And Back Again

Chapter 3

With just one week until Christmas, Bob and Holly arrived for their much-anticipated visit. This time though they took a commercial flight and instead of Zara waiting for them, it was Angel with Zara's car.

Leaning on the bumper with a cigarette in his mouth and his legs stretched out, crossed at the ankles, Angel waited for the Osbournes. He was texting Zara, who was stuck in a lockdown at the high school, to make sure she was okay.

"I don't think it's real. I think it's a drill. They won't tell us till it's over but I don't hear any shots. I don't hear anything."

Angel hated it and he wondered if this was how she felt about his daily life. He wasn't going to ask her then, he knew it wasn't the time, plus he saw Bob and Holly making their way over.

"I love you, Z." Was all he replied, his whole chest tight with worry.

"Angel!" Holly squealed. Running toward him, she cupped his face and kissed him on the corner of his mouth. "You look good, honey. You look happy."

"I am," he grinned. Angel hugged her before moving over to greet Zara's dad. "Bob," he said with a nod as they shook hands.

"Good to see you," Bob said. "Where's Zara?"

"She got stuck at work," he lied, sort of.

Holly's eyebrows furrowed. "Stuck? At school?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, she said she'll meet you for dinner tonight though, just the three of you."

"I don't like it," Holly said suspiciously.

"She just wants to clear the air," he said simply. "Come on, I'll take you to your hotel," Angel motioned to the car.

Opening the front passenger door for Holly, he glanced at Bob and, after shutting her in, Angel turned to speak with him. "Before you head back, I wanna have a beer, maybe we can talk."

Bob nodded, assuming he knew what Angel wanted to talk about, and opened his own door in the back. "Sure, no golfing this time though."

Angel chuckled, a sly grin on his face, and agreed. "Yeah, no golfing."

--

It wasn't just a drill, but there was no active shooting. It was a stupid kid making stupid threats but nowadays those stupid actions had very serious consequences. Despite the minimal danger of the situation, Zara was still feeling extremely tense even hours after the ordeal. On her way out of the building, she saw Bastian in the main office, laughing it up with Mrs. Mendel, the school secretary. She slipped by as not to be pulled into the conversation and hurried home.

"Babe?" Zara called out to Angel as she entered the house, hands full, kicking the door shut behind her.

She dropped her bags and listened for any thump or thud but the house was silent. Checking outside again she noted it was indeed his bike parked in front of the house so she checked the back yard and found him, shirtless, cleaning up the debris from a recent storm. Zara leaned against the door frame and watched as he tossed the last of the branches into a pile at the back of the yard.

"Hey baby," she hollered with a smirk playing on her lips. "I don't have cash for a tip but I think I can arrange something else."

Angel looked up and pushed his sunglasses down to look at her. "Sorry, ma'am, I can't take you up on that, I got a smokin' ass girl at home."

"Such a shame," she shook her head. "I'll be strolling around the house naked if you change your mind."

The moment she turned her back, Angel sprinted into the house to find her emptying the dishwasher. "Hey, what happened to the nakedness?"