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Chuck vs the Plan B (complete)

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dzeims:
This is the first part of a story that I started thinking of during dinner.  ;D
First time at this, so any suggestions / comments are welcome!

Chuck vs the Plan B - Part 1 of 4

Beep!  She looked down at her scanner, pushed a button and waited.  It felt like today it was running slower than usual.
Maybe it was just her.  This was the calm between the storms - the brief recovery after the Thanksgiving weekend and before the Christmas rush.  Nearly all of the Nerd Herders had been sent out on installation jobs, and all of her fellow green-shirted Buymorians seemed drained as well.
The only one who didn't seem to be affected was Emmett.  If anything, it seemed he was being energized by the stress.  Compared to the rest of them, she guessed he was likely the only one at the store who was truly loving his job. 
Her scanner beeped once more.  She walked over to the next display and pushed the button again.
Charlene didn't hate her job, it just wasn't interesting.  Scanning was simply a scheduled part of the day that gave her an opportunity to watch people - her favorite Buy More pastime. 
She watched as an expressionless Chuck slowly packed up his Nerd Herd toolkit.  Decyphering him today would be a challenge.  The rumour was that he had two girlfriends - maybe they had found out about each other.  It would certainly explain his recent lapse into moping about the store.
It was a shame really.  It appeared he had lost some kind of spark that had been driving him lately.  She felt her last thought might have been directed towards herself too.
"Plan B" she muttered to herself.  Plan B wasn't the temporary situation it was supposed to be - it felt like it was becoming her longer term reality.  Plan B - Buy More.  Boredom.  Background.  "BARTOWSKI!"
She nearly dropped her scanner.  Big Mike's in-store shouting tended to do that.
"YOUR NERD HERD INSTALL JUST CALLED AND CANCELLED!"
It never failed to amaze her, despite working in an electronics store with a high-tech phone system, Big Mike opted for a communication system that was decidedly no-tech.
She turned to see Chuck slowly slump back down at the Nerd Herd desk and resume his moping.  His demeanor only lasted a moment, changing to an altogether different facial expression she had often witnessed.
If there was anyone at the store that definately was not part of the Buy More background it was Sarah.  Bright orange and white in a sea of corporate green and yellow.  Sarah walked in and headed directly for Chuck.  Despite her glowing smile, it appeared Chuck was poorly concealing some form of pain.  The redhead watched intently as Sarah whispered in his ear.  She would've given almost anything to learn what they said to each other.
Charlene knew the disappearing act was coming and if anyone else would have been paying attention, she would have put her money on Chuck getting away clean.  They made it look effortless; doing so arm-in-arm just icing on the cake.  Emmett didn't stand a chance, he was too preoccupied with customers to notice.
She couldn't help smiling to herself.  It must be great to duck out of work as often as Chuck and Anna did.
The scanner beeped, signaling it was done.  She studied the display - the same uneventful result day after day.  It was a routine she imagined she could do blindfolded; walking over to the inventory station computer, plugging in her scanner, and uploading her data. 
Today her routine was interrupted during the last step by a frantic Emmett who seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"Customer service needs another cart for all the returns!", he rattled off before scurrying to another area of the store.  This must be Emmett after a second cup of coffee, she mused. 
Charlene locked her station and went outside.  Even after almost two years, the California winter season seemed foreign to her.  Surveying the lot, she spotted a cart nearby, but not before noticing a plane in the distant sky.  A plane crash seemed a horrible way to die.  Permitting herself a moment to mourn Graham, she let out a deep sigh, collected the cart and walked back inside.

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Arathorn:
Nice start.  I"m excited to see where you're going with this.

Crazybone:
Very very interesting and a nice start to the story.

dzeims:
Thanks for the encouragement.  I felt inspired after reading the stories posted here.
Just thought it might be fun to describe the Buy More/Chuck world from a minor character's
point of view.
I'm not sure yet on the length.  It will likely be 3 of these shorter parts, unless I'm lucky
enough to continue with material for a 4th. 

ps: loved vs The New Intersects  :)

dzeims:
Chuck vs the Plan B - Part 2 of 4

Charlene dropped off the cart at the returns desk.  Jeff, Lester, and Morgan walked by her.  They were all giddy about the "hottest piece to ever come into the store"; something about a customer bringing in a DeLorean for a stereo installation. 

Lester was oblivious to her icy glare. 

She was glad he wasn't the assistant manager anymore.  The moment played over in her mind.  All he had to do was tell her to dust the TV's - it would've given her something to do.  He didn't have to gather dust on his white glove and blow it in her face.  It was causing her blood to boil - even now. 

She left the trio quoting their Back To The Future trivia and returned to her inventory report.
Her scanner had recorded two and a half pages of the new DT42 model.  With nothing out of the ordinary, she submitted her report and logged out. 

She fought the urge for her mind to tune out, but eventually it won over just as it had yesterday, and the day before.

Her eyes snapped back in focus.

"Hi" the voice boomed in front of her.   

It was the doctor that taught them CPR. 

Instantly she was standing as tall as she could and flashing her best smile.  The last time he had seen her, she had her hair pulled back into a short ponytail.  Now it was back down hovering just above her shoulders. 
She reminded herself this wasn't part of the plan.  She adjusted her enthusiasm to appear to be an overly eager sales associate.

"I'm looking for Morgan Grimes."

All Charlene had to do is say "Over by the home theater room", but she couldn't.  If nothing else, the more time she spent in LA, the more self-conscious she became about her voice.  Despite her best attempts to drop her accent, she felt mistakes like pronouncing "th" more like "s" would give her away.  She raised her arm and pointed instead.

The doctor smiled back, thanked her, and left.

Charlene fell back down into her seat, the smile visibly gone.  If there was anything to dislike about this job, it was that being in the background meant she increasingly longed for something different.
She would take that DeLorean, go back in time and alter her fate.  She would find whoever had picked her for this assignment.  She would explain that there is a difference between having skills to hack into wireless networks and skills selling wireless printers to customers. 

She imagined it as a job listing. "Wanted:  Intermediate level agent on short notice with technical skills for temporary assignment."

Her previous mission had been a success.  At its end, it had brought her to LA.  She glanced down at her Buy More name tag. 
Who would she have been after Charlene?
The only thing that she had been told about the upcoming mission was that she needed to brush up on her German.

Reassignment to "Plan B" had definitely been on short notice - she had even been required to maintain her existing cover.
A mission with this kind of length would have supplied her with a completely new identity.
Something must have gone wrong.

The brightly-clad Sarah appeared next to an anti-theft sensor near the entrance.
Her expression conveyed concern.  Following closely along, Chuck turned and jumped in front of her path. 
Charlene couldn't tell what he said or how he said it, but when he left her there, Sarah was smiling.

He appeared to be good with her; even without his presence, Charlene looked on as Sarah's smile persisted.
It was somehow a different kind of smile than the one she had observed earlier in the day.

Returning from the employee break room with a set of keys, the two of them left nearly as quickly as they entered. 
If the usual pattern was any indication, Chuck wasn't going to be back for the remainder of the day.

Charlene surveyed the store and the people in it.

She wondered how much longer this mission would keep her on standby.

She wondered how much longer it would be before she would learn what made Chuck special.

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