Chapter 15

Andrew fell silent for a few moments as Monica continued to cry in his arms.  He was trying as hard as he could to understand the reasons behind her lying to he and Tess, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he was hurt.  Three years ago, there would have been nothing that she would have kept from him, regardless of what it was, but now, even though he had been sure that nothing had changed between them, apparently something had. 

He sighed softly, feeling her entire body shaking with the grief, pain and guilt that was consuming her and he wasn’t sure that there was any end to her tears,

“Shhh, sweetheart,” He crooned softly to her, his hand moving to stroke her hair once more,

“C’mon now.  It’s all going to be all right.  I promise it will be.”

Slowly, Monica forced herself to stop crying, though each breath she took seemed to force back another flood of pain.  She pulled away slowly, staring down at her trembling hands as she took in shaky breaths.

Andrew reached out and grasped her hands tightly in his own,

“What happened tonight?  Did you speak with Denise at all?” He had a feeling that there was still more pain she was holding back.  He remembered all too well the way the young Caseworker had spoken to his friend in the café, and he also knew Monica took every harsh word to heart.

Monica swallowed hard, trying to get past the lump in her throat as she miserably nodded her head,

“I..I told her she didn’t want to do this.  She told me I was a mistake, as a supervisor and as an angel,” She clutched his hands tightly as the next words tumbled out in a rush of pain,

“She said she couldn’t believe I had lied to you and Tess…that angels are not supposed to lie and I had lied to my best friends,” Her reddened eyes, still glazed over with tears, looked up into his green ones, seeing a mixture of emotions in them and her heart sank even deeper,

“You’re still upset with me about that, Andrew, I can tell,” Her gentle Irish lilt was thick from all her tears and was tinged with hurt.

Andrew drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly,

“Yeah, sweetie, I guess I am,” He responded in a whisper,

“I can’t help but wonder if maybe you being in this attic tonight could have been avoided if only you had been honest with us.”

“I’m sorry, Andrew.  I’m so terribly sorry.” She whispered, the tears that brimmed her eyes in a blink, spilled onto her cheeks at the realization of just how deeply she had hurt someone she loved so much. 

“Oh Monica,” He said gently, taking her face into his hands tenderly,

“I know you are, Angel Girl, and we’ll get past this…I’ll get past this.  I just need a little time.”

“I was trying to avoid hurting you and somehow I managed to anyway.  Andrew, you have to know how much I love you and that it was never my intention for you to get hurt, especially by me.” Her brown eyes pleaded with him, wanting more than anything his forgiveness. 

Andrew gazed into her eyes, seeing all the exhaustion that was so vivid in them and he pulled her close once more,

“I know,” He sighed softly, resting his cheek on her hair for a moment,

“Try to sleep, sweetheart and we’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”

Miserably, she nodded her head, biting her lip to hold back another flood of tears.  She so wanted him to forgive her for deceiving him, but knew that would not happen tonight.  Despite everything else that had happened-Denise, Kathleen, a dozen failed assignments; suddenly more than anything else, she only wanted her relationship with her dearest friend to be all right again.

****

“Well, Denise, it appears our Angel Girl has some company,” Kathleen remarked as she and the caseworker stood, unseen, in the attic.

Denise rolled her eyes in annoyance,

“Does this guy ever quit?” She muttered angrily, her blue eyes glaring at her supervisor, who was just beginning to fall into a restless sleep in his arms.

“We have to do something.  I can’t stand this!”

Kathleen smiled, knowing she nearly had the caseworker right where she needed to be,

“So, Denise, what do you have in mind?”