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"Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden

Hi all! Thanks for joining us for another JABB issue. We hope you enjoy our Valentine's Day story/Triple S (stupid sweeps stunt)!



*~*~*


Andrew walked into the smoky nightclub, trying hard not to choke on the thick air. He glanced carelessly around the room, taking note of all about him. Off in a back corner sat a woman. She was all alone sitting in a booth up against the back wall. It was hard to distinguish her features through the haze, but lying on the table before her was a single yellow daisy. Andrew moved slowly across the room towards her. As he approached, her face lit up.

“You must be Andrew,” she said sweetly.

“And you must be my date,” he responded handing her the single yellow daisy he’d been sent with. “This isn’t exactly my ideal date location,” he screamed over the music. “Why don’t we go to the Farmhouse so we can actually enjoy our conversation?”

“You read my mind,” she responded.

As they gather their things and were about to leave, Andrew asked, “I’m sorry, but what was your name again?”

“Monica,” she replied.

Andrew’s face grew red with disbelief. He shook his head laughingly and uttered under his breath, “Those darn princesses.”


*~*~*


Meanwhile, Audrey and JenniAnn were rushing around the Farmhouse making sure everything was perfect for Andrew's date. Some might wonder why they were spending Valentine's evening orchestrating a date for an angel instead of enjoying the holiday with dates of their own. If you'd asked them you probably would have gotten a roll of the eyes and a slightly annoyed response. Further some might wonder why they had arranged a date for Andrew at all. Truthfully, they weren't quite sure. The plan had begun two weeks ago. Monica-not-the-angel (as she was commonly called) had recently come to Dyeland and seemed a good candidate for their scheme.

The daisies, the locations, even the menus had all been set up by Audrey and JenniAnn. Why the initial smoky nightclub? JenniAnn figured sending them there would make the cozy, clean, and lovingly lit Farmhouse all the more attractive. But all that was just an outlet for excess creativity, it was the actual date itself that was important. They weren't sure why, but this date was of great importance.

"Got the candles lit?" Audrey asked.

"Yep." JenniAnn answered.

"Tablecloths?"

"The very best."

"Great!" The two disappeared into the kitchen as Andrew and Monica entered the Farmhouse. The date had begun.


*~*~*


The Farmhouse was classic and elegant. The setting sun added a certain mystic allure to the building. The two, angel and 'not-the-angel,' approached side by side. When they entered the building, both were awestricken with the work of the princesses. The tables, neatly decorated with rose petals and long stemmed daisies, were arranged in the shape of a heart. The menus were in fancy script fronts and only the best foods were being offered. Andrew was shocked. "Why are they doing this?" he pondered silently.

Before he could think further, the waiter approached the table.

"Good evening. My name is Adam, and I will be your waiter for the evening." As Adam spoke, he tried hard to create a French accent, but failed miserably. "Would you like to take a look at the wine list, or will the princesses' suggestion do well?"

Andrew shot a confused glance at Monica.

She responded, "Their selection will do fine. And whatever food they suggest also. They seem to have put a lot of thought into this. We might as well humor them."

Within minutes, the food was on the table. Andrew almost asked Monica if she was in on all this, but thought it might be a bit out of place.


*~*~*


While Adam was tending to the needs of the two guests, Audrey and JenniAnn were hiding out in the kitchen.

"Okay, now seriously. We had a reason to set up this date. One of us has got to remember it. Just think!" Audrey said encouragingly.

"I have no idea! If we were going to send Andrew on a date then why Monica? Just cause she showed up? She doesn't even know Andrew. I like Andrew. Why couldn't I be on that date?! It's not as if I'm enjoying some sort of special Valentine's Day myself!!" JenniAnn began to sound slightly wild.

"Umm... right. Uh... good point. Yes, good point." Audrey said in a very low, soothing tone. "But really, stay with me here. This is important."

"Fine... Umm... we wanted an excuse to use the good dishes?"

"No, that doesn't seem right."

"Umm... we wanted to see Adam so we invented this as a means of getting him to visit?"

"No offense to Adam but... seriously doubt that." Audrey answered.

"We didn't have any ideas and JABB was due so we uhh... orchestrated this whole thing so we would have something to write about?"

"Oh dear... I think that's it. Poor Andrew."

At that moment Adam came through the door.

"Hey, I don't know why you did this but it was really a good idea. Both of them seem really relaxed. They've had some hard assignments lately."

"They?"

"Yeah, the whole angel of death gig is hard enough but those two seem to be getting a lot of the tougher assignments. This was a really creative way to get them to take some time for themselves."

"But... Monica-not-an-angel isn't an angel."

"Monica-not-an-angel?! What are you talking about? Go look."

The two snuck towards the kitchen window and peered out. To their surprise both Andrew and Monica-also-an-angel were glowing as the sat back laughing and enjoying their meal and exchanging stories about their assignments.

"Told ya so." Adam said as he stepped out from behind them carrying trays.

"Not so fast." Audrey said as she grabbed the trays from him and put a glass of ginger ale in his hand. "Get out there. You deserve a day off, too. All the angels of death do" And word traveled among the angels of death until the Farmhouse was packed with them.

And that is the story of Andrew's second date and how Audrey and JenniAnn found out about Monica #2 and learned that if you're clueless enough to use friends to meet deadlines you'll end serving dinner to a posse of angels of death.



The End

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