PROLOGUE

The pale sunlight that insisted on appearing in that chilly Friday afternoon shone on Cathedral High School tree tops, as students were crossing the wide open iron gates heading to their homes after one more class day. They were excited, talking and laughing happily, because the weekend was ahead and that meant no school for two days, and many of them were making plans for the next 48 hours.

Next to them, but away from the big crowd, a tall handsome man, with blond hair and bright green eyes walked along the big yard. He was wearing a blue shirt, black jacket, blue jeans and black leather shoes. Judging by the expression on his face, Andrew was looking for somebody, and slightly smiled when he finally saw a short thin middle aged woman, with blond hair and blue eyes standing not far away from him:

“Hey Margaret! I didn’t expect seeing you here!”, he greeted.

“Well, the plane for Minnesota only leaves at 8:00 PM, and I would never go away without saying goodbye to such a good friend ...”, she lowered her voice, “...and a good angel...”

Gently, he put his hand on her shoulder:

“I’m sure that you and your daughter will set things out when you two meet again.”

“Yes, I know we will, Andrew. I can’t believe I’ve spent almost one year without talking to her for just a stupid argument we had one day. Besides, these were the worst days of my life, I felt lonelier than never. To tell you the truth, it seemed like a hundred years to me.”

“Time tends to be hard and difficult when we don’t have the ones we love near us, Margaret. It’s so hard that people may end up losing their own capacity to love. And God didn’t create none of his children with that purpose.”

“Now I know that. And I promise you that I’ll make every day count.”

She took his hand with both of hers and squeezed it gently:

“Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me.”, he replied, “And you can take the time you want with your daughter, your students will be alright, I’ll stay here for some more time giving classes to my students and I’ll substitute you while you are away.”

Speechless and with emotion evident in her face, the old lady hugged him and left.

With a content look, Andrew watched as she crossed the gates. That was when he heard a smooth and familiar voice from behind him:

“I’m so proud to say I love you, you know...”

Smiling broadly, he turned to face his best friend and co-worker, who also had a happy smile on her face. The wind was blowing softly but strong enough to disarray some strands of her long auburn hair. Monica was wearing a blue turtle neck sweater, a long flowered skirt and white sneakers. Her brown eyes were sparkling with happiness, which was also evident on her meek face. Now happier than before, Andrew walked towards her, grabbed her hand and kissed it:

“Hi, Angel Girl. You know that seeing you is more pleasant than watching a beautiful movie scene that appears on a big screen?”

She looked into his eyes and smiled even more:

“Well... Actually, I’ve never been to the movies, but, if you say so, I feel flattered anyway...”.

He caressed her cheek lovingly:

“Shouldn’t you be in Minnesota with Tess and Margaret’s daughter?”

“Yes, I was, and that’s where I’m coming back right now, but, after spending these two weeks there working on Elizabeth while you were here working on Margaret, I started to miss you so badly, that, now that everything seems to be solved, I couldn’t help popping in to see you for some minutes.”, she answered, kindly. “You were completely right when you said that time tends to be hard when we don’t have the ones we love near us.”

“I guess the same goes to you, Angel girl.”, Andrew replied, his eyes full of love for the little Irish angel.

“And I think I’d better go now, because I told Tess I was going to contact you to check if Margaret had already left... Well, I guess she thought that I meant to phone you...”, she said, with a wink. He laughed at the mischievous smile on her face:

“Do you know what I feel like doing? I feel like wrapping my arms tightly around you, lifting you up off the ground and twirling you around in circles!”

She giggled at those words:

“Not that I wouldn’t like it, on the contrary, I really would. But I think it’s not a good idea to do it in front of your students, as they are already paying too much attention to their teacher!”

He gave a quick look at their surroundings and saw that, in fact, some teenagers that were leaving the school were observing the two angels with curious faces. Monica kept on talking:

“I have one more thing to tell you: as we have been working hard for the last two weeks and the assignment went on so well, Sam told Tess and I that tomorrow we three will have a night off!”

Hearing to that, his compassionate green eyes widened in surprise:

“Are you serious, Angel girl?”

“Yes. So you’d better start thinking about what we are going to do tomorrow, ‘Angel Boy’!”, she announced, playfully.

“Be sure I will!”

He kissed her hand once again and she left.

*

After watching his friend disappear on the corner, Andrew got inside the school to collect his material, which he had left on his table. Some students were still leaving the building. Inside his classroom, a boy, of about 16 years old, finished to put his belongings in his backpack, and put it on his shoulder:

“Hey Edward, still here? Aren’t you anxious to go?”

“Well, I don’t care about weekends or holidays that much, Andrew. In fact, I’m gonna work all through the weekend.”

“Well, I take your point, you have to make ends meet. But you should also take some time free, to have some fun with your friends.”

“I have no friends. And I think I’m better off this way. I have to go now, have a nice weekend!”

The boy left the classroom. Although the assignment in that school was over, Andrew got a bit worried about his student and the sad tone in his voice. This was when he noticed a small envelope on the floor, under the desk that the teenager was sitting. The blond angel took it and hurried to the front gate, where he could reach the boy:

“Hey Edward, I think you forgot this!”, he said, giving him the envelope.

“Oh, thanks. I guess I’m a bit absent mind lately.”, the boy replied, with a melancholic look. But then, he managed a slight smile: “It’s nothing important, though.”

Edward opened the paper and showed what was inside of it: 3 tickets to a movie session on Saturday night:

“I work at the Roxy cinema, you see, and sometimes I get free tickets.”, explained the boy, and gave the tickets to his teacher:

“You can keep them, Andrew. I won’t be able to go, anyway, as I’ll be working. You can take your girlfriend with you, and have some fun for me, ok?!”

“Are you sure you don’t wanna use them? Isn’t there anyone you would like to invite?”

“I’m pretty sure. As I said, the session starts at the same time I start my work. I gotta go now, bye!”

“Well, thanks, Edward. Bye.”

The blond angel looked to the tickets in his hand and an expression of someone who had just had an idea appeared on his face.