Being An Angel

Chapter 2

Robert looked over his immaculately maintained garden, the sound of the lawnmower filling his ears with static. The freshly cut grass scented the air as the sun turned the skies above him into a spectacularly vivid shade of pink. His gaze turned critical of the work done by his gardener, watching the portly man push the lawnmower back to the shed.

He let his eyes drift back to the sky, reminiscing over the shade of pink that his ex-wife had been particularly fond of as she ran him out of his house. The sky had been equally pink that day. A resigned smile curled one corner of his mouth, his eyes unfocused on the horizon as memories replayed themselves over and over in his mind's eye.

The shrill ring of his phone jars him out of his reverie.

'Robert speaking.'

'Robert,' crowed the wheezy voice. 'It has been too long.'

'Henderson, to what do I owe the pleasure?' was Robert's tired response.

'The conference is happening, you have to come. It's been long enough.'

All the sighing and hedging in the world wouldn't change Henderson's mind once he took that tone, something Robert was all too familiar with. Over the course of their ten year friendship, Henderson had dragged him through the ups and downs of life. He always meant well, but that also meant there was no getting out of things that he wanted the other to do.

With a great amount of reluctance, Robert heard his own voice agreeing to speak at the conference.

It had been several years since he had last spoken at a conference, the thrill and glamour of it had died down after his wife had decided to ruin his name and reputation. She had made it her personal mission to ensure that he wouldn't have any notable position in society.

At the beginning he had fought back against it, trying his best to establish the truth but after seven years of trying and fighting, it had become too tiresome. Now he just let the insults and underhanded plots against him run their course.

That's not to say that he hadn't suffered due to her actions, she had cost him half his fortune: his house, his daughter and his dog. He had tried making his peace, it wasn't an easy battle but now he could look back and not feel that heart-wrenching agony of loss.

His guardian angel drifts into the room, sighing as he watches Robert make his way into the house. The large glass door reflects his silhouette, shadowed by his angel, Raguel.

Raguel watches the drawn lines on his ward's face, years of struggle had left its mark. Gone was the confident walk of a man who had conquered his world, instead it was replaced by a tired gait. The once squared shoulders, now slumped down with the weight of the world on him.

He had once dressed as immaculately, paying attention to the way clothes flattered his tapered physique. These days he rarely bothered with such things, preferring instead to wear whatever his hands touch in his closet.

At the beginning Raguel had been able to guide his human to fame and fortune. He had carried out his God assigned task. Robert had been easy to guide, he took prophetic dreams as a sign, he listened to the rising hackles and crawling of flesh when he was being warned of danger but after his wife came into the picture, Raguel had had a difficult time overriding her influence.

Now they both watched the passing of time with despair.

God's obsession with his creations was getting out of hand.

Similar to a 12 year old boy obsessed with his ant colony under the fluorescent light of his parent's basement, the divine creator was fascinated with the activities of these humans and all the angels had become frustrated with watching it.

They were the once held responsible for the human's failure. They had to answer to the creator when Fate didn't get her way. The humans never realized how much damage they were inflicting on different lives due to their inability to listen to simple instructions.