A/N: Thanks to those that left reviews. A lot less for the last chapter, but I really appreciate the ones I do get.
Beta thanks to MarkeyDeSad once again.
This chapter will be the last for a while due to things coming up at home, so I'm having to mostly stop my writing. I still have a 'Linked' chapter for Wednesday, but nothing written beyond that for either of them. Sorry, folks. If I can find time to continue, I will, but wanted to set expectations
So, back to the story. It's now Monday morning…
The Novelist
Chapter 16: The Office
Sarah was nervous as hell as Chuck drove them to his office. The previous night she had been confident that Hannah would ensure she was ok, but now she felt she was going to be quizzed, judged and basically found unsuitable for the wonderful man driving the car. She knew that wasn't really the case, and that it was her own internal feeling coming through, but it was still eating at her.
"Stop wringing your hands, Sarah. They'll love you," said the brown-haired guy sitting next to her.
She looked over at him. "Chuck, I want to impress these people. Your people. I just feel that they won't be impressed with someone who knows so little about the work they do. Your work."
He glanced at her and said, "Do you really think all of their partners know much about IT?"
"Hannah's does. Morgan's does," she replied.
"That's because they're together. Other than the ones that are still single, most are paired off with non-IT people."
Sarah was surprised. "Really? I thought people of like minds would pair up."
"You and I aren't the same and we 'paired up,' as you put it." He was thinking of last night and this morning in the shower. Boy, did we pair up!
Sarah saw the look on his face. He was remembering their various 'pairings.' That made her smile.
"Sarah, they are going to love you just because you make their lonely boss so happy."
She hated the thought of him being lonely. "I love you, Chuck."
He smiled at her. "I love you too, Sarah," he told her before looking back at the road.
As Chuck pulled into the parking lot for the building, neither of them spotted that they were being observed from his office.
Hannah told Morgan. "When she comes in, I'll take her around to meet people."
As the elevator door started to open, Chuck immediately noticed something different. Unlike every other day, including his first day back after the mission, there was complete silence in the office. He guessed the reason; they were all waiting for Sarah to appear. He grasped her hand and whispered to her, "They know you're here. Don't freak out."
Sarah gripped his hand tightly. That was not a helpful phrase for someone already nervous.
They walked into the office, hand in hand. As he expected, all faces were turned their way.
Sarah gulped seeing so many eyes on her. She tightened her grip on his hand even more.
Chuck looked down at her fondly and she looked back. The love in his eyes calmed her. "You'll be fine, Sarah."
Although she didn't feel fine, the soft tone of his voice eased her nervousness a bit. She looked back at all the people facing her, and braced herself.
Suddenly, Morgan and Hannah appeared in front of them, blocking their view of the rest of the office. Hannah took Sarah's other hand, leaned forward and said, "I'm here for you, Sarah."
Sarah suddenly felt stupid. She felt she was behaving ridiculously. They were his team, some even friends. If any didn't like her, Chuck did and that was all that mattered, right?
She smiled at the smaller woman. "Thanks, Hannah. I do appreciate that." She released Chuck's hand and looked up at him. "You start your day, Chuck, I'll be fine."
Chuck frowned. "Don't you want me to introduce you?"
Hannah chipped in. "I can do that. I don't have anything on this morning."
Chuck started to object and Hannah held up her hand. "Tsk!" She looked back at Sarah. "I'll look after you. You won't get mobbed."
Chuck looked at Sarah and she nodded her agreement with Hannah.
Morgan looked embarrassed but actually helped when he said, "You do have a call in a few minutes, Chuck."
Chuck reluctantly let Morgan pull him away, but not before saying to Sarah, "As soon as the call is over, I'll join you."
She smiled and nodded. As she watched him walk away, though, the nervousness started to creep back in until Hannah shook her hand. "Earth to Sarah Walker. It's safe to land."
Sarah chuckled. "Thanks, Hannah."
"Come on, let's get you a cup of coffee." She pulled Sarah towards the vending area.
Sarah noticed that it was empty, which seemed strange for that time of day. "Have you told them to keep away from here because of my visit?"
Hannah blushed. "I didn't want you to be mobbed while we waited for your coffee."
Sarah felt a bit overwhelmed at this woman's thoughtfulness. She repeated her earlier words, "Thank you. You're very kind."
"Hey, I don't want you frightened off. You're so good for Chuck, we all want you to stick around."
Sarah laughed at her choice of words, but the fact that Hannah thought that buoyed her up. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
"How do you want to meet people?" Hannah asked. "Individually or in groups?" She paused then added, "Or even everyone together?"
Sarah hadn't thought she would have a choice, so had not considered this. She thought back to the book tours. Presenting herself and doing a reading before questions and the signing was easier. However, surely a full company meeting should include Chuck. "I am used to presentations, so the latter would be best, then maybe some individuals may want to talk to me." She pointed to her backpack that she was still wearing. "I have a few books I can give out."
"God, we need to get that off your back, Sarah. Don't want you struggling around with that."
Sarah smiled. "Okay." She eased it off and put it to the ground as she took her coffee.
"I think Chuck might want to introduce you if that's the way to go," Hannah said. Sarah was relieved that she didn't have to persuade her to wait. "Maybe a few key individuals first? In a small group?"
Sarah smiled. "Sure."
Hannah led her to her own desk to get her set up there. Eyes followed them. Sarah could feel them eying her up and down. It made her feel more self-conscious than at a book reading, probably because she had nothing to hide behind. She pushed that thought away.
"Let me pull together his direct reports and find a room. I'll be right back," Hannah told her.
As the woman walked away, Sarah's attention was caught by the brunette in the next desk who was now studiously avoiding looking at her. Sarah guessed this was to avoid making her feel nervous. It was going too far, she thought. Sarah scooted over in the wheeled chair. "Hi, I'm Sarah."
The woman looked up; her eyes full of happiness. She grasped Sarah's hand and shook it. "It's so wonderful to talk to you, Sarah. I'm Lou. I'm a big fan of your books."
Sarah put two and two together. "Are you the one who couldn't make it to my Los Angeles session?"
Lou nodded. "I would have loved to hear it." She paused, hesitant to say more.
Sarah grinned, guessing why Lou had stopped talking. "Not had a chance to get the new book?"
Lou sighed. "I know I could have bought it online, but I rarely purchase things that way. I've not had time to go to a bookstore, either."
Sarah opened up her backpack and reached in. "Chuck told me about you from his first day back." She pulled out a copy of her latest. "Can I borrow a pen?"
Lou looked shocked, realizing what Sarah was doing. She grabbed a pen and handed it to her. Sarah wrote,
To Lou,
Thanks for the encouragement,
Sarah
She then handed the book to Lou, who opened it to read what Sarah had written. She looked up, "Thank you so much, Sarah, but 'encouragement?'"
Sarah smiled. "Two things. It's people that love my books that encourage me to continue to write them, but you also wanted Chuck to be happy and were supportive of me being his girlfriend."
Lou placed a hand on Sarah's wrist. "I've never seen him so happy, Sarah. It was wonderful to see. And still is. You are so good for him. Thank you."
Sarah felt quite emotional after hearing that. She nodded her gratitude at Lou's words.
"They're ready for you," Hannah said behind Sarah.
Lou saw the nervous look that appeared on Sarah's face. "We all love you already, Sarah. No need to be worried."
Sarah nodded again. "Thanks, Lou." She got up and followed Hannah to a medium-sized meeting room. Inside there were six people sitting around a table. Three men and three women. There were two empty remaining seats, for Hannah and Sarah.
All the people smiled as Sarah walked in and the three men started to stand up. Sarah waved them down. "Polite though it is, I don't really like that sort of thing," she told them.
Hannah spoke next. "Obviously this is Sarah Walker, the woman who's brought our boss to life." There were chuckles around the table, but Sarah noticed some nods too. Hannah then introduced each person.
She started to Sarah's left. "This is Paul Williams, Head of Design."
Paul nodded to her with a warm smile on his face. "Hi, Sarah. Lovely to meet you."
Hannah continued, "Jen Brown, Head of HR."
Jen's smile was even bigger than Paul's. "Thank you for bringing some light into Chuck's life, Sarah."
Hannah didn't stop for long, pointing at the next person. "Ben Jones, Head of Development."
Ben smiled at her. "Thank you, Sarah. You've given my guys hope."
The others chuckled, knowing what he meant, but Sarah frowned. "Hope?"
Ben quickly replied. "If our boss, the biggest IT nerd we know, can win a beautiful girl like you, there's hope for them all."
Sarah blushed, but thanked him for the compliment, although she did point out she was a bit old to be called a girl.
Hannah grinned and indicated the man sitting next to Ben. "Jason Taylor, Head of Test."
Sarah peered at the serious looking guy, and worried slightly that he didn't like her. He then smiled. "Hi, Sarah. Don't worry. I'm not here to test you."
Laughter rippled around the table. Sarah smiled. "I think this whole visit is a test, Jason."
"No!" came from all of them.
Hannah moved quickly on, pointing at the woman beside Jason. "Sophia Garcia, head of Marketing and Publicity."
Sophia grinned at her. "Hi, Sarah. Welcome to the team."
Sarah laughed. "I don't think I'm joining the team."
Sophia smiled and said, "Chuck's interviews are going to be so much better now he's happy. A smiling CEO has a much better impact, Sarah. You're on the team."
"Finally, Alison Paige, Head of Sales," Hannah introduced the last person at the table.
Alison laughed. "Jason normally claims to be the last in the development chain …" Jason nodded rapidly. "… well, my team are the last in the production line, the final ones to get the products and to get them onto the shelves."
Hannah coughed. "There's also Dispatch, but their Head of, Simon Jackson, is on leave."
"Okay, so his team are at the end of the chain too," Alison conceded.
Everyone then turned to Sophia. "Sarah, speaking for all of us and our teams, I have to repeat what's already been said. Our boss's attitude has changed completely since he's met you. He was always a loner, but also lonely. I for one have never seen anyone change so much. Thanks, from all of us for coming into his life."
Sarah felt a little tearful hearing that and seeing all the nods around the table.
Sophia continued, "All our teams are happier now too, because of the change in Chuck. His happiness has rippled through the whole company. Everyone immediately thought you were wonderful on hearing the news." She looked at Hannah. "And that was before they knew who you were; a successful author." She looked back at Sarah. "You do know you're going to sell a lot more copies of your novels now, don't you?"
Sarah laughed then said, with a smirk, "That's obviously why I decided to date him."
Laughter confirmed that no one believed that.
'Now it was Sarah's turn to speak, as everyone was waiting for her with expectant looks. "I'm overwhelmed by the welcome you've given me. Your comments about how Chuck is happier now is wonderful to hear. Of course, he tells me that, but hearing you confirm it is so precious to me. I have to tell you that I was a loner too and it was only a chance encounter that changed things for both of us. I love your boss and he loves me. Neither of us could be happier."
Hannah's phone rattled on the table. She picked it up and checked the message before looking up. "Chuck's call has completed." She looked around the table. "Is it ok if I whisk Sarah away? He's going to introduce her to all your staff."
Amidst nods, Ben suggested, "Don't break my guys, Sarah."
She grinned at him. "You ought to know that I'm a nerd too, just not an IT nerd."
"Don't tell them that," he replied. "It'll shatter their illusions."
Hannah had to lead Sarah around the outer edge of the main room to get to where Chuck was standing. The middle was full of people standing talking to each other. As they passed people, the talking stopped and Sarah felt eyes on her again. However, she felt a lot less nervous now than when she'd first arrived.
They finally reached Chuck who took Sarah's hand before leaning in to her. "You doing ok?"
Sarah just wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him for the rest of the day. However, she just nodded and said, "I am."
Chuck turned to their audience and everyone fell silent. He grinned. "If I thought silence meant productivity, I'd ask Sarah to come in every day, but we all know that's not what's happened today." He looked back at Sarah. "Everyone, you've probably all heard about her. This is my girlfriend, Sarah Walker. She's changed my life. I thought I was happy before, but she's taught me how wrong I was."
Sarah heard the 'oohs' and 'aahs' around the room.
"For those that don't know her, Sarah is the author of a very successful and popular series of spy novels. I have to admit I'd never read any of them before I met her, but am reading now, and am loving them. I highly recommend them."
Sarah grinned and turned to all the people. "I didn't tell him to say that… honestly."
A few chuckles could be heard.
"That's all I wanted to say. So, you've all now seen the love of my life. You can go back to work now."
"Slave driver," someone called out, and everyone laughed. He obviously wasn't.
Sarah piped up. "Unless anyone has a burning question they wanted to ask me."
"Got any sisters?" a male voice called out.
After Ben had mentioned his team, Sarah chuckled. "Sadly, no. For me and for you."
Then, a woman's voice was heard, "Please don't ever leave him. We couldn't stand the misery." There was humor in the tone, but the murmurs of agreement were also clear.
Sarah smiled. "I have no intention of letting him escape my clutches."
After the laughter died down, the group disbursed. There was a happy hum to the air.
Sarah turned to a grinning boyfriend. "Ok?" they said simultaneously. Both nodded.
"That's a bit creepy," Morgan commented as he walked passed.
Hannah said, "Don't mind him." She looked at Sarah. "Guess you should have a break from 'people' now."
"Thanks, Hannah," Sarah replied. She looked at Chuck who nodded. "Maybe ten, fifteen minutes?"
"Sure. See you in Chuck's office in thirty minutes for your tour."
Chuck clasped her hand and took her away.
After about twenty-five minutes sitting on the balcony looking out over Los Angeles, Sarah felt quite rested. Talking to Chuck about his leads had given her more insight into the people and the roles of their team members, but she'd also been able to take in the view.
Hannah met them outside his office. Sarah had a quick peek in before the younger woman led her away. "Most people don't want to overwhelm you, Sarah, so there are only a few that won't let you alone."
"Oh, but I want to see where everyone works and talk to some of them about what they do," Sarah replied.
Hannah halted in her tracks and stared at Sarah. "Really?"
Sarah chuckled. "It's why I wanted to come here, Hannah, not just to be 'shown off' to all of you."
"Wow!" Hannah thought for a few seconds. "Ok. We'll start with Design." She led Sarah to the floor above, and over toward where Paul Williams sat by the window. If he turned sideways, he had the same view as from the balcony below.
Hannah had a quick word with him. He looked over at Sarah and waved, then directed Hannah on who to take Sarah to.
Hannah led her to a black woman of around thirty. Hannah had a quick word with her and then turned to Sarah. "This is Zoe Wilkinson."
Zoe gave Sarah a huge smile as she gazed at her. "The woman who made the man smile, huh? Nice to meet you, Sarah."
"And you, Zoe," Sarah replied as she sat. Hannah sat beside her. Sarah launched straight in. "Zoe, I'm trying to get a feel for how Chuck's company works. Can you tell me about Design and what you personally do?"
Zoe puffed out her cheeks. "Well, traditionally Design takes the solution outline and produces a detailed design based on that."
Sarah interrupted her. "Hold on, where does this solution outline come from."
Zoe looked at her. "Well, from Chuck Bartowski, usually. Virtually all our solutions come from his ideas."
Sarah sat back, stunned. She thought Chuck had just set up the company with his initial solution, not that he continued to supply them. She then looked at Zoe. "Please continue."
Zoe described the design process to Sarah. She finally described what she herself did in this process. "I provide the functional design for the user interactions. This, along with a number of other designs, get passed to the Development team and Test teams; the first to create the working code and the second to test that against the design."
She paused for a second. "Things are changing, though. Chuck has suggested we try Agile, which changes the way we do things. Design, Development and Test work collaboratively on iterations to deliver the solution rather than the traditional waterfall type approach."
Sarah looked a bit confused, so Zoe apologized for adding that information. "If you want to know about Agile, talk to your man. He can tell the story better than any of us."
Sarah smiled at another Chuck compliment. "Thank you, Zoe. What you've told me about the work Design does has really helped me."
Before she could get up, Zoe placed her hand on Sarah's. "And thank you for making our creative genius happy." She held Sarah's gaze. Sarah could see genuine thanks in those eyes.
"Ok. Let's move on, Sarah," Hannah prompted. "Thanks, Zoe."
"No problem," Zoe replied as she turned back to her computer.
Next stop was Development. "Some of these guys are weird, so keep an eye out for reaching hands. If you see any, swat them away." She then laughed at Sarah's expression. "I'm only joking."
Reaching Ben Jones, Hannah repeated the request. Ben got up and led them to the person best for the conversation.
The faces of those she walked passed followed Sarah's progress through their area. None were in any way threatening; each was filled with awe, some even had open mouths and slack jaws.
"Dennis James will be able to talk to you Sarah," Ben said. He grinned. "He's actually had girlfriends, so should be less in awe of you. He's also more forthcoming."
As they sat facing Dennis, Ben told him what this was about, patted his shoulder and walked back to his desk.
Dennis gazed up at his visitors, both Sarah and Hannah. "Lucky me, two beautiful visitors."
Sarah spoke before Hannah could. "Thanks for spending the time with me. I'm Sarah."
"Well, the boss didn't give me an option of refusing, but I'm happy to talk to you, Sarah. I saw you earlier." He paused then added, "It was one of ours that called to you."
She grinned. "Well, I'm an only child, so no help providing girlfriends."
He nodded. "You do realize that by talking to me, everyone here will envy me." Seeing her confusion, he added, "Me being the one that had two beautiful women sitting at his desk and me talking to the big guy's girlfriend."
Sarah asked, "Will this cause you a problem?"
Dennis shook his head and smiled for the first time. "Nah. I'll enjoy it."
Sarah described what she wanted and he described the various things the Development team did. Finally, he described his work, which was far too technical for Sarah to understand. He smiled again. "Don't worry. Few people can understand this."
"Well, thanks for all the rest, Dennis," Sarah told him.
"You know, this team is a buzz with talk of you and the big guy. They know I've been lucky enough to have girlfriends, even if I haven't been able to hold onto them. None of the others think girls would ever be interested in them. You've really given them hope."
Sarah was interested now. "If you don't mind me asking, why do think you lost the girls?"
Dennis rocked back in his chair. "Maybe because I talk about my work too much."
Sarah considered that. Having witnessed him diving down into such detail about his work, she could imagine the conversation. "Maybe just give an outline rather than in depth description, Dennis, but also ask for detail about the girl's work or day. If she feels you're really interested in her, she might not give up."
Dennis nodded. "I'll try that next time I'm lucky enough." He thought for a second. "Maybe tell the others too."
Sarah patted his arm as she rose up from her chair. "Good luck, Dennis."
Hannah led her back out of that area. They both waved to Ben on the way out.
"Test next," Hannah told her.
The process with Jason Taylor was like with Paul Williams. He pointed out who to meet and didn't get up.
The Test discussion clarified their role and she was surprised at how they brought users of their other products in to get involved in the later stages of testing, particularly usability.
As the two women walked down the stairs for the next meeting, Sarah asked something that puzzled her. "As Chuck starts the solution process, why doesn't he sit upstairs with the others involved?"
Hannah smiled. "That's deliberate. He likes to 'get his hands dirty'. He knows if he sat anywhere near the design or development teams, he wouldn't be able to keep himself from getting involved. He sits downstairs to avoid that temptation."
Sarah could see him doing that.
The following meeting with Sales was straight forward, as was the one with the Marketing person. However, she had to talk to Publicity separately. That one was more interesting. Jane Anderson tried to persuade Sarah to get involved in the publicity campaign for a product they were soon to release. "Lots of people that buy our products are out and out geeks. They don't relate to the real world. Some go to our competitors and I think if we included you in the campaign, those people would think they might have a chance at getting a girlfriend. It might sway them to buy from us."
"Are they that shallow? Don't they buy on specifications and capabilities?"
Jane sat back and nodded. "They do, I just wanted us to seem different to the rest."
Hannah pointed out, "Sophia has already mentioned that the press have already latched onto the fact that Chuck, the IT loner, has now gotten a girlfriend. She told Sarah today, that should help."
"Oh, it will," Jane responded. "I just thought a bit more push might be useful."
"Sorry, Jane, that's not for me," Sarah told her. She was actually quite disturbed at the thought of that sort of manipulation, if it worked.
The HR meeting was quick, but finding they ran sessions about self-awareness and growth was quite interesting. A final meeting with Dispatch was quick too. As they walked away from that. Sarah realized they'd not returned to where Hannah worked. She asked about that. "I work in Administration," Hannah replied. "We help everyone where we can. I'm taking you there now." She grinned. "You haven't faced the Inquisition yet."
"Oh, I thought I was going to dodge that," Sarah joked.
"The label isn't really fair, but the girls did want to have a chat."
"That's fine, Hannah. Lead the way."
Hannah took her back to her own desk again. Lou was there and now two other women as well. Hannah did the introductions. "You've already met Lou. This is Jeanine Wainwright and Josie Brewster."
Sarah focused on the brunette of the pair. "Josie, you're the one who took our photo in San Francisco, aren't you?"
Josie blushed. "Yeah. Sorry about that, but you were a really cute couple."
Sarah smiled. With her being just over 5'9", and Chuck probably 6' 3", being called 'cute' was a bit bizarre. "Did you and your boyfriend enjoy yourselves there?" Sarah asked. "Spying?"
Josie spluttered a bit. Jeanine laughed. "Oh, you'd fit in perfectly here. 'Quizzing the Inquisition.'"
Sarah grinned. "I write about a woman who interrogates people, so I'm not without skills."
"Do you know anyone in the CIA?" Lou eagerly asked.
Sarah didn't have to lie to say no, but she immediately thought of who she knew in the NSA.
"It always seems so realistic, though," Lou continued.
"Just my imagination," Sarah honesty replied. However, she hoped to get help from Zondra and Angelica to enhance the next one.
"Very impressive," Jeanine remarked. "But we can't let fangirl here dominate the conversation. Tell us about the first time you met Chuck."
Sarah gave them the condensed version, but mentioned nothing about the 'lothario' comment. Over the next hour, Sarah was asked about how she got into writing, which in turn lead to her mom's career switch to writing as well. She didn't tell them about their past. On her dad, she just said he was no longer with them. By the end of the chat, all four women felt they now 'knew' this amazing woman. Sarah, in turn, had learned about their time in the company as well as their lives. She'd grown to really like the three new women, just as she liked Hannah.
"Please don't share all of this with the whole company," she requested.
Hannah replied, "We've told everyone all they need to know already. Thank you for being so open with us."
"And for brightening up Chuck's life," Josie remarked. "We love him like a brother and are so happy you're with him."
Chuck wandered up to them. "Would you ladies let me take Sarah to lunch?"
"Sure," Hannah replied. She looked at Sarah and asked, "Found out all you want to know?"
"I have. Thank you so much, girls, and especially you, Hannah, for looking after me this morning."
"I promised, didn't I?" Hannah replied.
Sarah picked up her backpack. "I've a few more of my latest novel here, if anyone wants a copy. Shall I just sign them and leave them with you, Hannah?"
"Sure," Hannah repeated.
Sarah quickly did that.
Chuck reached for her hand and helped her up. The two of them soon had an arm around each other. "Bye," Sarah called out as they walked away. She expected the four women to reply, but was surprised when she heard a chorus of happy replies.
As they descended in the elevator, she gave Chuck a kiss. "I love your people, Chuck. They made me feel so welcome."
"I'm glad, Sarah, but it's no surprise to me. You're adorable."
After lunch, Chuck dropped Sarah back at his place. She made a call to Zondra who agreed to have Sarah chat about her life in the NSA and said she was sure Angelica would be happy to give her perspective too. She invited Sarah to their place on Thursday night, when Chuck would be out.
Sarah knew she would be on her own later as well, but planned to get stuck into writing Rebecca's story.
She thought about the morning she'd had. Chuck's staff were great with her, but it was also obvious that they all loved him, not just the four women who spoke to her at the end. She was so impressed that he engendered such feelings. When she could she wanted to quiz him on the solution aspect.
She sat back on the couch with a coffee in hand. Her boyfriend was really impressive in everything he did. She was so proud of him. She felt so lucky to have found him and that they were now effectively going to be living together.
She chuckled. Living together in two homes!
A/N: Another chapter without action, but an important one for Sarah. I hope you enjoyed it.
Please let me know.
As I said at the beginning. I won't be able to write much for a while, so this story will probably pause here until I get a chance to change that. Take care everyone.
