CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE
SUMMARY: Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????
DISCLAIMER: I don't own "Chuck."
NOTE: Hello again and I hope you enjoy reading Chapter Two of my story of Chuck and Sarah living a "normal" life. I still have doubts about my abilities with the suspense, adventure, and mystery elements. Hopefully, that and everything else is readable and enjoyable. Please review and let me know!
ANOTHER NOTE: A salute to Scooter42 who spotted the references in Chapter One to a classic TV series that helped inspire this Chuck story. And a "Thank you!" to Scooter42 for giving me some excellent material to use as lines, names and such so that I could reference the series some more. Look around and see if you can find them in this chapter and future chapters and figure out what classic TV series this is!
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CHAPTER TWO – THIS ISN'T REAL
The next morning, when Sarah, Chuck, and Sallie walked out of the house for the drive to Chuck's workplace, they noticed their next door neighbor, Fred Bennett sitting on his front porch drinking coffee.
"Hang on a second," Chuck said and walked over to the fence. "Hey Fred," he called as he leaned over the fence and took a look at their neighbor.
"Hey there Chuck," Fred replied. "Heading off to work?"
"Sure am. I just wanted to check, are you feeling any better?"
Fred looked puzzled. "Was I sick?" he asked.
"Well, last night while you were mowing your lawn, you … well, you weren't quite yourself, you … you were acting kind of strange. The paramedics that came said that you must not have been taking your medication and—"
"Chuck, what are you talking about? I didn't mow my lawn last night. I stayed indoors and watched TV. There was a game I wanted to see. So I did that. You got me confused with somebody else?"
"No, no. I saw you last night … you were mowing your lawn and then you were in some kind of a trance or … or …." Chuck stopped talking when he saw that his neighbor was giving him skeptical looks.
"Chuck, I was inside all last night watching that game. I didn't come out at all and I certainly didn't mow my lawn. Are you sure you're not confusing me with somebody else or maybe you had a few too many?" Fred said as he held up his hand in the shape of a cup and made drinking motions to his mouth.
Chuck decided to drop it. "Oh probably. Sorry to bother you Fred."
"No bother. Have a good day at work," Fred replied.
Chuck started to turn away and then saw Fred's lawn. It had been mowed, very recently mowed.
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"Fred doesn't remember any of last night?" Sarah asked Chuck while they traveled in their car to Fulcrumatic.
"No. He denied it all, including mowing the lawn. But that lawn had been freshly mowed," Chuck said.
"Well, didn't you say last night that those paramedics said something about Fred missing some of his medication? Maybe doing that caused some sort of memory loss or something," Sarah suggested.
"Yeah, maybe that was it," he said. What other explanation could there be? Chuck wondered. Still, how Fred acted last night and this morning and those weird pictures and images of that female paramedic that appeared in his head bothered and worried him.
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That morning, after dropping Chuck off at work, Sarah and Sallie traveled in the car to the grocery store, the only grocery store in Portmeirion Village. Sarah carried Sallie into the store, got a shopping cart, sat Sallie in it and then headed down the first aisle. She glanced at her list and checked the shelves for what she needed.
"Hello Mrs. Bartowski! How are you and Sallie doing today?"
"Hi Don. We're fine. How are you?"
"Just fine," Don Chaffey, a tall man in his 40s who managed the store, replied. "I see you're here for your weekly supply of groceries?"
"Yep, I have to get food for my husband and daughter who are always hungry," Sarah replied.
Don chuckled. "Well, good luck with that Mrs. Bartowski. If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask us. Be seeing you!"
Sarah turned the cart down the next aisle and continued shopping. She shopped and picked out groceries for about 15 minutes and then when she got to the cereal aisle, she had to pause and do some searching for the cereal that Sallie liked best. She finally found the right one and was reaching for it when she heard a voice call her name.
"Well, well, fancy meeting you here, Sarah," Jill Roberts, one of Chuck's bosses at Fulcrumatic, said as she strolled up next to the shopping cart.
"Hello Jill," Sarah greeted without any enthusiasm.
Jill studied Sarah for a moment. Then she smiled. "And how is the housewife today?"
"Fine. And how is the dressed-for-success executive today?" Sarah replied.
Jill frowned. She started to say something and then stopped. But after a moment, with the frown still on her face, she spoke. "Look, I need to talk to you about Chuck."
Sarah tensed. She did NOT like this woman and had not liked her on first sight. And that had surprised her. She could not figure out why but for some reason, she got concerned, worried and even scared whenever Jill came near Chuck. It was as if the woman posed a threat or danger to her husband. But for the life of her, Sarah couldn't figure out why Jill caused such a reaction. Nor could she figure out why the tall brunette seemed familiar to her, as if they had met before.
"Mommy?" Sallie asked, looking inquiringly at her mother. That brought Sarah out of her thoughts.
She took a deep breath. "Yes sweetie?"
"Cereal?"
"In a minute Sallie. Mommy needs to take care of this," she said as she smiled at Sallie and then that smile vanished as she turned to Jill. "What about Chuck?"
"It's about his job at Fulcrumatic. He is capable of so much more than repairing computers and maintaining the network. You know that. Yet, he stays in that job there when he could do so much more."
"He's happy doing that. If Chuck is happy, then I'm happy," Sarah said.
"But he could do so much more. I'm assembling a team for a new project and Chuck would be perfect for it. I want him on my team. It would mean a promotion for him, a higher salary, more prestige. This would be a good thing for Chuck. Don't you want what's best for Chuck?"
"Why don't you talk to Chuck?" Sarah said and immediately regretted suggesting that Jill spend time with Chuck. She still remembered how Jill had held her husband's arm and looked at him last night.
"I have and every time I suggest that he work under me, he always refuses," Jill replied.
The way Jill had phrased "under me" caused Sarah's hands to grip the shopping cart handle tightly, to the point where her knuckles felt like they would burst under the strain. God, I hate this bitch, she thought. She didn't really want to spend any more time with Jill and she wanted even less to talk about her husband with Jill. But she had to admit that Jill's assessment of Chuck was correct. He was capable of so much more than repairing and maintaining computers and networks. She knew that when she first met him back during his BuyMore days.
And something else gave Sarah pause. This conversation sounded familiar. Where have I heard this before? she wondered. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked back at Jill who was still standing there, waiting for Sarah to say something.
"I'll talk with Chuck and see what he says," Sarah told Jill. But she had no intention of doing that. She just wanted to get away from this woman. Far, far away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get some shopping done." And without waiting for a reply, she moved her cart along the way.
"God, I hate that bitch," Sarah said out loud after Jill was out of earshot.
"Mommy? What does bitch mean?" Sallie asked.
Oh no, Sarah groaned inwardly.
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Sarah and Sallie continued their shopping. As they went down the soft drinks and juices aisle, they came upon a man holding a six-pack of soda. He just stood in the middle of the aisle staring at it and blocking the pathway.
Sarah stopped the shopping cart and waited a moment for him to move so that they could get by. The man ignored them and kept staring at the six pack that he held.
"Excuse me," Sarah said. The man made no response nor did he look up from the soda.
"Excuse me," she said again, louder. Still no response or movement from the man.
"Hey!" she yelled.
The man finally turned toward Sarah and Sallie. Sarah was taken aback when she saw the man's face in full. It was covered with sweat and his eyes looked wild. He kept staring at them but he didn't speak. Finally after a few moments, he mumbled something but Sarah couldn't hear what he said.
"What?" she asked.
He looked at Sarah and Sallie for a while and spoke in a soft whisper.
"This … isn't … real," he said.
"Excuse me?" Sarah asked puzzled.
"This … isn't … real. This isn't real." Then his head started jerking back and forth, left and right. And then he started screaming.
"THIS ISN'T REAL! THIS ISN'T REAL! THIS ISN'T REAL!"
He hurled the six pack against the shelf and whirled around. Sallie screamed in fright. Sarah jumped in front her daughter. The man went to a shelf and started pulling cans and bottles of soda and water off it while continuing to scream "THIS ISN'T REAL!" Bottle and cans fell to the floor. Some cans cracked and soda spurted out. A few customers who were at the end of the aisle screamed and fled. Sarah stood there in shock.
The man reached the end of the aisle and came back toward Sarah and Sallie. Sarah just stood there not moving and not believing what was happening. Sallie screamed and Sarah snapped awake. As the man raced toward them, Sarah sidestepped, stuck her leg out and tripped the man. He fell to the floor with a thud. After a few seconds, he rose up. Sarah delivered a kick straight to his head. The blow knocked him to the floor on his back. He shook his head and started to get up but Sarah delivered another kick and he fell to the ground and stayed there, not moving.
Sarah, suddenly realizing what she had just done, stood still in astonishment. How did I do that? she wondered. She stared at the unconscious man while pondering her actions and trying to figure out what had just happened. How did I do that? she asked herself again. Then Sallie's cries penetrated her thoughts. She quickly rushed to her frightened daughter who was still seated in the shopping cart.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's OK, it's OK," she said to the sobbing little girl as she picked her up. She held Sallie close and stroked her hair. "It's OK, it's OK. No one's going to hurt you."
A few seconds later, the store manager and two employees appeared.
"Mrs. Bartowski, are you all right?" Don asked.
"We're fine," she replied.
Don looked down at the still unconscious man. "I guess you didn't any help," he mused.
"Do you know who this is? He seemed … well … he was acting a little crazy, he said that this wasn't real," Sarah said.
Don exchanged glances with the two men. "I'm so sorry this happen Mrs. Bartowski. I know this man. He … has a few problems that … that require medication. If he doesn't take that medication regularly, like he's supposed to … well, you just saw the result. Are you sure you and Sallie are all right?" Don said.
Sarah looked at Sallie who by this time had stopped crying but was still clinging to her. "We're fine. What about this man? Will he be all right?"
"He'll be fine. Don't you worry about him. You just go on and let us deal with this. Don't worry about a thing."
"Shouldn't we call the police or the paramedics or someone?" Sarah asked.
"As I said, I know this man and I know his doctor. We'll get him to the doctor and he'll be fine. You just run along and don't worry about it now, OK? Be seeing you!" Don said.
The two men with Don leaned down and picked up the man. He was still unconscious and Sarah still wondered how she had subdued the man. She also wondered something else. Last night there was Fred, their next door neighbor and now today there was this man in the grocery store. How many people in Portmeirion Village are off of their medication? she thought. But she said nothing, put Sallie back in the shopping cart seat and left.
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Sarah pondered for most of the afternoon about what had happened at the grocery store and how she had knocked out that man. She had never taken any self-defense classes in her life. Yet, she had handled herself like a professional fighter or some sort of spy. The fighting moves she did felt so natural, she thought. But she still couldn't figure out how she had done all that. She had thought about telling Chuck about what had happened but then decided not to. He would just worry about the whole incident. And eventually, Sarah decided to just forget it. The important thing was that she and Sallie had not been hurt. And besides, she and Chuck were going out to dinner tonight and Sarah didn't want anything spoiling that.
Sarah picked up Chuck from work at the usual time. They dropped Sallie off at the island's daycare facility and then drove to the Rover Cafe, the island's best restaurant. Since they arrived before 5:30pm, the place was practically empty and they were seated right away. The hostess handed them menus and they sat in silence studying the food choices. A few minutes later, a waitress took their orders and left.
"It certainly feels different, eating a meal without Sallie," Sarah remarked.
"Yeah, quieter," Chuck joked.
Sarah smiled, reached across the table and grasped Chuck's hand and looked at him. Chuck looked back at her.
"Wow," he said.
"What?"
"Talk about making my day."
"What?" Sarah repeated.
"The way you're looking at me right now," he explained. "It's as if you're in love with me or something." He smiled.
"Well, I am in love you silly. I love you very much," she said.
"And I love you very much," Chuck replied.
They sat that way for a few seconds, looking at each other and enjoying the quiet, private moment. It was perfect, Sarah thought, and wonderful. Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted.
"Chuck!" yelled a voice, a voice that Sarah knew all too well. She gritted her teeth as Jill Roberts strolled up to the table and stood besides Chuck.
"Hey Jill," Chuck said without any enthusiasm.
Jill looked down at Chuck, at only him, and completely ignored Sarah. "Having dinner?" she asked.
"Well, we're not here to rent some DVDs," Chuck joked.
Jill laughed. She laughed a little too loudly and a little too long at Chuck's joke as she continued to look at him, eyes never straying anywhere else.
Sarah noticed this and something started to build up inside her, something like a volcano about to erupt. She gritted her teeth again and her grip on her husband's hand tightened.
Jill patted Chuck's shoulder. Her hand stayed on his shoulder and held it. "You're so funny," she said brightly.
Looking at Jill touching her husband filled Sarah with what she quickly realized wasn't just jealously but also alarm and fear. Once again, when Jill was around, Sarah felt as if her husband was in danger. She had to resist a powerful urge to jump up and place herself between Chuck and Jill, to protect Chuck from some threat or trouble. But it was just his boss. It wasn't like this woman was some enemy, someone that could harm Chuck … was it?
"Enjoy your dinner," Jill said and walked away, still not looking at Sarah or in her direction.
Sarah watched Jill's departing form and her eyes narrowed. As the distance between them and Jill grew, Sarah could feel herself calming slightly.
"Sarah?" Chuck said.
She turned her head back to her husband and looked inquiringly.
"Could you ease up your grip a little on my hand? It hurts," Chuck said.
"Sweetie, I'm so sorry," she apologized as she immediately let go. Chuck shook his hand a little and then rubbed it with his other hand.
"Wow," he said.
"I'm sorry," Sarah said again with concern. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's OK, it's OK," he said. "No broken bones, nothing like that." Then he looked at her and smiled. "Quite a grip you have there Mrs. Bartowski," he said. Then he inclined his head toward the direction that Jill went and added, "You know, I think you could easily take her."
Sarah smiled but her eyes didn't reflect any humor. "Are you sure your hand is OK. I'm so sorry," she said.
"It's OK, it's OK. It just surprised me how powerful your grip is. You really don't like her, do you?"
Sarah's face darkened. "Chuck, I know I get a little jealous about her because she flirts you with a lot—"
Chuck started to protest but Sarah quickly cut him off. "Chuck, she DOES flirt with you. She was flirting with you just now and you can't deny that. I know that you don't flirt back with her. But she still flirts with you and it still bothers me. But it's not just that. There is something about her … I don't know what, I can't explain it but something about her that just … just bothers me or brings out the worst in me … I just worry about her being near you because I think that you're in danger when you're near her or … I don't know … she's just evil, Chuck, evil."
Sarah thought that she not only sounded like a jealous wife but a nutty jealous wife. However, Chuck didn't laugh at or make fun of what she just said. He nodded and then surprised her with what he said next.
"I kind of know what you mean. She kind of gives me the creeps. And I can't explain why either. It's as if … I don't know. Maybe you're right, maybe she is evil."
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The rest of their evening turned out well. No sooner had their discussion of Jill ended that their food arrived. They ate, talked, and soon Jill was forgotten, and it was just the two of them. They took their time eating, enjoying the food and the peace and quiet of an evening out for just the two of them. They had dessert and coffee. Then they paid their bill and departed.
In the car, Sarah looked at her watch. "It's just after seven and the day care can keep Sallie until nine," she noted. And then she rubbed her hand along Chuck's thigh. "Feel like going home and making out with your wife for a little while?" she asked seductively.
"You don't have to ask me twice," Chuck said with a smile and drove the car toward their home.
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They picked up Sallie at the day care facility about 10 minutes before 9pm. Their little girl was stretched out on a couch sleeping. Trying not to wake up, Sarah picked up Sallie carefully and gently and carried her out to car while Chuck paid the day care bill. She had just gotten Sallie strapped into the car seat and quietly closed the back passenger side door when another car pulled into the day care parking lot. The car parked two spaces from their car and a man got out of the car.
Sarah opened the front passenger side door and was about to get into the car when she saw the man who had just arrived at the day care facility. She recognized him immediately. It was the man who had gone berserk at the grocery store this morning. She worried a bit but then calmed as she could that the man appeared quite normal as he walked toward the day care entrance. She couldn't help staring at him and the man noticed.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"I'm sorry for staring but I'm relieved that you're OK. You gave my daughter and me quite a fright this morning," Sarah replied.
The man looked puzzled and then looked at Sarah. "Do I know you? Have we met before?"
"I was at the grocery store this morning and you … well, you had kind of a seizure or something and … well, you kind of tore up some things and did a lot of yelling …." Sarah stopped as the man looked at her as if she was crazy or drunk.
"I think you have me mistaken for somebody else. I wasn't at the grocery store this morning. I was at my job all day," he replied. Then he abruptly turned and walked to the day care entrance. He opened the door and stepped in just as Chuck stepped out.
"Sorry," Sarah called out. "I guess I did mistake you for someone else." But she didn't. She knew that was the man at the grocery store.
Chuck walked up to Sarah with a questioning look. "What's going on?" he asked.
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"And you're sure that's the same guy?" Chuck asked.
While they drove home from the day care facility, Sarah had told Chuck about the whole incident at the grocery store and seeing the man again just now.
"Positive," Sarah replied. "But he didn't think so. He denied the whole thing."
"Just like Fred, our next door neighbor," Chuck noted.
"And just like Fred, I was told that this guy was probably not taking his medication and that's what caused him to act crazy. Don't you think that's strange?"
Chuck sighed. "Yes I do. But it could just be a coincidence."
"And Chuck, how did I knock out that man at the grocery store? I've never taken any self defense classes or anything like that. But I did it. How did I do that? I'm not a fighter."
"What you did to my hand might prove otherwise," Chuck said with a smile as he held up the hand that Sarah had gripped so strongly during dinner.
"Chuck, be serious. How could I have knocked out that man?" Sarah asked.
"Well, you were with Sallie and you and I will do anything to protect our daughter and keep her safe. Maybe your protective instincts and adrenaline kicked in when Sallie was threatened and you just did whatever you could to protect her," he theorized.
Sarah didn't know what to say. She glanced back at their daughter who was still conked out in the car seat. The thought of anyone or anything trying to harm Sallie did indeed bring out a lot of strong emotions inside of her. Could that had been it? Could it all had been just a mother protecting her daughter?
"Hey," Chuck called.
Sarah turned and looked at her husband.
"Whatever it was that enabled you to stop that guy, I'm glad that it happened and that you and Sallie didn't get hurt," he said.
She smiled and reached up and stroked the back of Chuck's head, running her fingers through his hair. Just like her daughter, the thought of anyone or anything harming her husband also brought out a lot of strong emotions inside of her.
It's my job to protect you from everything, she thought. And then she shook her head slightly, puzzled as to why she had just now thought that she was some sort of bodyguard or something like that. She stayed quiet for the rest of the drive home as she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong.
END CHAPTER TWO