck released the brakes after he received the sign from the marshal that the chocks were in place to keep the plane from rolling. Three cars were pulled up next to the aircraft and five people bundled in winter coats were coming out of the FBO. Five? The battery was left on to keep the lights on in the jet to unload everything from the cabin. Chuck was running through a mental checklist of everything when he heard Alexei say something. "Sorry, Alexei. What?"
"Mental checklist?"
Chuck felt sheepish. "You could tell? Sorry, I wasn't ignoring you."
Alexei waved his hand to dismiss his concern. "No worries, Chuck. I just asked what you were planning to do the next few days? Ellie and Devon told us that they're going to be busy at the hospital tomorrow and house hunting this weekend. Morgan is going to Green Bay and he wasn't sure if you were going up as well."
Chuck scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I was going to see what Vivian was doing and maybe we'd hang out. I have a rental car and hotel room near the airport, so I'm not committed to anything."
Alexei had a puzzling look. "I think Vivian is going to Green Bay with the rest of gang. Whatever you decide, let's plan to leave at 5pm Monday. I already told Ellie, Devon, and Vivian, just make sure you let Morgan know as well. Enjoy the weekend, Chuck." Alexei exited the jet and got into his SUV that was waiting for him.
Chuck looked at the group all huddled together and wondered who was all there. He counted seven - Jeff, Lester, Alex, Morgan, and Vivian. But who were the other two from Green Bay?
Morgan separated from the group and made his way to the bottom of the airstairs. "Everything is loaded in the cars. I put your stuff in your car and my stuff with the group from Green Bay. Is it okay if I unplug the batteries?"
"Nah, it's ok, Morgan. I'll take care of it, you guys should get going. You have a long drive ahead of you."
Morgan paused. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us up to Green Bay? I'm sure Ellie and Devon wouldn't care if you skipped out on helping them with house search."
"Not tonight, Morgs. Maybe I'll drive up tomorrow or Saturday, I just don't feel like it tonight. Maybe I'll call Sarah."
"Oh?" Morgan sounded surprised.
Chuck was zipping up his jacket as he made his way down the airstairs to go unplug the batteries. "You sound surprised about what…me maybe coming up?"
"Maybe, but I think it's more that you just openly admitted that you may call Sarah. I know how you've been guarded since Jill. You don't seem that way with Sarah."
Chuck realized he wasn't and didn't know what to think of that. "We had an intense New Year's together. We said some things to each other and I don't want to think that it was all because of the moment. Maybe…"
"Come on Morgan, hurry up!" Jeff and Lester shouted as they walked over to Chuck and Morgan. "Hey, Chuck, no hard feelings, but we need to get going."
"No worries." Chuck pushed Morgan towards Jeff and Lester. "Get out of here. I'll take care of the jet."
Morgan started, "If you're sure…"
"Yes I'm sure, now go," Chuck said as he started to walk around the wing to unhook the batteries. He waved to the rest of the group. "Have a good time in Green Bay, guys."
"Bye, Chuck!" the group shouted heading for the two vehicles.
Chuck walked to the opposite side of the jet to unplug the first battery. After latching the battery door shut, he noticed a shadow walking towards him from the other side of the jet. "We're all good. Brakes are released and the garbage is already taken care of."
Suddenly Chuck realized it was not a line person wondering if he needed any other services for the jet. Instead, the person on the other side was wearing knee-high Swedish-looking winter boots. Puzzled, Chuck walked around the back of the jet to get to the other battery door and also to figure out what the person needed.
Chuck froze. Standing before him was Sarah.
"Sarah?! What are you doing here?"
Sarah looked nervous before she spoke. "Hi, Chuck. Is it okay that I'm here?"
"Uh, yeah! For sure! I'm just really confused why you're here, that's all."
"That's not a conversation I want to have out here in the cold, if that's alright." She seemed hesitant about wanting to say much more.
Chuck laughed. "No, no, I get it. It's really cold out. I don't know how people out here can survive in this. I just need to unhook the battery, get my bags, and lock up the plane. Why don't you go inside while I get everything done? No sense in you freezing out here."
Sarah had put her hands in her pockets. "Sounds good. I'll never get used to this cold." Before turning to walk into the FBO, she gave Chuck a smile that warmed him from head to toe.
Chuck quickly unhooked the other battery, grabbed his bags, and locked up the plane. As he walked to the FBO entrance he let the line guys know that the jet was going to be there until Monday and that he would call the front desk with a fuel order sometime before then.
The temperature difference walking into the FBO was a welcome change. The heat was artificial, but Chuck didn't care, he was warming up. He spotted Sarah sitting on one of the chairs with her suitcase and backpack right next to her, typing on her phone.
Chuck strolled up to the front desk and gave the lady behind the counter his contact info in case there were any changes before Monday. When he looked over at Sarah, Chuck noticed that she was still typing on her phone. Her body seemed tense, which concerned him.
"Hey," Chuck said softly as he walked up to her.
Sarah was so focused on what she was typing that she jumped at Chuck's words. She quickly put her phone away and looked up at him. "H-Hey."
"Are you okay?"
There was no smile on Sarah's face now. "Our trip to New York was unplanned so my dad's business partner wasn't expecting us and let's just say that things didn't go well."
Chuck was about to ask what that meant, but Sarah cut in, "There's a bar down the road, let's go get a drink. I need one after today."
After putting Sarah's suitcase and backpack in the car, they made their way down the road to the bar. Chuck noticed how quiet Sarah was, looking out the window as they drove. He wasn't sure how to start or where, so he kept silent, waiting for her to begin when she was ready.
Chuck found a parking spot and turned off the car. He waited. She finally looked away from the window and took a deep breath. "Sorry. Let's go in and I'll tell you what's going on."
They easily found spots at the bar. Sarah ordered a Long Island and Chuck, a Moscow Mule. 'A Long Island? Is it that bad?' Chuck thought as he noticed her take a long drink. 'It must be bad.'
Sarah suddenly started, "My dad's business partner has been embezzling from the company for the past year. Someone from accounting noticed something odd last week and reached out to my dad. So instead of dealing with it over the phone, we flew out to New York so that he could meet with his partner face-to-face. When my dad confronted him about the allegations, he denied them at first, but when pressed further he came clean."
Chuck tried to wrap his head around what Sarah was saying. "How bad is it?"
"There's a very real chance that we could lose the jet, to the point that my dad is telling me that Carina and I might have to find other jobs."
Chuck was confused. "Wait, what?! What does losing the jet have to have anything to do with you, or Carina for that matter?"
A sad realization came over Sarah's face. "Ohhhh…Chuck. I'm sorry. I never told you what I do for my dad. Carina and I are his pilots."
A swirl of emotions hit Chuck all at one time. 'Sarah Walker is a pilot? Awesome!' At the same time, 'Wait. Why am I first finding out about this now?'
"You're a pilot? Why am I first finding out about this now?" It was hard for Chuck to not respond without having an edge to his voice. He could tell that Sarah picked up on his tone and that's when he realized that it wasn't the right thing to say at that moment.
"Really, Chuck?! That's the first thing you say after I tell you we will probably lose the jet…and you seemed pissed about it?" An edge in Sarah's voice snapped Chuck out of his selfish state.
Chuck regretted the way he responded. "Ugh, I didn't mean it to come out like that, Sarah. I'm sorry. It was selfish of me to respond that way. You just threw a lot at me and how I sounded was all my emotions coming out at once."
He put his hand on Sarah's forearm. He could tell that she tensed up, but relaxed just as quickly. When Chuck looked up at Sarah he could see tears had begun to form.
"I'm sorry, Chuck, just a lot going on the past twelve hours and I'm at my breaking point." She paused to collect herself. "My dad didn't tell us anything until this morning at breakfast. And the texting just before at the FBO…that was dad letting me know how bad it is. We could probably keep the jet, but that would put the company in a vulnerable financial position and he isn't comfortable with that. And yes, I didn't say what I specifically I did for my dad, I was scared what you would think of me."
Chuck didn't know what to say and pulled his hand back. He felt bad for responding so sharply, not considering the upheaval that Sarah was facing. Her job was in jeopardy, but why would she be concerned about what he thought of her as a pilot? He was about to say something and stopped. He didn't know where to start.
Sarah placed her hand on Chuck's arm. "I don't normally get like this, I promise. There's a lot going on in my life all of the sudden."
"I want to help you however I can, I just don't know how."
Then he saw something, another guard that she let down? He didn't know, but whatever it was he could see tears start to pool. "Hey, hey, hey, it's ok." He put his arm around her and felt her lean into him. It felt good, but when Chuck looked down at her, he had a bad feeling about what she was going say.
"There is one more thing."
"Ok?"
"In the text from my dad he told me he has a friend in Green Bay that is looking for another pilot to fly their Sovereign. She wants to talk to me tomorrow afternoon."
Chuck closed his eyes and sighed. When he looked down again he saw Sarah wiping her eyes. "What are you going to do?"
"Well, I need to at least check it out, don't you think?"
"As much as I want to say no, it would be foolish not to. I can't think of any flight departments back in Burbank looking for a Sovereign pilot." Chuck shook his head.
"What's wrong?" Her words were soft. Caring.
He shook his head.
"Chuck. Please. Tell me."
Chuck suddenly felt exposed. Feelings from his past gnawed at the edges of his memory. "I'm afraid that I'm going to lose you. It sounds ridiculous, but that's where I'm at right now."
"Oh."
Chuck felt he was on shaky ground. A place he hadn't felt in a long time. He did not know where to go after the response from Sarah.
Just before he was about to disengage, her hands gently pulled his face to hers. He felt her lips on his.
Gentle. Soft.
Like New Years, but different.
"Oh!" he said shakily when she pulled away.
"Yeah. Oh." She held his gaze. "I need you to be strong because, right now, I'm having a hard time. I don't want to lose you either. We haven't figured out what we're capable of." She tilted her head and gave him a small smile.
Chuck closed his eyes and took a calming breath. He suddenly felt grounded. When he opened them, he saw hope in the blue eyes staring back at him. He lifted her chin up and gave her a soft peck. "I can do that."
He felt a renewed strength. His momentary lapse in his own confidence was already in the rear-view mirror. Before him stood a very capable and equally confident Sarah Walker. She had dropped her walls completely to him and become vulnerable, knowing that he would not abandon her. Her life had been tipped on its head in the past two hours and she was looking to him to be her anchor.
Chuck checked his watch, noting the time. "We should start heading towards Green Bay tonight then. I have a buddy who lives two hours north of here. I'm sure he would let us crash at his place; he has the room."
Sarah raised her eyebrows.
"Uh, we'll each have our own space." Chuck could feel his cheeks redden.
"You assumed what I was thinking?"
Chuck began to sputter. "I guess you'll never know," she cut in, teasingly.
He stood speechless for a second before Sarah's laugh snorted through her nose.
Shaking himself, Chuck pushed forward, "Come on, Trouble. Let's go. We have much to talk about on our ride up."
She raised an eyebrow at him, "Trouble?" Sarah stood up and brushed her finger under Chuck's chin, sending a shiver down his back. "Yes, we do. You might have to drive slow so that we can get it all in."
"That bad, huh?"
"For you or me?" She quickened her pace as she looked over her shoulder, a glint in her eyes.
"Are you for real?" His voice came out a little higher than he had wanted.
Her laugh wafted out as she opened the door.
Chuck shook his head. 'This will be an educational ride, for both of us,' he thought.
As he pulled out of the driveway of the bar, he didn't waste any time to get things started. "So, Sarah, why didn't you tell me you were a pilot?"
Sarah glanced over at him, mouth half-open. "You want to start there?"
He shrugged. "Sure. I figure that's the easiest thing to talk about first."
Sarah shook her head. "You would think, Chuck. But it's not that simple. Let me tell you my story and it might help put into perspective why I was apprehensive about telling you that I was a pilot."
Not the answer Chuck expected, but the ride north was long and they had the time. "Ladies first." He allowed Sarah to see the smirk on his face.
"So kind of you, Chuck." She shot him a hint of a smile before turning to look out the window.
