A/N: Thank you for following/favoriting, and for the very kind and supportive messages and reviews, and I am humbled by the warmth of your reception.
So, Chuck literally dropped Carina like a hot potato, and in a rage, Carina grabbed Morgan and dragged him away to spite Chuck for his rejection. Sarah, approached Chuck to apologize for her friend's behavior, and wound up inadvertently helping Chuck find an emotional release, but both were too caught up with too many things to really connect…or were they? When they parted, Chuck didn't ask for Sarah's number. He didn't even get her last name…..and she didn't offer.
But sometimes, chemical reactions take time to develop as the elements need to slowly coalesce before they react with each other.
This story has a mild T-rating for occasional coarse language, some adult themes, and some violence, but nothing too graphic.
I hope you enjoy it, and favor me with following or reviewing. It's the only way I can know if the effort I've put into writing this is giving anyone any sort of joy.
As usual, my thanks continue to go to Nevr for pre and beta reading. Thanks Nevr!
Also as usual, I don't own Chuck or profit from writing this story.
Chapter 4 – Friendly Confessions:
Sarah woke up to find herself feeling better. She certainly owed Carina a debt of gratitude, though she was not going to forget that Chuck Bartowski may have been the first heterosexual male to give Carina Miller a "hard NO" when she was in full seductress mode. Sarah laughed to herself as she suddenly started thinking about Chuck Bartowski and the many things he said to her. As usual, Sarah had managed to keep her emotions largely in check through the process, except of that one moment, right after Chuck finished telling her his story, where it took every ounce of strength to not cry. In part it was his story, that saddened her, but then she realized it was also largely her story, and she struggled to keep control at that realization. He had seen her in that fleeting moment, and while she would have normally been upset that someone could read her, see her true emotions surfacing, the kindness and concern Chuck showed her was as heartwarming as it was unexpected, and welcome.
She suddenly wanted to learn more about Chuck Bartowski. She picked up the phone and ordered room service for breakfast, then went to her roll away and pulled out her laptop starting a google search. Within minutes she found his profile on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, as well as a series of articles and PR releases about CBMG GameSphere, featuring Chuck Bartowski and his partner Morgan Grimes. She consumed the information with an appetite she didn't really understand and had gotten lost in her reading when room service announced its arrival with a sharp knock on the door.
She closed her laptop, slipped on a robe and allowed the room service cart into her room. Once the waiter left, she reopened the laptop, and stared at Chuck's Facebook profile picture, which was of him and his sister Ellie. He looked happy and relaxed, and for the first time, she realized how soulful his eyes were, something she could not really get in the dimly lit club. She kept the image on screen as she reached for her coffee, pausing for a moment as her stomach was again feeling unsettled. Strange, Sarah thought. 'I normally have a cast iron stomach.' Maybe she had eaten something that wasn't quite right the other day. She set her thoughts aside, planning to pick up some Tums or Rolaids before meeting Carina at the spa at ten.
She finished her breakfast, put on some running clothes, and headed out for a run back to the Santa Monica Pier. Less than an hour later, she arrived, but found herself disappointed that a certain tall dark haired man wasn't sitting on the beach. She cursed herself momentarily for allowing herself to feel disappointed and decided to flag down a cab to ride back to the hotel. On the way, she stopped at a Walgreens Pharmacy to pick up some antacids for her damned stomach.
A few miles away, Chuck Bartowski had already been at his desk for several hours, working his way through lines of code that had been giving him fits. The new game he was working on was special in terms of the realism it would provide its players, and if he could solve for the complexity that coding required, he was confident this game would raise the bar in terms of user experience. Unfortunately, he was having trouble focusing as his mind kept bouncing back to a certain Sarah he had met last night.
He looked out the window of his office towards the Santa Monica Pier, wondering if maybe Sarah was sitting there, sitting on the beach as he had suggested. More than once he thought about taking the twenty minute walk to see if maybe, she was there, but the code problem mocked him, causing him to sit back down and try to focus, but without much success. He realized that last night, as usual, he overshared. He opened himself up to Sarah and told her a great deal about who he was, but he didn't have the presence of mind to learn about her. 'Stupid!' he thought to himself realizing he had failed to get her phone number or even her last name. He sat there dejected for a moment, but then smiled. She had helped him feel better by listening to him. Listening to him without judgment, and without interruption, just absorbing his release of pain. She somehow knew that was what he needed, and he was deeply thankful to have met her if even for a very short period.
Morgan had not shown up for work, nor did he call, but Chuck was confident that Morgan probably had the time of his life, and if he died, he would have died happy. And since he could not seem to get any work done, he decided to take a walk to the beach and see what was what.
Twenty minutes later, as he was nearing the pier, he saw a tall blonde woman getting into a taxi. Chuck broke into a run as he tried to catch the cab before it pulled away, but the distance was too great. He stopped running and doubled over, leaning his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath, while watching a shock of blonde hair in the back window of the taxi disappear into the distance. He thought about doing one of those "follow that cab" moves, but then thought it would just come off as creepy or stalker-ish, and likely ruin the amazing memory he had of her. He shook his head in resignation, but smiled as he turned and walked back towards his office. Maybe Morgan would be there.
= ! =
At ten am sharp, Carina entered the spa's reception area to be greeted by Sarah's quirked eyebrow.
"So…..details?" Sarah smirked.
"Uhm…." Carina was seldom at a loss for words, particularly when regaling her friend with stories of her sexual exploits. So, the hesitation in Carina's voice was not something Sarah missed.
"Carina, what happened, are you ok?" Sarah shared a sisterly concerned look.
"Oh, yes. Everything is great. Did you get a reasonable rest, Sarah? Are you feeling better? I mean after last night, I thought you'd be feeling better, so how are you doing?" Carina was rambling. Carina didn't ramble. Ever. She was confident and blunt, putting it all out there whether you liked it or not. Sarah put her hands on her hips and gave Carina a flat look.
"Carina, you're rambling, and you don't ramble, so out with it. What happened?"
"Uhm….You know what, Sarah? I don't want to talk about it. Can we just go get our treatment and maybe you can tell me more about your journey of self-discovery, ok?" Sarah looked at Carina for a moment considering her next move.
"Ok, Carina. We'll do it your way." Sarah gave Carina an innocent smile and turned towards the attendant who led them into the changing rooms.
The two women went through a series of treatments over the three hour period without exchanging a single word. They were now in the recovery lounge, wrapped in luxurious robes with slices of cucumber over their eyes. There was the sound of a babbling brook being piped in through the speakers scattered across the ceiling, and some sort of Chinese new-age music was quietly playing in the background. The comfortable lounge chairs, the dimmed lighting, and the soothing sounds created an incredibly relaxing environment of peaceful solitude, until Carina shatter the peace.
"He made me beg….." Carina blurted out as she sat up ripping the cucumber slices off her eyelids. "I swear, Sarah, I have no idea what the hell is wrong me. First Mr. Tall Dark and Mysterious practically recoils in horror at my touch, then his little bearded troll of a friend gets me so worked up I'm ready to climb the walls before he sits down in a chair, like he owns the place and tells me to beg him to fuck me. He made me beg! On my knees, Sarah!"
Sarah sat up and stared directly into her friend's eyes without saying a word. She knew Carina was still in the process of erupting and she was not done yet. She reached over and put her hand on Carina's wrist. "It's ok, Carina, so things took an unexpected turn. He didn't try to hit you or anything, did he?"
"No. Of course not, Sarah, I would have killed him. What he did was worse. Sooo much worse. I've never experienced anything like it in my life."
"What did he do to you, Carina. It's ok. You can tell me." Sarah used a comforting, soothing voice as she moved her hand to Carina's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Sarah…." Carina looked down at her perfectly pedicured feet in embarrassment. "The bastard owned me. All fucking night long. That does not happen to me. I run the damned show. I get what I want, and then send them on their way, but this bastard had me on my knees begging him for it. This morning, he got up to leave, and I was again on my knees begging him no to leave. The bearded troll is still in my room, getting some rest after last night, and I need to get back up there because if I'm late he was going to spank me….." Carina stopped talking for a moment and looked at Sarah, who sat with a slack jaw and utter disbelief written all over her face.
"Sarah, thanks. Good talk. Spa day is on me but I gotta go." Carina jumped up and practically ran out of the recovery room, as Sarah looked on in shock, unable to speak.
= ! =
It was six pm, when Morgan strolled into the office he shared with Chuck. The partners looked at each other for a moment and then simultaneously broke out laughing.
"Nice of you to show up today, partner," Chuck opened with a grin. "And may I say that I am delighted to see that you have not, in fact been eaten alive by the red headed sex panther! I mean, we are just getting on a roll, and how do I explain to your mother that you were killed while engaged in a series of extraordinary sexual acts with a man-eater?" Chuck threw his head back as a deep laugh escaped him.
"I'm really sorry, Chuck. I know we had a lot to do today, but honestly, I tried to leave this morning, but she begged me to stay, and, well, I just couldn't disappoint her after last night." Morgan was genuinely contrite for leaving his partner and friend all alone in the office all day, without so much as a call.
"It's all good, Morgan. You deserved a wild night…and day. So I'm really happy for you. Are you going to see her again?" Chuck asked.
"I don't know, Chuck. I mean, last night I got the sense she likes to hit and run, if you know what I mean, but then she got….I don't know, all kinds of clingy. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't put off by any of it, but it just seems this is not her normal M.O., so I don't want to over invest in case she comes to her senses and splits without calling," Morgan explained. "How about you. What happened to you after she dragged me away?"
"Her friend came over to apologize for your girlfriend assaulting me. We wound up taking for about two hours, but then I needed to go because, you know….we had all this work to do today…." Chuck's friendly sarcasm wasn't lost on Morgan.
"I'm really sorry, dude. I mean it," Morgan again apologized, but then asked, "So, then what happened? Was she hot? Did you get her number?"
"Please, you are all good. I promise, ok? And to answer your question, not much, incredibly, off the charts hot, and no I didn't get her number, or even her last name. Just Sarah, her first name." Chuck sighed a little sadly.
"No problemo, my brother. If you like, I can make the connection for you through Carina. She gave me her number." Morgan smiled at Chuck.
"I don't know partner. I had an amazing time with Sarah, but if she had wanted me to call her, she would have given me her name and number. I'm not comfortable forcing it and maybe coming across as a creeper, you know? Besides, I don't want to spoil the memory I have of our talk. It was really, really good for me," Chuck replied earnestly.
"Ok, Chuck, but if you change your mind, just let me know, and assuming Carina hasn't decided to skip town, I can try to make it happen. Just keep in mind, that you are the one that is always telling me to open myself up to the possibilities of what might be, so you should really think about taking your own advice here. That is, if you like her and all that." Morgan winked and turned to his desk. "Now, what do I need to get to work on?"
With their conversation temporarily over, both men refocused on their work, and remained focused until about ten pm, when Morgan's phone rang. Chuck looked up and cocked an eye brow at his partner.
"Booty call?" Chuck smirked as Morgan gave him a disapproving look and picked up the phone.
"Hi, Carina." Morgan responded to the phone in an obviously happy tone. "Not much, just working. Yes, I'm still in the office. Yes, Chuck is with me. Ok. Hold on a minute." Morgan placed his hand over the phone and turned to Chuck.
"Chuck, it's Carina. She wants me to tell you she apologizes for her behavior last night."
"Thanks, Morgan. Please give her my thanks and tell her I apologize as well for reacting the way I did. I'm embarrassed and I hope she was not hurt when she fell." Chuck gave Morgan a wink.
"Did you get that, Carina? Yes. Great….so you two are cool now, which is great. Thank you. Plans? We were just punching away at a mountain of work, so no plans. Yes, that does sound like more fun than work. Yes, I know a great Mexican place that serves dinner late not too far from here. I'll text you the address, and can meet you there in about thirty minutes. The place is called El Compadre. Ok, I look forward to seeing you too."
Chuck was beaming at his friend. "You go, Morgs! Go have some more fun. And by the way, thank you for not saying anything about Sarah. I appreciate it." The two men stood, and gave each other an exploding fist bump.
"Chuck, you wanna come with? It'll be fun."
"Thanks, Morgs, but this is all you and the red headed man-eater. Go have fun. But if you are going to be MIA all day tomorrow, please just let me know so I don't worry, ok?"
"You bet, partner." Morgan waved as he slipped out the door, leaving Chuck alone with his thoughts.
After a few minutes polishing up some work, Chuck decided he needed some food. He locked up the office and headed to the Pier to get something to eat and to have some quiet time on the beach. Twenty-five minutes later, his shoes and socks were off, and he was sitting in his favorite spot looking out over the darkened water, pulling a greasy burger from the paper bag on his lap. He thought about Morgan and Carina at El Compadre, expecting them to be just arriving and meeting in the Mexican eatery. He wondered how their date would go, and inevitably his thoughts drifted to Sarah, bringing a bitter sweet smile to his face.
= ! =
Morgan arrived to find Carina already waiting for him. She was dressed in jeans, a faded t-shirt with the logo of Mobil Gasoline's Pegasus, a black leather jacket and a pair of black leather boots. She was as cool as she was beautiful and intimidating. As soon as they made eye contact, Carina moved to him quickly, cupping his face with both hands, and giving him a deep kiss.
"Wow. I really missed that. Hi, Morgan." Carina smiled coquettishly through her eyelashes.
"Hi yourself, beautiful. I'm so glad you called." Morgan pulled her closer to him. "I was hoping you would, but I didn't want to make any assumptions." He kissed the tip of her nose.
"Senor Grimes, welcome back to El Compadre. Right this way please." The hostess smiled leading Morgan and Carina through the restaurant. As soon as they took their seats, Morgan ordered two shots of Patron and two Corona beers. The two sat quietly until the server delivered their drinks and recited the day's specials. Once the presentation was complete, Morgan turned to Carina.
"Carina, I probably shouldn't do this, and I hope this doesn't get weird, but I need to ask you a favor." He looked at her carefully, trying to gauge her reaction as he spoke. "The other night, after we left, your friend Sarah went over to Chuck. Apparently she felt the need to apologize for your assault….but that doesn't matter. Anyway, the two of them got to talking, and I think my boy is smitten with your friend. Unfortunately, he was so caught up in their conversation that he never asked her full name or number. I don't want to intrude on his life any more than a best friend and partner should, but did Sarah mention anything to you about meeting Chuck?"
"It's fine, Morgan. But no. She did not really mention anything, though in fairness, I was the one that did all the talking at the spa. I do know she's going through some personal stuff right now, but If you like, I can ask her discretely and let you know what she says." Carina smiled tenderly at Morgan's interest in his friend and partner.
"Thank you Carina. That would be really nice." He smiled sweetly before putting on a mischievous grin. "Now, Carina, please tell Morgan if you were a good girl today." He slipped his hand under the table and ran it up along the inside of her jeans covered thigh, causing Carina to squirm in her seat as her breath hitched.
"I've been a good girl, Morgan, I promise. Now can you order something really fast, because I need you to take me back to my place….Please!" Carina bit her lip as she looked at Morgan, her eyes imploring him.
Morgan smiled, called the waiter over and ordered nachos with guacamole and sour cream, chicken tamales, carnitas, and a shrimp fajita, then asked the waiter to wrap it all up, to go, and bring him the check.
Carina beamed with excitement.
A/N: One of the most enjoyable aspects of writing these stories is interacting with you, the readers, so please let me know what you think.
