Right Place At The Right Time

Right Place At The Right Time
A/N: In this chapter, we learn a little more about Chuck and what’s hidden beneath the surface. Two new characters make their first appearance, and more information is revealed about the mysterious man behind the camera.
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. Your positive feedback keeps inspiring me to create more, and I truly appreciate every comment. As always, your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas are welcome. They often help shape and strengthen the chapters still to come.
I don’t own Chuck, but I think you already knew that.
Chapter 7
The Chuck
Lou sat alone at a corner table, doing her best to keep the growing stack of paperwork organized. Business had been thriving, and while that was exactly what she had hoped for, success came with endless administrative work. Daily reports, weekly inventory, monthly accounts, and year end bookkeeping all seemed to pile up faster than she could finish them. She never trusted anyone else with those responsibilities. The people who worked for her handled the day to day operations well enough, but the financial side of the business was something she insisted on managing herself. The deli had become steadily more successful, and she had already begun making plans to open a second location within the next few months.
There simply wasn’t much room in her life for a relationship. The business consumed ten to twelve hours of her day, seven days a week, and most evenings she was too exhausted to think about anything beyond getting a few hours of sleep before starting all over again. Looking back, she was grateful she had ended things with Robert. The more she reflected on it, the more she realized she had a habit of attracting men with questionable pasts, or questionable presents. It was a pattern she desperately wanted to break.
Her thoughts drifted back a little more than a year to the first time she had met Chuck Bartowski. She had tried so hard to get his attention back then because, in her eyes, he had been everything she could ever want in a boyfriend. She still remembered walking into the Buy More carrying the computer that had completely defeated her. Fixing something that complicated had been far beyond her abilities. Chuck had looked up from the Nerd Herd counter, smiled that warm, reassuring smile of his, and said, “Hi. That computer looks almost as big as you do. Here, let me help you.” Even now, remembering those simple words brought a smile to her face.
He hurried around the counter, gently took the computer from her hands, and set it on the counter. “Let’s see what we’ve got here,” he said, looking it over with genuine curiosity. “Looks like an older POS system.”
Lou nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. The warranty expired a while ago, so here I am. Do you think you could take a look at it?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Chuck replied without hesitation. “Why don’t you leave it here with me? I’ll go through it this afternoon and give you a call afterward. I’ll let you know what’s wrong with it, whether I can fix it, or maybe it’ll already be fixed by then. What do you think?”
Lou laughed softly. “You think it could really be that easy?”
Chuck grinned. “You never know until you dig into it, and honestly, it looks like it’s going to be a fun project. I like a challenge.” He tapped the name tag on his shirt. “I’m Chuck, by the way. Nerd Herd supervisor.”
“I noticed,” she replied with a smile. “I’m Lou. I own the deli across the parking lot.”
“Yeah, I know who you are,” Chuck said. “I’ve seen you over there lots of times. Sometimes I think you actually live in that place.”
Lou chuckled. “It certainly feels like it sometimes.”
“Well, I’m guessing not having your POS system is slowing business down a little, so I’d better get started.”
“Thank you, Chuck. That’s really nice of you.”
“No problem at all,” he said warmly. “Just leave me your phone number, and I’ll give you a call as soon as I know something.”
“Okay,” Lou replied. “That sounds great.”
Lou reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out one of her business cards. She held it out to Chuck, but just before he took it, she smiled and pulled it back. “Hang on a second. Let me put my cell number on there too.” She quickly scribbled the number on the back before handing it over again.
As Chuck accepted the card, Lou found herself looking into his warm brown eyes, and for a brief moment she couldn’t look away. He was incredibly tall, easily a foot taller than she was, yet somehow he never made her feel small. Instead of towering over her, he had a way of making it seem as though they were standing on equal ground.
Chuck lightly tapped the business card against the palm of his hand and smiled. “All right. I’ll give you a call.”
“Thank you, Chuck,” Lou replied. “I’ll be waiting for your call.”
The thought was interrupted by a voice calling from the kitchen.
“Hey, Lou! When do we have another shipment of meat coming in? We’re running short. I think we’ve got enough to get us through the week,” Carlos, her kitchen manager, called out.
Although Lou handled all of the ordering, Carlos was excellent at keeping track of inventory and making sure nothing slipped through the cracks. They worked well together, each watching the other’s back to keep the deli running smoothly.
“I believe the order’s coming in later this afternoon,” Lou answered.
Carlos stepped into the doorway and looked at her. “Are you still getting it from that greaseball ex-boyfriend of yours? Do you need any help? I don’t want you getting into any kind of trouble, Lou.”
“Your guy’s kind of a douche bag.”
Lou rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Yeah, douche bag or not, he still gets the best imported meats from Europe.”
Carlos let out a quiet laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m just making sure you’re keeping yourself out of trouble, Lou.”
“You’re the best, Carlos. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He smiled modestly. “I’m just doing my job, Lou. You gave me a second chance, so I’ll work hard for you. I’ll make sure everything runs smoothly around here.”
“You’re a godsend, Carlos.”
“Thanks, boss.”
Lou returned to her paperwork, smiling to herself as she thought about her employees. She depended on every one of them, and she knew they cared about the deli almost as much as she did. It was one of the reasons the business had grown so steadily over the past few years.
She was just putting away the last of the invoices when the bell above the front door chimed. Looking up, her expression immediately fell. Of all the people she wanted to see, he was at the very bottom of the list.
Her ex-boyfriend.
He strolled into the deli as though he owned the place, casually glancing around before spotting her in the back. As he made his way toward her, his fingers brushed across tables and chairs as if everything belonged to him.
“Stavros,” Lou said flatly. “What are you doing here?”
He flashed a smug smile. “Just came to see how my little lady’s doing.”
“Well, your little lady isn’t here, so there’s no reason for you to be here. I’m already coming by later this afternoon to pick up my shipment.”
Stavros leaned against the counter as though settling in. “Yeah, about that. Maybe we could go together, and afterward we could do something.”
Lou folded her arms across her chest. “Stavros, I’ll be there this afternoon. Now, what do you want?”
“There really isn’t any reason for you to drive all the way out here just to tell me you want to pick up a shipment of meat together.”
Stavros shrugged. “Actually, my dad sent me.”
Lou’s expression tightened. “Oh?”
“You know our place up on the hill? It was broken into a few days ago. Some little bastards helped themselves to a bunch of things from the house. Worse than that, they stole some information from my father, and he wants it back.”
Lou folded her arms. “Well, I don’t know how I can help you with that.”
Stavros leaned a little closer. “Well, you remember that little man you were seeing a couple of weeks ago. Robert, I think you called him.”
“Yeah. I haven’t seen him in over a week.”
“I’d be surprised if you ever see him again,” Stavros replied calmly. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure he and a few of his friends decided to invite themselves into my father’s house without an invitation and walked away with a few things that didn’t belong to them.”
Lou remained silent, letting him continue.
“The person I’m really interested in talking to is the girl who was with them. You know who I’m talking about. Young, blonde, around seventeen or eighteen.”
Lou nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know who you mean.”
“You know where I can find her? Do you know her name?”
Lou shook her head. “No. I think she was staying with Robert and the others over at his place.”
“Right. Well, I guess she’s moved out by now.” Stavros studied her face carefully. “I was just wondering if maybe you knew where she’d gone.”
“I’m sorry,” Lou answered without hesitation. “I don’t. And I don’t even remember her name.”
“I’m not really sure what this is all about,” Lou said, her tone becoming more impatient. “But I’m running a business here, and I honestly don’t have time for this.”
“We’re almost done,” Stavros replied. “Can I show you a picture?”
Lou sighed. “Okay, let’s make this quick.”
Stavros reached into his jacket and pulled out several photographs. He spread them across the counter before pointing to one. “This is the girl I’m looking for.”
Lou looked down and immediately recognized Sarah.
“I think she’s been hanging around with this tall, lanky guy here.” He tapped another photograph. “Chuck. You know him?”
“Oh yeah,” Lou answered. “I’ve known Chuck for a couple of years now.”
“You know where I can find him, do you know his last name? I just need to ask him if he knows where this girl is.”
“I haven’t seen him for a little while,” Lou replied honestly. “He comes in every so often for a sandwich. I do know his buddy Morgan works over at the Buy More. But no, I don’t know his last name”
“Morgan,” Stavros repeated thoughtfully directing his view towards the Buy More. “All right. Anything else you know? Maybe where Chuck lives?”
Lou narrowed her eyes. “You’re not thinking about hurting Chuck or anything, are you? He’s a really nice guy.”
Stavros held up his hands. “Nothing like that, Lou. Come on, it’s me.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “Uh huh. Like I said, he stops by for a sandwich every now and then, but I don’t know where he lives.”
“All right,” Stavros said with a smile. “Maybe I’ll see you this afternoon. Around four o’clock. Same place, same shipment.”
“Thanks so much, Stavros,” Lou replied, making it clear she wanted the conversation over. “I’ll be there at four.”
As he turned to leave, Stavros reached out, slipped a hand around her waist, and leaned in to kiss her. Lou immediately planted both hands against his chest and shoved him back.
“No, Don’t,” she said firmly. “I don’t think so. We’re done. Don’t make this any more awkward than it already is. I’ll see you at four. Right now I’ve got to get back to work.”
Stavros accepted the rejection without complaint. He smiled, flashed a playful two finger pistol gesture with one hand, backed out of the deli, and disappeared through the front door.
The moment he was gone, Carlos stepped out of the kitchen and walked over to her.
“What was that all about?” he asked. “What did he want?”
Lou shook her head. “I’m not really sure, but I need to call a friend. I have a feeling he might be in some kind of trouble.”
She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found a number she hadn’t used in a very long time.
Chuck.
She pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear. It rang several times before his voicemail answered.
“Hey, Chuck. It’s Lou. I need to talk to you. It’s kind of important. I know it’s been a while, and I know you’ve been really busy, but I think this is something we need to talk about in person. It’s a little more serious than me handing you a sandwich over the counter.
Do you remember my ex-boyfriend, Stavros? He stopped by the deli today, and he was asking questions about you and some girl you’re involved with. He seemed very determined to find both of you. He even had pictures of the two of you. I’m not completely sure, but she looked like she might work for the FBI. She was wearing an FBI shirt in the photo.
Knowing Stavros and his family, this can’t be anything good. I just wanted to give you a heads up so you’ll know that someone may be looking for you and that girl. I’m worried you might be in some kind of danger.
Give me a call if you want to know more about what he asked or what he said. I’m honestly a little worried, Chuck, and I really don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Lou ended the call and thoughtfully tapped her phone against her chin. She had a feeling this wasn’t the end of it. When she met Stavros later that afternoon, she intended to press him much harder for details. Whatever he was after, it involved Chuck, and that alone was enough to put her on edge.
Her thoughts drifted back to the day she had first met Chuck. He had called to tell her the POS system was repaired and ready to be picked up whenever she had time. He had also mentioned he would be at the Buy More until nine o’clock that evening. The moment she hung up, she had left the deli and almost speed walked across the parking lot. It wasn’t like her to feel so eager to see someone she had only met once, but there had been something about the way Chuck carried himself, his kindness, his enthusiasm, and his genuine desire to help, that made her want to know him better.
When she arrived at the Nerd Herd counter, Chuck was helping a couple of customers. He looked up, spotted her, smiled, and held up a finger to let her know he would be with her in just a moment. Lou waited patiently, glancing around the busy Buy More while she listened to the conversations and watched employees rushing from one department to another. By the time she turned back toward the counter, Chuck was standing in front of her with the familiar warm smile that had caught her attention the first time they met.
“Hey, Lou. How was your day?”
“It was busy, Chuck. Very, very busy. I’m really hoping my computer’s fixed because today was pretty difficult without it.”
Chuck smiled proudly. “Well, the good news is it’s up and running. The bad news is it’s really outdated. You should probably start thinking about upgrading to a newer system eventually. When you told me the warranty had expired, I checked it. It’s actually been out of warranty for almost ten years.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Lou admitted with a sheepish smile. “I’m guilty. I bought it secondhand several years ago when I first opened the deli. Even back then it was already pretty ancient.”
Chuck laughed. “Ancient is putting it mildly, Lou. This thing is practically a return from the last century.”
She couldn’t help laughing with him. “Well, how much do I owe you, Chuck?”
He handed her the invoice. “I gave you a neighbor’s discount.”
Lou looked at the total and smiled. “Thank you, Chuck. You really didn’t have to do that.”
“Nah, it was my pleasure. I got to meet someone new, someone really nice, and now I know the person who owns the deli where I love getting my sandwiches.”
“Well, I owe you a ton of sandwiches, Chuck.”
Chuck grinned. “Lou, I can’t let you make me fat, so maybe not a ton.”
She giggled. “Okay, okay. Then I’ll do something even better. I’m going to invent a brand new sandwich and name it after you.”
Chuck blinked in surprise. “Wait… you can do that?”
Lou laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can since I own the place, Chuck.”
“Fair enough,” he said, raising his hands in surrender.
“Well, I’ve got to get going.”
She picked up the bulky POS system, which looked almost comically large in her arms, turned, and headed toward the door. The machine was nearly half her size, but she carried it proudly all the same.
Over the next few days, she had kept thinking about that conversation until inspiration struck. She created a sandwich made with roasted turkey, Muenster cheese, smoked bacon, caramelized onions, crisp lettuce, tomato, and a special mayonnaise whose recipe she guarded like a state secret. Without telling Chuck, she added it to the menu and named it simply, The Chuck.
The memory faded as Lou returned to the present. She smiled to herself for another moment before taking a deep breath. Lunch hour was about to begin, and the deli would soon be packed. Whatever was happening with Stavros and Chuck would have to wait. Right now, she had a business to run.
After Stavros walked out the door, he headed straight to his car. Before climbing inside, he glanced one last time through the deli window, watching Lou for a brief moment. Then he started the engine and drove the short distance across the parking lot to the Buy More.
As soon as he walked inside, his eyes began scanning the store. He was not entirely sure who he was looking for, but he had a feeling fate would point him in the right direction. A short man wearing a green Buy More shirt with an impressive beard approached him with a friendly smile.
“Good afternoon, sir. Is there anything I can help you with today?”
Stavros looked down at the employee’s name tag. Morgan. So this was the friend Lou had mentioned. At the very least, now he knew what the guy looked like. He decided this was not the right time to approach him. If he was going to have that conversation, he wanted a couple of his own men nearby. He had no intention of walking into it alone.
“No,” Stavros replied casually. “I was just looking for someone, but it doesn’t seem like they’re here. I’ll come back another time.”
Morgan smiled and nodded. “Yep, that’s me. If you need any help with anything, just let me know.”
Without another thought, Morgan turned and walked away, completely unaware of the interest he had just attracted.
Stavros watched him disappear down the aisle, a slow, knowing smile spreading across his face. Then he turned and left the Buy More, making his way back to his father’s warehouse. He wanted to make sure Lou’s delivery was ready for pickup, and he could not help hoping he might get another chance to win her over.
Chuck stretched slowly, working the stiffness from his body as a long yawn escaped his stretched out mouth. The early morning sunlight poured through the window and settled across his face, forcing him to squint. Mornings had always been his favorite part of the day. For those first few precious moments, before reality had a chance to catch up with him, his mind was completely clear. His hands tightened into fists, his toes curled and stretched beneath the blankets, and he rolled his shoulders, feeling his muscles loosen with every movement. It was a simple routine, but it always left him feeling refreshed and ready for whatever the day had in store.
His eyes drifted toward the alarm clock on the nightstand. Thursday. Six fifteen in the morning. He slowly turned his head, taking in the familiar surroundings of his bedroom, and then his gaze settled on the empty paper coffee cup resting carefully on top of his dresser. The sight of it stopped him cold. In an instant, every memory from the past two days came rushing back. Sarah. The safe house. Their first kiss. The fear in her eyes when he had been forced to leave. He remained lying on the bed for several long moments, replaying everything they had been through together. More than twenty hours had passed since he had seen or heard from her. Not knowing if she was all right or even being allowed to contact him gnawed at him with every passing hour.
Chuck let out a slow breath and rubbed a hand across his face. He knew he had to make some decisions today, but he also knew he needed a clear head before he made any of them. Whenever life became overwhelming, he always started the same way. He worked out. It helped him think, helped him sort through the chaos. His trainer would be expecting him at the gym by seven fifteen, and he had no intention of missing the session. Throwing the blankets aside, he climbed out of bed, gathered his workout clothes, and headed for the bathroom to wash away the last traces of sleep before facing another day without Sarah.
Chuck quietly got dressed and slipped out of the apartment, taking care not to wake Morgan. Outside, the cool morning air greeted him as he began with a few light stretches and some basic calisthenics to loosen his muscles. Once he felt warmed up, he settled into an easy pace and ran the two and a half miles to the gym. The steady rhythm of his footsteps helped clear his mind, although every few moments his thoughts drifted right back to Sarah. No matter how hard he tried to focus on the road ahead, she was never far from his thoughts.
About twenty minutes later, he pushed through the gym doors, still muttering quietly to himself. He had always found that his best thinking happened in one of two places, either sitting in front of a computer or inside a sparring ring. Both demanded complete concentration, and somehow they always helped him sort through whatever was weighing on his mind. Walking over to his usual corner, he dropped his backpack onto the floor, pulled out his grappling gloves, and began wrapping his hands. Within a few moments he was ready for another thirty minute sparring session with his trainer.
Chuck had been training since he was eight years old, when his mother first enrolled both him and Ellie in martial arts classes. Ellie had been eleven at the time, but after several years she decided to quit following a string of accidental injuries during training. Chuck, however, had stayed with it. They had both started with karate, but after Ellie left, Chuck continued advancing into Muay Thai and jiujutsu. Even after all those years of training, he had never taken it beyond the mat. He had no interest in hurting people. He learned because his mother believed he should know how to protect himself if he ever found himself in danger. Chuck had always assumed that belief came from whatever job she had in law enforcement, even if she never spoke about it.
As he grew older, his training expanded beyond hand to hand combat. His mother introduced him to firearms when he was fourteen, insisting that if he was going to learn, he would learn properly and safely. Those lessons became another part of his routine, although they remained a closely guarded secret between the two of them. She never told his father, and as far as Chuck knew, his dad had no idea that his son was being taught to fight, shoot, and defend himself under his wife’s careful guidance.
Nobody in Chuck’s life knew about this side of him. He kept it hidden, almost embarrassed by the skills he possessed. The idea of intentionally hurting another person had never appealed to him, and whenever conflict found him, he always searched for a way to walk away instead of fighting. That was simply who he was. His passions had always been much quieter. He loved computers, comic books, science fiction novels, movies, supernatural television shows, and video games. Those were the things that truly made him happy. Spending hours gaming with Morgan was still one of his favorite ways to pass the time, and if given the choice between a keyboard and a sparring ring, he would choose the keyboard every single time.
During three different summers, his mother had sent him away to specialized training camps to sharpen the skills she believed he would someday need. Looking back, Chuck was grateful he had Morgan in his life because without him he probably never would have made many friends during those years. The training had taken up so much of his free time that it often left little room for a normal childhood. Now that he was older, he simply trained at a local gym, always holding something back. He never revealed what he was truly capable of, preferring to blend in rather than stand out.
This morning was different. He climbed into the ring with his thoughts completely consumed by Sarah. His concentration was nearly nonexistent, but the emotions driving him were stronger than ever. His trainer greeted him with the same brief exchange they shared before every session. Neither of them came to the gym to socialize. They were there to work, and once the gloves came up, conversation ended.
Thirty exhausting minutes later, Chuck stood in the center of the ring breathing heavily while his trainer remained stretched out on the mat, trying to recover. Chuck offered a small nod before stepping through the ropes and moving on to the rest of his workout. He settled into his familiar routine of light weights, shadowboxing, and weapons drills, completely unaware that people throughout the gym had stopped their own workouts to watch him. They had witnessed a side of Chuck Bartowski that almost no one ever saw, a side he had spent years making sure remained hidden.
By nine o’clock, Chuck was running back toward his apartment in Echo Park. The return trip had done exactly what he needed it to do. The steady pace and familiar route had cleared his mind far more effectively than he had expected. Although Sarah never completely left his thoughts, the run had helped settle the whirlwind of emotions that had been racing through his head since waking up. Once home, he took a quick shower, got himself together, gathered his books and laptop, and made the short drive to the UCLA campus.
He had four classes scheduled that day, each centered around computer science and electrical engineering, subjects that came as naturally to him as breathing. By the time his first class ended, it was just after eleven twenty. As students filtered into the hallway, Chuck reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. A small part of him still hoped Sarah had somehow managed to contact him despite everything the FBI had told them.
His heart sank as he looked at the screen. There were no missed calls and no messages from Sarah. He had expected as much, but seeing the empty notification list still disappointed him. Then he noticed a missed call and voicemail from Lou. He frowned thoughtfully. What were the odds that Lou would call him barely a day after he had learned she was somehow connected to Sarah’s situation? The timing felt far too coincidental to ignore.
Without wasting another second, Chuck pressed the callback button. The phone rang four, then five times before switching over to Lou’s voicemail. He waited for the tone before leaving a message.
“Hey, Lou. It’s Chuck. I just got your message and wanted to call you back. I’ve got classes until about three o’clock today, but I’ll try reaching you again after that. Hopefully we can connect. Talk to you later.”
He ended the call, slipped the phone back into his pocket, and headed toward his next class. The questions swirling through his mind made it harder than ever to concentrate on anything except Sarah. Lou had given him plenty to think about, but one small detail she had mentioned never truly registered with him at the time. She had said Sarah was wearing an FBI shirt in the photograph. It was only much later that the significance of that tiny detail would finally sink in.
Chuck’s last class of the day was Engineering Electromagnetics, a course centred on Maxwell’s equations, applied wave theory, transmission lines, and antenna design. It was one of his favorite subjects, and by this point in the semester he already had a solid understanding of everything being covered. As the professor worked through the lecture, Chuck sat quietly in his seat, listening more out of respect than necessity. There were only eight students in the classroom that afternoon, giving the lecture an almost personal atmosphere.
Normally, Chuck enjoyed listening to every word. He genuinely loved learning, even when the material was already familiar. Today, however, was different. His thoughts refused to stay in the classroom. They kept drifting back to Lou’s voicemail and what she could possibly want. Then his mind would return to Sarah, to the horrifying events inside that house, and to the men who had murdered her friends without hesitation. No matter how hard he tried to focus on electromagnetic fields and wave propagation, his mind stubbornly wandered somewhere else.
The class was scheduled for forty minutes, but after about fifteen, Chuck quietly began packing up his books. Once everything was in his backpack, he stood and gave the professor a small wave. Neither of them said a word. The professor simply nodded in acknowledgment and continued the lecture without missing a beat. He had never minded when Chuck left early. He knew his young student was well ahead of the curriculum and had already mastered much of what was being taught.
Chuck slipped out of the classroom and headed briskly across campus toward the parking lot. He had changed his mind about calling Lou again. A phone conversation no longer seemed good enough. He wanted to speak with her face to face. If she had really spoken to her former boyfriend, this Stavros, then Chuck wanted to hear every detail of that conversation directly from her. Something about the entire situation did not sit right with him, and he intended to find out exactly why.
Traffic crawled along at its usual Los Angeles pace, but Chuck hardly noticed. His thoughts were moving much faster than the cars around him. He kept wondering what Lou was going to tell him and whether it might lead him to this Stavros. If he could somehow meet the man, maybe he could learn something about Sarah or discover whether Stavros had any connection to the murders that had taken place two days earlier. At the same time, Chuck hoped he was not about to involve himself in an active FBI investigation. He already knew the Bureau had taken an interest in the Demetrios family and whatever import business they operated. What concerned him most, though, was how that family seemed to be connected to Sarah.
When he reached the Buy More parking lot, he drove straight across to Lou’s deli and parked near the entrance. As he stepped inside, the small bell above the door chimed cheerfully. Behind the counter, Lou was helping a customer, greeting them with the same warm smile she seemed to give everyone who walked through the door.
Chuck found himself noticing her all over again. She was petite, with an attractive face, an infectious smile, and an energy that seemed to fill the entire deli. She genuinely loved what she did, and it showed in every conversation, every laugh, and every interaction with her customers. Watching her work brought a smile to his own face. Any man would have been proud to have someone like Lou in his life.
In the back of his mind, Chuck had always suspected she might have been interested in him. Unfortunately, he had never found the courage to ask her out. Life had simply kept moving, and now that he no longer worked at the Buy More, he did not stop by the deli nearly as often as he once had. Looking at her now, he realized just how much he had missed their friendly conversations, even if today he had come with far more serious questions on his mind.
After handing the customer’s sandwich across the counter and accepting the payment, Lou thanked them with a warm, genuine smile and wished them a great afternoon. As the customer turned to leave, her eyes landed on Chuck standing just inside the doorway. Instantly, her face lit up. A bright smile spread across her features, and Chuck found himself smiling just as broadly in return. It had only been a short time since they had last seen each other, but somehow it felt much longer.
Chuck lifted a hand in greeting. “Hey, Lou. I got your call. I thought I’d come by and see how you’re doing.”
Lou quickly wiped her hands on the front of her apron, already preparing to step away from the counter.
“Give me just a second, Chuck,” she said with an apologetic smile. “I just need to clean up a couple of things, then I’m all yours. Don’t go anywhere. Have a seat.”
She glanced toward the beverage station.
“Can I get you something to drink? Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich while we’re talking. What do you like?”
Chuck shook his head with a small smile.
“No, thank you. Maybe just a cup of coffee when you have the time. I’d really need to talk to you about the things in the message you left on my phone earlier.”
“Sounds good, Chuck. Just give me a few more minutes to finish a couple of things here, and I’ll be right over,” Lou replied, holding up one finger with a warm smile before turning back to the counter.
He nodded and watched her hurry back to finish what she was doing, knowing that whatever she had to tell him was important enough to bring him all the way across town.
Lou turned away from the deli counter and let out a slow, steady breath as she tried to calm herself. It almost felt too good to be true that Chuck had come to see her in person and actually wanted to spend time talking with her. She gathered herself, picked up two mugs of fresh coffee, and carried them over to the corner table Chuck had chosen.
After setting the mugs down, the two of them shared a warm embrace, the kind that close friends or siblings might exchange after being apart for a long time. There was genuine affection and comfort between them, built on mutual respect and friendship. Neither of them expected anything more than that, and both were perfectly content with what they had.
As they pulled apart, Chuck brushed his palms against his jeans while Lou absentmindedly wiped her hands on the front of her apron before taking her seat. To anyone watching, their small nervous gestures were impossible to miss. They were both a little self conscious, though neither seemed to realize the other felt exactly the same way.
From the kitchen doorway, Carlos quietly observed the scene with a faint smile.
“Why can’t Lou find a guy like that?” he muttered to himself. “That kid’s decent.”
Shaking his head, he turned back toward the kitchen. It was none of his business, and he knew it. The deli would be closing at four o’clock, so there was still plenty of work to finish before the day was over. While Lou took care of whatever she needed to with Chuck, Carlos would keep an eye on the front counter and make sure everything else continued running smoothly.