Welcome back, compadres. Glad you're here. Before we get to today's chapter, I'd just like to recommend a book: Chris Jericho's autobiography. It was fantastic. For serious. I laughed out loud so much that Slice thought I was exaggerating, but then I read parts aloud to him and he cracked up too. It was funny, exciting, compelling, and inspirational. I mean every one of those words sincerely. Plus, getting a "behind the scenes" scoop makes this stuff I wrote even more ludicrous. Especially the dressing rooms.
Anyhoo ... what's on the docket for today? Ah yes, Chapter 47, in which Angel has a conversation with a fifth-tier character that you assume will be important one day down the line, but I'm just warning you now: don't be so hasty with your assumptions. Enjoy!
Chapter 47 – Friendly Advice
Angel’s office seemed gloomy and quiet. She flicked on the lights, cheering the place up a bit. She looked at her watch nervously. She only [sic] an hour to set up before she would meet Chris at her house. [hold the phone. What is she setting up? Her nurse’s station? Why would she set up and then leave?]
“Hi, Angelica. Can I help?” Asked Felicia, walking through the door.
“Oh, Felicia! Thanks. Could you get the gauze from the storage room?” [is Angel still too traumatized by Marcus and Missy to get it herself?]
“No problem.”
Felicia let the room and walked not to the storage room, but to a little office near the entrance. She knocked twice.
“Who is it?”
“Felicia.”
Violet opened the door and ushered Felicia in.
“Well?”
“She’s in there alone. I’m going ahead with the plan.”
“Remember, she must trust you explicitly.” [what does that mean?]
Felicia put a wisp of fine cornsilk hair behind her ear. “I understand.”
Nurse Baigen reentered Angel’s office with the gauze and wordlessly put it into the grey-green medicine cabinet.
“Thanks,”Angel said. She removed the antibacterial disinfectant spray and cleaned the countertops. [do we really need this level of detail?] She didn’t think she was showing an outward display of any emotion, so it greatly surprised her when Felicia asked her if anything was wrong.
“No. No. why do you ask?”
“You look kinda down.”
“I do?”
“Yes. Very much so. What’s wrong?”
“With me? Absolutely nothing.”
“Ok. Sorry. But if you want to talk …”
“Thanks.”
They continued setting up in silence. A thought popped into Angel’s head. Maybe Felicia had a good idea as to how to break things to Chris. [huh?] She was certainly drawing a blank.
“Actually …”
“Yeah?”
“I could use some advice.”
“Go ahead.”
“Well … you know how I’ve been going out with Chris Benoit?”
“Yeah.”
“I love him with all my heart, but about a month ago, I kissed another guy.”
Felicia, who knew all this already, let her eyes widen in surprise. “No.”
“Yes. I don’t’ know how to break it to him. He said he needed to speak with me badly. I think he found out from someone.”
“Either that or he’s got a secret of his own.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe he was in a similar situation.”
“You think so?”
“If you were tempted by someone else, it’s possible.”
“I hadn’t thought about it. What should I say if that’s true?”
“Hmm …” Felicia’s pale forehead wrinkled in thought. “Well, if that is the case … maybe what you two need is a little more time away from each other.”
“What?”
“A test! To see if you really were made for each other!” Her light blue eyes sparkled.
“I don’t understand.” [is this concept that difficult to comprehend? It may not be the best idea ever, but it is clearly and logically worded. It’s not like Felicia just told Angel to spin plates in a panda kayak.]
“Like a trial period … say, three weeks at least. If you can stay faithful for that long, you can get through anything. It worked for me and my boyfriend.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Give it a shot.”
“I don’t know...”
The phone rang, interrupting Angel. As soon as she was about to pick it up, it stopped.
“How odd.”
Felicia agreed, but recognized Violet’s signal. [The signal for what?] She glanced at her watch and gasped. “I’m late for my meeting with Ole! I’m sorry, Angel!”
“It’s alright. Thank you, Felicia.”
“No problem. [twice in one chapter? Is she channeling Alf?] Take my advice.”
“Maybe I will.”
Felicia Baigen rushed through the door, leaving Angelica to turn the idea over in her head. Violet was waiting impatiently in her office.
“Well?”
“It went very well.”
Violet smiled in an evil way. “Good. Now we begin phase two. You know what to do?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect.” This was too sweet!
NOTES
1) Let’s break down Violet’s Evil Scheme thus far, shall we? STEP ONE: pose as a secretary, constantly bump into Chris with top buttons of shirt undone. STEP TWO: try to seduce Chris after colluding with Arn. STEP THREE: Call Chris’s ex-girlfriend and survey her about her dating habits. STEP FOUR: Send Felicia in to tell Angel that she and Chris should have a trial separation. At some point during this scheme, she acquired an office and an evil laugh. And a comic book villain’s vocabulary. “Phase two”???
2) And what was with "the signal"? Violet didn't seem to have any ostensible reason to hail Felicia back into her office. And how did she know Felicia was done giving Evil Advice to Angel?
3) I know I’ve mentioned this before, but why do they need two nurses? Angel really never seems all that busy, unless you count locating gauze or being cried upon.
4) We all know why Violet/Marie/Sunny/Nightshade/Gillian hates Angel, but what is Felicia’s problem with her? Unless she just really enjoys being Vi’s minion. What’s that you say? You assume I’ll explain in future chapters? Well … you just go ahead and hold fast to that assumption.
COMING UP NEXT …
Here it comes, folks: a cavalcade of Changel drama. Boy howdy, it’s dramatic. I don’t want to give too much away, so all I’ll say is that yes, there will be crying. And a sock.
Tune in next week for …
Chapter 48 – Confession (Part I)
2 comments:
the fine wisp of cornsilk hair really bothered me. You were all about the descriptors. I was waiting for the gauze to be “flimsy gauzy white gauze.” ;) Extraneous details! Huzzah!
I think that if you can manage 3 whole WEEKS of separation from your boyfriend without cheating, that means you must be destined for a long and marriage.
Huzzah indeed! I wonder if I had recently read "Children of the Corn" before penning this particular chapter. The fact that no one is being murdered by children suggests otherwise. Alas.
Hey, 3 weeks is a long time to be in a relationship. When you're 14. One of my very first boyfriends was this fellow named Mike. We "dated" for exactly two days. I don't actually think we went on a date, now that I think of it, but I do remember breaking up with him in front of the gym before school started. Oh, the follies of young love. Although now that I think about it, I really should have broken up with 90% of my boyfriends after dating them for two days. You live and learn.
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