Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don’t own Chuck

“She’s gonna need that hand back,” Jack said softly to Chuck, causing Chuck to jerk his hand back.

“Dad,” Sarah hissed.

“Sorry,” Chuck blurted out. So many things had assailed him in the handshake. The fact that Sarah Walker was right here in front of him AND she was Bryce’s ex-girlfriend.

See if she’s okay.

Those words had been playing through his mind. Some of the last words Bryce had ever said to him were, See if she’s okay. She was…physically. She seemed to be mentally, but two things, one, who was he to judge and understand if someone was, and two, what could you really know about a person within seconds of meeting them. That was like falling in love at first sight, which was nothing but a myth, a chemical reaction if you would, in your body, it was absolutely impossible…OH CRAP! His thoughts were spiraling out of control!

“Sorry,” he said again, shaking his head. “I work at the Nerd Herd at the Buy More,” he began but saw the confusion on his face, chuckled and grinned. “I fix nerdy things. TVs, computers, phones-”

“VCRs?” Sarah asked hopefully.

“DVRs,” Jack said giving her a flat look. The ammused look on Sarah’s face said she knew it wasn’t a VCR but she enjoyed ribbing her dad. Chuck filed that away. That was good. That seemed healthy. That seemed what a father and daughter would do in a healthy relationship. It wasn’t like he had one to compare it to since his father….OH CRAP! SPIRALING AGAIN!

“Yes,” Chuck said.

“Well, it’s not really a DVR per see,” Sarah said, looking straight at Chuck, but grinning. Chuck wasn’t sure what was going on, but he could see Jack’s face, and the amusement on it told Chuck she was about to mess with him. “She knows how to use the DVR on her app, but she got a new box thing called a Roku?” Chuck nodded. The remote doesn’t have a button that send her to HBO Max, I think she said.” Chuck nodded again. “That where the show is she wants to watch.”

“So basically she needs a shortcut to her ‘stories’,” Jack said, amused.

“Yes…if you call Heated Rivalries a ‘story’,” Sarah replied grinning.

“Uh, how old is Mrs. Lewis?” Chuck asked.

“Can’t be a day over eighty,” Sarah replied, grinning at him.

“I’m missing something,” Jack insisted.

“It’s a love story about two hockey players that face off on the ice,” Sarah explained.

Jack was silent for a second. “Are these professionals?” Jack asked. Sarah nodded, glee on her face. “I’m missing something. What professional league allows women to play with men?”“Who said anything about women?” Sarah asked.

“Oh?” Jack asked, amused. “Mrs. Lewis?”

“Women love that show,” Chuck told him. “So do a lot of men.”

“Good for her,” Jack said. He looked at Chuck. “Think you could help her Charlie?”“That’s what I was wondering,” Chuck admitted. “I don’t have my full kit here, but this ‘box thing’,” he said with air quotes.

“Too technical?” Sarah asked.

“No, just the right amount,” Chuck teased, shocked at how easy it was to talk to her. “Was it about this big?” He used his hands to show a small box.

“Yes!” Sarah said.

“Give me one second,” Chuck requested, and headed to his car. He dug in the back for a second. “Ah-ha!” he said holding up a small remote. He dove back into his car and then came back up again. “Ah-ha!” he said holding a sheet of something.

“Are those stickers?” Jack asked, squinting.

“You need glasses,” Sarah muttered.“Respect your elders,” Jack muttered back.

“Emphasis on elder,” Sarah fired back, grinning at him, as he shook his head smiling.

Bryce had done right getting them back together. Chuck could plainly see it. Now, the method he took was akin to swimming the ocean, crossing Europe by foot, swimming another ocean, and crossing the US by foot to get from Echo Park to the Azusa foothills…but he had done right getting them back together.

“Sarah, do you think she’d be okay me helping her?” Chuck asked.Sarah frowned for a second. “She’s a fiesty one,” Sarah admitted. “She might think she owes you something.”Chuck’s brain misfired. “Mrs. Lewis?” Jack asked.

Sarah made a face. “You don’t even want to know what she’s been saying about you,” Sarah muttered.

“Mrs. Lewis,” Jack said, in a tone of appreciation, while Sarah shook her head in disgust.

}o{

“Thank you,” Chuck said softly, about ten minutes later.

“For putting this sticker on the remote for you, or for not leaving you alone with Mrs. Lewis?” Sarah asked, concentrating on putting the sticker for HBO Max on the new remote for Mrs. Lewis perfectly.

“Both,” Chuck replied, making her chuckle. “I mean…she said I was cute enough to be in the show.” Sarah looked at him. “I’m not as good looking as those two.”“Do you watch Heated Rivalry?” Sarah asked, curious.

“It started out Ellie watched it, and I got drawn in,” Chuck admitted. “It’s a good story.” Sarah went back to the sticker.

“I can never thank you enough,” Mrs. Lewis said, handing Chuck the original remote as she returned to the room. “Are you sure you won’t get in trouble?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” Chuck assured her. “I’ll just turn this in, and we’ll get it repurposed. I’ve got your signature on the sheet and I’ll just fudge the date of the service.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Lewis said. “I wasn’t about to tell my son my problems, not after he’s having to pay extra for me to watch my shows.” Chuck gave her a confused look. “He buys the maximum plan, that’s two hundred and thirty bucks a year, but then, because I don’t live in his house, they charge me an extra eight dollars a month.”

Sarah looked at Chuck, and saw him thinking. “That’s robbery.”

“Yeah,” Chuck agreed. “You know, I’ve heard of some people doing things to get around this.” The two women looked at him, as Chuck was looking at the form he had Mrs. Lewis sign, making some notations. “Some guy told me that what he did was make a gmail account that was only for his HBO Max account. He then gave the email address and password to everyone that used the app. That way, when they logged into the service, and it said ‘where are you?’ you hit, traveling, and it sends you a code to the email address, that everyone is able to access.” Chuck was silent for a moment. “Some of the things these big companies do are very unethical, and who am I to judge them.” He looked up at Mrs. Lewis who was typing on her phone. “What are you doing?”

“Texting my son,” Mrs. Lewis said. Sarah laughed out loud.

}o{

Forty-five minutes later, they were back at the farm, Chuck was cutting the avocados off the trees, the way Sarah had shown him so as not to damage the fruit or the trees.

“How’d it go with Mrs. Lewis?” Jack asked, as Sarah came out of the supply shed, with boxes adorned with the farm’s logo.

“Great,” Sarah admitted. “He’s great with people, and he gave her a work-around for her son not to have to pay extra for her to watch TV.”

“Charlie?” Jack replied. “Didn’t see him as the type.”

“He’s about people, Dad,” Sarah said. “At least, that’s what I think after spending a little bit of time with him.”

“I’m not doubting your read on him,” Jack told her. “I’m just…” he shook his head.

“He’s about righting wrongs,” Sarah told Jack.

“You know what, that fits him,” Jack said, nodding. He glanced down at the boxes. “So, giving him the good boxes, huh?”

“Look, we’re producing nothing right now, we’ve paid for them, and who knows, maybe one of Ellie’s doctor friends will see them,” Sarah told him. Jack grinned. “Okay, so maybe he talks…a lot…” Jack laughed. “His sister, is Ellie, a neurosurgeon.”

“Not a bad idea, Darlin’,” Jack admitted. He looked over at Chuck working. “He’s not taking all of them.”

“Said he didn’t need them all,” Ellie told him. “I told him to give them to other people, and he said most of the people he knew didn’t appreciate fresh avocados.”

“I see,” Jack replied.

“What?” Sarah asked. Jack gave her a confused look. “Don’t give me that innocent, confused look, I have known you for a loooong time.”

“Don’t know that the long was necessary,” Jack muttered, making Sarah chuckle. “I just find him…different. In a good way. In a way I probably would have taken advantage of in another life.”“Don’t,” Sarah said, pointing her finger at her dad. “You’re past all of that, and he’s a good guy.”

“I see,” Jack said, unable to keep the grin off of his face.

“No,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “I don’t need to date anyone.”

“Who said anything about dating?” Jack asked as he took the flat stare she gave him. “I didn’t.”

“Dad,” she said softly, but the way she said it screamed at him. He held his hands up.“Look, he’s a nice guy, a different kind of guy, and a good guy,” Jack said. “That’s all I’m saying. I like him, and it’s nice….being able to see someone good and not think about how to rip them off.”

“Okay,” Sarah said. “But that is all it had better be.”

“I hear you,” Jack told her. Sarah nodded, grabbed the boxes and headed toward Chuck. “But have you heard you?” he asked softly, grinning.

}o{

Chuck came home with three boxes of avocados. He insisted it was too many, Sarah insisted he take them, since he had done all the work. His sister only wanted about a quarter of one box, since they would go bad quickly. She said she could take the rest to the hospital, but Chuck found himself saying he would take care of the rest.

That night, found him in front of a computer, watching videos about how to make building repairs. How to install electrical outlets, run wiring, and how to hang lights. “Might be a bit above my ability,” he muttered to himself. He was making a note to contact someone he had helped with a computer problem that was an electrician.

He found himself watching a plumbing video, and was pretty sure he could do that work. He sat back in his chair and thought about what Bryce had said.

See if she’s okay.

She was. Her and her father were doing well in their relationship. They both seemed happy. He had done what his friend had asked. He had filled Bryce’s dying wish. Chuck stood up. He wasn’t an electrician, a plumber, and he damn sure wasn’t a farmer.

See if she’s okay.

She was okay…the farm her and her father were trying to run…

He went to get ready for bed, crawled in, and shut his eyes. Tomorrow he would get rid of the avocados, and everything he was supposed to do for Bryce would be done. He shut his eyes and saw her smile. He thought of how his hand felt when she shook it. He saw her giggle at his joke and push a strand of hair behind her ear.

He thought the night would take forever, and passed in an instant, all at the same time. He opened his eyes to see the sun peaking through the window. It was stupid early. The only people up at this time were… “The chickens,” Chuck said softly. What in the hell was he doing? He had the morning off. He was going to have to work the rest of the weekend in the Buy More. He should go back to bed.

He found himself dressed, and carrying the boxes of avocados back out to his car. He got in, and drove, as if on autopilot. He had been to the Farmers Market Jack had told him about before. He found himself parking, getting out of the car, and walking toward the entrance with the boxes.

“Oh my gosh,” a man about his age said. “You’re actually here.” Chuck looked around, wondering who he was talking to. “You guys are actually here. For YEARS I have been setting up your booth. When the name changed I thought, finally, they’re coming.”

“Are you talking to me?” Chuck asked, confused.

“You are with Just Out of Reach Farm, right?” the man asked, pointing toward the box.

“I am…kinda,” Chuck replied.

“Great!” the man said, leading Chuck toward a booth. “Now, Jack said over the phone that if we would create the Venmo account for him and link it to the bank account number he gave me, you would link it to an email address.”

“He did, did he?” Chuck said, putting down the boxes. The man sighed. “I can do that.”

“Don’t forget that you have to access it as well,” the man reminded him.

“Okay,” Chuck said, pulling out his phone and creating a gmail account. “It’s getting around the per person fee on the HBO Max app all over again,” he muttered to himself.

“So, how it works is real simple,” the young man told Chuck. “You just put in what the price of your avocados are, they put in how many, scan the code, pay you, we take our cut and Monday morning the money goes to your bank.”

“Any idea how much avocados are going for these days?” Chuck asked. The man gave him a look. “I usually just work on the farm, don’t do a lot of selling.” The man sighed, took the tablet, and typed something in.

“I just put in how much the other vendors sale theirs for,” the man told Chuck.

“Perfect,” Chuck told him. “Thank you, I’m Chuck.”

“Oh, Peter,” the man said, taking Chuck’s hand and shaking it. “And you don’t understand, this farm, it saved this market back in the day, and we are all so glad you’re a part of our little community.” He looked at the amount of avocados Chuck brought. “You won’t be here long.”

“Really?” Chuck asked. The guy grinned, nodded, and headed off. “Yeah, Jack would have scammed the shit out of that dude.” Someone walked up to buy an avocado and he greeted the customer.

}o{

It had taken an hour and a half to sell the avocados, and while it wasn’t a ton of money, Chuck thought it was a significant amount to go toward fixing the farm. Well, the building that would hold the workers. He had seen multiple other buildings that probably needed repairs, but hadn’t had a chance to look them over.

He was sitting at the Nerd Herd desk, contemplating what to do, when he found the phone receiver in his hand, and he had already begun dialing the number.

“Randy, Chuck Bartowski,” he said into the phone. “Look, I know you’re super busy, but there’s this farm that’s trying to fix some of their buildings, and I was wondering if you would do me a favor and give them an estimate of how much it would cost for you to rewire the place for them.” Chuck listened for a second. “No, not asking for a discount, just give them an honest estimate so they can figure out what they can afford.” He listened and grinned. “Great. Thank you.”

He hung up, a smile on his face. He felt himself being stared at, and turned. There stood his bearded friend.

“You were off, all day Friday and didn’t work this morning,” Morgan began.

“That’s right,” Chuck replied.

“I never saw you sign on any of your systems,” Morgan continued.“You know that’s a little creepy, right?”

“Is it when you care?” Morgan asked. Chuck didn’t know how to respond to that. “You’re…you’re changing…back into him.”

“Morgan, I’ve always been me,” Chuck protested.

“No,” Morgan disagreed. “I see it, Anna sees it, Jeff sees it.” Chuck tilted his head and gave him a look. “Okay, Jeff doesn’t see it, but to be fair I don’t think Jeff sees anything in this dimension either.”

“That’s fair,” Chuck agreed.

“Something is going on,” Morgan said. He held up his hand before Chuck could speak. “And it’s a good thing.” Morgan turned and walked away.

Chuck sat there a second, not sure what to do with all of that. He had done what he was supposed to. He had checked on Sarah…Bryce’s girlfriend. He had sold the leftover avocados. He had found them a trusted electrician. Anything more…he’d be overstepping, and, he would be getting involved. And that could get him hurt. That could be dangerous. Sarah and her dad…they weren’t normal. He had been a conman. He was going to run a halfway house. Chuck wasn’t equipped for that. He wasn’t.He would work his shift today, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. He’d drive out to the farm Wednesday, give them their email account, and then be done with everything. He had filled Bryce’s wish. Bryce didn’t ask him to fix everything wrong with them. Chuck wished them well, but…this wasn’t something Chuck knew how to help with…

Yes, he had watched YouTube videos but…him…build walls, and farm stuff…that wasn’t him. Besides, why would they even want his help?

“Wednesday, I’m done,” he said. He didn’t like the way that made him feel, but…it was what was best. He submitted the paperwork for the work he did yesterday on Mrs. Lewis’s RokuHe was going to finish up with Sarah and Jack on Wednesday.

He was sure of it.

The problem was, he didn’t know that Monday morning, Jack got a notification that money had been added to his bank account from the Farmer’s Marker. He didn’t know how Jack had watched Chuck and Sarah.

Even if Chuck had known, he probably couldn’t have factored that into his decision.

No one really knew how to factor in Jack.

A/N: Look, he’s a hell of a dancer….