A/N – My entry to the CCOAC Original Character Challenge, my main character was Penelope Garcia, my assigned original character was Angela Anderson, a children's author who has lost her glasses.
The Adventures of Fred & Monty
Hotch walked into the small office, the cell held tight to his ear as his eyes watched the rest of the team sort through the files but there was a smile on his face for the first time since they had landed in Portland.
"Of course Garcia, don't worry about the paperwork Dave and I will sort it when we get back, yes I agree it's much more important."
"Thank you boss, you're the man!"
Hotch laughed as he noticed that everyone was looking at him but apart from one member they knew what was going on so the smiles were instantly reciprocated.
Garcia's smile was still on her face as she removed her headset, the case was now concluded but the less that she thought about that the better, and there was a much more important task now at hand. Pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose Garcia turned her attention to the equipment in her room, without thinking she walked round and turned off several monitors and CPUs but she left four of the most important ones alone, they were the ones that kept a constant track of crimes across the country. Only when she was satisfied that everything was in order did Garcia start to walk towards the door, opening it only to come face to face with her boyfriend.
"Ah sweet Penelope."
"Kevin what are you doing here?"
"I heard that the case was finished and was hoping that we could go out for dinner?"
"Sorry I've got an urgent meeting that I need to get to, I'll see you tomorrow sugar plum I promise!"
Garcia smiled as she lent up and kissed Kevin on the cheek, her left hand reaching behind her to shut the door before she turned around and locked the door securely.
"But..."
"This is a priority for me Kevin, my most important mission of the year, tomorrow I'll be yours."
Reluctantly Kevin nodded his head before he reached across and took hold of Garcia's right hand and brought it up to his lips as he kissed it tenderly.
"Ok muffin I'll see you tomorrow."
Garcia couldn't help but smile as Kevin sidled away, his head bowed like a little lost puppy but then she checked her watch and immediately her mind went back to the task in hand, her heels clicking loudly as she jogged towards the elevator.
Angela sat in the small back office of the independent bookstore, she didn't like attending any kind of publicity, any kind of contact with people, that was why she was a writer, so she could hide in her house alone with her imagination. Nobody, not even she, could have imagined hat her children's books would have taken off like they had, but there was something about 'The Adventures of Fred and Monty' that had captured the public's imagination. Now her agent was demanding that Angela attend these tedious book signings that were always late in the evening, which from Angela's point of view was a bit perverse as by then most of her fans and eager readers, sorry listeners, were already fast asleep in bed. A heavy sigh left her mouth as she pushed her glasses firmly into place before she stood up and made sure that her black pants didn't have any noticeable creases in them as she nervously made her way through the store room.
Garcia quickly locked Esther up and moved quickly along the sidewalk, the bookstore was not large but in the dark the black lettering stood out loud and proud against the white lighting. Garcia smiled as she noticed that the store wasn't overly busy, few people knew about Kerrison's and that was the main reason why Garcia loved it so much. An 'ooohhh' left Garcia's mouth as she entered the store, Kathy the store owner had done a wonderful job decorating the store, large posters of Fred and Monty, the two dogs in the book, adorned every available space. Although Garcia preferred to adapt stories to read to her gorgeous godson, Henry had quickly turned her around with the wonderful tales that Angela Anderson had woven together, the two of them giggled as the two dogs, Monty the large overweight Dalmatian and Fred the small white and brown Beagle, got themselves into all sorts of strife as they travelled around the country. Garcia saw Kathy standing by the table where the author was due to sit, plenty of copies of the new book 'The Adventures of Fred and Monty...in Alaska' were piled high on the table and Kathy was busy talking to another member of staff so Garcia quickly smiled and waved at her before she headed towards the back of the store, she desperately needed to pee and knew where the small toilet stalls were located.
"Oh sorry I didn't realise that anyone else was in here."
Garcia suddenly took a step back having narrowly avoided stepping on the woman who was on her hands and knees.
"Sorry I've dropped my glasses and I can't see a thing without them."
The woman looked up at Garcia with a nervous smile and Garcia had to blink her own eyes before focusing once again on the woman, facially she could have been Garcia's twin but in every other aspect she was the polar opposite.
"I can understand that, how about I help you? I'm Penelope by the way."
Garcia smiled as she bent down onto her knees and started looking around for the missing glasses.
"Thank you Penelope, I'm Angela."
"Oh Oh Oh, you're the author doing the book signing! I'd better search hard then I'm here especially to get you to sign a book for my godson for his birthday!"
Angela smiled and looked to the floor pretending to look for her glasses when she was just embarrassed about the recognition. Garcia noticed Angela's cheeks redden but then she felt her own mind think about how similar the woman was to her in every way apart from clothing and personality. Angela was quiet, shy, dressed in black pants, a white t-shirt and navy v-neck jumper, her hair was mousey brown and pulled back into a ponytail.
"Where did you drop them?"
Angela brought her head up and squinted her eyes towards the figure that had just spoken.
"By the sink, I took them off to adjust my hair, I don't know why, it was stupid how can I sign books without my glasses?"
"Come on don't worry we'll find them, it's not as if it is a large area to search!"
Garcia smiled as she spoke though she had realised that Angela was unable to see she hoped the emotion in her voice would come through.
"My agent will think that this is just another excuse not to do the signing but it isn't honestly."
"Don't worry, hang on I think I've got them."
Garcia smiled as she brought out the plain black rimmed glasses and passed them into the grateful hands of Angela.
"Thank you so much, where were they?"
"Caught on the pipe behind the sink, now there we go, and speaking of going I really need to go!"
Garcia laughed as she stood up and walked past Angela who smiled at her.
"Thank you very much Penelope, I'll see you in a minute and I'll make sure I write something special for your godson."
Garcia waved her hand as she walked into the stall and locked the door behind her.
Garcia sat in Esther and placed the book carefully on the passenger seat, a smile broad on her face as she started the engine, she knew that JJ would be home by now and that she couldn't wait to give Henry his present, a signed book and a sketch of the two dogs that had been quickly drawn by Angela as a thank you for finding the missing glasses.
Fin.