A/N: Thanks for all the feedback, reviews etc. So glad that some people like this one; I wasn't sure with the characters, slightly different to canon, due to changes in their history.
Thanks, obviously, to MarkeyDeSad, the one who encouraged me to write this. In fact, he pushed me to get the chapters written. On that basis, you might want to blame him for the delays to my other stories, but really that's my fault for just not getting on with them. With this chapter, he and I batted the content back and forth until it was ready to go out.
So, Sarah and Chuck are interested in, and wanting to know more about, each other. However, for Ellie, there's a mystery woman in Chuck's life. Will we meet her in this chapter? Will she come to the book reading/signing? Let's see…
The Novelist
Chapter 3: Spies
As soon as they got into the car, Sarah turned to her editor and demanded, "Why the hell didn't you tell me you had a brother?"
Ellie was taken aback by the forcefulness of that question. Sarah wasn't angry, but obviously a bit annoyed. How could she respond to that and not trigger the anger? She thought for a while before responding, "Sarah, you've never been interested in anything beyond your writing in all the time I've known you." Was that a safe thing to say?
Sarah slumped back into the car seat. "Yeah, you're right. I do live the life of a hermit, not venturing out of my cave unless I really have to. I don't talk to people, other than you." She looked back at her only friend. "Am I a lost cause?"
Ellie took her hand. "From the way you were tonight, I don't think so," she said with a smile.
That worried Sarah. Did she do something and not realize it? "What do you mean? How I was tonight?"
Ellie smiled a bit more. "You were positively garrulous tonight."
"Oh, God! Not only did I monopolize your brother, but I talked too much as well!" Sarah looked at Ellie with watery eyes. "I am so sorry, Ellie. Your brother must think I am awful."
"No, I am sure he didn't think that," Ellie replied. She didn't say it, but thought that every indication was that her brother was infatuated with the woman in the car with her. "You just need to get out more. And talk to people."
Sarah almost mentioned her coffee trips until Ellie said she should talk to people. She sat and contemplated what Ellie had just said and her own response to the earlier comments. Both of them were right. She had hidden away from people. Not consciously, but because she had just focused on her writing. However, the net result was little to no interaction with others and, therefore, zero interaction with men.
She had never asked about any of Ellie's family, either. That wasn't so surprising. For Sarah, family was not a great topic and she certainly didn't want to have to talk about her own, so she would always avoid that topic. So, why would Ellie talk to Sarah about her brother? She wouldn't, and hadn't.
"Sorry, Ellie. He was just a big surprise." She started thinking about how tall he was when she said, 'big.' Then she just started thinking about everything else about him. "A nice surprise, though," she added.
Ellie was still smiling at her friend. She noticed the dreamy look on Sarah's face as she said those last words. It was quite clear that Sarah was taken with Chuck. Earlier, Ellie had seen the two of them look at each other in that exact same manner.
Linked with that, Sarah's words about relationships on the flight over made Ellie more open to the idea of Sarah being a match for her brother. She just needed to know about where he stood with that Zondra before doing her natural matchmaking.
"Well, I don't think I need to tell you anything about him, Sarah." She grinned. "The two of you talked for nearly two hours back there. You must already know everything about him."
Unfortunately, Sarah didn't know everything. She wanted to know if he was single or, as she had thought before about great guys, already snatched up. She couldn't really ask his sister without it being obvious she wanted to be with him. She had to be circumspect. "Do you think he'll bring anyone with him to the reading?"
Ellie could immediately see what Sarah was really asking. 'Does he have a girlfriend?' She had to keep her face neutral, even though she wanted to laugh. Don't lie, she said to herself. "I don't know," She replied. "Not sure who is going with him on his next flight, but it's for his own business, so maybe no one."
Sarah nodded. That made sense. It didn't tell her anything, though.
They both sat in silence for the rest of the ride back to their hotel.
Just before he entered his bedroom, Zondra opened her door and looked out. "Long talk with your sis?" she asked.
"No, actually. And she seems to be a bit pissed off about it," he replied, shaking his head.
Zondra gave him a look that said, 'really?'. She wanted to know more now. "You were gone for over two hours, Chuck."
He focused on her. "Checking up on me?"
She placed her hands on her hips. "What happened?"
"She brought someone with her and that was who I was talking to," he confessed, but avoided naming names.
Zondra frowned. "Who was that?" She didn't say it, but thought, 'Were they a threat?'
"The author she has brought here," he replied, still vague. He didn't know why, but felt he shouldn't mention Sarah by name.
Zondra knew he was being evasive. She was a spy and reading people was a job requirement if you wanted to live. Chuck was easier than most, though, normally an open book to her. Here, he was trying to keep closed, but she could tell.
"And that is?" she said, in an annoyed tone.
He knew he couldn't keep it from her, so confessed, "Sarah Walker."
He was surprised when Zondra's eyes lit up. "Sarah Freakin' Walker? Oh my God! I love her novels."
He was shocked. "You read spy novels!?"
She blushed. That wasn't something she ever let anyone know and she had just gushed over a writer and her books. She pointed a finger at him, growling, "Don't you ever tell anyone, and especially not Casey."
He grinned, but said, "Okay. Our secret."
She softened her features. "Into your room now. I need to know more." She pushed him toward his door.
Chuck didn't really want to talk about Sarah, just think about her, but he opened the door and let his partner in.
Zondra pointed at one of the two chairs. "Sit," she commanded. Once he had, she sat in the other chair. "What's she like?"
He couldn't stop himself. Thinking about her brought a smile to his face and just one word to his lips, "Wonderful."
Zondra instantly saw his expression change. She was always good at reading people, she needed to be for her job, but she didn't need that skill here. "You like her!"
He looked at her in shock, but then thought about that and realized that he did indeed like Sarah Walker, a lot. He replied, "Who wouldn't? She is stunningly attractive, intelligent and so easy to talk to."
Zondra grinned. "So, have you asked her out?"
That wiped the smile off of his face. Much as he would like Sarah to be his girlfriend, why would she be different to every other woman? She'd never be interested in him, women never were. He tightened his jaw before speaking. "No, I haven't and I'm not going to."
Zondra raised one eyebrow that said, 'explain.' She was just like his sister in that. He had, however, seen a more threatening version of it when she was questioning suspects. This at least just felt interested.
He huffed. "Z, you know how I am. You know my insecurities. I couldn't ask her out." He looked away.
Zondra did know those insecurities of his. She still felt she had contributed to that, in a way. She grabbed his hands forcing him to look back at her. "You are an attractive man, Chuck. Women like you. I've seen them."
He knew why she had rejected his advances, he really did. It wasn't what he originally feared, but she had still rejected his suggestion they go on a date. He generalized here. "Z, women always walk away from me, sometimes before I finish introducing myself and some when I ask them on a date."
That last part made her reply. "You know why I did. And it wasn't your fault, at all."
He did know, but it was still just another rejection. He looked away, just saying, "Yeah."
Zondra glared at him. "If you like Sarah, you should ask her out. How else will you really know if you could have a girlfriend there?"
"I just can't see it happening, Z. And I have had my fill of rejections."
"Okay," Zondra drew out the word. "I get that. We've talked about it, haven't we? I don't think mentioning past failures, even jokingly, is a good idea; it states that there is something unlikeable about you, making them dismiss you before they get to know you. This time she already knows you from tonight, but no point risking it, before or on the date that I'm sure you'll get. And no talk of that woman back at Stanford, either."
He knew she was right. He did talk about those things in those situations. "I do that when I get nervous, Z. I can't stop myself. Jill dumping me when I proposed killed me. I missed her for years after that."
Zondra noted the past tense. "Missed her, but not still miss her?"
He hadn't realized he'd said it that way. However, as he thought about Jill Roberts, he found it was still painful, but he didn't pine for her anymore. His mind was now full of a beautiful blue-eyed blonde; the brunette woman had been displaced. Of course, pining for another woman out of his reach was just as stupid.
He realized Zondra was standing with that raised brow waiting for an answer.
"Okay, I probably don't miss her as much now. It has been five years, Z." He wasn't going to admit to his new crush.
Zondra grinned. "I suspect that changed tonight." She didn't give him a chance to respond, as she shifted topic. "If her editor has brought her here, she'll be on a book tour for her fourth book, due out soon. Where is she doing a reading, Chuck?"
His head was still in a spin over the last topic and Zondra being a fan of Sarah's books. This sudden outpouring of her thoughts on both was a bit dizzying, but he replied with the facts that his sister had provided.
Zondra considered the details. "Well, the morning one is no good, but we could go to the evening one, just about. It'd be tight, but so worth it."
This was exactly what he had decided, but he had assumed he would go on his own. "Are you sure?"
"We'll send our luggage to the airport with Casey," Zondra replied. "I'll say I have to go with you to ensure your safety, that way Casey can't argue."
"Wow. You have it all planned out, huh?"
She grinned. "Yep." She stood and walked toward his door. Before she left, she twisted around and said to him, "Tomorrow sounds fun, lover boy." She ducked out quickly before he could respond.
As he sat there, he thought about that. Could Sarah ever be interested in me?
He was still pondering that as he got ready for bed.
He also thought about his clandestine part-time job in this intelligence world and what he had to do because of it. He'd always hated the fact that he had to keep this a secret from his sister. Not being allowed to share the details with her was so alien to his nature and to their relationship; they had previously always shared everything. However, it wasn't just because talking about it was treasonous, but also because he knew she would worry, probably unnecessarily, about him when he was out supporting the missions. So, he sometimes had to lie to her.
This trip to Tokyo was one of those lies. She thought that his government support was associated with his own company's services and that it just involved US-based short-term trips. He'd been out here in DC for two-weeks and extending it for further two would confuse her, taking it to Japan would probably raise questions in her head. So, as far as she was concerned, he was going out there for his company's work. She had absolutely no interest in IT, so she would never ask for details.
Now he had met Sarah, who was fascinated in his business, he hoped she wouldn't ask anything about the trip. He really didn't want to lie to her, although he would if necessary. If he did what Zondra suggested and asked Sarah out, and the unbelievable happened with her accepting, he would have another person to lie to and not just about the trip.
God, this is a mess!
The first reading had gone fine. There were a lot of people there, but presumably not from any of the government agencies, so fielding the questions had been easy.
As always, she was surprised at how many of her new hardback sold. She wasn't sure if that was just because people wanted signed copies, but it was satisfying.
After a late lunch, she told Ellie she wanted some time to enjoy the capital and see the sights. Ellie had suggested they go together, but she wanted some alone time, so declined.
She had enjoyed herself, she really had, but why did she wish that she'd had someone with her? She could have, if she'd accepted Ellie's offer, but as she thought about it, she acknowledged the truth; she wished Ellie's brother was with her. In just one evening, he had turned her world upside down. Is he available? Would he be interested in me?
Maybe she could talk to him this evening, although he had said he needed to catch a flight to somewhere, so maybe not.
She didn't even know what part of the country he lived in. If it wasn't in California, would they be stupid to start a relationship? She remembered one of her criteria was local. Well, that was another question to ask when she saw him.
She was far more nervous for this reading than she had ever been before. Part of that probably was the possibility of intelligence agency staff asking questions, but she knew the real reason was the possibility of seeing Chuck again. She really hoped he would show up.
Sarah could never remember wanting to see anybody she knew at a reading before this one. He really was affecting her.
As usual, Ellie had insisted she be out of sight until announced, so she sat with her editor in a back room, surrounded by stacks of books.
"You'll be fine, Sarah," Ellie assured her. She'd never seen Sarah wringing her hands like this. "If they ask awkward questions, just say that it's fiction, not meant to be a biography of a real operative."
Sarah chuckled at that. It was true, though. She wasn't going to tell Ellie the main reason for her nervousness.
Thankfully, the store manager had now started to announce her presence, so it was showtime. She stood and walked through to the lectern, with Ellie wishing her luck, as usual.
She stood there and looked out at the scene before her. All the seats were full and there were some people standing too. That boded well, she hoped. She didn't have time to search the faces right now, much as she wanted to, so she got started. "Hello, I'm Sarah Walker. I hope some of you, at least, have read my earlier novels." She looked up. "Anyone?"
There were many calls and several books waved in the air.
She grinned at them and wiped a hand across her forehead. "Phew! Not complete silence. So, hopefully you're here because you liked them, rather than because you wanted to pick holes in them." She paused for a second. "That's for any government employees out there, by the way. Silence is golden."
There were several chuckles at that and one person called out, "Like your hair."
She grinned and puffed her hair a bit. "All natural," she replied to more chuckles.
"This next book follows immediately on from the last one, so I recommend reading that one first." She looked up. "That's the cue to buy all three of the earlier books, if you haven't already read them." More chuckles.
"Here, Rebecca Franks has been summoned to the CIA Director's office. She doesn't know why, but suspects it has something to do with her ex-partner."
Sarah looked down at the book and started reading:
xxx
She hated coming to this office. Even when it wasn't to be rebuked; she never left here happy, these days. The assignments were never in places she wanted to go and never gave her time to enjoy where she went, anyway. She had started to wonder what life would be like out of the CIA. It was the only job she'd had and didn't know anything else. Could she apply any of her skills to other jobs? This was something she always thought about when she had down time.
Ha! Down time! She so rarely got any of that, apart from on the flights back from a mission, once she'd completed the mission report. That was probably why it was fresh in her mind. The flight back from Bucharest had been a long one. She'd spent the first two hours thinking about how Bruce had betrayed her and trying to work out why. When she finally decided she may never know, she started thinking about her own situation.
Part of her wanted to walk in and hand in her notice, but she knew that was stupid. She had no other job lined up or even any idea what that could be. She had to stay in this job as it was all she knew.
She was waved straight in by his personal assistant when she arrived. There he was, with a dark stormy look on his face. She had no idea what she'd done wrong to cause that, but stood waiting for it.
"Sit, Agent Franks," he muttered. Well, that was better than being dressed down while standing.
Rebecca sat, upright as always. "Sir," she responded.
He sat in silence, looking at the contents of the folder in front of him. She could normally see what he was reading as she was good at reading upside down, but he had it tilted toward him, partly on his lap, but with the back of the folder resting on his desk.
He doesn't want me to see any of it.
He finally looked up. She knew that he would already have the next words in his head and had been deliberately pausing to keep her in the dark and make her concerned. That was what he did. Then, he leaned forward. "You partner is a problem."
She replied instantly. "Ex-partner, Sir. He betrayed me and left me to die in Bucharest." She had been thinking about that betrayal a lot since it had happened, and it still hurt.
"Hmm," he replied, giving nothing away. After a minute, he started again, "If he had brought the intel straight back to us, that would have been the right thing to do. The mission is more important than the operatives involved." He stared at her, hard. "You know that, Agent Franks."
She did. "Yes, Sir, but he didn't come back with it, did he?"
He grunted and replied, "No." Then he straightened his back. "So, you know your next mission."
She had to ask the obvious, because with the director, sometimes what he meant wasn't that. "You want me to find him?"
He nodded. "No one else knows about that intel and… no one else knows him as well as you do."
His eyes narrowed as he said that last bit. She guessed that he thought they had been together as more than just work partners, that they had slept together. Wrong, of course, but it would be impossible to get him to change his mind.
His next question was unsettling. "Do I have to worry about your loyalties, Agent Franks?"
"No, Sir," she immediately replied. "I'll get that intel, and bring him in."
He still observed her for a few seconds, making her realize that this was as much a test as a mission. She was on trial herself.
He finally spoke, "Dead or alive." He looked back down at the folder. "Preferably the former."
So, that was it. Another termination mission. This time of another CIA operative, one she'd been working with up until two weeks ago.
Not only that, she also had to retrieve that intel, or she would be held accountable. If she failed, she might be the next target.
This was going to be messy.
xxx
Sarah looked up from the book. "That was only a short extract, but it gives you a flavor of what the novel is about. This time, she isn't just doing her job, she's trying to prove she's not a traitor too." She smiled. "You'll have to read the book to find out how she gets on."
The people in front of her started clapping. She scanned through them, looking to see if Chuck had made it.
And there he was, near the back, in the center of a row. She smiled at him and he smiled back. That made her feel warm inside.
Then, a beautiful brunette sitting in the next seat leaned over and whispered to him. He turned and grinned at her and talked, quite animatedly. She spoke back, equally animatedly and he nodded to her.
Sarah guessed that this beautiful brunette had to be his girlfriend. Inwardly, she felt gutted. She had stupidly been getting her hopes up, but he was one of the good guys that had already been snapped up. She had to push those thoughts back and focus on the next part of the evening.
She scanned the audience for anyone with a question. A man to the left had his hand up. She pointed at him and he stood and said, "I love your books. How do you know so much about how our intelligence agencies work?"
Sarah snorted. "Quick answer is that I don't." People laughed. "Longer answer is research. A lot of research." She smiled and then added, "Oh, and I read spy novels."
She was surprised to see the woman next to Chuck with her hand up, waving slightly. Sarah pointed to her. "Hi, I am a huge fan of your work. I also work for the government." Sarah's heart sank. Here came the damning comment that clashed with the woman's previous words. "I'd say you got it pretty close."
Sarah was surprised by that and paused for a second before replying. "Well, thank you. That's really nice to hear."
The remaining questions were pretty straightforward. Sarah noticed several dark suited people, men and women, scattered around; none asked any questions and a few looked at the woman beside Chuck with a certain amount of awe. They obviously knew her, or of her, and she was clearly someone who they respected. That made Sarah curious about her, even though she was clearly Chuck's girlfriend.
Ellie had been observing from the side, ready to step in if anyone got personal or confrontational in their questioning. None had. However, she guessed that the woman next to Chuck was Zondra. She decided to confront her here, if she could.
After the questions came the signing session.
Somehow, that woman managed to get near the front of the line, in spite of being hemmed in by so many people and at the back, as well. When she got to the front of the line, she grabbed one of the hardbacks of book four from the pile and thrust it toward Sarah. "Can you say it's for Zondra, that's me. I love your writing and I know I'll enjoy this new book."
Zondra was amazed at herself and her reaction to meeting her favorite author. She was always so reticent, but here she was positively gushing. It wasn't that she fancied Sarah Walker, although she had to acknowledge the woman was a beauty. No, this was pure fangirl stuff.
Sarah took the book and wrote, "To Zondra, Hope you enjoy this excursion into the fictional spy world, Sarah Walker."
Zondra looked at what she wrote as she did it. She had no trouble reading her handwriting, even though it was upside down. She laughed. "As I indicated, your fictional spy world is pretty close to the real one."
Sarah looked up at her. "I'd love to talk to you about that, but I guess it's all classified."
Zondra nodded. "Pretty much. However, if you ever want a help with things, ask your editor to tell Chuck; he can pass it on to me."
Sarah had to ask, "Is he your boyfriend, then?"
Zondra rolled her eyes. "No, we're just friends."
Sarah was flooded with relief, but curious about the eye roll. She was going to ask about it, but Ellie walked up and interjected at that point. "You've got quite a line to get through, Sarah."
That caused Zondra to stop talking and turn away, but not before saying, "Talk more, at some time."
Sarah waved to her and then turned to the next person in the line.
She was trying to concentrate on each person in turn, but she was virtually in auto-pilot. Chuck & Zondra were occupying her mind.
Sarah was faced with a puzzle. Zondra worked for one of the agencies. That meant, if Chuck was helping her, he was too. He had mentioned helping the government, but was she one of the ones receiving that assistance? She was clearly more than a clerical employee and may even be a spy. That must mean Chuck knew more about what she wrote about than he seemed to. He hadn't lied, just not mentioned anything. Maybe he isn't allowed to?
Ellie steered Zondra to the back of the room, where drinks were available. "Can I talk to you?"
Zondra looked at her and correctly guessed. "About Chuck?"
Ellie nodded. They grabbed coffees and walked to a quiet corner. "Before you ask what Blondie did, I am not going out with Chuck." She thought that would be enough.
"I could see how close you were," Ellie started. "I guess he's too shy to ask you out."
Zondra laughed lightly. "Oh no, he asked, alright."
Ellie could see where this conversation was heading. "Oh God. Another rejection? Did he tell you about all his failures?"
Zondra grinned. "Well, he has told me about them since then, but that wasn't the reason for me saying no."
Zondra was surprised when Ellie's face took on a sad expression. "So, you just don't find him attractive. In a way, that's worse. He must've been gutted."
This was Chuck's sister. Zondra decided she deserved to know the truth. She checked that no one was near enough to hear before saying, "I don't find any men attractive." She so rarely told anyone, that it felt uncomfortable. She could see understanding in Ellie eyes.
"Oh," Ellie replied. Then her brain made a different connection. "Are you interested in Sarah?"
Zondra barked a laugh at that and had to cover her mouth when people started looking in their direction. "I have to admit that she's beautiful, but not what I look for in a woman. Besides, I'd never do that to Chuck; he's like my little brother and I'm already I am in a relationship."
Relief filled Ellie's heart and face. "Good," she replied.
Zondra looked at this woman who she'd never met before, but with whom she had now shared one of her biggest secrets. She felt a connection with her, and a common thought pattern. "You thinking they should get together?"
Ellie looked over her shoulder and could see that neither were near. In fact, Chuck was nearly at the front of the line and would be talking to Sarah soon. She turned back to Zondra. "I was with them last night. I have never seen either of them so happy, so animated. I think they are perfect for each other. I was just worried he was with you. I didn't want to cause him any problems and she's such a fragile thing, that I didn't want her getting hurt either."
"Looking out for both of them?" Zondra asked.
"Yeah. However, they are as bad as each other, both too reticent to do anything about it," Ellie replied.
Zondra chuckled. "Guess problems would affect her writing too, huh?"
Ellie sighed. "You wouldn't believe it!"
"Well, count me in on the team," Zondra replied.
That confused Ellie. "Team?"
Zondra grinned, "Team Charah." She responded to Ellie's frown. "Chuck-Sarah, Charah."
Ellie grinned once she understood and handed Zondra her business card. "Team Charah. I like it." She then hugged the very surprised woman.
As the line shortened, Sarah noticed something happening at the back of the room. She spotted Ellie handing a card to Zondra. They both looked happy and then Ellie hugged Zondra. What was that about? She never gave cards to members of the public and she certainly never showed affection like that. The only reason she could imagine was that Ellie didn't know Zondra before and had just discovered the woman was dating her brother. She tried not to think that.
Then, almost on cue, Chuck reached the front of the line.
Chuck was cursing the fact he'd delayed this, but he had wanted to collect the first three books as well as getting the newest one signed. He put all three in front of her and grabbed the new one as well.
She looked at the stack and then up into his eyes. Those gorgeous and captivating hazel brown eyes. Those awful thoughts were washed away as she sank into those eyes. She had to try to stay seated and asked, "Hardbacks? I would've expected you to only read digital editions."
He blushed because she was exactly right. He hadn't bought a physical book for years, at least not of the written word. Comics, yes. "I- I just want your autograph in the books." Then he realized how that sounded and blushed a bit darker. He tried to defuse it with humor. "Creepy, huh?"
She laughed at that, while also thinking about the autograph. He'd get that if she wrote him love letters. Then she realized how corny that sounded; far too last century! She obviously wouldn't say it anyway.
Then, thoughts about what she had seen earlier crept back into her head. She plucked up the courage to ask the next question. She felt she already knew the answer, but if it was an established one, she would have to let all these stupid thoughts and dreams go. "Your girlfriend's interesting. How long have you been going out?"
He looked at her bemused. "Girlfriend?"
Oh, so he's trying to pretend she isn't? That irritated her. She cast her mind back. "Zondra," she replied, her demeanor cooling rapidly.
"She's not my girlfriend," he replied, looking a bit frustrated. "Just a friend."
Sarah was confused now. Why was he frustrated by that? Had Zondra been resisting? Or was it that he just hadn't had the courage to ask her?
She decided to question him further, "She seemed very interested in you. Are you sure?"
He stared to say something, but then stopped himself, looking both troubled and slightly upset as he looked away from her.
Suddenly he was refusing to make eye contact, very subtly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. If she hadn't been watching him so intently, trying to pick up on every cue, she'd have missed it but she hadn't. He looked for all the world like a kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Guilt written all over his face as he skillfully avoided locking eyes with her.
He is definitely hiding something and is uncomfortable about whatever it is.
When she'd observed people doing this, she could usually read them if they were lying. Her doubts instantly kicked in. Two things he either hadn't told her or wasn't being honest about; Zondra was connected to both of them. Not only that, she realized that if Zondra was a spy, lying would be second nature to her. Chuck obviously wasn't so good at it, but he was definitely lying about something.
She decided to push those thoughts aside. They were making her feel upset.
Chuck remembered Zondra telling him not to talk about past failures when with a woman he liked. And, god, do I like Sarah Walker!
Besides, he couldn't talk about why he and Zondra weren't together; that was for Zondra to say and he was doubtful that would happen.
Sarah thought about what she'd seen at the back of the room, Ellie embracing the woman that was obviously dating her brother. Sarah looked back at Chuck. The brother who was denying that fact, seemingly lying right to her face.
Just as Sarah was reaching for the books Chuck had set down, while trying to push those thoughts away, she realized Zondra was standing behind him, with Ellie off to one side, looking annoyed at her brother. As if to confirm her suspicions, Zondra said, "Chuck, We've got to go!"
Ellie had heard her brother denying Zondra was his girlfriend, but then he behaved like he did. She recognized that foot dance from when he was hiding something from her when they lived together. The idiot was doing that here and Sarah was bound to spot it, making her doubt his words.
Chuck knew they had to catch that flight, but the timing couldn't have been worse.
Sarah flashed back to her earlier thoughts. Either he was going on a spy mission of some sort and not going for his IT business, or he was actually dating Zondra and she was going as his girlfriend. Maybe it was both. Images of Chuck and Zondra nice and cozy in a bed in Japan sprang to her mind.
Zondra was pulling him away from her, literally now. "B-bye, S-Sarah," he stuttered.
Zondra just waved and Sarah found herself waving to the two of them. She looked down at the four books he'd left behind and pushed them out of the way, feeling hurt, angry and very frustrated.
She had started to think there might be someone good in this world, someone who seemed to like her. She thought that maybe she could let that person into her life. Now, she felt deflated. How could I have misread the signs? How could I be so wrong?
He was a liar. He wasn't a good guy at all. He was just like most of the men she'd met before. And like ALL the men Rebecca ever meets.
His stack of books was still in front of her. She pushed them to one side and brought her focus back to the next person in the line. Don't think about him anymore, Sarah!, she admonished herself.
A/N: Don't worry. Ellie will eventually straighten Sarah out, while Zondra works on her brother.
Thoughts?
