Chuck vs. The Courtyard Bench
Well, in the previous chapter: Chuck has another session with Dr. Dreyfus. They discuss everything from whether Chuck was actually destined to be with Sarah after sharing his thoughts on movie scenario theories. Two of those movies he theorized were Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Final Destination. Afterwards, the discussion turned to what is considered the most iconic and influential movie trilogies, The Godfather. Chuck compared Bryce's betrayal to that of Fredo betraying Michael Corleone. Dr. Dreyfus referred to the comparison of that betrayal as Tragic Brothers. Chuck then reveals to Dr. Dreyfus that Bryce voluntarily took the hit for their friendship and now he's a man who metaphorically died alone similar to that of Michael Corleone at the end of Godfather 3. Moving on to Casa Woodcomb, there's a small get together and food, fun, and laughter is enjoyed. Molly informs everyone that she knows about the special project that Alex tried to be discreet about. Unfortunately, the joyously calm atmosphere within Casa Woodcomb would suddenly be disrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. After Molly opened, they all were surprising shocked when they found out the person standing on the other side of the front door was Jill. So, what happens in this chapter? Here are the who, what, where, when, why, how's? Who immediately dove behind a couch when they all saw Jill standing at the front door? What movie did Molly reveal that helped Morgan trick his mom so he wouldn't be able to go to school? Where do Chuck and Jill end up talking? When does Jill exactly cross the line while talking with Chuck? Why does Chuck feel and react so emotionally when speaking about one of the hospital kids he interacted with? How does Molly play a factor in helping Chuck with the special project that Carina, Zondra, and Alex have planned? Read and find out! I 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.
A Second Chance
XXX
"How did you know I was here, Jill?" asked Chuck, standing by the courtyard fountain.
Jill's unannounced arrival at Casa Woodcomb was a complete surprise to everyone, especially Chuck. For the most part, her showing up totally disrupted the fun and relaxed atmosphere the individuals inside were having. After some convincing on the former ex's part, Chuck found himself standing by the courtyard fountain. Sarah, along with everyone else, failed at being discreet as they huddled together in front of the window and intently spied on the former couple's conversation by the beautiful centerpiece of the apartment complex.
It's that same courtyard fountain that Chuck once happily reminisced about the good times he shared with the dark-haired woman with a number of women Ellie invited to the courtyard party. The oldest Bartowski sibling intended for her younger brother to hopefully put himself out there on the dating market and make a connection with one of them. Unfortunately, it didn't happen as he nervously talked to the beautiful women that his sister invited and made a seemingly disastrous first impression by briefly talking about his 5-year plan that just needed a font to be chosen.
Of course, it was a well-intended joke that just flew over the ladies' heads and most definitely fell incredibly flat. Additionally, there was the moment where one of those women asked the tape on his hands and if Chuck was hurt. He informed her it was Call of Duty related and further explained to the woman that the controller chafed his fingers and then the woman didn't look interested at all. In hindsight though, those women were possibly encouraged by Ellie to have his self-esteem and ego bolstered, which was considered at the time really low. Afterwards, the conversation between the Bartowski siblings didn't go over too well as they sat together on the small ledge of the courtyard fountain. A conversation they've had many times before about getting over Jill.
"I went to your house, and you weren't there. Beautiful location and right next to the beach," answered Jill. "So, I went to the next place that you'd probably be, and I was right," she added, slightly shrugging her shoulders. A faint and an awkward smile expressed towards him.
"This doesn't explain why you're here," he intently retorted. Chuck crossed his arms to show how closed off he is to her.
Jill was momentarily silent as she turned her head towards Casa Woodcomb where she saw a number of eyeballs that stared back at them. One of the individuals she zeroed in on was Sarah. In her mind, it became perfectly obvious her blonde counterpart and everybody else inside weren't trying to hide the fact they were eavesdropping on the conversation. After she shook her head, she turned her attention back to Chuck and responded to his question.
"I want to talk about us."
Chuck's right brow instantly arched up. "Us?" The nerd shook his head as he wrapped his brain about the possible reason behind why Jill showed up. "There is no us. I'm with Sarah," he firmly stated. He briefly pointed to the woman inside Casa Woodcomb and was currently positioned in front of the window looking out into the courtyard. The courtyard fountain to be exact.
"I know that," Jill responded, momentarily holding up both hands in front of her.
"What is it then?" he inquired, with keen interest.
After Jill took a deep breath, she crossed her arms and turned around. She took a few steps forward then stopped. She lowered her head for a few seconds then slowly turned around to face Chuck.
"I'm not here for a second chance." Jill stopped and corrected herself. "Well, I am here for a second chance," She instantly saw a mixture of surprised confusion on Chuck's face. She didn't waste any time and further explained. "What I mean is, I want a second chance to be friends. We were better off as friends before…"
Chuck interjected, "Before I asked you to be more than friends that night on the Ferris wheel."
Jill responded with a nod. For Chuck, her request stung because of how she believed their relationship was far better as friends than as a couple, he thought to himself. As he stood there for a moment in front of the fountain courtyard, a lively conversation was going on inside Casa Woodcomb that started with a comment from the 13-year-old teenager.
"So that's Jill." She shook her head in a not so impressed way. "She doesn't hold a candle to my big sister," Molly added, briefly peering up to Sarah perched above her.
"Thanks, brat," Sarah responded. She softly smiled down at her younger sister before she returned her attention back to where Jill and Chuck are located.
"I think my sister could take that chick in a fight," she stated, much to the dismay of their mother.
"I certainly hope not," chimed in Emma, with a mixture of astonished concern and disbelief.
Morgan was about to respond when he noticed Alex with her face pressed up against the front door peephole. She periodically deviated from her right to her left eye in a seemingly manic way, which caused her bearded boyfriend to become concerned.
"Babe," he softly called out. "Are you okay?"
"Everything Kosher, Alex?" questioned Devon.
"Sweetie?" Kathleen called out with concern.
"I'm fine," Alex responded. "Why do you ask?" she added, continuing to look through the front door peephole.
Of course not. I'm not fine. The moment the front door was opened, and she saw Jill standing there at the front door archway her instincts kicked in and immediately dove behind the back end of the couch. She would have hidden behind Morgan, but he was standing a few feet away for her to do that. In her mind, if Jill had seen her, she would have probably been recognized as one of the women who congratulated her on her engagement ring. Alex didn't want to run that risk of having the special project completely fall apart and fortunately for her the engaged woman was too focused on Chuck to even notice her.
"Oh nothing," Morgan retorted, cracking a faint smile. His attention on his girlfriend was then turned to the oldest Bartowski sibling when he heard her voice.
"Molly speaks the truth," acknowledged Ellie. Her attention on Chuck and Jill was briefly directly to the matriarch of the Walker women. "About how Jill doesn't hold a candle to Sarah. Not the chick fight; that definitely won't happen between the two of them," the eldest Bartowski sibling clarified.
The young 13-year-old shrugged her shoulders. "It could happen," remarked Molly.
It's a remark that definitely caused Emma to worry as she peered over to her oldest daughter. Thankfully, Devon spoke up in order to quell any sort of trepidation she may be having.
"No worries, Emma," Devon calmly stated, with reassurance. "There won't be any fights because Ellie and I won't expose Clara to that. Plus, we taught Clara that fighting doesn't solve a thing. It's best to talk things out instead of resorting to violence," he shared, glancing behind him. "Right babe?"
"A valuable life lesson to learn for our daughter," Ellie noted.
The handsome heart surgeon was perched above his wife with his hands placed on her shoulders. They briefly observed Clara was gleefully glued to the television as she sat and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse totally oblivious as to the events that had unfolded outside of her parent's apartment. Unfortunately, what they watched so far was much different from what could potentially be heard by the group of interested individuals.
"I can't hear a thing," Alex stated, with disappointment in her voice.
"Neither can I," chimed in Kathleen.
"I think…I think I heard something about Ferris Bueller earlier," shared Morgan, peeking out the side of the living room window.
"Who?" questioned the 13-year-old.
Once again, Morgan felt the impact of that word as it related to what he considered one of and continued to be the most iconic, as well as influential movie of the late 80's. A movie that still resonated with him and will never get old for him, he thought to himself. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Awesome movie by the way."
"Oh yeah. I actually saw that movie," Molly revealed.
Morgan's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. His whole demeanor instantly perked up. "Awesome! When? What did you think of it?" he blurted out, excitedly nerding out. Morgan hopped back from where he was positioned by the window. His attention completely focused on Molly.
Speaking of Molly, she answered Morgan's question while her focus was still glued on Chuck and Jill. "Last Friday. My history teacher decided to roll in this old television and VCR. He said we're having a movie day. A perfect excuse to take a nap."
A look of shocked horror is expressed all over Morgan's face. "Oh God. Please no. Don't tell me you didn't."
Molly glanced back at Morgan and briefly stared at her sister's boyfriend's bearded best friend with disbelief. A few seconds later, she turned her attention back to the courtyard and answered him back. "I was going to, but…"
"But..." Morgan repeated, with a sense of hope expressed in his eyes. The thought of her taking a nap knowing she had been given the opportunity to have a movie day in class on a Friday no less caused him to be heartbroken if she did.
As Morgan waited for Molly's answer, the rest of the group couldn't help but snicker and be amused by the interaction between the two of them. They group have witnessed how much of a ball buster she has been, especially when it came to one Morgan Grimes.
"I actually got hooked watching it." Molly shared, much to the delight of Morgan.
Speaking of Morgan, he's excitedly happy and proud as punch after he heard that from the 13-year-old. He instantly threw his right fist in the air similar to that of John Bender at the end of another iconic 80's movie The Breakfast Club. Afterwards, he resumed nerding out and continued to share with the young girl that positioned herself at the window what he thought of the movie.
"I still consider it one of Matthew Broderick's iconic roles that actually shaped me into the man I am today. I learned so much from that movie growing up," he happily pointed out. An accomplished smile expressed on his face. "For instance, faking out my mom with a stomach cramp to get out of going to school. I can't believe how many times that worked." He shook his head after he took a moment and reflected back to his mischievous days as a youth. "Good times."
In response, the 13-year-old rolled her eyes. "That explains so much," Molly breathed out, under her breath. She, along with the rest of the group, refocused their attention and continued to be glued as to what's been ongoing outside.
XXX
"Is it true?" inquired Chuck.
"Is what true?" Jill retorted back. A mixture of confused curiosity expressed on her face.
"About the online gaming debts," the nerd revealed, sharing the information provided to him. "And how you nearly lost your scholarship money because of how bad it got," he added, shaking his head.
The look of confused curiosity was now replaced with surprised shock. "How did you know about that?"
"Then it's true," Chuck breathed out, with disbelief expressed in the tone of his voice.
"Who told you? Bryce?" Jill spun on her heel and faced the other direction to avoid eye contact with Chuck. "Don't believe what he's told you. You can't trust a word that asshole says," she angrily spat back.
"You're right," nodded Chuck. "I don't. However, let's play devil's advocate and say there is a morsel of truth in what he said." The nerd took a step forward with his arms still crossed. "Why didn't you come to me for help? I would have understood if you'd just talk to me."
After hearing that, she quickly spun around and locked eyes with Chuck. "That's the thing, Chuck!" she screamed out. Jill took a moment to gather her thoughts while at the same time tried to keep her emotions in check. "It's easy for you to just talk things out and try to fix things. I'm not you. I don't have that luxury," she added, emphatically pointing at her ex-boyfriend. The tone in her voice is controlled but shaky because of how emotional she became. "You could never understand my situation. The huge debts I've racked up back in college."
It took a moment for Chuck to let it sink in what Jill shared with him. In his mind, he truly didn't know Jill Roberts after all, and the resentment heard in her voice tells him that she's been holding on to it for quite some time.
"Then help me understand," he urged Jill, with encouragement.
"Gaming can be addictive."
"And competitive," Chuck added. "Since 2007, online gaming market has significantly grown at an awesome rate. Even though it's not considered a sport, it takes a toll on a gamer mentally, emotionally, and physically." he shared.
"See," Jill said, pointing to Chuck. "You're a fellow gamer who gets it."
"I do," nodded Chuck. "In a way, it's like that movie The Wizard starring Fred Savage. His character and his brother run off to California to enter a video game tournament to win a big cash prize. On their journey they meet a new friend. There's trauma and family conflict involved…"
"Chuck!" loudly interrupted Jill. Afterwards, she stared at him. While she did, she saw the deer in headlights look as soon as he stopped. It's something she saw many times whenever he started trailing off on a particular subject that involved pop culture references.
"Sorry." He shook his head in disbelief then regathered his thoughts. "How much?"
"How much what?" questioned Jill.
"The largest sum of debt you owed?"
"50k."
The amount of money that Jill answered with caused Chuck's eyes to nearly bulge out of its sockets. "50 thousand!?" he bellowed out loud.
The echo within the courtyard that resulted afterwards gradually faded. The only sound that remained and heard was the water that cascaded from the top down to the bottom fountain. He briefly glanced over to the window where he saw everybody suddenly scattered like a bunch of rats. However, the one bold person who didn't scatter and remained planted in the same location without even budging was Molly. As much as he wanted to physically motion for the 13-year-old girl to go away, his efforts knowingly resulted in a futile attempt at setting boundaries for a rebelliously headstrong teenager, he thought to himself. Instead, he returned his attention back to Jill who he hoped would shed more light on being able to understand her more.
"Don't feel sorry for me!" Jill bellowed. "I'm not some charity case like those sick kids at the hospital you help get donations for."
Chuck immediately pointed straight at Jill. His whole demeanor changed within a blink of an eye. The understanding look in his eyes suddenly showed anger. "Hey! Don't!" he spouted off.
The way Chuck stepped to her and how vocal he was caused Jill to be startled. This time the echo of his voice resonated within the courtyard and continued to remain longer than Jill's until it faded away. The atmosphere within the courtyard turned so tense that someone could very well cut the tension with a knife.
"That came out all wrong. I didn't mean that," Jill retorted, with genuine regret in the tone of her voice. "Sorry," she remorsefully added.
"Just…don't go there," he slowly and calmly reiterated. Chuck took what she said very personally. In his mind, coming after him is one thing but coming after the kids, those awesome Rockstar Rebels, is a line you don't want to ever cross, he thought to himself.
"Oh shit! Chuck sounds pissed off," Molly stated out loud, within Casa Woodcomb. "This chick is toast," Molly stated out loud.
"Molly…" Devon whispered, out loud. "Language. Young impressionable ears in the room," he emphasized, motioning with his head behind him. Clara continued to gleefully watch Mickey Mouse on television.
Molly shrugged her shoulders. A few seconds later, the 13-year-old popped up to a standing position. "Nobody takes my spot." Afterwards, she moved past Sarah and made a quick beeline towards the kitchen. However, before she reached the kitchen she briefly glanced back before she disappeared out of sight. "Who wants popcorn?
"You're not helping!" Emma called out. The matriarch of the Walker women shook her head with a mixture of embarrassed disappointment.
The question of wanting popcorn was ignored by Sarah as she turned her attention to those standing around the Casa Woodcomb front door. "I'm going out there," stated Sarah, with concern. She quickly moved towards the door, but was thwarted by Chuck's older sister. "Morgan."
Instantly, the bearded best friend of Chuck Bartowski complied with Ellie and blocked her way out to help her nerdy boyfriend. Alex stood right behind him after she had been pressed up against the front door peephole ever since Jill left and talked with Chuck out in the courtyard.
Although Morgan was just an inch shorter than Sarah, it seemed as if she towered over him like a giant, incredibly intimidating amazon. While he stood there, Morgan did his best to not to show any sort of fear. Unfortunately, he failed once Sarah's Wildcard Enforcer side emerged. He nearly pissed himself as he leaned back against Alex who pushed him forward to avoid both of them falling backward. Thankfully, the eldest Bartowski sibling came to the rescue.
"Sarah, don't!" Ellie responded.
"El?"
"Listen to Ellie, sweetheart,." suggested Emma. She agreed with a woman who may very well become part of her extended family in the future.
"Mom? You too?" Sarah turned her attention from her mother to Ellie. A look of confused disbelief was expressed on her face. "That bitch out there took a shot at the kids. Chuck's kids."
"Your kids too, Sarah," Morgan chimed in.
In her mind, she agreed with Morgan knowing she established a strong bond with one of the Rockstar Rebels, Monique Jordan. She took it personally as well. "You of all people should know how protective of them he is."
The wife, mother, and older sister gave a slight nod. "I do."
"What are you going to do about it?" questioned Sarah,
"Nothing," Ellie answered calmly.
Sarah's eyes widened. "What!?"
"Chuck needs to see this through," Devon stated, as he moved over to Sarah. "On his own."
"Ms. K's right, Sarah. It's time for Bruce Banner to Hulk up and smash," Morgan said. "There's so much unresolved anger bottled up inside of him. It lay dormant for years until Jill showed up. Sure, Bryce initially started it and in a weird way," he said, shaking his head. "I'm glad Boba Fett showed up."
Ellie picked it up from where Morgan left off. "He needs to let out the anger." She turned her head and looked out the window. "Now is as good a time as any. His second and probably only chance to finally get closure." As she, along with the rest of the group, watched from the inside and hoped he'll finally be freed from that burning anger he's carried around for so long.
XXX
The commotion that Chuck and Jill were making disturbed one of Ellie's neighbors who voiced her concerns before heading back inside her apartment.
"Sorry Mrs. Haditzian. We'll try to keep it down." A few seconds later Chuck spun around and faced Jill once again. "Listen, shit on me all you want," offered Chuck, who was personally offended. "But those kids…my kids…they're off limits. Keep them out of your mouth." He made sure to get his eyes locked with hesr then firmly and directly pointed at Jill. "Do you understand me?"
For Jill, she just witnessed a whole new side that emerged out of Chuck that she didn't know existed. As unbelievable as it was to see for herself, he actually made his presence known in such a way that demanded instead of asking for respect. In a sense, it was like she was introduced for the first time to Mr. Hyde after she spent so much time with Dr. Jekyll. It was frighteningly scary, but at the same time attractively sexy and hot, she thought to herself.
"Fine!" she answered back, holding up both hands defensively in front of her. She watched as Chuck took a step back and turned around. He reached up with both hands and placed them behind his head. A few seconds later, they slid down to his neck where he briefly rubbed the back of his neck. She continued to watch as his hands dropped down to his side out of frustration then shook his head. Jill heard him express a deep sigh afterwards. She cautiously waited a few more seconds before she bravely spoke up, "Where did that come from?"
"What?" questioned Chuck. The nerd slowly turned around and faced Jill. "Where did what come from?" he inquired, crossing his arms again.
"I've never seen you," she paused, trying to search for the right word. "With that look." Jill added, pointing to his face.
"What look?"
"Like you want to rip my head off," Jill answered back. "Where was this Chuck during our relationship?"
What the hell are you talking about!? In his mind, the angry part of Chuck was always there, he thought to himself. It's just that he never considered himself to be the type of guy to let his inner hulk rage be unleashed and start rage smashing. In other words, he's not John Casey. I'm not an emotionally constipated cold school terminator devoid of a calm center. Far from it as it's more of an angry center for Casey. For Chuck though, it's considered a rarity to get to his angry center and when he gets there, it was because someone did or said something stupid like targeting his hospital kids to make some kind of point. He took that very personally and it was why he instantly reacted that way.
"What do you mean this Chuck?" He shook his head and tried to wrap his brain around on what she meant.
"You know," Jill softly smiled, looking rather impressed. "Assertive, bold, and aggressive," she described. "You looked like a completely different person a while ago."
"Do you know why?" Chuck angrily spat back.
"Yeah," nodded Jill. "Those kids are a touchy subject for you."
Chuck responded and breathed out a bit of laughter afterwards. Laughter that was interpreted as disbelief rather than amusement. After he shook his head, he responded to Jill. "They aren't just "those kids" to me, Jill," he stated, with air quotes. "They're Rockstar Rebels that I've gotten to know personally who have fought or are fighting a battle neither you or I will ever truly know how tough or painful it is."
Jill stepped forward. "I wasn't…"
"No!" he angrily pointed back at Jill. "Just listen. You need to hear this." She immediately complied and quickly backed off. "You saw and heard me cry online for Camden, but did you know why I cried?" Jill didn't say a word. Instead, she just shook her head. "He wasn't just another kid to me. He was a son to a mother and father who they watched painfully battle cancer until it went into remission. I found out from his doctor before his parents knew. So, we celebrated. You weren't there when Morgan and I spent the day with him days before Bash at The Bench. We took Camden and his parents for a day of whatever he wanted at Pacific Park. You should have seen him."
Chuck paused for a moment. He then reflected back on that moment with not only Camden, but with his parents as well. He recalled and shared with Jill how he contacted the powers that be at Pacific Park. A deal was worked out where Camden would be honored and dubbed King Camden of Pacific Park for the day. He shared how was given the royal treatment and had the golden ticket to ride any ride that he wanted as long as he was with an adult. The nerdy host of Nerdy Nerfherder and Fuzzball continued to share how he made sure he didn't eat anything before going on any of the rides to avoid throwing up. Unfortunately, Morgan regretted making that mistake after he ate some food cart churros. In any case, it was an awesome memory shared with Camden and his parents that will never be forgotten by him, or Morgan for that matter.
"The look of pure joy on his and his parent's faces. We gave them a whole day of fun away from the hospital not really knowing he was going to be taken away too soon from the Westside family. Taken away from his big brother," he shared. Chuck looked and sounded emotional expressing how he felt during his time with Camden. It nearly brought him to the brink of tears, but he composed himself.
"I didn't know," she softly responded.
"I'm always honored and privileged to, in some ways, give every Rockstar Rebel practically living in that children's hospital another chance at childhood even if it's just for a day," Chuck further shared. "To say I look and act different is understatement. They have made me a better man," He paused again before he spoke up and reiterated another point. "And so has Sarah. It's because of her," Chuck pointed directly towards the window with Sarah standing behind it. "I've been able to get back what you've taken from me."
Jill stood there befuddled after she heard the latter part of what Chuck said. "What the hell did I take from you?"
"My mojo!" he firmly stated. Chuck patted his chest in the area of his heart.
"Austin Powers? Seriously?"
As Chuck ranted on to Jill, the smile couldn't be wiped off Sarah's face after what she just heard and witnessed. For the beautiful blonde, it's considered the quintessential "in your face bitch" burn, which is also a clear message that he's moved on to someone much better. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Sarah heard what sounded like a squeal. The source of that squeal was Alex.
"What's up, babe?" inquired Morgan.
"It's from Zondra," she answered.
"What does she have to say?" Sarah wondered
Alex showed the following message to everybody instead of reading it out loud: Special project is a go. Will deliver on Friday. :)
"Same day as Bash At the Bench," Devon pointed out.
"What do those two have planned?" wondered Ellie.
After Ellie asked that, Alex received another text. This time it's from Carina. She read it out loud. "Make sure to have Jill there."
"How?" wondered Kathleen.
Emma shook her head concerning the impending drama and potential chaos that will ensue because of it. She noticed that someone has not been seen or heard from for quite some time. It worried her. "Has anyone seen Molly?"
Instantly, Devon made a beeline towards the kitchen and briefly disappeared into it. A few seconds later, he emerged from it. "I smell cooked popcorn but she's not in there."
"I have a bad feeling about this," Emma faintly uttered, under her breath.
XXX
"Look," stated Jill, shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm sorry, all right. For everything. Is it possible that we can be friends again? That's all I want."
Chuck was about to answer Jill when the two of them suddenly heard the sound of crunching. They turned to the source. It's Molly and she was walking towards them eating what looked to be a fresh bag of popped popcorn. The two of them stood bewildered and confused as the young girl finally reached them. She then planted herself in front of them still eating the freshly popped popcorn.
"Want some?" she offered. Molly lifted the bag of popcorn to Chuck and Jill.
"No thanks," Jill responded, shaking her head. She and Chuck stood there with amazed disbelief watching Molly stuff her mouth with popcorn.
Meanwhile inside Casa Bartowski, Emma expressed considerable confusion. "How on earth did Molly get out there without using the front door?"
The one person who knew the answer other than Ellie and Devon spoke up. "The Morgan door."
"What door?" questioned Kathleen.
"It's the window to get in and out of Chuck's former bedroom. I used it as my own door into the house," Alex answered, on behalf of her bearded boyfriend.
"I hated that door," Ellie stated. She shook her head thinking back on those moments and felt annoyed and agitated whenever Morgan made unannounced visits.
It's at that point, Devon chimed in. "I turned it into a gym," proudly shared Devon, with an expressive smile.
Everyone that gathered around the front door momentarily stared at Devon then turned their attention back to the outside courtyard.
"Mol," Chuck said, quirking his right brow. "Need anything?"
Molly shook her head. "Not really."
The 13-year-old continued sticking and crunching popcorn until she spoke up with her mouth full of it. Chuck and Jill couldn't understand anything she said. So, the nerdy business owner took the bag from Molly. After he did that, he locked eyes with her and uttered six words.
"Do you need something to drink?"
In response, Molly shook her head. Chuck turned to the Casa Woodcomb window and motioned with hand for a drink then pointed at Molly. Fortunately for the youngest Bartowski sibling, someone answered the call.
"Thanks, Morg," he called out, taking the bottle of water.
He handed over the bag of popped popcorn to Morgan who pops a few into his mouth. After Chuck twisted open the bottle, he handed it over to the 13-year-old young girl. All 3 of them watched as Molly started chugging the bottle of water. While she did, the nerd noticed Sarah's younger sister wink at him then suddenly started chugging the water faster. A questionable look was expressed on his face and he was about to say something when it happened
Molly spewed out the water that she was drinking. Unfortunately, what was spewed out of the teenager's mouth splashed all over Jill's face causing the dark-haired femme fatale to express a fairly high-pitched squeal. Chuck and Morgan were momentarily stunned at what happened, but at the same time, they found it hilarious. However, they wouldn't dare laugh like a couple of immature teenagers at her expense, but they believed those inside Casa Woodcomb were laughing their butts off, especially Sarah.
Speaking of Sarah, she and her mother emerged out of Casa Woodcomb with a towel in hand and headed straight for Jill. After they reached their location, Sarah briefly whispered in Chuck's ear. "Talk to Morgan. Special project."
That's all she said as she and her mother distracted Jill by toweling her off with help from her younger sister. While the Wexler women attempted to help dry off Jill, Molly profusely apologized to the woman she spewed out water on. Granted, it sounded considerably sarcastic and over the top, but that's Molly Walker for you. In any case, the distraction gave Chuck a moment to huddle up with Morgan.
"Talk to me, dude." he whispered.
"Special project is a go. Carina and Zondra texted Alex," Morgan answered.
"What else?" he whispered back.
"Invite Jill to be a part of Bash At The Bench."
"Are you sure?"
"That's what the text sent to Alex said. What do you think?"
"I think…"
Unfortunately, they're interrupted because they heard Jill continuing to flip out and angrily backed away from the Walker women. "Leave me alone! I said I'm fine!" she growled, wiping her face with the towel she grabbed from Emma.
"I was wrong," Molly faintly muttered, under her breath "She isn't the witch from the wizard of Oz"
Thankfully, nobody heard that except Chuck. Speaking of the nerd, he immediately stepped in to calm Jill down, but at the same time needed to invite her to Bash At The Bench. He needed a reasonable excuse to have her there than just to spring a surprise cooked up by the 3 devious versions of Charlie's Angels. After he briefly thought about it, he lifted both hands up and cautiously stepped forward.
"Jill, do you really want to be friends?"
"What?" barked Jill. She was too preoccupied with what just happened to her to focus on the question that Chuck asked.
Chuck repeated his question. "Do you want me and you to be friends again? You want a second chance, right?"
It took a second for the question to sink in for Jill. When it finally hit her, she expressed a faint and hopeful smile. "More than anything."
"It doesn't mean we're all good."
"I know that," nodded Jill.
A nod was given by Chuck. "Awesome. Here's the deal. Come to Bash At the Bench Friday," he firmly stated, with a matching nod. "And bring your checkbook." As he stood there, he knew the challenge he proposed for Jill was considered a big gamble. His inner circle knew it as well as they stood there and waited for Jill to either accept or deny the challenge. In his mind, he wondered if his big gamble would pay off or fail miserably.
XXX
NOTE: You requested it and so I gave you more of Molly Walker. She made her presence known in a hilariously entertaining way don't you think? Also, what did you think of Jill's comment about the Rockstar Rebe's being a charity case, which caused Chuck to immediately react. Things are certainly getting interesting knowing that the special project that Carina, Zondra, and Alex are working on is a go. A special project that will culminate at Bash At The Bench this Friday. Stay tuned for that Bartowski Brigade! As always, share your thoughts and leave a review because it helps motivate authors like me to pump out more chapters. Tip of the hat to NEVR for doing the beta. You rock dude!