It's a Wonderful Cover Life #4

Hi folks,

As promised – your Wednesday update.  Before we get there, I would like to say a few thank you’s to everyone who has tweeted me, left comments on the blog and sent PM’s.  It’s a fact – and I’m sure it can be scientifically proven if someone out there is so inclined – that this show has the best fans ever. 

Also a big thank you to the CIA for promoting the NSA.  Now there’s something I bet you thought you’d never hear.  I am of course talking about Frea and her minions over at Castle Inanity who keeps you in the know.  Please check out their blog and support the wonderful cause they’re promoting – you can read all about it in yesterday’s post on CI.  Now the technical savvy thing to do would be to insert a link here to take you straight to the page I’m referring to.  I don’t know how to do that, so you’re going to have to take the long route and click on it in your Favorite’s folder.  Look on the bright side though, you’ll a burn a couple of calories in the process.          

It’s not news that today is a truly sad day and you know why, so to the cast and crew of Chuck, you put the awe in awesome and you will be sorely missed.  Best of luck for what lies ahead.  May Bonita find a reason to launch a rocket again, may Yvonne have a long, prosperous and award-winning career, and preferably not be cast opposite Brandon Routh in anything, ever, and may Michael Kawczynski land a role with actual dialogue.

On that sad note, I’m going to leave you to read this while I go finish up my mission strategy for Operation Keep the Bride Calm.  See you Sunday.

9.  Can’t buy me, love 

“Wait, what?”  Chuck was sure he’d heard wrong, but aside from looking slightly uncomfortable, Sarah seemed to be deadly serious.  His palms started to sweat.  “You want to pay me twenty thousand dollars to marry you?”

“That’s not what I meant,” she spoke slowly, weighing every word.  “I need someone to pretend to be my husband.” 

“Oh.”  He blew out a deep breath.  “Well, that’s a relief.”  His eyes traveled to the front gate and then snapped back to hers.  “Hang on.  You want to pay me to pretend to be your husband?”

“Yeah,” Sarah answered breathily, grateful that they were finally on the same page.  “Like I said, it will be for two or three days, you’ll earn twenty thousand dollars and you get time off from the Buy More.”

Chuck responded with a blank stare.

“So?” she prodded when the silence became uncomfortable, “will you do it?” 

Chuck finally blinked.  “Why do you need a husband?  Pretend husband,” he quickly amended.  “Is your mother in town?”

It was meant as a joke, but the question made Sarah jolt.  “It’s part of a business deal,” she replied a little too curtly.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”  He trailed off when Sarah looked away.  Ellie might call him clueless sometimes, but he wasn’t too stupid to realize when he was poking a proverbial tiger.  He decided to focus on Sarah’s offer instead.  He was not the type to lie, cheat or steal, but the amount made his head spin.  All his financial woes could be over by the end of the week and that prospect was very tempting.    

He cleared his throat.  “What would you want me to do?” he stalled.

Sarah shrugged.  “I’ve never done this before, but I guess you move in, wear a ring and do…husband stuff when the buyer is around.”    

“Okay, well that sounds easy enough,” he replied before he could talk himself out of it.  He kept his tone serious so Sarah wouldn’t think he was mocking her.  Like her, he had no idea what husband duties entailed, aside from the very obvious which he assumed the buyer was not going to be around for. He would probably have to ask Captain Awesome for some tips.

Sarah turned back to him and smiled.  “Great.  I’ll send a car for you and your daughter on Wednesday morning and then we can…”

“Wait,” Chuck stopped her.  “You didn’t say anything about Maggie being involved.”  He might have been willing to bend his own morals, but there was no amount of money in the world that could persuade him to get his daughter involved in anything sinister.  Then something else occurred to him.  “How do you even know about her?”

“Your personnel file,” Sarah lied.  Admitting the truth would have been embarrassing and she’d hopefully reached her quota for the night.  “I suppose I should have been more specific,” she pushed on, “I need a husband and a child.  Is that a problem?”

He bit back his instinctive response and thought it over for a moment before he asked “Would my job be in jeopardy if I say no.”

“Of course not,” she replied incredulously.  “Are you saying no?”

“Yes.  I mean, yes I’m saying no.”  He clasped his hands between his knees and stared down at them.  “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m trying to raise an honest, responsible citizen and subjecting her to…to what you’re suggesting would be counterproductive.”  He shot her a sideways glance.  “I hope you understand.”

“I do.”  She pushed down a sudden flare of disappointment, grabbed her purse strap tightly and rose.  “Thanks for your time,” she said lightly and turned.  She made it halfway across the courtyard when he called her back.

“Sarah, wait.” 

She turned, raising an expectant eyebrow.

Chuck shuffled his feet, wondering what on earth had possessed him to do that.  Then he stuffed his hands into his pockets and raised one shoulder.  “Do you want to come in for a drink?  I’ve been a terrible host.”

His lopsided smile almost convinced her, but she shook her head instead.  “Thank you, but it’s getting late and I still have a lot to do.”  Like interviewing another round of out of work actors who were out of work for a reason, she added in her mind.

“Of course,” Chuck replied, having come to the same conclusion.  He knew better than to point it out.  “Maybe some other time.”

“Maybe,” she echoed, knowing that he was just being polite.  “Good night, Chuck.”

He gave her a small wave.  “Good night, Sarah.” 

---0---

10.  Sister knows best

“Are you holding out on us, Chuckster?” Devon asked with a smirk when Chuck reentered the living room.

“What do you mean?”  Chuck tried to keep a straight face.  He liked his soon-to-be brother-in-law, but he still felt intimidated around the rock-climbing, river-rafting heart surgeon and he was pretty certain that if Awesome were to find out what had just gone down, Chuck would never hear the end of it. 

“I’m talking about your hot lady friend, bro.  You two looked pretty intense out there.”

Next to him Ellie lowered the magazine she’d been reading.  “Hot, Devon?  Really?”

“Just an observation, babe.”  He gave her a shoulder bump.  “C’mon, you’ve seen her.”

Chuck’s eyes widened.  “You guys were spying on us?”  For a second he regretted turning Sarah down.  If he had his own place he’d have more privacy.

“We just walked by the window,” Ellie replied calmly.  She turned her attention back to her magazine and just when Chuck thought he came away unscathed, she asked “So who was she?”

“A colleague from work,” he grabbed the first thing that came to mind.  “She’s new.”         

“They sure make nerds pretty these days.”  Devon held a hand up to Chuck.  “Up top, bro.”  Without looking up from her page, Ellie grabbed his arm and pulled it back down.  “Well you’re no fun,” he remarked drily.  With a yawn he gave her a peck on the cheek and pushed up from the couch.  “I’m beat.  Don’t stay up too late, guys.  It’s a school night.”  He gave Chuck not so playful slap on the back.  “And some of us have ladies to impress in the morning.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Ellie apologized once Devon was out of earshot.

Chuck waived her off.  “Don’t worry about it.  It adds to his charm,” he teased.

Ellie chuckled as she dropped her magazine on the coffee table and patted the seat next to her.  Chuck tensed.  His sister might look all innocent, but the Spanish Inquisition had nothing on her.  “Humor me,” she said when he remained standing. 

Chuck obliged, but not before rolling his eyes at her, which was a waste of energy as Ellie had ignored that gesture since he’d turned twelve.  Ellie propped her elbow up on the back of the couch and with her head resting on her knuckles she fixed Chuck with a look that made him want to squirm.

“Spill it.”

Chuck wasn’t sure if it was because Mondays in general wore him out or the realization that he was human enough to feel nauseated by the fact that he’d turn down a substantial amount of money, but it didn’t take much convincing for him to tell Ellie about Sarah’s proposition.

At first it didn’t look like she believed him and then she simply said “Wow.”

“Wow I’m an idiot for turning down twenty thousand dollars or wow you’re proud of me for standing up for my principles?” Chuck asked.    

“I am proud of you for sticking to your principles,” Ellie confirmed, “but you are an idiot for turning down the money.”

“Gee, thanks, sis,” Chuck remarked wryly, “that really helps.”

“I’m not saying you should sell out, Chuck,” Ellie explained patiently, “but look at the bigger picture.  That money will enable you to get your own place, start your business and have a nest egg to fall back on when times get tough.  More importantly, you’ll get to spend more time with Maggie.  Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“And in the process I teach my daughter the art of lying,” Chuck countered.  “Which, by the way, is not something I even excel at.”

Ellie sighed.  “Chuck, Maggie is still young.  I doubt this will scar her for life.  Tell her it’s a game.  Besides, by next week this time, she’d probably have forgotten it even happened.  How many memories do you have from when you were four?”

“You Rubik’s cubed me,” Chuck challenged.

“You were seven,” Ellie deadpanned.

“You yelled at me for breaking mom’s necklace,” he tried again.

“You were five and a half.”

Chuck played his trump card.  “If you had introduced me to some random woman and told me to call her mom, I would not have forgotten that.”

Ellie grimaced.  “Yeah, probably not.”

They sat in silence for a while, each with their own thoughts.  They hadn’t discussed their parental situation in quite some time and had even gone so far as to call off Mother’s day after Maggie’s arrival, deciding that it had been a sign to stop living in the past, but deep down Chuck knew that their parents leaving like they did was one scar that would never completely heal.

“You know what?” Ellie eventually spoke, “Maggie doesn’t have to call Sarah ‘mom’.”

“I don’t see a way around it.”  Chuck was still skeptical even though he knew Ellie adored her niece and would never do anything to hurt her. 

“Well, I do, and trust me, it will work,” she declared.  “So the only question is, do you want to quit your job at the Buy More before the New Year or not?”