For The Love Of An Angel

ANGEL

The curtains for the floor-to-ceiling window were pulled back, revealing the driveway at the front of the house, which I knew led to a wrought iron gate at the end, with the busy street just beyond that. 

The weak winter sun shone down on the stone driveway, shining the way back towards the city. Towards where I came from. 

This place was right in the middle of the bustle of the city, yet seemed secluded and far away once I was inside the walls. Although the rush of the traffic, the blare of a car horn and the chatter of people rang in the winter air, inside the walls, it felt as though the noise was further away rather than it being right on the other side. Inside the walls, it was like two worlds were colliding together. 

Standing at the window, I shoved my hands into the pockets of the jeans Sarah gave me, while the soft sweater heated my arms. The heat from the radiator next to the window teased the air around my face and my hair stayed back, instead of falling into my eyes. 

From my standing point, I could just see the street, and the cars rushing past. People walked along, not giving the house a second glance. Kind of like what they did with me when they saw me sitting on the cold floor, hand out, asking for something … anything. Loose change. Hot drink. Food. Yet it didn’t seem to matter if a person was worth one million or one penny, others would still walk past, completely oblivious and engrossed in their own world. Almost as if they didn’t see what they didn’t want to. 

Sighing, I leaned forward and rested my head against the glass. Sarah had spent the morning showing me around the house, what each room was and how to clean it. After asking me to stay for a little while and leaving me stunned once more, she then made the most of my speechlessness to convince me to help her with odd jobs around the house. Dusting. Vacuuming. Moving furniture. 

She’d given me a can of polish and a rag, and told me to dust down the fireplace in this living room while she tackled the room next door, which was … I couldn’t remember. Was it another sitting room? How many sitting rooms did one guy need? 

Sarah had explained that Damian lived here alone, but that much I had gathered last night when he had been the only person I’d heard moving around. Didn’t he have a family? Parents? 

I blew on the glass a little, steaming up a small part. Pulling back, I watched the steam on the window clear up slowly, leaving behind a small smear. 

“Angel?”

I spun on my heel to find Sarah walking into the room, a rosy glow in her cheeks. She smiled at me before nodding in the direction of the hallway. 

“Let’s go have a break and get a coffee, then we can tackle the bedrooms.”

Grabbing the can of polish and rag on my way out of the room, I followed Sarah along the hallway towards the kitchen at the back of the house. My eyes fell on the door to Damian’s office, my mind automatically filling my head with images of the man. 

Tall, rugged and handsome. Three words that described him very well. A sigh escaped my lips and I averted my eyes. I was sure he could probably think of three different words to describe me. 

Entering the kitchen, Sarah immediately went over to the coffee maker and started to scoop in the coffee. I stood near the kitchen island, my bag still on the floor where I’d left it this morning. 

I could leave. Right now. Walk straight out of the door and return to the streets. Or maybe I could call in at the shelter to see if they had a bed for tonight. I had a bag full of clean clothes. Surely someone would take those as payment.