CHAPTER 5

Monica’s panicked eyes searched for Beth, but she could only assume her co-worker had momentarily stepped into the back for bottles to restock the shelves and though she was completely unnerved she knew she needed to take care of him.

“I’m sorry,” She attempted a smile that was not returned, as she took his mug and quickly refilled it for him, before placing it back down in front of him.

“That’s more like it,” He glowered, his eyes piercing her and causing her heart to beat a little bit faster, “You’re new around here, so maybe you and I need to get something straight. See this mug?” He held up the newly filled glass for emphasis, “It stays full as long as I am in this seat, you got that, baby?”

“David, knock it off,” Beth’s voice interrupted before he could berate the little angel any further, “Monica is not your beck and call girl, and your mug could not have been empty for more than 30 seconds, so cut her a break will you?”

“Yeah, yeah... Just make sure she’s a fast learner and we’ll get along fine,” he said, and then dismissed them by turning his attention to the fresh mug of beer Beth had placed in front of him.

Monica seemed rooted to the spot, but Beth led her away to the other end of the bar. “Don’t worry about him, Monica. He’s a good guy… or he used to be. He got laid off a few months ago and he still hasn’t found work. Grumpy, but harmless.” She rushed off to wait on one of the tables, leaving Monica alone with her thoughts.

That was David. That was the man she was supposed to be helping. The thought turned her stomach and tore at her heart. Beth said he was harmless, but that didn’t stop the all too present fear from wrapping itself around her like a shroud. She shook her head and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was hunched over his drink, ignoring everyone else in the bar, and she knew that he needed help. The problem was that she didn’t think she was the angel to provide it. She didn’t even want to approach him.

A large group of college age young people came crowding through the door, momentarily distracting the angel, and she was glad for the reprieve. They were all cheerful and joking around, and before long she was at ease again and pushing all thoughts of David to the back of her mind. She knew she needed to deal with him, but there was nothing that said it had to be that night. Tess would see it differently, but fortunately she wasn’t there.

More people entered the bar as a local ball game wrapped up, and the angel rushed back and forth, taking orders and dropping off drinks. The college kids had unofficially adopted her, and they frequently called her over to listen to their stories. She knew that their friendliness was at least partially due to their slightly inebriated state, but she just smiled, happy to be surrounded by people who still held onto the innocence she herself had lost. They were calling to her again, and she quickly dropped off the glasses of wine for the older couple and squeezed past Beth on her way back to them.

“Hey, I thought I told you to keep an eye on this mug!” The hand on her arm was rough and unexpected, and she let out a wordless cry of terror and put her other hand up to her face before she had time to think about it.

“If I were you, I’d let the lady go. Now.” The voice was harsh and stern, and one of the most welcome sounds Monica could ever remember hearing.

She felt the hand drop from her arm as she turned around to face David and her once and always protector.

“Now, why don’t you apologize,” Paul said, only his eyes revealing the depth of emotions at seeing the little angel he had thought he would never meet again.

“Sorry,” David muttered, actually managing to make it sound somewhat sincere.

Monica got a glimpse, in that instant, of the man he had been and the man he was supposed to be. It did nothing to alleviate her fears, but it at least renewed her belief that God had sent her to him with a purpose in mind. However, at the moment she was completely focused on Paul. So much had happened, and so much remained unsaid between them. She wasn’t really sure where to start.

Beth stepped up beside her and placed a cup of coffee in front of David. “I think you’ve had just about enough, Dave,” she told him before turning to Monica. “Why don’t you take a break? I can handle the place for a few minutes.” The young woman had seen the pure panic on Monica’s face, and she knew that David hadn’t caused all of it. Maybe she would find out the whole story eventually, but right now she just wanted to give the woman a minute to gather herself together.

“Thanks, Beth,” Monica agreed gratefully, and slipped out from behind the bar.

Paul was next to her before she even had to look for him, and he led her to a table. He had a thousand questions for her, a hundred things to tell her, but he just sat and stared at her for a long minute, taking in everything about her; from the new color in her cheeks to the old shadows beneath her eyes.

“Paul…” she finally broke the silence. “I never thought…”

“Neither did I,” Paul said with a crooked grin. “After the way you left, I pretty much thought that was the last I’d see of you.”

Monica lowered her eyes as a faint blush rose to her face. “I guess I did leave sort of unexpectedly.”

Paul laughed. “You might say that. Andrew practically had to pick my jaw up off the floor.”

“I’m sorry about that, Paul. I should have stayed. I should have explained everything to you…”

He reached across the table and covered one of her small hands with his own. “Hey… don’t worry about it. I understand. Believe me, I understand. Andrew was great about filling me in on some of the things I had missed.” He caught her eye and one corner of his mouth curled up. “I’ve gotta admit… I still feel kind of guilty about the things I said to you… you know… about you… and me…”

That won him a warm smile as she squeezed his hand. “It was really very flattering,” she said before turning more serious. “I just hated knowing that you were going to end up getting hurt.”

“Yeah, well it’s not every guy who can say he was dumped by an angel… and mean it!”

Monica let out a small laugh, and Paul joined her, so glad just to be in her company again, and to see for himself that she was alright. He could tell by the look in her eyes, and her reaction at the bar, that things were still far from normal for her, but at least she was in one piece, and she was obviously on some sort of assignment, so that had to count for something.

“Thanks, by the way… for what you did over there,” she said, nodding towards the bar.

Her words interrupted his train of thought and he blinked a few times before responding. “Oh, that? Force of habit. Though I’m almost surprised that Andrew didn’t swoop down ahead of me,” he chuckled, thinking of how protective the other angel was.

“I think he probably would have,” Monica said, with a slight twinkle in her eye, “but he’s working somewhere else right now.”

“In that case, I’m extra glad that I was around to lend a hand.”

“What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you would already be off protecting someone else.”

“Nope, not yet. I’ve got a bit of a break coming to me, and I’m trying to tie up some loose ends.” he didn’t want her to know that the ‘loose ends’ were from her case, and he quickly diverted attention away from the topic of work. “Right now I’m just here waiting for someone, but it looks like he’s a little late.”

Monica looked over at the door as another group of people entered, and then looked towards the already crowded bar area. David was still in his seat, and she really didn’t like the idea of going back over there, but there wasn’t much she could to about it. She had a job that needed to be done.

“I should probably get back,” she said.

Paul, who had followed her gaze, was expecting that. “I had a feeling you were going to say that, and I should probably step outside and see if Mike’s waiting for me out there.” He reluctantly let go of her hand and stood up. “But I’ll be around, Monica. You know… if you happen to need another guardian angel…”

“I think I like knowing that,” she said with a smile.

He grinned at her, her words touching him deeply, and she further shocked him as she rose to her feet and impulsively wrapped her arms around him in a hug, before she hurried back to the bar. He watched her go, a multitude of emotions present on his face, all of which she had stirred up in his heart. He knew that his original intentions regarding Monica were never going to happen, but her companionship was something he had come to enjoy and was in no hurry to let go of.

The hours continued to slip by and Monica managed to avoid David at all costs, though her mind was keeping up an argument on the fact that she should approach him. She could think of a million reasons not to talk to him tonight, and only one reason that she should, but that one reason was carrying more weight than all the reasons to stay away combined. Tess.

Things had started to quiet down somewhat when the angel grabbed the coffee pot and hesitantly approached her assignment. She was slightly surprised that he was still there at all, and she wondered if perhaps his aggressive behavior had him banned from all the other bars in the area.

“May I warm that up for you?” She offered as she glanced at him somewhat nervously. Without waiting for an answer, she poured her favorite beverage into his cup.

David glanced up at her, and once again she felt a shiver run down her spine, “I think you’ve done plenty for one night,” He muttered, a quiet anger flowing up through his words at his intended target.

Monica was ready to simply walk away, deciding she had at least tried, but she knew she had made a feeble attempt at best, so she forced herself to stay where she was, “I’m sorry that you feel that way, but you startled me earlier.”

“So you sent your bodyguard over here to protect you,” He countered, his eyes fixated on hers until she finally lowered her own.

Wanting to steer the subject away from Paul, the little angel looked up once more, “Beth said that things had been hard for you lately and I’m sorry to hear that, but maybe drowning your sorrows in a bottomless mug of beer is not the best way to deal with things.”

“I don’t recall asking you to go poking your nose into my business, Irish, so maybe you should just back off before I really lose my temper. I don’t need some do-good waitress telling me how to run my life,” He snapped at her, though he was careful to keep his voice down, “Maybe you need to take a long hard look in the mirror as with one look at you I could tell your life isn’t exactly picture perfect either. You’re just another bleeding heart who is covering her own issues by trying to tell me how to deal with my problems in order to make yourself feel better, but I don’t need that from you or from anybody, so you can just back off!”

Monica’s shock at his words were cut short as he got up from the bar and cleared away his coffee cup with a sweep of his hand before stalking out of the bar. The still relatively hot liquid splattered on her arm and hand as she winced and bit back a small cry of pain.

“Jerk,” Beth muttered, quickly moving to wipe up the spilled coffee before turning her attention to Monica, “Get yourself some ice for that and then get out of here for the night, okay?” Beth could once again clearly see the young woman’s distress and knew that Monica had already had enough for one night, “We’ll be closing in half an hour anyway and things have really died down.”

“It’s all right, Beth, I’ll be fine,” Monica tried to argue shakily, her mind still reeling from the things her assignment had said to her as she wondered how one human had been able to see so much.

“Take me up on the offer while you can, Monica,” Beth smiled reassuringly, really wanting her to get out of here in order to take time to regroup. She like Monica and she had exceptionally well tonight and the last thing she wanted was for her to get overwhelmed and quit already, “Tomorrow is Friday and this place will packed all night. You look beat, so go home and rest up so you are ready to tackle that tomorrow.”

Nodding her head, the angel managed a smile as she grabbed her jacket from the back as well as some ice wrapped up in a plastic baggie and started for the front door. She was dismayed to find it dark and still raining a bit, as she stepped outside and she began to feel panicked at the thought of walking home.

“How far from here are you staying?”

Monica started at the sound of Paul’s voice but then relief washed over her, “About ten blocks from here…”

“Then let me walk you home,” He offered. He had clearly seen her distress over the darkness and he had been in the city enough to know that the buses quit running at midnight and it was well past that time now. He took her umbrella from her and opened it, before handing it back to her to open his own. He then offered her his arm and she took it with a smile of gratitude, “I can just hail a cab from your place as I don’t bother trying to drive around here as it is too much of a hassle to find places to park.”

As they started walking, Monica tried to push away her thoughts about David’s words as she glanced up at the agent, “I know I’m just being silly. I’m probably safer out here than you are, but my heart just won’t accept that fact.”

“I’ve always enjoyed a nice walk in the rain myself, especially when the company is so pleasant,” His voice was warm and he again felt a wave of thanks wash over him at their paths crossing once again.

“Did your friend ever show up?” She inquired curiously. She had lost track of Paul as the night had progressed and she had assumed his meeting had taken place and ended and he had been well on his way.

Shaking his head, he sighed, “No. He must have gotten held up someplace, not that he bothered to call to let me know that tidbit of information.”

“I’m taking it that this was a business meeting?”

“It was, but I’ll call him in the morning and try to reschedule,” He said hurriedly, not wanting her to ask anymore questions about Mike. It was obvious that Monica was still shaken from the things that had happened and he certainly didn’t want to discuss it with her before she was headed to bed, as she looked tired enough, “What happened to your hand?” He asked, noticing the ice she was holding, while precariously managing to hold onto her umbrella at the same time.

She frowned at the question as she decided how to best answer, “I had another little run in with my assignment; the one you saved me from earlier. I elected to offer him a wee bit of advice and he elected to splatter coffee on me.” She attempted a tiny grin, hoping to diffuse the look of anger that crossed her friend’s face.

“He seems like a real charmer. It sounds like you’ve been taken out of the frying pan only to be emerged in the fryer.”

“I’ve wondered that myself,” She admitted with a small sigh as she changed the subject, “Did you keep the other kittens?”

The look of anger vanished and was replaced by a chuckle, “Why, yes, I did, as a matter of fact and they are keeping me very amused. Though I’ve decided I’m only cat sitting until you come to visit them and then if you need me to continue mothering them, I can probably be persuaded.” He smiled, hearing her giggle and it was a sound he had sorely missed, “What I really want to know is how an angel on the move manages to take care of a kitten.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” She grinned at him, thinking of Lucy and the way she kept appearing wherever it was she needed to be, “She’s with me now at the apartment. She has been a lovely distraction.”

He took note of her use of the word “distraction”, taking it as one more sign that she was still struggling and he supposed he had expected it, “They tend to do that. Sam’s new favorite place to lie is on whatever work I am attempting to do at the moment.”

Monica giggled, imagining tall, strong Paul stalled by the antics of a tiny kitten.

“I hope I haven’t ruined my image as a tough guy,” Paul said with a grin.

“Oh, no… never.”

They completed the walk in near silence, but they were both glad for the company, and almost sad when they arrived at Monica’s building.

“I can walk you up,” Paul offered, but Monica shook her head.

“It’s late. You’d better call that cab or you’ll never get home.”

“You’re probably right. Take care of yourself, Monica. I’ll see you soon.”

“You too, Paul… and thanks again for tonight.”

“Eh, don’t even think about it… that’s what tough guys do… even when they do have kittens to rush home to.”

Monica laughed, and the sound was still hanging in the air as Paul slipped the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the cab company, all the while keeping an eye on the little angel until she was safely inside the building.