Lloyd's Angel: Girl Troubles
November 2010
Our day at the store was blissfully uneventful. Perhaps the would-be shoplifters had watched the evening news and decided they didn't want to mess with security that could take out armed robbers bare-handed.
Angela endured a fair amount of good-natured teasing, and some wags constructed a "bulletproof vest" from inventory in the lingerie department; she looked at it round-eyed and claimed it wouldn't fit beneath her uniform. Both of us told anyone who'd listen that if we'd known the perp had a gun, we would have held the doors open for him.
We had to take a break during the morning to pose for a picture that was promised for a write-up in the next company newsletter. The writer was dutifully impressed by Angela's history and efforts to improve herself, and by my, um, longevity. There was no media presence to worry about, as the company detailed a flack to intercept all inquiries and make sure no prospective customers were scared off by thoughts of gun-wielding bandits.
It was sobering to look at the young woman standing next to me and worry, not for the first time, what would happen to her if something happened to me. We were both single now, but I'd enjoyed 42 years of marriage -- and effectively foreclosed that option for her. Any man who tried to enter into a relationship with Angela would be in for a real surprise; although between both jobs that possibility was remote.
A laughing Angela punched me in the shoulder. "Why so glum? Cheer up, Lloyd! Did you buy a lottery ticket while we're still lucky?"
I was still feeling a touch morose when I clocked out at the end of the afternoon. My mood darkened when a young woman approached me just after I left the store. She was a looker, but I was already looking forward to Angel and didn't need another disruption to my schedule. I hoped she wasn't press; I'd already forgotten everything the company handler had told us about responding to queries.
"Are you Lloyd?" she asked, unexpectedly hesitant for whatever reason.
I was tempted to blow her off, but my parents had raised me not to lie. "Maybe," was the best I could do.
"Lloyd? Can I talk to you about Angela?"
Drat. "No comment," I mumbled, trying to look as forbidding as possible.
"What?" She looked confused.
"I said, 'no comment.' You have to talk to media relations if you want a story."
The girl shook her head. "No, that wasn't what I meant. You're Angela's friend Lloyd, right? I think she's in trouble -- can you help?"
"You have my attention," I said, stopping abruptly.
She took a step or two more alone, before realizing I wasn't there and doubling back. "Look, can we talk somewhere? Maybe get dinner?"
We ended up at Applebee's. Or Chili's. Or something; I don't know, they were all the same to me. I ordered coffee and a burger; she, iced tea and some high-concept salad.
"Talk," I suggested as soon as the waitress had left. "Start with your name."
"Oh!" A comical look of dismay flitted across her face. "I'm sorry; I'm Rose. I'm Angela's friend from high school, and now I live in the same building she does. I've heard so much about you, I forgot you might not know me."
It sounded worse and worse the more I heard. I'd done a bit of a check a few years back when Angel was born, so to speak, but I'd neglected to consider Angela might reconnect with older acquaintances.
"I'm pleased to meet another friend of Angela's," I assured her. "I apologize for the rocky reception; I'm just a crotchety old man. Now -- what's happening with Angela?"
"I think she's joined a cult," Rose whispered, looking around us as if she suspected cultists might be lurking nearby.
That wasn't what I'd expected to hear, but the good news was it sounded more like my problem rather than Angela's problem. "Really?" I asked, aiming for a tone of curiosity rather than disbelief.
"You know she's going to school in the evenings?" I nodded. "Well, I think she's lying about it. Look, her birthday was last month, right?"
"Yes; the fifteenth, wasn't it?" I asked. That was disingenuous; I knew it was. I had vivid memories of the wild party at Home Run where Angel had fucked 27 different guys -- one for each year. She'd been a tousled, creamy mess when all of them, including two who'd earned their Home Run pins that night, finished with her. I'd been first, of course. I could feel myself stiffening slightly just thinking about it. Shaking off the distraction, I returned my focus to the girl sitting across from me. "Did something happen?"
"Yes! I mean, no!" Rose's eyes sparked as my failure to dismiss her fears out of hand apparently buoyed her confidence. "Wait." She took a breath. "Okay, I was going to surprise her and take her out for a little party, just the two of us, so I dropped by the University that evening. She wasn't there at all!"
I already knew where she was going, but I couldn't tell how much Rose knew and I needed time to think. I needed to do some damage control, at the very least. "Did she just skip class that night?" I asked, playing dumb, and started pushing.
I want to help my friends
alternated with
I want to be discreet
and
I trust Lloyd
.
"I don't think so," Rose reflected, unaware of the thoughts racing through my head. "I asked several of her classmates, and not
one
of them knew her -- or recognized her when I described her. I mean, how likely is that?" I had to smile at her indignant outrage. "I don't think she
ever
attended that class."
"Could you just have gotten the wrong room?" I wondered.
I hate nosy people.
She nodded. "I thought about that, too." A trifle sheepishly, Rose admitted, "I started paying a lot closer attention to what she did. You remember that big flap with the electrical main at the end of the month?"
"The one where the worker accidentally blew the building transformer and blacked out the campus?" Something that colorful had made all the papers and news programs, of course; they'd had to cancel classes Friday and work all weekend to get the electricity working again.
"Exactly! Well, when I asked that weekend, she said she'd attended class as usual; she even made up details about the lecture. There was
no way
she could have been there. I know Angela
lied