I don't own anything from "TBAA" -see disclaimer in chapter one. (Wish I did J )
Monica peered into the building through the glass windows. There were many desks lined up in rows according to the level of the employee. Several hallways in the back of the main room lead to private offices. Finally the Irish angel stepped inside and shook off the light dusting of rain that had fallen upon her shoulders.
"Can I help you?" a young woman asked.
"Yes, I'm Monica" she replied in her Irish accent. "I called earlier. I'm the new publicist."
"Just a second, Monica. I'll be right with you." The woman picked up a ringing phone, answered a few questions and hung up. "I'll call Mr. Kalio for you."
Monica looked around as the lady paged her boss. The room was quiet plain. There weren't many decorations. All that filled the room was the sound of typing, phones ringing, and soft voices.
"Mr. Kalio is on his lunch break so I have to take care of all the issues," the woman said as she rolled her eyes and shuffled a few papers around on her desk.
"I don't think I caught your name," Monica said softly.
"Oh, sorry. My name is Amy," she responded; though her eyes didn't meet Monica's.
Amy got up and leaded Monica to a small office near the back of one of the hallways. She opened the door and slammed it as soon as Monica entered in. The auburn bit her lip and looked up to the heavens.
"Father, I need some help. I can already see I won't be able to do this alone," she prayed.
Suddenly she caught someone in the corner of her eye. She turned around and saw Gloria fiddling with the computer, her glasses falling onto her nose.
"Gloria!" Monica exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" she walked over to her desk and stared at the angel with curious eyes.
"I'm your secretary," Gloria replied happily. "I'm arranging some programs on your hard drive so it's easier to find things."
"Tess didn't say anything about you being on this assignment," Monica told her friend.
"This was a sudden switch. Tess was supposed to be on it but something came up," Gloria replied in her smooth voice.
"I hope she's all right," the Irish angel said, her eyes dazzling with sudden fear. "She's been acting quit strange lately."
"I know," Gloria stuttered. Her eyes didn't leave the screen. "She got our names mixed up today and," Gloria began. "She even forgot who your assignment was."
"I don't know, Gloria," Monica continued. "Tess is acting almost like the time she had Alzheimer's…You don't think…?"
Gloria shook her head and said, "No, when she had Alzheimer's she had all of the full symptoms, which right now…well, she's acting like…"
"She needs sleep," a heavy voice from the back of the room said.
"Sam," both angels chimed at once.
"Tess is going through some tough situations right now," Sam said. His broad figure emerged from the corner. "You'll be able to find out sooner or later."
"But what?" Monica asked in a worried tone.
"I'm not at liberty to share," the angel told the Irish angel. "That's up to Tess."
"I'm going to talk to Tess at my first break," Monica said. She looked at her watch and sighed. "I'll take my break in an hour."
Sam nodded and disappeared. Monica and Gloria exchanged confused glances. Gloria began typing again and Monica sat down and started to examine a paper written up by one of the journalists for the paper. Monica kept getting distracted by her thoughts. What was wrong with Tess? When was Andrew going to get back? How long would her assignment with Amy take?