Hello. Once again, I have to apologize for the long hiatus. I'm trying to get things straightened out in my life, and for the first time in almost seven years, I'm starting to succeed. I finally got a full-time job (working remotely for now like everyone else), but there's a lot of potential to it. And my health seems to have stabilized for the moment. Actually, I haven't been in the hospital for six months in a row now. Been a long time since I could say that. :-D
Anyway, I'm going to try and work on my two stories over the next several months, and I really want to read all of these other great stories people have been putting out, especially the wonderful folks on Facebook's (sorry...Meta's) Chuck FanFiction page.
Hope you enjoy this and please leave reviews. Thanks!
Zork Computer Consultants – Burbank, CA
May 5th
1:00 PM PDT
"Stop the presses!" exclaimed the short man with the beard. "Who is that? Vicky Vale!"
The man behind the desk didn't look up. "Vicky Vale, Vick-a, Vicky Vale, Vickity Vickity," he sung. "Vicky Vale, Vick-a Vicky…"
He looked up, and he dropped the papers he was reviewing. The phone fell from his shoulders and hit the ground. Chuck was speechless.
"Uh, hi!" Chuck said, desperate to shake off his surprise. Not to mention the ridiculously goofy look he was certain he had on his face. "That…that was from Batman."
"Because that makes it better?" Sarah replied with a bit of a playful lilt.
Chuck refocused himself. "You…you must be Sarah Walker. Jimmy said you would be visiting."
"He did. I guess you're a better alternative than sitting on a conference call with New York trying to set up my laptop."
Chuck gave a nod of sympathy. "Getting a prostate exam from Wolverine is better than sitting on a conference call with New York."
Morgan snickered, and Sarah gave him a weird look. Chuck started to shuffle his feet. "You know, Wolverine from the X-Men? Got the long claws…" Chuck eked out. Sarah's expression didn't change. "Well, if you have to explain it, then…"
She then smiled. "I knew what you were referring to. I just wanted to see you sweat."
"Oh, hahaha," Chuck said with more nervous energy than a gamer on their tenth can of Red Bull.
He then pointed to Morgan. "This is my store manager and best friend, Morgan Grimes."
"Nice to meet you," Sarah said, shaking his hand.
"Hi, Morgan. I'm Sarah," Morgan replied in a daze.
"Umm, you…"
"Don't…don't ask," Chuck replied with a dismissive wave. He pointed to the case Sarah was carrying. "Let's get this set up for you. Morgan, keep an eye on the morons for me."
"You got it," Morgan replied.
Chuck gestured in the direction of a desk just behind the counter. Sarah went in that direction. "The morons?" she asked.
Chuck looked painfully to the back area of the store, where Jeff and Lester were conducting the worst Jedi sword fight in history. "I wish I had the heart to fire them, but there is some IT talent in those two. Maybe someday they'll bring it to work."
Sarah grinned. "Sounds like my gymnasts when they want Friday practice to end early."
"Oh, that's right. You coach gymnastics."
Sarah nodded. "I've been an assistant at UCLA for seven years."
Chuck began to configure her laptop. "Is it a fun job?"
"For the most part. The long trips on the road and going everywhere to recruit women to come here can be pretty draining, I have to admit. And some of the parents can really get on your nerves, as you could imagine."
Chuck heard a loud crash from the back room and saw a storage rack on the ground…along with a lot of broken equipment. "Yeah, I can imagine, alright."
He shook his head and went back to configuring her laptop. "So, has it sunk in yet?" Chuck asked her. "Getting to work in the NFL?"
She exhaled deeply. "Maybe more than I want it to. I'm pretty nervous."
"You'll do great. The guys I used to work with in the Pac-12 say you're one of the best officials they had ever seen."
That lit up Sarah's face. "Really?"
"Absolutely," Chuck said with a smile. A smile that definitely made Sarah's day.
"I didn't realize anyone had noticed."
Chuck's smile got even wider. "If nobody noticed it, how could you have gotten the job?"
Sarah laughed. "That's true."
"You have nothing to worry about. You're coming onto the best crew in the league. Case and Jimmy know how to run things. And they really know how to take care of us."
"So I've heard."
Chuck turned the laptop towards Sarah after a few minutes. "OK, type a password in of at least 8 characters, and there has to be a number, capital letter, and symbol in it."
Sarah looked at him for a moment, gave a little smile, and typed in a password. "If I can't remember that password, I don't deserve to be in the league," she said with a tinge of playfulness.
Chuck gave her a bemused expression, and then he paused. "Wait, one last item."
Chuck took out a flash drive and inserted it into Sarah's laptop. He then transferred a file. "It's a little trick I learned the first week we started working with laptops in the league. I gave you a file with all of the important links already set up. That way, you can just click on a link rather than having to go through a half-dozen pages on the website just to get to the one you want."
Sarah's eyes lit up. "Wow, now that's what I call personalized service."
Chuck looked away and blushed a little. "We always give our customers the best possible service there is." He then looked towards the back, which appeared to be more of a mess now than when the shelving came down. "Well…we try."
"I don't doubt for one second you're as good of a businessman as you are an IT expert."
It was hard to believe a young official could knock him off-balance like this, but he couldn't deny the evidence. It was a little jarring…but far from unpleasant. "Thanks," he replied shyly.
Sarah put the laptop back in its case. "Thank you so much for setting up my laptop." She stood and started to walk towards the exit.
She then turned back. "Are you busy tonight?"
Chuck looked up in surprise. "Uh…no. Not at all."
"Our gymnastics schedule is quiet until we head for a competition at Washington State next weekend, and my friend, Carina, is in Omaha doing some recruiting visits. I was planning to go out to dinner tonight, and wondered if you would want to join me. It's my cheat night."
"Your cheat night?"
Sarah nodded. "Since I'm on the road a lot either coaching or recruiting, I have to be extra-vigilant about my diet while I'm at home and have some control over it. But every now and again, I'll break that rule. Tonight is going to be my hot dog cheat night. I know a place that is really good. I mean, it's the least I owe you for rescuing me from a three-hour conference call."
"I…um…sure. I'd love to go."
"I'll text you the address. Say, 7:00?"
"7:00 it is."
"OK, see you then," Sarah said, giving one last smile before departing.
Chuck watched her walk out the door. "Dude, I can't believe it!"
Chuck jumped a little and then turned. Morgan was right behind him. Morgan couldn't have been more excited if Katee Sackhoff was giving him a lap dance.
"What?" Chuck retorted with his usual annoyance at seeing Morgan like this.
"That girl asked you out on a date. Man, why didn't I referee like you did in college?"
"That would have required you actually going to college. And Sarah didn't ask me out on a date."
"She totally did. I witnessed the whole thing."
"It's not a date. We're just going to a restaurant for dinner. There's no sex involved."
Morgan furrowed his brow. "That's every date I've been on. Actually, I don't get to the dinner part, either," he said with his head lowered in shame.
"Look, she's brand new to the league and probably scared to death about officiating at this level. She just needs a friendly face to help ease her in. I'd probably try to find someone like that if it was my first year."
"Yeah, especially if she had long, blonde hair and legs that went on for days." Morgan paused to wipe a tiny bit of drool from the corner of his mouth.
"Stop," Chuck sharply replied. "I have no romantic interest in her."
He walked to the back to deal with Jeff and Lester. Morgan watched him go and exhaled deeply.
Said Han Solo about Princess Leia, he thought to himself.
Los Angeles, CA
May 5th
5:30 PM PDT
Sarah entered her apartment and fell into her favorite chair. Now she understood why Beckman kept her here and sent Carina to Omaha. Several members of the Board of Regents had stopped by the practice facility to act as if they took personal stock in every department and activity at the school. Sarah was pretty sure Beckman had sore lips by now, given they were attached to the asses of the board members all afternoon. It was like being in dress blues for a battalion leader with a serious people problem. God only knows what kind of trouble Carina would have caused had she been there. There was nobody more gifted with the technical aspects of gymnastics than Carina…Beckman being the lone exception…but Carina spent most of her time acting like a sister in the sorority equivalent of Animal House. Sarah was the responsible one of their dynamic duo.
Sarah's phone rang. "Hello?"
"I…hate…you."
Sarah laughed. "How are you enjoying Omaha, Carina?"
"Oh, I'm having a blast." Carina couldn't be more sarcastic if she was the love child of Chandler Bing and Carla Tortelli from Cheers. "Want to hear about some of the fun things to do in Omaha?"
"Sure."
"So would I."
Sarah laughed even harder. "Hey, I didn't get away scot-free from all of this. The Board of Regents decided to 'drop by' today. I never saw Beckman so flustered before. She was really tap-dancing to show her value."
Carina nodded. "It sucks. If you're not in men's football or basketball, you don't have any job security. And even they have to win to keep their jobs."
"True, but I think Beckman is safer than most coaches. She developed a good program."
"Thanks to us," Carina beamed.
"Damn right."
Sarah walked into her kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. "So, did you meet with your new co-worker like you said?" Carina asked her.
"Just today. I went to his computer shop, and he got my laptop running. Very nice guy. We're getting a bite to eat tonight."
"You asked him out?"
"What? No! I just wanted to thank him for setting up my laptop."
"Be sure to thank him a few times."
"Will you stop it! Don't you know how to have a relationship with a guy that is strictly professional?"
Sarah then looked to the sky. "What am I saying? I'm talking to you."
Carina gave one of her traditional laughs that had more innuendo in it than a Bond film. "So, is he cute? What's his name?"
"Chuck."
"Chuck?" Carina paused. "You mean Chuck Bartowski? THAT Chuck Bartowski?"
"What do you mean that…" Sarah's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, God. I completely forgot about that."
"I'm surprised the guy isn't in witness protection! People still want him dead over that Saints-Seahawks game!"
"It wasn't his fault. Everybody watching the game expected the Seahawks to just go up the gut and hang on to the ball. Their coach would have been fired had Wilson fumbled that thing."
"You know that, and I know that. But millions of other people don't give a damn. Chuck blew the game as far as they were concerned. Sportsbooks in Vegas lost almost a billion dollars on that play."
"Then it's probably a good thing I didn't remember that earlier. That would have made our meeting a lot more awkward."
"Gee, you think?"
Sarah sighed as she fell back in her chair and took a sip of wine. "So, is he cute?" Carina asked.
"Carina!" Sarah yelled in exasperation.
"Never mind. I got this." Carina did a search on her computer and found a picture of officials posing for the Super Bowl a year ago. She took a look.
"Wow, not bad."
Sarah shook her head. "You have a one-track mind and you love to derail it."
"I'm just saying I wouldn't kick this guy out of bed for eating crackers in it. Mostly because I'd love to see what else he'd eat in bed."
"I'm hanging up now," Sarah said in resignation. "Chuck and I are going to be friends. That's all," she said with finality.
Carina looked at her phone as she hung it up. "Yeah. You wish."
Carney's – Studio City, CA
May 5th
7:15 PM PDT
"You were right. This place is really good."
Chuck and Sarah relaxed on the patio as they enjoyed their meal. Chuck hadn't felt this at ease in a while. His social life wasn't much to speak of. Actually, take away his Halo playing with Morgan, and he had no social life at all. Of course, playing Halo with Morgan would have to qualify as being social first.
"I have to admit: it took a few tries."
"I've been to a few places. One or two had better hot dogs, but this place a lot of varieties of them."
"That's what drew me to it. When I travel, I try to find good places to eat, but my per diem only goes so far. I can't exactly go to a French bistro or a steakhouse every night. And room service gets old really fast. So I do a lot of research of the towns I'm in. Then I try to find the L.A. equivalent when I come home."
Chuck grinned. "And how is that experiment working?"
Sarah gave a laugh. "I think I held too much hope for Los Angeles. The cuisine here is basically the cheap version of everyone else's cuisines." That made Chuck laugh. "But, as you can see, I got the hot dog one down."
Sarah pointed to the chili dog Chuck was eating. "And you agree with me. At least when it comes to a Coney Island dog."
Chuck nodded and smiled. "And let me guess. You went with the Chicago-style to get your recommended daily serving of vegetables?" Sarah laughed as she took a bite. "Do you really think neon-green relish should count as a vegetable?"
"Hey, it's my cheat night, and I make the rules."
"Fair enough. So, have you only conquered hot dogs so far?"
I did find a couple of good pizza places. Finding a New York-style one was easy. But a Chicago deep-dish was a little bit tougher. And I don't know if I'll ever find good ones for New Haven and Detroit."
"Wow, you remind me of Morgan."
That piqued Sarah's interest. "How so?"
"He's great at this. I trust any recommendation he gives me for food under $10."
"Impressive. Maybe we should let him pick the next place we eat at."
Sarah froze. She didn't mean it that way, but she was afraid Chuck might have thought that. She looked away in embarrassment. "I…I mean…" she stammered.
Chuck gave her a caring smile. "Not a problem. I knew what you meant."
Sarah felt instantly relieved. This guy was different, no question.
Chuck watched as Sarah finished a bite of her hot dog. He couldn't recall the last time any football official would be considered "adorable," but it was staring him in the face at that moment. He felt like he was in some seriously uncharted territory.
"Have you talked to anyone else in the crew yet?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "Only Mr. Sl… sorry, Jimmy," she corrected herself. "I guess he doesn't like to be called Mr. Slade."
Chuck shook his head. "To be fair, he never did. I learned that my first day with him. But that's pretty much the only thing you can do to get him mad. Other than not studying or slacking off on your responsibilities for the job. He's very down-to-earth. One of the nicest people I've ever met. I was even a groomsman at his wedding."
"Really?"
"And I had only just started with his crew. He married his wife, Alex, following my rookie season in the league. John Casey was his best man. He married a great lady. You'll meet her when we have our retreat. She always throws this huge barbecue for us on the last evening."
"Speaking of John, how is he as a leader?"
"He's…interesting." Sarah raised an eyebrow at that. "He's a good leader, don't get me wrong. But his style is the complete opposite of Jimmy's. Jimmy's more like a caring sitcom father. Casey is a bad-ass through and through. "
Sarah sat back in her chair. "I remember that Sunday night Raiders-Broncos game from two years ago. The front lines of both teams were just jawing at each other all night."
"Yeah, and then those two players started throwing punches. Casey got in there, grabbed each by their facemasks, and dragged them out of the pile. The look on his face? Those two players probably wet themselves right there on the field."
"He must have gotten in a lot of trouble with the league for doing that."
"Oh, he did. He paid a big fine, and he would have been suspended had Jimmy not talked Big Mike out of that. I'll say this: nobody has messed with Casey since."
This made Sarah rather nervous. "Don't worry," Chuck reassured her. "He's very fair when it comes to handling things. He knows rookies screw up a lot in their first year. He's very patient about that as long as he thinks you're doing your best out there."
Sarah nodded with a smile. "Let's hope it never comes to that. I imagine he was pretty forgiving when you…sorry."
"What?"
Sarah was quite flummoxed at her mistake, but she figured honesty was her only way out. "I was about to…talk about…when you…"
"…cost the Saints a shot at the Super Bowl?" Chuck finished for her.
Now Sarah really felt guilty. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"
Chuck put a hand up. "It's OK. I know you weren't trying to make me feel uncomfortable."
Sarah looked down at the ground for a moment. "How did you handle it? The aftermath? I mean, it drove me insane being swarmed by the media after the Fiesta Bowl, and that was for doing a good thing. What happened to you was not fair in any way, shape, or form. You didn't deserve that."
"Obviously, not a day goes by where I wish that play didn't happen," Chuck said softly. "And no matter how many people tell me it wasn't my fault, I have a hard time shaking it loose. But Casey said the most important thing to me. "The league didn't fire you. So don't fire yourself." And that's what I do. I just focus on that from the second I get into town for a game to the time I'm on that plane heading home."
"And the rest of the time?"
Chuck shrugged. "I just keep plowing forward like a good lineman would."
Sarah gave him a reassuring smile. She felt a little out of her element at seeing a fellow official be so vulnerable in front of her like Chuck was at that moment. But that only seemed to add to the persona she imagined of him in her mind. She hoped he was right: that he was all-confident once he was on the field. After all, she was a field judge, and the two would be working on the same side of the field.
"Hey," Chuck said, hopping up. "You got dinner; it's only fair I get dessert."
"I…shouldn't," Sarah said with some guilt. "I think I did enough cheating…"
"Now, now. You don't referee half-heartedly; you should have a half-hearted cheat night, either."
Sarah looked up at him and saw a lot of mirth in those brown eyes. It elevated the whole night for her. She was confident they'd work well together on the field.
"Chocolate shake with extra whipped cream and three cherries on top!" she said with considerable excitement.
"Coming right up."
