It's a Wonderful Cover Life #2

As promised, here’s the next update.  What I’ve forgotten to mention in the previous post is that there’s no CIA, NSA or Intersect in this tale, but you’ve probably noticed.  It’s actually loosely based on one of my favorite Christmas movies, Random Hearts, but these characters have taken over and made it their own.  There will also be various references to other movies, shows and even some fan fiction.  As a matter of fact, there’s a major reference to one of the last mentioned in scene four.  I dare you to spot it.  And a little trivia – one of these characters are named after my car.

More after the jump.

4.  The Canindian Stare

Sarah Walker.  Chuck rolled the name around in his head, a goofy smile on his face.  Then it dropped and he let out a resigned sigh.  He didn’t stand a chance with a woman like her.  She was probably beating men of with a light saber, in his head anyway, or having the mean redhead do it for her.  Besides she wouldn’t look twice at him.  Just great, he thought, the first time since Jill that he actually noticed a woman and he had better odds beating the Large Mart crew going solo against them in Call of Duty.

It’s probably for the best, Chuck decided, his life was complicated enough.

“Oh, this is just perfect,” Lester mumbled next to him.  He dropped a box of invoices to be logged on the desk and Chuck managed to yank his elbow away just in time to avoid it being crushed.

“Hey, watch out,” Chuck warned.

Lester turned to him, fuming.  “Watch out?”  His voice raised an octave.  “Watch out?  That’s all I’m good for, isn’t it?  I have to watch Jefferson drool all over his “office” floor while the store is being taken over by supermodels.  Supermodels, Charles.  Did it ever occur to you that I’d rather be watching that?”

“They’re businesswomen, Lester,” he responded with newfound patience.    

“Who look like supermodels,” Lester pointed out.  Then his eyes narrowed in contemplation.   

Chuck recognized the look.  That look had led to the forming of Jeffster!  And a weekend of scrubbing down every inch of the break room after a homemade beer concoction had exploded.  And the careful reconstruction of Norman with crazy glue when the shark fishing expedition had gone south.  Nothing good ever came from the Canindian Stare, as Morgan had dubbed it.  Chuck made a mental note to not let it slip that Sarah and her colleague were still in the store.  If the Buy More stalker twins could figure out how to use their library cards for evil, interrupting a meeting wouldn’t be beneath them.

Lester folded his arm across his chest, propped his elbow up in his hand and tapped a finger on his chin.  “You know, this could be the best of both worlds.”

“What do you mean?” Chuck asked cautiously.

Without answering Lester turned full circle, slowly, surveying the store.  When he faced Chuck again, he dropped his hands onto the counter and lowered himself to meet Chuck’s gaze.  “This is the ideal opportunity to get rid of one Harold Tobias Tang,” he whispered.

Chuck’s eyebrow’s shot up.  He knew he was going to regret it, but asked anyway.  “How?”

“Simple, Charles, simple.  I am going to sleep my way to middle management.”

Chuck blinked in surprise.  “Say what now?”

Lester gave him a gleeful look.  “I am going to charm one of those ladies out of her panties and convince her to give me that vest.”  He lifted a hand and crooked his fingers into a small wave.  “Say buh-bye, Harry.”

Chuck wasn’t sure if he should laugh or gag.  Sure, he despised Harry Tang as much as the next Buymorian, but he preferred the devil he knew, and contrary to popular belief, he didn’t hold it against Harry for getting the job over him.  He hadn’t made it to the interview due to circumstances beyond his control.

“So which one do you think I should go for?”  Lester continued.  “Skip tells me I have a blonde and a redhead to work with.  I prefer brunettes myself, but in this case I’m willing to make an exception.”

And gag it is, Chuck decided.  Just the thought of Lester making a move was nauseating, not to mention witnessing it.  “You know what, Lester,” he finally found his voice, “I think you should stay true to yourself.  Hold out for that special one.  Work isn’t everything.”

Lester eyed him suspiciously.  “Oh, I see how it is.  You had the same idea, didn’t you?  Afraid of a little competition, Charles?”  Before Chuck had a chance to protest, Lester was practically on top of him.  “So which one have you decided on?”

Chuck kicked back in an effort to roll his desk chair as far away from his fellow Nerd Herder as he could to escape the overwhelming body odor, but its back hit the counter behind him far too soon.  “The redhead,” he answered in desperation and crossed his fingers in the hope that Lester would take the bait.  He wasn’t disappointed.

Lester tilted his head to the side, studying Chuck from head to toe.  “The redhead then,” he confirmed the challenge.  “Bring it, Bartowski.”

---0---

5.  Good intentions and complications

Chuck grumbled under his breath as he logged in another of Lester’s invoices.  He didn’t know why he was doing the redhead a favor by keeping Lester out of her way, sending him on the outcall that came in ten minutes before.  From what he’d seen so far, she wasn’t even all that nice.  Perhaps, he thought, he was doing his colleague a favor.  Either way, he was stuck doing Lester’s busy work.

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” he murmured to himself as he snuck another peek at the double green doors.  He entertained the idea of asking Sarah on a date.  The worst that could happen was that she’d say no.  No harm, no foul.  The doors opened and his heart stopped, but it was only Jeff and by the looks of it, he’d just woken up from his nap.  Then again with Jeff it was hard to tell.  The only time the perpetually hung-over nerd showed any sign of being remotely interested in anything that didn’t contain an alcohol level was when he –

“Oh, crap,” Chuck spoke to himself again.  He snapped his eyes back to the computer screen.  He hadn’t even thought about that.  What if he asked Sarah out and she filed a harassment complaint?  Could she even do that?  He squinted, trying to remember what Jenkins from HQ had preached the last time he presented the compulsory annual seminar, but he came up empty.   

His shoulders slumped as he leant back in the chair.  Just as well, he thought, he didn’t need any more complications.     

And as if on the cue, the universe concurred.

“Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy!” 

Chuck jumped up at the sound of his daughter’s voice and rounded the desk.  The pint sized little girl ran straight towards him, her fingers clutching the shoulder straps of her backpack.  He hunched down to catch her and only then did he notice the tears running down her cheeks.

“What’s wrong, Boo?” he asked gently, but she just freed her fingers and wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing against his shoulder.  He rubbed soothing circles across her back and she buried deeper into him.        

Ellie, who’d been hot on her heels, mainly thanks to the trainers she wore with her scrubs, stopped short of them.  Chuck lifted a questioning gaze to his sister and she raised her hands in defeat.

“She wouldn’t tell me either.”  She sighed tiredly.  “I’m sorry to bug you at work, Chuck, but she’s been crying since I picked her up from ballet class.  I’ve tried everything.”

Like him, she hated to see Maggie upset, though they knew from experience that she still had a pretty short attention span, and that whatever the incident was, it would soon be forgotten.  He sometimes wished adults were the same way.

“It’s okay, sis,” Chuck responded and got to his feet with his daughter in his arms.  He glanced at his watch.  “My shift ends soon, so she can stay here with me.”

“Are you sure?”  He could read her well enough to know she felt partly relieved and partly guilty.

“Yeah,” Chuck assured her.  “Go home, take a nice long bath and we’ll see you in a bit.”

Ellie didn’t have to be told twice.  She’d just come off a fourteen hour shift and he knew dealing with a crying four year old was no picnic.  She leaned in to give Maggie a kiss on the cheek. 

“Be a good girl for Daddy, okay?”  The little head nodded, not leaving the safety of her father’s neck. 

After Ellie had gone, Chuck made his way to the break room with his daughter still clinging to him.  “Do you want some chocolate milk?” he asked.  “It always makes me feel better when I’ve had a bad day.”  Again Maggie only responded with a nod.