Some Kind of Angel (2 page)

“Yes.  It’s…O’Malley.  Michael O’Malley.”  He felt that tiny little prickle on the back of his neck.  It was his reminder that he’d told a lie.  “I was not flattering you.  I was telling you the truth.  I never lie.”  When he felt the prickle again, he cast an irritated look at the sky.

“Well, Mr. Michael O’Malley.  Are you just arrived from Ireland, or are you on your way to a costume party at ten o’clock in the morning?”

“I suppose you could say both, in a manner of speaking.”

“I assume your party isn’t until this evening, am I right?”  When Michael nodded, Leslie said, “In the meantime, you might consider coming into our shop and finding something a bit more contemporary to wear.  We have some nice used men’s clothes that are fairly decent at reasonable prices.  I’m sure I can find something in your size.  What are you, a forty-two long?”

I nodded, thinking whatever she wanted me to be, I would be.

I was on my way to work when I saw this poor man who looked so very out of place in his velvet morning coat.  I never talked to strangers on the street, but he looked so lost.  It wasn’t easy to be a stranger in the Big Apple as I well remembered.

I felt rather uneasy, offering this very odd man my help, but Bernard would be surprised if I made a sale this early in the morning.  To see the look on Bernard’s face would be worth it.  Obnoxious as the man was, I needed this job. 

After I dropped that bowl of onion soup on Harvey Melville’s crotch, I’d walked in to a cattle call that night, hoping Melville wouldn’t recognize me.  No such luck.  In front of a cast of thousands, he told me to go home, he wasn’t about to risk having me come anywhere near his three hundred thousand dollar set.  Two months ago, I’d also bombed out as a valet parking attendant.  I’d tried to parallel park Gil Gifford’s Tesla and took out his rear bumper and taillight to the tune of eight thousand dollars.  Gil Gifford was the hot new star on Broadway.  I was oh for two so far.  At least I knew a little bit about antiques and I hadn’t shattered anything here…yet.  I’d only been on the job a week.  It was probably just a matter of time.

Knowing I was a tad late, I hustled into the store with the man, Michael, following me.  In my haste, the four inch heel of my beige shoe caught on the fringe of an antique shawl spread over a cherry drop leaf table.  In horror, I watched my life flash before my eyes as a ninety-seven thousand dollar Ming vase tipped over and slid inexorably toward the floor.  Without disturbing a strand of hair on his lovely head, Michael reached around behind me and caught the vase.  At the same time, my shoe came loose from the shawl’s fringe.  Who was this guy anyway?

Carefully, Michael tugged the shawl back toward the middle of the table so the fringe was no longer draped on the floor.  With the vase in his capable hands, he set it carefully back in its place.

“You just saved my life.”   I sounded just like the panicked woman I was.

“Careless of your owner to place a vase of such value on a table with a fringed shawl that can reach the floor.  Perhaps you should speak to him about it.”

I slanted him a look.  Was he for real?  “Believe me, no one gives Bernard suggestions, not if they want to stay working here.  But please.  You must let me buy your suit.”

“Nonsense.  Your funds must be limited if you have only been working here…a short time.”

“How did you know that?”

  “You seemed unaccustomed to dodging around the tables.  That indicated to me that you were a bit new here.  Of course, you will not be buying my clothes for me.  But would you help me pick them out so I do not look like this?”  He made a deprecatory slide of his hand over himself that was utterly adorable.

I plucked an Armani suit from the rack that had a bit of fraying around the end of the sleeves.  He could take it to the tailor next door and get it mended.  It had been sitting in the men’s clothes section of the shop for a month and no man had given it a second look.  I could give it to him for half price.  I had a feeling he didn’t have any more money than I did.

He came out of the dressing room wearing the shirt and tie I’d picked out for him under the suit jacket.  I took one look and had to catch my breath.  Now I knew what Marian meant when she talked about slathering over a good-looking guy.  I had to swallow very hard.  He was absolutely freaking beautiful.  His broad shoulders snugged under the charcoal gray wool as if it was a bespoke suit fitted exactly to him, his narrow waist allowed the tailored pleats to lay flat against his belly just as they should, and his lean legs looked a thousand miles long.  His bare feet were incongruous under the once expensive suit, but they were as gorgeous as the rest of him.  It was definitely be-still-my-beating-heart time.

“I hope Mr. Armani does not mind me wearing his suit.”  Michael pulled the side of his jacket open and pointed at the label.  “His name is inside the jacket.”

I hid a smile.  “If he could see you in it, he’d love having you wear his suit.”

“I assume the poor unfortunate man died and that is why his suit is available.”

She didn’t hide her smile this time. “Mr. Armani is still very much alive.  He’s a designer of men’s suits.  He has hundreds like this one.  Now let me see what I can do about those sleeves.”

I held up Michael’s arm, excited to be almost touching him, and looked at the edge.  It was pristine.  I stared at the sleeve and then at Michael.  “I could have sworn these sleeves were frayed.  That’s why this suit has been languishing in the store for so long.”

“Perhaps it was another suit you were thinking of.”

“No, it was this one.  I’m sure of it.”  I might be a klutz, but when it came to the antiques in this store I had an almost photographic memory.  When I first applied for the job and was honest with Bernard and told him I had no background in selling antiques, he said he would have no use for me.  Then I closed my eyes and gave him an accurate account of his front window display.  “There’s a Louie the fifteenth jewelry box in hammered bronze.  You have a price tag of three hundred dollars on it.  I could get from ebay for one hundred and fifty dollars.  The mahogany Victorian Bar server with the marble top…”

Bernard held up his hand.  “Stop.”  He dropped his hand and now for the first time, he really looked at me.  “I thought you said you had no experience with antiques.”

“No.  I said I had no experience selling antiques.  I didn’t say I didn’t
know
anything about antiques.”

I turned around to go and counted under my breath as I walked slowly toward the front entrance.  Five.  He’ll call me back on five. “One, two, three, four…”

“Leslie?”

The absolute most syrupy sweet smile on my face, I turned.  “Yes?”  And that was how I got the job at
ANTIQUES FOR TODAY.

“So you think this suit…suits me?” Michael asked, and I shook my head to bring myself back to this gorgeous hunk of male in front of me.

“Nice pun.  And it definitely suits you, Michael O’Malley.”

“Oh, good.  For a moment there, I thought you were saying no.”

“No, no, I wasn’t saying no.”  Good heavens, he had me so flustered, I hardly knew what I was saying.  I couldn’t stop staring at him.  He was so handsome with his black hair combed back from his forehead and his gorgeous blue eyes.

There was definitely something very different about him.  It seemed like naiveté.  But what man in New York could be called naïve these days?

Leslie was so lovely.  Lovely and with the kindest of hearts.  He could feel Gabriel interfering.  Ping, ping, ping.  He shook his head, hoping Gabriel would go away.  He thought Gabriel would not be contacting him again.  Ping, ping, ping.  He had this very human urge to swear, but he opened himself up to receive Gabriel’s message.

“I forgot to mention something.”

“What?”

“You must not let her fall in love with you, or you with her.”

“Why not?”

“Because it complicates things.  You will start thinking about not coming back.  And then you will lose your immortality.”

He did not wish to lose his immortality.  He had only meant to be in New York long enough to help Leslie through this difficult time in her life.  Then he would go back to being an angel.  Mentally, he returned the message.  “Thank you for the warning, Gabriel.  I will not fall in love with Leslie.”  But when he was sure he could turn Gabriel away from his thoughts, he grumbled to himself, “It is like having a strict father hovering over me.”

“Do you have a place to stay tonight?”  I couldn’t believe those words came out of my mouth.  What business was it of mine if he had a place to stay or not?  I couldn’t invite him to stay with me, even though I’d love to.  That was out of the question. 

“I am sure something will turn up.”

“Something will turn up,” I echoed in amazement.  “Surely you have a hotel reservation.”  Did he think a hotel room would materialize out of the blue just because he was drop dead good looking?

“No.  I just…flew in this morning.”

I hesitated.  He was a stranger, albeit a beautiful one.  But there was something about him that was a little…off.  Still, if he just arrived from Ireland, he was bound to seem strange to me.  “I don’t know what your situation is or how long you plan to stay, but there is a vacant apartment in my building that just opened up this morning.  It’s very small and a bit pricy.  I could take you to see it if you’d like.  That is, if you are here for longer than a few days.”

“That is most kind of you.  I would very much like to see it, if you could take me.”

Every synapse in my brain hollered,
This could be another onion soup disaster if you’re not careful
.

“We’ll go on my lunch hour.  Apartments in that part of the city are like gold and they get snatched up almost immediately.”

“I have a feeling it will still be there for us.”

There it was again.  That odd, unquestioning confidence.  Mixed with his naiveté, it made a strange, unnerving combination.  Heaven knew, I was unnerved.

“Perhaps you’d like to go and get a cup of coffee while you wait for me.  There’s a nice coffee shop around the corner.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea.”

He turned and strolled away from me toward the door.  What was that strange light that shone around him?  It was almost as if he walked about in his own halo.  I shook my head.  Wow, was my imagination on over drive.  It couldn’t be a halo.  It must be some new light Bernard had installed close to the front door.  Either that, or I was lightheaded from having just a cream cheese bagel with my tea this morning.  It took all the determination I had to keep that down.  Then a strange thought occurred to me.  I’d asked Michael’s name but he hadn’t asked mine.  It was if he already knew who I was.  A slight shiver sent goosebumps over my arms.

Michael took his coffee and his cinnamon bun to a window table and looked out at the pedestrians hurrying by.  He sent a mental message to Gabriel. “
You found Sandra and Jim Bower a bigger apartment?”

“Not without a great deal of trouble
,” Gabriel huffed.

“
I can’t help Leslie if I’m not close to her.”

“Just make sure the only ‘help’ you give her is to take her toward her life as it should be.”

“
Gabriel.  How can you think I’d do anything else?  I’ve watched over Leslie for a very long time.  I have nothing but her best interests at heart.”

“It looked to me like there was more in her eyes than friendly interest when you came out of that dressing room.”

“It is your imagination.  Thank you for fixing the sleeves, by the way.”

Gabriel sighed. 
“I thought I’d have some peace with you on earth.  Now I can see it is going to be nothing but trouble.  You have turned me, God’s own trumpeter, into a tailor.”

“And an excellent one, sir, if I do say so.”

“Flattery will not avail you,”
Gabriel said grumpily, as he took his leave from inside Michael’s head.

A woman came into the coffee shop.  She looked as if she were in her late thirties.  Her coat was frayed, her hair tangled, her young face desperate.  Michael went on instant alert.  He didn’t need x-ray vision to know she clutched in her coat pocket a bottle of sleeping pills.   Her name was Chloe and she was going to kill herself…because she was pregnant with a child and the wrong man was the father.

Michael might be naïve about the ways of city people, but he knew it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to approach her.  The miracle would have to be accomplished some other way. 

There.  There out on the street was a woman about the same age as Chloe.  At her side was a boy child of maybe three.  Yes.  They were exactly what he needed.  Michael closed his eyes.

“Mommy, mommy, donut, donut.”

“Oh, ho, my little donut monster.  I can never sneak you past this place, can I?”

“Please, Mommy?”

“Well, you are a growing boy.”

The woman and her child opened the door and entered the shop to stand in the line behind Chloe.

“Lift me up, Mommy.  I want to see if they have the donut with colored sprinkles.”

“They always have the donut with colored sprinkles, baby.”