Chuck vs. The Courtyard Bench
Well, in the previous chapter: Chuck is sitting in his office at Kessel Run Technologies early in the morning because he hasn't been able to get a good night sleep. The secret he's been holding to has taken it's toll on him personally, mentally, and emotionally. He takes a break and uses that moment to listen to more of his father's tapes that he left behind. While listening to the tape he put in, he finds out some truths to the point where he recalls a particular memory involving his mom and dad. It would be truly enlightening but he wouldn't get chance to listen to more of the tape when Sarah calls. She wants to have breakfast with and agrees to meet up with her at Subway. However, before he heads off he goes back to his desk to retrieve the file folder that Conway provided him. So, what does Chuck compare his inner turmoil that he's going through? Who does Chuck see in Sarah in regards to professional wrestling legends? When will Chuck and Sarah finally share their feelings for each other? Where do Chuck and Sarah ending up going after leaving Subway? Why does Chuck want to brush up on his Spanish? How much money does Sarah take from Chuck's wallet to give as a worth cause to particular individual they meet? Read and find out! Anyways, hope you enjoy the read and leave a comment to share your own thoughts on this particular chapters. As always, reviews are awesome.
Again, if you enjoyed reading my stories and left a comment I truly appreciate it. Please continue to do so as it gives me the incentive to write more chapters.
I don't own Chuck.
Wrestling With My Conscience
XXX
Chuck and Sarah meet up for breakfast at Subway somewhere in Santa Monica. On the drive there, the nerdy business owner experienced a mixed bag of feelings and emotions as he sat behind the wheel of his car wondering if breaking the agreement that he established with Emma is the right thing to do. To inform Sarah of her father's true intentions for being in Los Angeles, him practically being broke, the possibility of a life saving alternative, and quite possibly making amends for not being much of a father or a husband for that matter. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for him to arrive at the intended destination leaving him some time to mentally be with himself sitting at a table waiting for Sarah to arrive. Now, while sitting there in a booth next to the window with the file folder on the table in front of him along with his, as well as Sarah's preferred choice of sandwich, he's trying to figure out how to actually share what could potentially be a gamechanger in their relationship.
Will it be bad or good? Will she get mad or be understanding? Will she take it out on him physically or verbally? Those are big questions right there that are swirling within his nerdy mind. For him, he's been wrestling with his conscience since the moment he hired Conway all thanks to Hartley. In his mind, it's not like the kind of wrestling in high school or college. No. It's more like the professional kind where even though it's considered sports entertainment aka WWE or known back in the classic days as WWF, the bumps and bruises are absolutely real, he thinks to himself. The beautiful and smart sophistication of the late Miss Elizabeth with phenomenal silent mystery of The Undertaker that's added on to the combined strong intensity of Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage, along with the electrified charisma of The Rock, and a sprinkle or two of a take no prisoners Wildcard Enforcer "Attitude Era" Stone Cold Steve Austin mixed in.
Granted, even though he doesn't consider himself a big professional wrestling fan, he did grow up watching it from time to time, especially on Saturday mornings when it came on television. It was a staple for him growing up as he would wake up early and watch Saturday morning cartoons while eating a bowl of his favorite cereal until wrestling came on. Plus, the fact he and Morgan, along with Vivian, when they were younger wrestled with each other doing moves from diving off the couch for a Macho Man elbow drop to Ric Flair's chops to the chest leading into the figure four leg lock, which the two boys would end up always finding themselves submitting/tapping out to her. Now, he's all grown up and although he, or Morgan for that matter, haven't watched much of pro wrestling, they do watch it every so often when it comes on when either of them are channeling surfing on the couch at Casa Bartowski.
In any case, as he continues to sit there in the booth he wonders if he should be straightforward and just hand her the file folder right when she sits down as if he were to hit her with a sudden chair shot. That or just be absolutely coy about it as he lets the tension that's been feeling building up within himself to the point where he eventually brings the conversation about her father up then hands it over. His thoughts are suddenly broken when he suddenly feels soft lips pressed against his left cheek causing him to slightly react in a surprised way. Yet, he would quickly recover by immediately expressing his toothy smile as he watches Sarah take a seat sitting across from her nerdy boyfriend with her meal that Chuck so generously paid for, which is a Black Forrest Ham, Egg and Chess Sandwich and a coffee with 2 sugars minus the syrup though.
"Thank you, kind sir." nodded Sarah with a smile.
"You're welcome, malady." retorted Chuck leaning forward, giving a courteous smile. A slight nod added in with a pretend tip of the hat back to his beautiful girlfriend. His breakfast, a steak, egg, and cheese sandwich with a medium sized orange juice, is his meal of choice sitting down in front of him.
As she begins unwrapping her sandwich, Chuck is trying to stay calm as a cucumber on the outside, but on the inside it's a completely different story. It's as if his thoughts, feelings and emotions are battling it out in an over the top winner take all Royal Rumble. The so-called prize won is the information about Sarah's father and if his conscience would be able to continue getting beaten down to the point where he can't take it anymore that he has just no choice but to speak up. Why? It has taken its toll on him, so much so that he's damn near close to reaching his breaking point and can't keep hiding what he knows any longer. Yet, he knows he hasn't lied to her in any way, shape or form, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been lying to himself.
He's suddenly snapped out of it when he hears his name called out by Sarah. "What? What...you say something?"
"You're thinking out loud..." Sarah replied back, expressing a look of concern on her face. The oldest daughter of Emma Walker is keenly aware that Chuck has been noticeably nervous, squirming, and not to mention fidgeting, tells her something is up. "...again. What's going on?" she wondered, quirking her right brow going into investigative mode. She then puts her breakfast sandwich down on the table and leans forwards placing both her hands on the table interlocking together in the process. "You can talk to me, Chuck. What's got you so on edge?"
"What makes you think I'm on edge?" he responded back, nearly knocking over his medium sized orange juice while leaning back. Fortunately, thanks to his quick reflexes, it didn't happen.
A tight-lipped smile is given back to Sarah, but it doesn't fool the beautiful blonde one iota. She's gotten to know Chuck for the past 3 months or so and in all that time, she has pretty much been able to get a deeply versed education in Chuck 101, mainly from the people who know him best starting from the very beginning. Of course, there are a few telltale signs that show her when something is on his mind that cause him to do things that reveal how uncomfortably nervous he is. The obvious thing is him thinking out loud and when it comes to the 2nd thing it's something that she was keenly aware of during their first meeting in the courtyard. She didn't really take notice of it until she returned to the courtyard to apologize to him for being so suspicious.
Essentially, that second thing that she really took notice of was him immediately looking up when he finds himself in an awkwardly, uncomfortable situation, she thinks to herself. It's what he did those two times back in the courtyard of Westside Medical Center and did it earlier after asking him about what's got him on edge. True, there have been countless moments in between those 3 months or so where she's been keenly aware and took notice of certain aspect of Chuck's body language that have stuck out to her. Oftentimes it can be seen clear as day, but other times it's something so seemingly insignificant that you would have to be paying close attention that when he does it you can't help but smirk, smile, laugh or all of the above.
Sarah says only one thing as she furrows her eyebrows looking at her nerd intently, but in a loving, caring manner. "Chuck."
As for Chuck himself, he sits there momentarily silent and briefly glances over to his right where the file folder is placed right beside him. He knows there is no turning back once he makes the decision to show her the file folder then hand it over to her to the point where it's completely out of his hands. In his mind, that aforementioned file he's had in his possession for quite some time has been like being handcuffed behind his back and the information within has beaten him down mentally, as well as emotionally as if being relentlessly hit in the head with chair shots, like how The Rock won his match against Mankind aka Mick Foley in an "I Quit" match at 1999's Royal Rumble. Ultimately, he wants to be spared from mentally and emotional brutality he's been personally experiencing for the past number of days, so much so much that being able to finally be uncuffed by his own doing from the shackles of the file itself will truly be considered an absolute relief.
Afterwards, he takes a deep breath and then gives Sarah a nod, which leads him to take the file folder sitting on the bench beside him. He reveals it to Sarah clearly noticing a look of wonderous curiosity on her face. Chuck places the file in the middle of the table and pushes it towards her just a bit. "Take it."
"What's this?" she asked, cautiously reaching for and inevitably picking up the file folder.
"A file on your dad. The reason why he's really here." he answered back.
What Chuck said causes Sarah to be momentarily shocked and stunned to where she's momentarily speechless. While sitting there, he visibly tells that it's sinking in to the point where she shakes her head then forces herself to breath a response. "What!?"
"I...uh..." Chuck nervously stammered out. "...I hired a private investigator...to...ummm…" He clears his throat, then forges on knowing once he finishes the possibility of the Wildcard Enforcer appearing is something he's not looking forward to at all. "...follow him." he added, ducking his head a bit, then suddenly noticing Sarah's eyes widen with shocked surprise. The sound of Stone Cold's theme of glass shattering ringing in his head as he's fully prepared for her to open a can of whoop ass on him.
XXX
"Sarah..."
Chuck doesn't say anything further because of Sarah holding up her right finger as she continues reading and looking over the file folder he handed over to her. For the past 10 minutes, she sat silently across from him thumbing through the documents and every so often shakes her head seemingly in disbelief at what she's reading. While sitting there in his seat, he could hear her express faint amusement at the sheer scope of what she has sitting in front her, he thinks to himself. As much as he tried to read her body language and facial expressions, she had the uncanny ability to mask whatever she's thinking and feeling with a look that's totally flat, as well as unreadable. From his perspective, it could be her years working as Chief Operating Officer where she's been able to almost handle any sort of situation with a professionally calm and unflappable demeanor.
"I want to explain..."
Instead of holding up her right finger once again, she simply peers up from and briefly stares at Chuck causing him to immediately stop talking. Afterwards, she returns her attention back to the contents within the file folder. As she is looking at it and flipping up every other sheet, she shakes her head leading her to speak up.
"Who is this private investigator you hired?"
"His name is Conway. He runs Longshore Investigations in Los Angeles. He's considered THE best."
A slight nod is given by Sarah as she responds to the answer Chuck gave her. She continues to look over the contents of file folder and as she does, brings up another question for Chuck to answer.
"Who recommended Conway to you?"
"Hartley..." Chuck's answer causes Sarah to lift her head expressing shocked surprise once again. So, he immediately jumps in to let her know that what she's possibly thinking is not at all the case. "...but...BUT he didn't know why I asked to speak with a private investigator. That's the truth. He didn't know your father showed up and...and..." he stated holding up his right finger, trying to firmly reiterate his point. "...you know I reconnected back with him the day you and I talked in my office asking me for help in dealing with Jeff and Lester."
"I remember. This Conway guy and don't look up..." Sarah calmly said, leaning forward locking eyes with a visibly nervous Chuck sitting across from her. His eyes locked on to hers after nearly looking up out of habit or possibly a defense mechanism. Either way, she can clearly tell that he wants to break eye contact noticing that before she requested for him not to look up he was just about to. "...did you have to pay for his services?"
In response, Chuck shakes his head. "His son, Everette..." he stammered out. "...Everette Conway."
"What about him?" questioned Sarah, continuing to grill her nerdy boyfriend for answers concerning what he's been hiding.
"All he wants is for him to be on Bash At The Bench. He goes to the Children's Hospital at Westside Medical Center. He's 11 years old and suffering/dealing with liver cancer. The medical term for it is Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Stage 3." he fully shared, holding up 3 fingers on the latter part of what he said.
"Ok." nodded Sarah, seemingly understanding the situation at hand. Yet, she's still not letting Chuck off the hook for being considerably secretive when it comes to not sharing vital information, especially when it involves her own father.
Speaking of Chuck, he's considerably relieved that he's no longer carrying the burden of the immense weight that's been placed on his shoulders concerning all that he knows. Thinking about it further, it's because of that immense weight that he's unable to experience a good night sleep to the point where he's had bad dreams, but not necessarily described as nightmares. It's in these dreams that start out with him in bed sleeping and tucked under the covers. A few moments later he hears the sound of a familiar voice through his sleepy haze and after slowly waking up he lifts his head to see Sarah at the foot of his bed wearing a sexy night gown. The next thing he knows Sarah is seductively crawling towards him like a cat and ends up face to face with her mere inches away.
What he remembers from every dream involving a sexy dream version of Sarah and saying the same thing over and over again. What are you doing here? It's then he vividly recalls her massaging his feet and if under different circumstances he would most definitely consider it heaven on earth. However, the circumstances were considerably different as he finds himself convincing himself and her it's a dream, to the point of actually apologizing. Why? He considers himself much more respectful to a woman, Sarah to be exact, even in his own dreams, thus leading him to explain his own anxieties and fears that have manifested for the last several days. The anxiety and fear of Sarah hating him so much so that she breaks up with him to where there is so much resentment towards him that he'll no longer be able to do Bash At The Bench.
In his mind, it's considered the biggest low blow in regards to his relationship not only with Sarah, but with the kids at the hospital as well. His two worlds colliding and the disastrous aftermath of being hit with bittersweet reality of it all like a steel chair to the head or in this particular case to the heart. Unfortunately, instead of a chair to the heart his dreams with "Sarah" always end with her informing that it's not a dream, but a nightmare. A nightmare that has him constantly waking up in a cold sweat after he sees a knife in her hand and then plunges into his chest. Fortunately for him, he doesn't scream causing him to wake up his bearded roommate Morgan, who usually sleeps in the nude. Thankfully, he hasn't and if he did the image would be brain stamped into his head...again.
In a way, what's he's experiencing is sort of similar to the storyline of who ran over Stone Cold Steve Austin and all fingers pointed to Triple H. Yet, the WWF Commissioner at the time Mick Foley started his own investigation and while he was doing it, Austin went around accusing/attacking/giving stunners to Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Shane McMahon, The Rock, etc. Ultimately, the perpetrator of the hit and run storyline was Rikishi. Even though he does sort of feel like one half of the savage tag team known as the Samoan Swat Team, he did end up fessing up by simply uttering the following 6 words: I did it for The Rock.
Granted, it wasn't those 6 words per say that he uttered, but he does in a sense feel like Rikishi and Sarah is a combination of a stunned Rock and pissed off Texas Rattlesnake, he thinks to himself. His thoughts concerning the possible scenario running through his head suddenly come to an abrupt end when he hears Sarah speaking up.
"I'm not mad at you..." she sternly announced. It would lead Chuck to refocus his attention back to Sarah after having zoned out a bit involving his own thoughts. "...I'm just disappointed that you didn't come to me sooner. Despite what my dad put me through, I have every right to know that not only my dad is practically broke after selling off his consulting company, but needs a kidney. Better yet, wanting but didn't have the guts to ask for my kidney." Sarah added, shaking her head.
A slight shrug of his shoulders and a shake of his head is given as the nerd in question speaks up. "I know." responded Chuck, looking like a remorseful puppy after doing something bad. "Would you have said yes to him though?" he inquired, with wonderous curiosity.
"No. Maybe." She shakes her head afterwards. "I don't know." she added, briefly turning her head to look outside the window where their booth is located. A few seconds later, she returns her attention back to Chuck, but mainly to the file folder. "What I do know is..." retorted Sarah, flipping through and then focusing on one main document in the file folder itself. "...he's been spending like crazy, especially living in the lap of luxury up in the top floor suite of The Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Stubborn idiot." she faintly muttered out.
Before Chuck could even stop himself after hearing that faint response from Sarah, he blurted it out. "That's what your mom said."
The realization of what he just said causes his eyes to widen as he watches Sarah let all that she's been able to figure out sink in. Instantly, she gives a seemingly soft, but angered response in returns. "You told my mom? She knew..." she said leaning forward in disbelief, locking eyes with Chuck. "...before me?" Sarah added, pointing to herself.
It's at that point, Chuck is struggling and stumbling for words, but nothing is coming out of making any sort of sense for that matter. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to say anything as Sarah has her phone in her hand and within seconds has it to her ear as she's standing up from her side of the booth.
"Mom, we have to talk."
As Sarah walks off and heads out the front entrance door of Subway in order to speak with her mother, Chuck sits in his seat and breathes out the following two words: Oh boy.
XXX
For the past 10 minutes, Chuck sat in the booth looking out the window seeing and animated Sarah waving her hands while speaking on the phone with her mother Emma. During that time, he couldn't help but think that now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag it has caused absolute turmoil between matriarch of the Walker women and her eldest daughter, which wasn't his intention whatsoever. It's the unintentional family feud he may possibly have unleashed was something in the back of his mind that he was absolutely fearful of knowing the promise he made with both Emma and Sarah. A family feud where Molly will most definitely be on her big sister's side to the point where Sarah could give the attack order to pounce the female version of Vince's son, Shane O'Mac, on him and the youngest Walker sibling wouldn't give it a second thought, he thinks to himself.
To him, the unintentional family turmoil he opened up would be sort of, but not really like, the dysfunctional family feud of the McMahon family during the whole Attitude Era days. Granted, none of the Walker women have been given a stunner, hit with a steel chair, crashed through a table, been stalked, gotten unknowingly married at a Vegas church drive thru, kidnapped by a legendary character known as The Undertaker, been involved in a love triangle with an Olympic gold medalist and a cerebral assassin, etc. Not that he knows of at least. However, when it comes to Jack Burton he wouldn't put anything passed him since he does consider himself a professional mastermind who built up his now former company that he quietly sold off, known as DoluPate Consulting.
True, he considered himself a God amongst men similar to another man who built up a juggernaut of an organization promoting sports entertainment known at the time as WWE, but now is called WWE. Of course, he doesn't know a lot about the man other than what Sarah partly shared with him during their Harry Potter Escape Room date. Yet, what little he does know is that if compared to Vince McMahon they both share a tremendously big ego and although the character of Vince McMahon kidnapped his own daughter Stephanie in a storyline, Jack Burton didn't go that far in real life. Essentially, he pretty much brainwashed her from a very young age until she was able to break away from his influence.
Thankfully, Sarah has had her own version of Linda McMahon who is considered the sane voice of reason of the family. A woman that's been able to guide and redirect her back to the strong, smart, powerful and not to mention beautiful person she truly is. A woman who has been there for her every step of the way and hasn't betrayed the trust between the two of them they forged knowing how protective of a mama bear she's been with not just Sarah, but with Molly as well. As much as he agreed to not saying anything to his girlfriend after speaking with Emma at the Farmer's Market in Los Angeles, the pressure to not mentally or emotionally break for that matter was considerably difficult for him. Yet, he was able to stay for the most part strong until he decided to do the right thing in order to relieve his own conscience that he's been wrestling with, so to speak.
While Chuck continues to sit in the booth inside Subway, Sarah is outside engrossed in a conversation with her mother pertaining to what she told Chuck not to do. The oldest Walker daughter is experiencing a mixture of angered disbelief as she tries to compose herself while talking on the phone and not make any sort of scene in the process.
"That's not the point, Mom!" she declared, almost shouting into her phone.
"What is the point then?"
In that moment, Sarah lowers her cell phone down to her side in order to take a quick, but deep breath. Afterwards, she shakes her head and composes herself before speaking to her mother again.
"It's not about my kidney. He can have it for all I care. What I want from him is something that I deserve for what he put you and I through. An apology. A genuinely honest apology. Two words. I'm sorry." she firmly stated, with a tinge of anger in her voice. She once again takes a brief moment to calm herself down then continues on. "Mostly for me. Am I selfish for wanting that? Hell no!" Sarah nearly shouted those two words out loud, but was able to keep it to control her tone of voice.
"I get it sweetie. You want peace of mind for all the mental anguish he subjected to you growing up."
"It's more than just peace of mind. I want him to look me in the eye and say those two words to my face." There is a brief silence on her part as the emotions is building up within her to the point that she restrains herself from crying. However, she's able to muster enough internal emotional strength to power through as a certain memory breaks through causing her to express a faint chuckle of disbelief. "Did you know Jack didn't have the guts to turn around when I unloaded all my pent up anger at him? He just stood there with his back facing towards me not saying a word. I called him a coward. That's what...who he is, Mom. You know it's the truth." seethed the oldest daughter of Emma Walker, laying an epic verbal smackdown.
As Sarah stood there with her phone to her ear, she could hear her mother's breathing over the phone as if she somehow knew this happen if Chuck told her. It felt like an eternity for her to have her mother respond, but she didn't have to wait forever as she gives her response.
"Your father has made a lot of mistakes in his life and one of the biggest ones he's made is not allowing you to have a childhood. Always took you out to teach and train you. Brainwash you was more like it." Once again there's a seemingly long pause but it would quickly be over leading Emma to continue speaking. "The day you were able to finally break free from your father's influence was considered a victory in itself. The strength it took to just walk away from him after all the mental manipulation you experienced. I was so proud of you for that, Sarah."
Although she's angry, a faint smile is able to push through and appear on her face. "I can't take all the credit. You were there for me every step of the way."
"And I'll continue to be there for you. So will Molly..." Emma pauses briefly. "...and so will Chuck. Are you mad at him? Don't be. I put him in that position and if it's the reason you break up..."
Sarah immediately interjects. "I'm not breaking up with Chuck. I'm actually glad he told me. We made each other a promise and he stuck to it. I love him for that." In that instance, Sarah suddenly hears a high-pitched squeak on the other end of the phone causing her to quirk her right brow. "You okay, mom?"
"You said you loved him."
"What?"
"Just now. You said you love Chuck."
For Sarah, this is the second time that she has expressed her love for Chuck out loud. The first was during dinner at C3 with Vivian and finding out that she wasn't interested in her nerd that way. While standing there about to respond back to her mother she accepted the fact that she's in love with Chuck, but didn't fully embrace it primarily because of a part of her is still scared. Scared to become absolutely vulnerable and open up completely to where, if she lets herself go there, she'll end up falling into the same situation she was in with Cole. However, the feelings she has for Chuck are far different than the ones she felt for Cole and it was the basis of what she was going to talk about with Dr. Dreyfus during her last therapy session, but something came up after speaking with Chief Beckman.
In her mind, she'll definitely talk about the relationship and her love for Chuck today leading a visible grin to be expressed in left corner of her lips. However, that would have to wait a bit later when she goes in for her 10 a.m. appointment.
"I do, Mom. I love Chuck Bartowski and I don't know what to do about it." she revealed, becoming overly emotional.
"Tell him, baby."
"I'm scared too. What if he doesn't say it back?" she retorted back with a sense of fear, restraining herself from crying.
"You won't find out if you don't at least take that leap of faith. Listen, I'm not going to push you to do anything you feel uncomfortable in doing, but don't waste the opportunity you've been given. Anyways, I've got a feeling he feels the same way."
"How do you know? Did you talk to him? You've talked with him."
"Sarah..."
"What did he say?"
"Sarah..."
"Did he smile when he talked about me? You know that toothy smile that's both dorky and cute?"
"Sarah!"
"Yeah?"
"You're spiraling. Calm down."
"Sorry."
The sound of a humorous chuckle is expressed on Emma's end. "It's okay. Luckily, Molly wasn't eavesdropping like she sometimes likes to do or you wouldn't hear the end of it."
"Yeah right. How about all the time, mom."
"What do you expect. She's your sister."
"My brat. I know." she replied, rolling her eyes afterwards.
"Look, it's now up to you on whatever you decide. I can't make this choice for you. I know you made your choice before: using your gut and your heart. Which one will you go with?
After saying that, Sarah knows it's her defining moment in regards to the 3 words that changes, and not to mention takes, her relationship with Chuck to the next level. She then composes herself and reaches up with her left hand in order to wipe away a few tears that escaped from her eyes. All this happening as she facing away from Chuck in order to conceal any sort of emotional being expressed while talking on the phone with her mother. A few seconds later, the faint grin turns into a smile.
"Thanks, mom."
"Any time. Good luck and I love you."
"Love you, too"
The conversation, or in this case discussion, between oldest daughter and mother ends. This would lead Sarah to turn around and fully notice Chuck quickly turn his head in order to look in every other direction but hers thus causing her to hide the amused smile she's trying to not express. She heads towards the front entrance door of Subway and once inside she reaches the table both of them were sitting at, she locks eyes with Chuck and is about to express her feelings by saying three simple words. Unfortunately, she suddenly changes her mind in the last second and utters two words.
"Let's go." she barked, immediately grabbing the file folder and her purse.
The beautiful and determined blonde then heads off and out the Subway door with Chuck quickly following suit after her. However, before he does, he goes back to the table in order to retrieve their breakfast meals minus the drinks. He throws those two away as he passes the trash can heading towards then out the door. As half his concentration is cradling said breakfast meals like a baby against his chest making sure not to drop them, the other half is on Sarah reaching the driver's side of her car.
"Where are we going?"
"To see my dad." she proclaimed, briefly holding up the file folder in her left hand.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Chuck." she firmly said back.
"Right. I'll meet up with you..."
Sarah instantly interjects. "No time. Get in and we'll get there quicker." she nodded, motioning to her own car.
"Ok..." he said, peering down at the breakfast meal cradled in his arms. "...what about your..."As soon as he peers back up, he fully notices the Wildcard Enforcer-Ken Shamrock death stare shooting towards causing him to immediately respond. "Getting in the car." quickly stated Chuck, with a nod.
The nerdy business owner doesn't bother pointing his key FOB at his car because he knows it's locked and the fact it's a pretty safe neighborhood. Plus, the employees in that particular Subway are awesome and would happily keep an eye on The Falcon. In a matter of seconds, Chuck opens the passenger side door and hops inside but not before dropping one of the wrapped sandwiches falling down to the ground. He quickly leans down to his right to retrieve it and soon closes the door leading Sarah to pull out of the Subway parking lot then heading or speeding off in her car to The Westin Bonaventure Hotel.
XXX
"Man, that Subway breakfast sandwich sure hit the spot." said Chuck, patting his now former empty stomach. Both of them stepped out of the top floor elevator into the hallway.
Once Chuck and Sarah arrived at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, they immediately beeline for the elevator to head up to the top floor suite where Jack Burton is staying. The 2nd in command to Chief Diane Beckman and Chief Operating Officer of Westside Medical Center was very determined to face and speak to her father with Chuck right on her heels trying doing his best to keep up with her. Granted, the Subway breakfast sandwich he scarfed down was fulfilling, but it did cause him to lag a bit behind the woman who is dead set on confronting the man who pretty much brainwashed her growing up. This time, it would be Chuck taking the lead since he knows what suite number her father is staying at and after rounding the corner, they find themselves approaching, then standing in front of Jack Burton's suite.
Chuck is about to say something when Sarah reaches up and knocks on the door. Nothing. She knocks on the door again. The sound of silence as remnants of a fading knock echo slowly dissipate the second time around on the top floor of the luxurious and not mention pricey hotel. She is about to do it for the 3rd time when Chuck stops her.
"I get why you're doing this but..." he softly said, taking both her hands and turning her towards him. He takes a brief moment to glance at the suite door where Jack took up residence for so many months, then returns his attention back to Sarah. "...is it really worth it trying to get an apology from your dad? He's probably out helping Garretty campaign and easily manipulating the minds of voters somewhere in the greater Los Angeles area."
Sarah is silent for a moment letting what Chuck said let sink in. A few seconds later, she briefly glances to her right at Jack's suite door then returns her attention back to Chuck. "I guess it's something I wanted for so long after having not seen him for so many years. I thought I would be ok if I didn't ever actually get an apology, as I used that as an incentive to become a far better person than him. Unfortunately, him showing up brought out those old feelings I thought I long buried."
"Trust me..." softly stated Chuck, squeezing Sarah's hands in loving encouragement. "...you are far better and much more awesome than Jack. You made something of yourself without him and if you don't end up getting an apology from him then that's ok. You've managed to exceed expectations without him in your life. I should know and I'm still in awe of how much of an incredible woman you are. I can see how strong you are and so many others can see it too. I..." Chuck pauses then looks deeply into her eyes and continues on.
In his mind, he so wants to share how he truly feels about her. Chuck can see that her eyes just widened expecting him to finish with 2 words that mean so much because of the seemingly intimate moment within the top floor hallway of The Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Unfortunately, he stops himself and instead takes a deep breath. Afterwards, he expresses a shy smile and then shakes his head.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?"
"Have you apologized to yourself at least?"
The strong and beautiful blonde lets that question sink in. After a few moments of thinking about it, she gives him her answer. "It took a while..." she pauses breaking eye contact with Chuck then locks eyes with him again. "...but I did. Don't get me wrong, it was all out mental and emotional battle. Thankfully, Mom helped me gain perspective and now with the help of Dr. Dreyfus I'm gaining a much broader, as well as deeper, perspective that's opening my eyes in more ways than one." While standing there in front of Chuck, Sarah's heart is pounding causing her to mentally instead of verbally say it out loud. And opening my heart.
"That's awesome." Chuck said, expressing his unmistakable toothy smile towards his girlfriend.
Afterwards, the moment between them in the brief but shared moment of silence leads to both of them leaning in to kiss each other. However, the impending kiss would be interrupted by a sound behind them causing them to be a bit startled because they were so focused on each other. As much as both of them wanted it, they took that unfortunate break to take a deep breath then focus on the cleaning lady exiting out a nearby suite. This would lead Chuck to step around Sarah then forward and head towards the aforementioned cleaning lady.
"Excuse me. Hi..." politely waved Chuck. "...ummm...I was wondering if you could help me."
"Ayuda? Baño? Go lobby." she answered, pointing down to the 1st floor of The Westin Bonaventure Hotel."
"This will be tricky, Sarah." Chuck said, glancing at the woman standing to his left. "Good thing I took a bit of Spanish at Stanford and watched/listened to some Luchador wrestling sort of has helped too."
In response, Sarah amusingly rolls her eyes then steps forward acknowledging the cleaning lady. "Hola señora." called out Sarah, walking towards the cleaning lady. She immediately notices her name tag. "Gloria."
"Hola." greeted Gloria, peering up and glancing from Sarah to Chuck. She then goes back to the blonde haired woman standing in front of her. "Como puedo ayudarte?"
"Sabes dónde estaba el hombre que se quedó aquí, Jack Burton?" she retorted back, pointing to the suite they were just standing at a few feet away.
"Oh, Señor Jack. Muy guapo" smiled the cleaning lady. She reaches up touching both her cheeks then slightly squints her eyes while looking at the rather tall blonde woman standing in front of her. "Te pareces a él." she added, pointing to the blonde woman and then motioning to her own face.
"Mi papa. Me llamo, Sarah."" she nodded with a polite smile, then briefly glances over to Chuck.
Chuck can't help but be impressed by Sarah as he stands there watching and listening to the interaction in Spanish between the two women. He can't help but express a grin knowing she is truly a remarkable woman who has the ability to absolutely surprise him, especially now seeing that he knows she's bilingual. In his mind, she could very well speak more languages other than Spanish causing him to suddenly come to one particular thought. I should brush up on my Spanish. His thoughts concerning getting more well versed in Spanish due in part to Sarah is suddenly broken when he's keenly aware that both women are pointing at him.
"What? What's going on?"
"Nothing." mused Sarah, peering down at Gloria. "Just girl talk." she added, playfully bumping her new found friend.
"Si..." nodded Gloria. "...girl talk." Her attention then turns up towards Sarah with a wicked smile. "Él es lindo. Un poco flaco, pero lindo. Necesita un corte de pelo." she said, motioning towards the top of her head.
"Si Señora. El es mi nerd."
"Nerd!" chimed in Chuck, snapping his fingers. "You're definitely talking about me."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Sarah playfully and coyly responded back. Afterwards, she focuses back on her conversation with Gloria concerning the whereabouts of her father." "Gloria, mi papa. Sigue aquí?"
"Se marchó ayer. Me entristece. Buen propina."
"Gracias por tu ayuda, Gloria." Her attention turns to Chuck.
"So, is he here?"
A look of disappointment washes all over Sarah's face. "She says Jack checked out yesterday. He's gone."
"Maybe it's better this way. He's been a disappointment in your eyes, Emma eyes, certainly in Molly's eyes if she saw him, and not to mention to Mayor Garretty's eyes. If he left here then it's possibly he up and left Mayor's Garretty's campaign high and dry. No warning. Nothing."
"I wouldn't put it passed him." There is a few seconds of awkward silence when Sarah brings up a question to Chuck after she glances at Gloria. "How much money do you have on you?" Chuck quirks his right brow as he wonders why she's asking that question, but at the same time takes out his wallet. He opens up his Velcro wallet and checks only to have Sarah take the contents inside. He immediately looks up and is about to say something but she chimes in before he does. "It's for a good cause. Gloria."
Afterwards, Sarah hands the money consisting of 75 dollars over to Gloria and then has a conversation with her while Chuck is standing there now broke for the day. Unfortunately, he wouldn't have time to think about what just happened as he suddenly enveloped in a big bear hug and kiss from a small Hispanic woman. As he's continuing to be hugged and kissed by Gloria, Chuck peers up towards Sarah wondering why this is happening.
"Sarah?"
"Let's just say, she's thankful for your kind generosity. You're welcome, by the way." chuckled Sarah.
"Thanks." sarcastically responded Chuck. His attention would suddenly be focused back to Gloria as she continues bear-hugging him.
"Si no te llevarn, te presentaría a mi hija."
"What she say?" inquired Chuck, raising both eyebrows with curiosity towards a clearly amused Sarah.
"Nothing really. Something about wanting you to marry her daughter."
Chuck's eyes go completely wide as he peers down as Gloria who looks up at him with a joyous and appreciative smile. He tries to escape from her seemingly strong Andre The Giant vice like embrace but can't quite seem to break free leading him to surmise that she's deceptively strong for a woman of her stature. As for Sarah, she can't help but bust out laughing leading her mood to brighten up. In her mind, even though she didn't get the apology she truly wanted and deserves, she has everything she wants and deserving of standing in front of her in the form of Chuck Bartowski. It would be most definitely a topic of discussion with her therapy session with Dr. Dreyfus, she thinks to herself.
XXX
NOTE: I know what you're thinking. You are cruel in not having Chuck and Sarah say I love you to each other. That's what my Beta reader NEVR told me when he emailed me back. All I'm going to say is that the big payoff will be at the Hospital Gala so be patient. Anyways, what did you think of this chapter? Enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the interaction with the cleaning lady Gloria. Next up is Sarah's therapy session with Dr. Dreyfus. As always, share your thoughts and leave a comment. Tip of the hat to NEVR for doing the bet. You're awesome dude!