Nothing from TBAA belongs to me! Really wish it did though!
"Clothing, is that really necessary?" Andrew asked as Monica, Gloria, and Tess observed a few outfits that hung on manikins in the window.
"Of course, Andrew. You can never have enough clothing," Monica answered. She shot him a disgusted look that made him feel like backing out of the conversation.
"Women," Andrew mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for the others to hear him.
"Men," Monica uttered back, rolling her brown eyes and walking into the store. She spun a rack around, almost wincing at the prices.
"You know, Angel Boy, I have to agree with Monica on this one. I don't think a girl can have more than enough clothes and accessories," Tess told her charge that stood impatiently with his hands in his pockets.
"I say the same," Gloria giggled as she saw the expression that was forming on Andrew's face.
"Okay, ladies, I tell you what, I'll give you fifteen minutes, and within those minutes, I'll be down that way in the hardware shop," Andrew suggested. The women exchanged glances.
"We won't be able to get through a fifteenth of the store in fifteen minutes, Andrew," Monica told him. She glanced at her watch. "How about a half-hour?" Gloria and Tess nodded in agreement, still awaiting Andrew's say.
"Fine," Andrew murmured. He couldn't help but smiling at his friend's reactions. "If I'm not back in that amount of time, assume the worst," he joked.
"And what would the worse be?" a despondent Gloria asked. She was studying a tag on a selective item. When no one answered her, she looked up to find her friends staring at her in disbelief.
"Remember the 'sarcasm' thing?" Tess asked her charge impatiently. Gloria nodded and pushed her glasses up, back from her nose.
"Oh, I see," Gloria sighed. She pulled out her tablet and jotted down a few notes. "Sarcasm," she said aloud. "When people say things they don't mean literally."
Andrew walked down the mall as the others entered the clothing department in delight.
Almost exactly a half-hour later, Monica, Tess, and Gloria walked out of the store, carrying a few bags, and sat down on a bench that was in the middle of the hall next to a fountain.
"Tess," Monica began. "He's not here yet," Monica told her supervisor with a worried tone. "It's already been forty minutes."
"Baby, give him a brake. Five minutes?" Tess said sternly. She rolled her eyes. "He has a watch, Angel Girl. He can tell time. I'm sure he's on his way right now."
"Yes," Gloria agreed. "He does have a watch, but how can he use it if he doesn't have it?" she asked quickly. Monica looked at her, confusion in her eyes. Gloria, seeing her supervisor's look, pointed to a shiny object on the ground. Monica put her hand over her mouth and gasped.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. She walked a few steps forward and picked the object up. She dangled the pocket watch in front of her two friend's face. "Look, the chain broke!"
"Oh, dear," Tess said. She let Monica drop the broken watch into her hand, the metal clicking against her rings. "Won't he be upset when he finds out!"
"It has never broke," Monica explained to the youngest angel. "He got that from the Father on the first day that he was the angel of death. Since then, he has never gone anywhere without it."
"I see," Gloria said. "But how do you think it fell off his belt where he has it tightly secured all the time?"
"I don't know," the Irish angel answered. "But I wish I did."
"Look!" Tess exclaimed suddenly. She pointed towards the hardware store where a few cops entered. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"So do I," Monica said. She started walking off in the direction of the store where Andrew should've been.
When she entered, the cops were surrounding the counter, holding their guns in the air. She was dumbfounded to find that they were aiming them directly at Andrew.
"Freeze!" a demanding voice ordered. "Or I'll have no choice but to shoot you!"
"You…you don't understand!" Andrew cried. "I didn't…"
"Shut up!" the chief cop ordered. "Put your hands in the air!" Monica tensed when she saw Andrew drop a gun on the ground and put his hands in the air. What was going on?
"What's happening?" a stricken Monica asked, trying to outdo the screaming and yelling voices around her. One officer turned around to face her.
"Ma'am, do you have any relation with this man?" he asked, his voice gruff. She shrugged.
"We're best friends…that's all."
"I'm sorry, you'll have to leave. This scene involves…"
"All I want to know is why you're surrounding him with guns!" Monica stormed, her cheeks growing redder by the moment.
"This man has just attempted to steal an item from the store," the officer pressed on. He motioned for Monica to step outside the building. After they were away from the crowd, he continued. "The clerk claims to have seen him leaving the store with this gun in his hand." The officer showed Monica a 16-caliber pistol. She gasped.
"That's impossible!" Monica stormed. "He would never do anything like that!"
"Like I said, ma'am, you'll have to leave." The officer put up a band of temporary warning fence around the crime scene. Monica took one last wishful glance into the building and glanced from the clerk to Andrew. She covered her mouth with her hand when she realized who the clerk was.
"Vern," she mouthed.