Chapter 2 – The Unexpected
A/N: First off, thank you. The positive reception I received from chapter 1 was very encouraging. I read and reread chapter 1 so many times I think I had it memorized before I finally posted it.
I appreciate that some of you enjoyed the pilot details. There will be more, but there is always of fine balance between just enough and too much. There won't be any in this chapter because it's New Year's Eve.
If you can, drop a note or leave a review, I do appreciate them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck and make no money doing this, but if I did, I'd have my own jet.
Chuck heard the New Year's Eve party before he saw it. He strolled under the ivy-wrapped trellis into the courtyard of the Echo Park apartment complex where he lived. Stringed Edison lightbulbs hung from every direction of the second-story balconies, creating an almost star-scape setting across the courtyard. Elevated planters ran along the inside part of the courtyard, with a two-tiered water fountain in the middle. Chuck could see both his apartment and Ellie and Devon's apartment doors open to help facilitate tonight's activities.
"Hey, it's Chuck!"
Chuck glanced around and saw his sister making her way from a group of her coworkers. Chuck put his flight bag down as he prepared for his sibling's big hug. "Hi sis. Looks like the party is well underway."
"It sure is, glad you're finally here. Morgan wouldn't break out the sizzling shrimp until you got here," she mused, rolling her green eyes at Morgan's antics.
Chuck took note of his sister, who had her brunette hair pulled back tonight for the party, and sensed her soft, motherly look. "What, Ellie?"
"I'm just really glad you made it back in time for the party. You and I have always enjoyed throwing this party, and now add Devon into it. He wouldn't want you to miss the first official Bartowski/Woodcomb New Year's bash." Chuck could tell that Ellie was holding back something, but didn't know what it was.
"It was really nice of Alexei to call us early enough so we could be back in time. And Devon is excited about the party too? Where is Captain Awesome anyways?" Chuck said with a grin, anticipating the reaction he was going to get.
"OW! Was that necessary, El?" Chuck feigned injury after she punched in the arm.
Ellie's eyes narrowed. She stood on her tiptoes to get in Chuck's face. "You know how I hate it when you call him that. Granted, he is very good at many things, but the need to add 'Captain Awesome' isn't necessary."
"Chuck, that was awesome!" he heard his brother-in-law exclaim from the doorway of their apartment. Devon, Doctor Devon Woodcomb, Captain Awesome, the GQ-esque model, started walking towards him and Ellie. "Babe, the only thing Chuck could have said to make you react like that is for him to have called me Capt…"
"Don't, Devon! You do want this evening to end a high note, don't you?" Chuck could see his sister's slightly miffed yet teasing eyes aimed at her husband.
"Right. Uh, Chuck..? Let's keep the 'A' word on the DL tonight. Ok? Thanks man." Chuck could see Devon eyeing him with a hint of fear. Both men knew that Ellie meant business.
Not letting his mind begin to entertain what Ellie was alluding to, Chuck picked up his flight bag and started heading towards the door to his apartment. Glancing over his shoulder with a smirk, he picked up his pace a little and stared straight at Ellie. "It's going to be an awesome night, right captain?" Before his sister could do anything, Chuck watched Devon bear hug his wife from behind, anticipating she would chase after Chuck.
"The night is young Chuck! I'm keeping tabs!" he could hear his sister announce as he hurried to his apartment.
Stepping through the doorway of his and Morgan's apartment, Chuck looked around and noticed white Christmas lights strung from the living room into the dining room. New Year's streamers hung from the stringed lights at random places, making the room festive for tonight. Their apartment was open concept, but still comfortable enough to hold fifteen to twenty people.
Chuck observed that the people in their apartment were all of their friends, friends that they met when he and Morgan worked at the Buy More back in high school. Everyone had moved on since those days, some having left the area. What caught Chuck's attention was who Morgan's on-again off-again girlfriend, Anna Wu, was talking to: Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel. Jeff, a California native, looked healthier now than during his Buy More days. Back then he was slightly overweight with thinning hair. That wasn't the case now. With a more toned look, his hair seemed to have grown back. Lester, a native of India, looked the same, wearing his hair almost shoulder-length. His build was similar to Jeff's and both were shorter than Chuck by at least a half foot. But everyone was shorter than Chuck in varying degrees.
Jeff and Lester were oddly weird and crazy during their days at the Buy More. Many of Chuck's friends, including Chuck, figured Jeff and Lester had been doing drugs. It wasn't until Jeff took his van in to get looked at it that it was determined there was an exhaust leak which had been making its way into the van, causing carbon monoxide poisoning of both Jeff and Lester. After Jeff's van was repaired, Jeff and Lester's personas changed. They became more driven, to the point that they formed a band, Jeffster. Their music took off quickly and they decided to move to the Midwest for a change of scenery.
Having put his flight bag off to the side, Chuck made his way to the group with a surprised tone. "Jeffster, what are you guys doing here?!"
"Chuck! It's good to see you," they both said after Chuck gave them both a bro hug. Jeff continued, "Lester, Alex, and I wanted to surprise the gang, and since we're in between gigs we thought 'What the heck, let's go home for Christmas this year.' Well, here we are!"
"Alex?" Chuck questioned Jeff and Lester looking around.
"Oh sorry," Lester said, nodding towards the kitchen where Morgan was getting the sizzling shrimp out of the boxes. "Hey Alex, leave Morgan alone for a sec and come over here and meet Chuck." Sitting on a bar stool next to the kitchen peninsula room was a brunette who had been talking with Morgan.
Chuck saw Alex swing around quickly with a slight blush and give Lester a friendly glare. Alex got up from her stool and made her way over to Chuck. He noticed that Alex was the same height as Morgan, with brown hair that went just past her shoulders.
Extending her hand as she walked towards Chuck with a warm smile, she said, "Hi Chuck, it's good to finally meet you. Your name has come up often over the past five years, crazy hair and all."
It was Chuck's turn to blush a little as he tilted his head at Jeff and Lester, raising his eyebrows. "Is that so?"
"It was all good Chuck, mostly," Lester piped in quickly. "You were the glue at the Buy More. If it wasn't for you, Big Mike wouldn't have looked as good of a store manager as corporate thought he was."
Chuck nodded in agreement. "That is true, all you guys were so lazy back then, taking notes from Morgan on how to get out of work."
"That's enough, Chuck. No need to uh…talk about my past work ethic," Morgan said as he interrupted with a large tray of sizzling shrimp in his hands. Morgan handed the tray to Chuck. "Here, make yourself useful and take this tray out into the courtyard and see where El wants it." Chuck noticed Morgan was glaring at him as Alex looked on, amused.
"Riiight. Ok, Morg." Chuck took the tray from a red-cheeked Morgan, knowing he had just embarrassed him after calling him by his nickname in front of Alex. He marched out into the courtyard to find both Ellie and Devon clearing a spot at the table where all the beverages were located.
"Guys, here is the first round of shrimp for everyone out here. Enjoy!" Chuck placed the tray on the cleared spot and was about to turn back towards his apartment when Ellie spoke up.
"Thanks, Chuck. Uh, you got a minute?" Chuck noticed his sister give Devon a nervous look, Devon raising an eyebrow towards her.
"Sure, what's going on?" Chuck wasn't sure what he expected to hear from El.
"You know how Devon and I planned on moving to Chicago by the end of the year?" Chuck noticed a mix of excitement and sadness.
"Yeah, you were waiting for Devon's position to open up."
Ellie took a deep breath. "Well, I got the call today from Northwestern Medicine. One of the neurosurgeons announced his retirement this past week, a year early. A neuroscience research grant became available that the hospital would like to get. The doctor that is retiring didn't want to write it, that's why is he's retiring. The hospital wants me to write the grant and asked that I get started on it right away. For that to happen, they want us in Chicago no later than the end of the month."
"What about Devon's position?" Chuck asked, as he tried to keep up with everything his sister had just said.
"This grant is so important to them that they would hire him now, but only if we are there before the end of the month." Chuck could see that his sister was watching him for a reaction.
Chuck was excited for Ellie and Devon. It was a huge opportunity for them and it also got them closer to his family. It also made him nervous because the timeline for everything had just gotten moved up almost a year. The plan had been that once Ellie and Devon moved, Chuck would find a job somewhere relatively close to Chicago to be closer to his sister. He figured he had until the end of the year, but now it looked more like the beginning of the summer at the latest.
A big smile came across Chuck's face. "Wow guys, that is aweso…that is great news! Granted, it is sooner than expected, but it'll work out the way it's supposed to. I'll start looking right away for what corporate flight gigs are available near Chicago and go from there."
Ellie and Chuck had always been super close siblings. Ellie had raised him ever since their parents were killed in an airplane crash twelve years before when she was eighteen and Chuck was fifteen. Their parents had been with another couple, flying in northwest California when an amateur drone collided with the tail of their plane. Unable to maintain control, both couples were killed instantly when their airplane impacted the ground.
Both Ellie and Chuck had been devastated, but because of their strong bond, they grew to be even closer to one other. Since Ellie was eighteen, she had become Chuck's legal guardian and raised him. Ellie was already in medical college on a full-ride scholarship at the time and Chuck was finding his own, repairing computers at the Buy More. Chuck then attended Stanford on a scholarship and earned his degree in computer engineering.
While Chuck had been searching for his first computer job, Daniel Shaw, a friend of the Bartowski family, paid for Chuck's flight lessons. Daniel had decided to do this after seeing Chuck's pilot abilities when he let Chuck fly his plane around the local airport. Chuck had natural pilot abilities and, soon after, Chuck had decided to pursue being a corporate pilot after doors began to open for him in the aviation world.
Both Ellie and Devon came around the table and together the three of them enjoyed a group hug. As they pulled away, Chuck could see Ellie wiping away tears that had escaped. She placed her hand on the side of Chuck's face looking up at him, and gently said, "Aces Charles. Aces."
"A dad quote. Nice one, El." After another moment of silence, Chuck realized he was still in his flying garb. "I need to go change."
"Get outta here," Devon drawled as he playfully pushed Chuck away.
With a side glance and smile, he turned away and headed towards the door to his apartment. Chuck noticed Morgan standing in the doorway with a puzzled look on his face. "What was that all about?" Morgan asked.
"Well, Morgan, the timetable for Devon and Ellie got moved up to the end of January instead the end of the year."
"What?! Are you serious? What does that mean for you? What does that mean for us?"
Chuck put a hand on each of Morgan's shoulders. "We'll figure it out. Maybe we can ask Jeff and Lester to talk to their friends back in Green Bay and see if there are any flight departments in the area looking for pilots. Granted, it's a smaller aviation community, but the pilot world isn't very big. I know it's not Chicago, but it's closer than here."
"I'm glad they're here," Morgan nodded his head back into their apartment where Jeff, Lester, and a few other of their friends sat. He added, "The timing is kinda crazy for all of this and they just happen to be here. You know, they've been begging us for a couple years now to move out there, they really like it there."
"Well, here's their chance to help be a part of us coming out there," Chuck stated as he pushed Morgan away. "Go talk to them, I have to change yet."
Morgan meandered towards the group, but Chuck didn't hear what he said as he plodded down the hall into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Chuck leaned back against his door, blowing out a big sigh. 'Now what?'
Chuck thought to himself. Alexei seemed more prepared for Chuck's departure than Chuck did, but with this new timeline would Alexei be as flexible? Chuck wasn't sure and he could understand if Alexei hesitated, regardless of what Alexei says. Laughing to himself, Chuck shook his head as he took off his golf shirt and tossed it in his clothes basket. Stepping into his closet, he grabbed his green Callahan Auto Parts t-shirt, his blue jeans, some clean boxers and made his way to the bathroom for a quick shower.
Chuck seemed to have epiphanies in the shower. Tonight, on New Year's Eve, he hoped to have one that would make it clear what the next couple months would look like.
A few hours later, Chuck was finally a little more relaxed. They had a plan. Talking to Jeff and Lester about Chuck and Morgan's plans of moving to the Midwest, possibly Green Bay, helped Chuck noticed that Anna seemed indifferent about Morgan moving away. Alex, on the other hand, seemed genuinely excited about having more friends from Jeff and Lester's past closer to them. Chuck felt it was a cover for having Morgan closer. She seemed interested in Morgan, but he wasn't going to point that out.
Around 11:15 Chuck felt his phone vibrate in his front pocket.
"Hey Chuck, it's Vivian! Can we stop by and be a part of the Casa de Bartowski festivities tonight? Don't worry, we aren't going to do anything crazy."
Chuck looked at his phone and then looked up at the lights floating above him in the courtyard, internally groaning.
"What's wrong?" Chuck heard Morgan ask. Without looking down, Chuck showed his phone to Morgan and heard him softly gasp, "Are you serious? What are you going to say?"
"I'm going to tell her that it's ok to come over. What can I say, Morgan? Alexei talked to me after you left and told me that he thinks Vivian is interested in me." Morgan's eyebrows shot up. "And that he's fine with whatever I decide to do with that. He also knows about Ellie moving soon for the job in Chicago and he thinks that I'm not far behind, more or less telling me to tread lightly with Vivian." Chuck finally peered down to see Morgan rubbing the side of his face, deep in thought.
"That's a pretty crappy situation to be in, if you ask me."
"Gee, thanks for stating the obvious, Morgan," Chuck said flatly, rolling his eyes at him.
Quickly tapping, Chuck replied. "Hey Vivian! If you want to come over, you're more than welcome.
"Is there any sizzling shrimp left? :P"
"Yes, there will be, don't worry."
"Are you still at the apartments in Echo Park, the ones with the water fountain in the middle?"
"That's the ones."
"K, see you soon!"
"thumbs up emoji"
Chuck shook his head at Morgan as they both shrugged their shoulders. "Vivian and Evelyn. Here. Tonight. Who would have thought that this night would be so strange?" Chuck said to Morgan as they both started towards the cooler to get another beer.
Chuck checked his watch. 11:35. He, Morgan, Jeff, Lester, and Alex stood by the fountain already having discussed different companies in Green Bay and the surrounding area that have flight departments. Now the group was talking about how successful Jeffster had become.
Suddenly, Morgan's eyes opened wide as he gaped past Chuck and in a hushed, but animated tone, said, "Stop the presses. Who is that? Vicki Vale."
Chuck cocked his head back and grinned, realizing what Morgan had just done. Immediately he started up, "Vicki Vale, Vick-Vicki Vale."
"Hi, Chuck!"
Chuck could feel the heat rise instantly to his face. He peeked at Morgan, who was staring up at Chuck, mouth agape. Chuck knew whose voice it was, but the look Morgan was giving him wasn't the one he was expecting. Spinning around, Chuck started, "Hi, Vivian aaand….you're…you're not…Evelyn..." Chuck trailed off in a whisper. Chuck couldn't continue. Before him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Whoever Vivian had brought, she a tall blonde, with a soft angelic face. Her eyes were the deep blue that you would find in the Caribbean Ocean. Chuck was lost in them. A quick bump from Morgan grounded Chuck enough for him to at least close his slightly ajar mouth.
"I'm, who was it that you were just saying…Vicki Vale?" the blond teasingly said to him, her eyebrow raised with a teasing, half-smile.
"Uh, that was from Batman," Chuck replied, still trying to recover.
"…Aaand that makes it better?" Her eyebrow still raised, but now there was a full smile on her face.
"A-ha-ha," Chuck nervously laughed, helping to keep his composure on the outside. He was reeling on the inside. 'Who is this angel that has descended upon Casa de Bartowski, blessing us on New Years Eve? How am I even functioning properly standing so close to her?'
"Chuck, this is a good friend of mine, Sarah. Sarah, this is Chuck, Chuck Bartowksi, one of the pilots that flies for us." Chuck looked at Vivian. Her frown told him that she was annoyed. He turned to Sarah, who now had a soft smile, hand extended to him. Chuck took Sarah's hand to shake it. A momentary pause occurred before Chuck started shaking her hand. When he gazed into Sarah's eyes there was something more there for a split second before it was gone.
"Nice to meet you, Chuck." Her voice seemed softer, a tone that seemed to mean more than 'Nice to meet you'.
Chuck could not process fast enough to understand what was going on, but he pushed forward. "Glad you guys could make it. Drinks are over there on the table." He pointed past Vivian and Sarah. Chuck noticed both Ellie and Devon looking back at him with smirks on their faces before waving at them. "Ahem, and Morgan will be pulling out the last round of the shrimp right now before midnight is upon us." Chuck glared at Morgan. His bearded friend immediately headed towards the kitchen to get the coveted dish.
"Come on over, you two," Chuck heard his sister say as she waved the two girls over. Chuck realized that his sister was helping him so he could regain his composure. Both Vivian and Sarah turned to head over to Ellie, but not before Chuck noticed Sarah considering him.
"What just happened there?" Chuck was snapped out of his clouded state by Jeff's voice.
Chuck had somehow forgotten about the three other people still standing there. He eyed all three of them as they smirked at him. "What do you mean?" Chuck asked, playing dumb, hoping to play off that maybe something really did happen.
"Oh, come on Chuck," Alex whispered back. "You'd have to be blind to see that something didn't just happen there. Why do you think Vivian gave you that frown that she did?"
'Oh man,' thought Chuck. 'Things are already awkward with Vivian and now add Sarah into the mix.' "Sooo, I didn't imagine everything?" Chuck looked at the three of them, hoping for confirmation.
"Uh, I think Alex already said that, Chuck." Jeff said. He ignored the frantic look Chuck was giving him, as he saw Vivian and Sarah walk up behind Jeff. "She really threw you for a loop."
"Who threw Chuck for a loop?" Sarah asked coyly, glancing at Chuck, then back to Jeff.
"Oh heyyy, Sarah…uh, we were just joking about the time when Chuck called Devon 'Captain Awesome' and Ellie told Chuck that she was going to take his Xbox to work." Jeff nervously laughed as he put his around Chuck, hoping that was a good enough cover story.
Chuck laughed, "Yeah, that really threw me for a loop because Morgan and I were supposed to play in a Call of Duty tournament that night."
"What were we supposed to do?" asked Morgan as he walked up with his sizzling tray, obviously clueless to the story Chuck was hoping to fabricate to get him out of the embarrassing moment.
Jeff turned to Morgan. "Morgan. Remember the time when you and Chuck were going play in that Call of Duty tournament, but Ellie threatened to take Chuck's Xbox to work because he called Devon 'Captain Awesome'?"
Chuck could see the confused look on Morgan's face as his friend tried to recall the event. "No, I don't remember any tournament, and trust me…" Chuck turned away from the girls and shot Morgan a death stare. Morgan caught Chuck's daggers and his eyes became wide. "I do remember that tournament. Didn't we win because of my great gameplay, Chuck?" Morgan grinned at Chuck. "How could I forget that time…sizzling crustaceans anyone?"
The distraction of food diverted everyone's attention from the potentially distressing situation for Chuck. He excused himself to make his way over to Devon and Ellie, who were still standing by the drink table.
Chuck saw his sister step around the table and stand there while he grabbed another beer from the cooler. When he stood up he saw the look on Ellie's face. He really didn't want to deal with the questioning that he knew was coming. "Are you okay?" She giggled.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Oh, come on, Chuck. It wasn't hard to miss what just happened there when you and Sarah met. I had to hold Devon back. He was going to come up next to Sarah and ask her what her intentions were with you," Ellie said, who nodded over at Devon who had a big grin on his face and gave him a thumbs up.
"Chuck, that was awesome, bro! Seeing that Vicki Vale thing you did and watching Sarah walk up, covering her mouth to hold back a laugh…" Chuck's face must have said it all to Devon. "Oh yeah dude, she heard it all and it was pretty obvious you were talking about Sarah, even though you were oblivious to the fact that she was right behind you. Morgan probably expected you to turn around, and when you didn't, well, that was just fun to watch. It's embarrassing now, but you'll look back and the two of you will laugh about it."
Chuck's mouth dropped a little at Devon's comment. "What do you mean, when we look back. Who? Sarah and I?"
"Of course that's who he means, little brother. You two look good together," Ellie said with a look of pride on her face.
"I just met her, guys. Seriously, let's reign it in a little."
"Whatever you say. I'm just calling it how I see it, that girl has eyes for you." Ellie beamed at Chuck, ignoring his look of disbelief.
"Uh, what? She's just messing with me, trying to embarrass me, that's all." Chuck was trying to make sense of where this conversation with Devon and Ellie had gone.
"The frown on Vivian's face didn't seem like she thought Sarah was just trying to embarrass you," Devon added, not helping Chuck's argument.
"Ok, ok. Enough." Chuck said to them under his breath. He needed to stop the conversation and the direction his thoughts were going.
Ellie checked her watch. She gasped and shouted out, "Oh my gosh! Hey, everyone! Come over here quick and grab a plastic champagne flute!" Suddenly, Chuck was handed a bottle of champagne. "Chuck, Devon, and I will pour your champagne. We have two minutes." Chuck was always awed when his sister took charge. She was a force when she got this way.
Chuck was pouring for whoever stuck a flute in his face. "I got your back, buddy," someone said. Chuck peeked over and saw Jeff give him a wink.
"What for?" Chuck mouthed to him, but before he could get an answer there was another flute in his face and Jeff was pushed away from him.
Chuck finished pouring as Ellie yelled out to everyone that there were thirty seconds until midnight. Chuck quickly made his way over to the group that consisted of Vivian, Jeff, Lester, Anna, Alex, Morgan, and Sarah. He ended up wedged between Sarah and Vivian and wondered to himself how a situation such as this one could possibly happen fifteen seconds before midnight.
Ellie started to count and everyone else joined in. "10…9…8…7…6…" Chuck nervously shifted his weight, not knowing what to do, standing between the two women that had paid the most attention to him the past twelve hours. "…5…4…3..." Chuck looked over and saw Jeff nod towards Sarah as Jeff made a movement towards Vivian. Chuck then realized what Jeff was doing. "…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
In that instant, as Chuck looked around the group, everyone was pairing off for a New Year's kiss. Lester and Anna, Morgan and Alex, and Jeff intercepted Vivian. Chuck noticed that Sarah was staring at him. In what seemed like slow motion, Chuck watched Sarah close the short distance between the two of them in one step, tilt her head up at him, her eyes shining. "Happy New Year, Chuck." Chuck dropped his head slightly, and their lips met. Chuck felt like the air got sucked out of him as his senses of Sarah enveloped him. The scents of lavender and vanilla flooded his senses. He saw her eyes close at the same time his did. Lips so soft, so perfect, Chuck could have stayed forever, but as soon as it started, it ended.
Chuck felt himself being spun around and in that moment sensed Vivian's lips at the corner of his mouth, and then Alex's on his cheek, then Anna's. He was in such a daze. Chuck wasn't sure what was going on, he only knew the feeling that was there a few seconds ago, was gone, and he wanted more. He took a deep breath to get his bearings and he looked around the group to see everyone laughing and taking drinks of champagne. Chuck caught Sarah's eye while she took another sip of her drink and saw her lightly blush. When she brought her flute down, she shyly lifted her shoulder and looked away, a small smile on her face.
Whatever Chuck had thought of Jeff before–any tricks he had played on him at the Buy More, any future jokes that would be played on him–all was forgiven for the move that Jeff had made to redirect Vivian's attention away from Chuck.
The group began to move towards the drink table for refills. Chuck found himself not moving, afraid he would stumble if he tried to move. Instead, Chuck sat on the rock wall that made up the pool of the fountain and looked down at his hands, trying to collect himself.
Suddenly, Chuck became aware of someone else sitting next to him. Glancing over, he saw Vivian staring back at him. Chuck expected anger or hurt. Instead, he saw a knowing smirk on her face. She began, "Chuck, before I got here, the last thirty minutes played out differently in my head. Knowing now how they went, you would think that I would be pretty upset with you, but I'm not. I realized from the moment that you saw Sarah, you had eyes only for her. You tried to hide it because you didn't want to hurt me, but you can't hide that. I appreciate that about you. You are always concerned about the other person. My dad told me before coming over tonight about Ellie and Devon eventually moving to Chicago and he thought you wouldn't be far behind." Chuck was about to interject, but Vivian put a hand on Chuck's knee to stop him. "I guess it helped me realize that I was forcing something with you that I shouldn't have. You were trying, in your Chuck-way, to play along, but at the same time, not lead me on and hurt my feelings. I ignored that and that's on me…that's why I'm not mad at you." Shaking her head, she laughed under her breath, and added, "Little did I know that bringing Sarah tonight would expose the very things I didn't want to accept, and you were trying to prevent."
Chuck responded, "Vivian, listen. I'm sorry. I wasn't sure what to do about us, if there could be an us or not." Chuck paused and took a breath. "You're a beautiful woman. Funny. Witty. Easy to be around. You are also the daughter of my boss, who also owns the company. I really didn't want to go down that road. It doesn't seem fair to you, but–"
"Chuck….it's ok. Really. I get it." Chuck focused on Vivian and could sense that there was conflict in her eyes as she spoke. "That is what was going through my head the whole evening before I came here. I have to be realistic about this and you've tried your best to steer clear of it." She stood up and sighed, "But, don't think I'm going to stop trying to find ways to get you all red-faced and embarrassed." Before Chuck could respond, Vivian bent over and kissed him on the cheek, turned around, and walked over to join the rest of the group that was still hovering around the drink table laughing at some story Jeff and Lester were telling everyone.
Chuck noticed that Vivian had struggled with what she just said, sensing there was more there. He felt relieved that the conversation had at least taken place. The awkwardness he suddenly dreaded on future flights with Vivian was now gone. No more awkward talks with Alexei concerning what Chuck should or shouldn't do with his daughter.
Devon. Ellie. Morgan. Alex. Jeff. And now Vivian. Each one had noticed that something had definitely happened between Sarah and Chuck. Chuck was trying to allow himself to admit that maybe something did.
'Does it really happen like this?' he wondered to himself.
Chuck shook his head and admired Sarah, who was laughing along with everyone else with whatever story Morgan was now telling. Her long, flowing curls bounced with her laughter. Chuck didn't realize he was staring at her until he saw Sarah looking past the group, straight at him. There was a smile on her face, meant only for him. He smiled back at her until she quickly directed her attention back to the group, laughing with them again.
Still in a heady daze from Sarah's spell, but confident he could maintain his composure, Chuck got up and joined the rest of the group. It was clear that some had had their share of alcohol. Stories were being embellished, drawing much laughter. Chuck saw Morgan turn to him with a confused look on his face and suddenly blurt out, "Chuck! Do you realize that the days of shrimp paradise will be over in less than a month?"
A hush fell over the group and Chuck felt a chill run through him. 'He didn't just say that, did he?' Chuck thought, but the wide-eyed look on Morgan's face said otherwise.
Chuck drew a deep breath and closed his eyes when he heard Vivian's voice cut through the silence. "What? Is this true, Chuck?"
Chuck wished he knew.
A/N 2: That seemed to being going well, until Morgan.