- Text Size +
Story Notes:

This is the result of me vowing that I wouldn't do any writing at work today...I apologize for the cheesy title, I couldn't help it.

I borrowed the name of Angela's sister from Azlin, hope she doesn't mind!

**************************

"Find a man who will treat you like a princess," Grandma Angela once said to Angela and her sister Cecily when they were teenagers and interested in dating. "Your Grandpa Earl has always treated me like I'm the most important person in the world. He's such a romantic."

Angela couldn't really picture that, her Grandpa Earl was always a gruff, strict man. Grandma Angela laughed at the look on her namesake's face. "I know he doesn't seem like it, but people can surprise you, Angie."

Angela blushed and smiled as Grandma Angela gave her a hug and a kiss on top of her hair. Angela's cheek rubbed the soft denim of her grandmother's favorite jumper, the one she always wore because it had big pockets. Angela always treasured these moments; in a family where affection wasn't outwardly displayed very much, Grandma Angela was the exception.

Angela remembered this conversation all through her life. When she entered high school and joined the church choir, Grandma Angela's words echoed in her mind as Albert Ferguson asked her to a movie. When he got fresh with her, she decided it wasn't working for her and told him off. "Good for you," said Grandma Angela, patting her on the arm. "If he doesn't respect you now, he won't respect you later."

Unfortunately, Cecily didn't take their grandmother's advice, and dated first this boy and then that one. Angela shook her head in disgust as her older sister's heart was broken time and time again, and this only reinforced her will to find just the right man.

She didn't find him her senior year in high school when Mike Griffin told her she was a tease, or in her junior year at college when Dan Brooks cheated on her with a girl from their Accounting 302 class.

That year was the year she swore off men. It was also the year that Cecily got her first divorce and Grandma Angela died, leaving Angela lonelier than ever, but more determined to not let anyone else near her heart. It hurt too much.

Nothing else happened for years after that. Angela graduated and got a job, a house, some cats. She took pleasure in simple things, like the church choir and jogging to keep her figure trim. She clipped coupons and logged the amounts she saved, using the savings to buy herself something nice, like an outfit or a weekend at a hotel. She lavished love upon her cats instead of people.

Yet every night as she prayed, she added a request for a sign for when she was ready to meet her man. "Any sign, please, Lord. I'm trying to be patient, but I want to make sure I don't accidentally pass him by."

She always thought of Grandma Angela when she prayed, and hoping that it wasn't sacrilege, she always added a special goodnight and an "I love you" for Grandma Angela, who she hoped was watching over her, as sort of a guardian angel, guiding her to what was right and good.

One morning changed her life, though. That morning, Angela had gotten ready for work quite early. She needed to stop at the drugstore to pick up a new pair of nail clippers and some lip balm, because if there was one thing Angela could not stand, it was having a raggedy hangnail and chapped lips at the same time.

As she stood in line clutching her nail clippers and her cherry Chapstick in one hand and three dollars and eighteen cents in the other, she noticed with a start that the woman in front of her had close-cropped white hair, just like Grandma Angela. This normally would not be cause for discomfort, but the woman was wearing a long denim jumper, too, and Angela nearly began to cry when the woman paid for her items, turned, and gave Angela a big wink before walking away without a word. Angela mutely handed the cashier her three dollars and eighteen cents; the tears began to fall as she left without her receipt after seeing that the cashier's name tag read 'Angie'.

Out in the car, she allowed herself just a few moments of unrestrained sobbing before pulling herself together. It had to be a coincidence that the cashier's name was Angie, and the fact that Grandma Angela was the only person whom Angela had ever let call her 'Angie' should have no bearing on the situation, thought Angela uncomfortably. But the hair and the wink and the jumper just made things too real, and Angela's tears fell again.

She felt as though God and Grandma Angela were trying to tell her something, but she couldn't see what. There were no men in her life; she didn't actively seek them out, and they weren't exactly banging down her door. She lived a good, Christian life and followed her principles, and she just didn't know what she should be doing differently.

By the time she pulled into the parking lot at work, she had calmed down. There were only two other cars there, plus a taxi that was leaving. As Angela exited her car, she saw Jan Levinson-Gould climbing into her own car, still wearing yesterday's clothes. Though Angela knew in her heart it was wrong to pass judgment, she thought Jan could have been up to no good. In her mind, she could hear the shouts of her parents as Cecily came home in the morning, refusing to say where she had been. 

Angela climbed the stairs to the second floor, glad she was the first one in. She usually liked to get in and set the thermostat, and the early morning hours were the quietest in which to work, and today, she was glad that she could have a few moments to pull herself together.

When she entered the office, however, she realized she was not alone. "Oh my goodness!" she gasped, as Dwight Schrute came out of their boss's office wearing only an undershirt and briefs.  Dwight gave a small shriek and jumped behind the receptionist's desk, grabbing her sweater to cover himself.

"Angela, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have seen me like this, it's highly inappropriate for me to be undressed in front of a lady like you," he said, face red.

Angela looked at the floor, wanting to save him any more embarrassment. "I'm here early," she said.

"That's no excuse on my part. My grandvater always said that a woman should always be treated as though she was a duchess, and I would never wear this in front of a duchess," Dwight continued. "A duchess might faint, but you seem to be made of strong stuff."

Angela blushed faintly at the compliment. "I admire your work ethic, did you wait for Michael all night?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, but I'm afraid something is wrong. He never came back, and there were highly inappropriate doings, I'm afraid," he said, nodding toward the parking lot.  Angela nodded. Here was a man with principles.

She found herself staring at his chest under his undershirt and blushed again. "I'd better get started on the- accounting," she said, feeling like a high school girl for some unfathomable reason.

"Oh. Yes, I'd better get dressed," he replied, "I'm so sorry you had to see me in this state."

"It's okay," she said, giving him a small smile and hurrying away before she could see if the smile she received in reply was real or a figment of an overactive imagination.

She felt strange all morning. She figured it was a combination of the emotional upheaval of the Grandma Angela doppelganger and the shock of seeing Dwight in his underclothes, but that didn't explain the fluttery feeling she felt every time Dwight walked by.

Finally, at 11:07 a.m. something happened that would change the course of her life. She was working on the payroll when her e-mail notice pinged, and she opened her inbox. The e-mail was from Dwight, which was not unusual- she received ten or twelve a day from him, all with accounting concerns and suggestions, but this one didn't have a subject line. 

Dear Angela,
I would like to apologize again for being unbekleibet (as my grandmother would say) when you walked in this morning. As you might know, emergency aluminum blankets are very warm, and I had undressed with the intention of being fully dressed again by the time anyone arrived.
Would you allow me to take you to lunch as a more tangible form of apology? We can leave separately as not to raise any suspicion that the accounting team and sales team are communicating.  Please let me know in the affirmative or negative (though I sincerely hope it's affirmative).
Your humble servant,
Dwight K. Schrute

Angela's stomach whirled. Is this what God and Grandma Angela were trying to show her, that a good and kind man was neasr her all along?

Her heart was full of love for her grandmother and hope for the future, and her eyes filled with tears again as she typed her single-word reply.

Affirmative.

**************************

Chapter End Notes:
This was inspired by my own dear, late grandma who always wore a denim jumper, and to the stranger in a denim jumper who winked at my cousin as in the story.
I hope you enjoyed it!


McGigi is the author of 22 other stories.



You must login (register) to review or leave jellybeans