CHAPTER 2

Hey guys. It's been a long time, but I am back with another chapter. I am so sorry for the very irregular updates, but I am out of town, and been very much stuffed with work. I will upload as much as I can, but until I get back, it will be very unpredictable. And don't worry about 'Lost and Found'. I am still continuing that story as well. Just couldn't get in to the mindset that the story needs. But, I will try to update that as well.

And, here we go.

"Italics" – Russian Dialogue

-Break—

At Chuck's home

It's official.

He had absolutely zero fashion sense. He looked at the clothes he had laid on the bed and could only sigh in dismay. How was he supposed to impress Sarah with what he had? He decided to do something about it. He took out his phone and called someone.

"Hey"

"…."

"Yeah. I'm sorry for not calling much, but I need your help. I need to go shopping for clothes."

"…."

"Hey! Don't sound so surprised. I can get dates too."

"…."

He sighed, "It has been a while, but its time I put my past behind me. Can you meet me in 30 minutes? I'm at home."

"…."

"Thanks."

And he disconnected.

He looked at his clothes and shook his head. He walked out to the living room, closing the bedroom door. Walking to the couch he plopped on it and laid back. He then realized something and swore.

"Shit! Maya is going to kill me for going shopping without her."

45 minutes later

Chuck was woken up from his nap by the sound of his door knocking. He walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole. Seeing the person he expected, he opened the door.

The person who entered was a beautiful woman in her late twenties, about 170 centimeters tall, with long light brown hair. Her electric blue eyes sparkled with mischief as she walked briskly towards the couch and plopped on it.

"So, who is the lucky lady?" she asked with a cheeky smile, her accented English easily noticeable.

Chuck laughed lightly, "I don't know about lucky, but her name is Sarah Walker. She is a translator at Maya's school."

Seeing the look on his face, she decided to tease him, "My god, you're smitten!" she laughed.

Chuck blushed, "I'm not. It's just that she is absolutely gorgeous. I can't seem to get her out of my head."

The woman looked at him with a smile, "I am happy for you Chuck. I was worried for a long time that you would just live your life like this."

Chuck smiled sadly, "If there is one thing that life has taught me, it's that I can never let my guard down."

She frowned at him, "That's no way to live. You can't always keep your guard up. You'd never enjoy what life has to offer you."

Chuck smirked at her, "Says the cop"

She raised her eyebrow at him, making him clear his throat, "Look. I know that's a sad life. I am trying my level best to be a good dad to Maya, and make sure none of whatever happened to me affects her negatively. Give me some time to get back to normal please."

She sighed, "I guess that's all I can ask for."

Chuck smiled in thanks. He then noticed the time on the wall clock and gasped, "Hey! Its already 3. We need to leave." He started pulling her from the couch.

She squawked indignantly, "HEY! Don't pull me like that."

She was promptly ignored.

At the store

Chuck was exhausted. He knew shopping with women was a chore, but since he was buying for himself, he expected it to be better. But it was not the case.

They were trying on shirt after shirt, pants after pants, and had chosen just one set. They were already there for 45 minutes, and all his effort has yet to bear any fruit.

He called out to his friend, "Hey. I know I asked for your help, but this is ridiculous. How much longer is it going to take?"

She peered out from the line of clothes with a raised eyebrow, "Have you never gone shopping with a woman before?"

"I have, but it's usually for them. Considering this is for me, I expected it to go much smoother"

She chuckled, "Sorry, but it doesn't make much difference. Plus you need to look good for you date. This is your first date in ages, and I am not going to let you go meet her looking like a bum."

Chuck tried to look offended, but he gave up immediately. He knew how hopeless he was in clothes shopping and selection. His friend came to him and put the shirt she had selected close to him and looked him over. Just as he was about to ask her something, he heard a voice from behind.

"Wow, double timing me already?"

Startled, he turned around to look into the amused blue eyes of the woman who was a part of a lot of his thoughts. He was immediately struck by how beautiful she was. He quickly replied because he didn't want to seem like he was staring, which he absolutely was.

"Of course. I have to practice my 'handling' skills after all", he replied cheekily.

She raised an amused eyebrow, but he could tell she was not happy with what she was seeing. It tickled him to know that she did not like the fact that there was another woman with him. He so wanted to tease her. But, deciding to let her off the hook, he turned to his friend, who was watching the interaction with a smile that he was not sure he liked.

"Sarah, I would like to introduce you to my friend, Sofia Nikitin. Sof, this is Sarah Walker."

Sarah looked at Sofia with a calculating eye, which was returned by Sofia. Chuck watched with wide eyes, wondering what was going on. Before he could say anything, both of them smiled and shook hands. He gave them both a confused look. While Sarah just smiled, Sofia chuckled and said, "It's a girl thing."

He shook his head and left it at that.

Sarah asked him, "So. Clothes shopping? I hope it's for tonight. My ego can't handle it if you say no" smiling mischievously.

Chuck grinned, "It is. You see, I am hopeless when it comes to picking clothes. I needed some help, so I had to ask Sofia for help. I hope next time, I'd be able to come to you."

She raised an eyebrow amusedly, "Next time? That's might presumptuous of you, don't you think?"

Chuck laughed, "Just putting it out there y'know? Let the thought get into your head."

She chuckled at that. Sofia watched this with a smile, which looked happy and a little pained. She shook her head. It was not the time to think about that. She decided to do some teasing.

"Chuck hates clothes shopping. The fact that he came to me asking for my help, proves how much he likes you."

Sarah looked at him with a smile and said, "Good" making him blush.

Chuck looked at the time and said, "Sorry to stop this, but it's getting late." Turning to Sarah he smiled, "I'll see you tonight Miss Walker"

She smiled back, "You too Mr. Bartowski"

Chuck left to the counter with Sofia, not knowing that Sarah was looking at him with a soft smile on her face.

That evening

He reached Maya's school, wearing his latest purchase of clothes, dark blue jeans with a blood red large checkered button up, and his regular white Chucks. He waited for her outside the entrance, having reached 5 minutes earlier. He had Sofia pickup Maya from school earlier.

Maya was confused to see her Aunt Sofia there, but was happy nevertheless to see her after a while. After reaching home, seeing her dad getting ready for what looked to be a date, she squealed in joy and ran up to him, hugging him tightly. She was extremely happy.

He was knocked out of his thoughts by the familiar knock on his window. He looked out to see Sarah there. He got out of his car and was about to talk before he got a full view of her. She was wearing a black off shoulder skater dress which came up to her knees, her blonde hair flowing in waves over her shoulder, and some subtle makeup which made her face look even more heavenly. Sarah smiled at him.

He recovered quickly and said, "You look beautiful my lady." He then put his hand inside his car and brought out some flowers and gave them to her.

Sarah smiled beautifully, "Thank you."

He opened the car door for her and gestured for her to sit inside prompting her to raise an eyebrow at him. He shrugged, "I was raised that way. I still blame my mother for it."

She laughed and got inside. He shut the door and walked around the back of the car. He stopped for a second in the back and said, "Damn" and walked to the driver's seat.

At the restaurant

He really was smitten, he decided.

The journey to the restaurant was filled with jokes and smiles. They seemed to be able to joke around and have fun with ease. He could not remember a time when he had so much fun with someone other than Maya on a drive. Even with Maya, it was a different kind of fun. With Sarah, he could be more open, more R-rated if you will.

Dinner wasn't any less fun. After ordering their food, they talked about themselves, what they did for fun, for work. He learnt that Sarah was born in San Diego, and moved here when she split from her father at the age of 16, that was fifteen years ago. Her mother's family was from here, so she left with her mom to come here to get away from her dad. There was a story there, but he did not ask her about it. She learnt Russian after coming here, and learnt many other languages as well, like Ukrainian, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Japanese, Chinese and even Hindi, because of the Indian students who often visited because of the Student International Outreach program. He was amazed by the number of languages she knew, and he told her that. She waved him off, but she did look happy.

Sarah also learnt a number of things about him. He was from Los Angeles, and had moved to Podolsk, ten years ago, with his three year old daughter. He runs a coffee shop in the town. She wanted to ask him about his reason for moving to Russia, but from the look on his face when speaking about Los Angeles, she decided to skip his past and focus on his present. He noticed this and gave her a thankful look.

After their date, Chuck dropped her off at her home, to which she gave him directions. At her doorstep, she turned to him and gave him a wide smile.

"This is me", she said breathlessly.

Without letting him say anything, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a deep kiss on his lips. Too stunned to say anything, he just put his arms around her body and kissed back. After a short while, she leaned back and put her hands on his chest, looking into his eyes. He stared back, with his arms still around her.

He spoke, "Thank you for today. This is the best time I had in a while."

She smiled softly, "Thank you as well."

He cleared his throat, "And thank you for not asking about my past as well. I will tell you soon enough. It's just painful to think about."

She rubbed his chest consolingly, "Don't worry about it. You tell me when you're ready."

He smiled thankfully and let her go. She walked to her door, opened it and looked at him. Smiling she said, "Good night, Chuck" and walked inside.

Chuck smiled at the closed door and walked to his car. As he entered his car and drove off, he didn't notice someone take a picture of him in his car.

At home

Chuck entered his home to see Maya and Sofia on the couch, with the former sleeping with her head on the latter's lap. Sofia had her left arm around her, and her right hand behind her head. He smiled at the sight and walked to them. He kissed Maya on the cheek softly making sure she didn't wake up, and rose to kiss Sofia on her forehead. He then went to his room and closed the door softly. Sofia opened her eyes and looked this door smiling.

"Good for you Chuck"

TBC

I hope this chapter is to your liking. Once again I apologize for the delay but what to do.

I will try to come up with more chapters for both my stories as frequently as possible. Please be patient with me. This is only for a few more weeks. After all my work issues are over, you will get regular updates.

Don't forget to review guys.

See you soon.