SAD LITTLE ANGEL YEARNS or: A Bold New Take on Romance

Chapter 3: Angel

Aneventful week followed the abduction of the Troll. Every day was aflurry of studio lights, Vaseline smiles, and endless interviews. Itwas also the obelisk of opulence in the siblings' life. They replacedtheir dingy, dim apartment for a condo with floor-to-ceiling windows,gold accents, and plush green-and-rose-quartz colored curtains. Lightfilled the open floor plan and glowed against the unadorned walls.

Crimp,the newly-hired assistant of Velvet and Veneer, stood alone on thekitchen's marble counter. She hummed to herself as she poured coffeefrom the carafe into two purple iridescent mugs.

Veneerthrew the door open and collapsed onto the couch. "Waaaauuuuuugh,"he moaned into the pillow. "I hate being famous. I hate being aperformer. I am so, so tired."

Crimedtsked. "There, there, brownie square," she said with asickly-sweet hesitance. "Another rough day? I've got a hot cup ofcoffee to warm you right up." She held out the mug as an olivebranch.

Veneerrolled over, clutching the pillow to his chest, and groaned."Uuuuurgh. Whyare you talking?"

"Hahah!Wait, uhm, sorry. Hahah." she laid the mug down on the end table,chastising herself for being so sensitive to other peoples' sense ofhumor. "Oh! I just remembered. Floyd wanted to talk to you? Also,uh, are you sure it's – you know – legal to keep a Trollin a -"

Veneershot up and hugged himself. "FLOYD WANTS ME!?" hesquealed. He leapt off of the couch and spun around the corner intothe dressing room, bounding towards the perfume bottle on the shelf."YOOHOO! FLOOOOYD!" he said, casually running his fingers throughhis hair. "I am so glad to hear you're ready to startchatting again."

Lightreflected off of the diamond bottle; it betrayed Floyd's glitteringskin and soft, supple hair. With no urgency, the little Troll roseslowly and looked at Veneer, resting a hand on his knee. He smiled."Veneer," he said, toying with his earring, "Just the man Iwanted to see. Would you like to join me for dinner this evening?"

Veneer'seyes shone with delight. "YES I MOST CERTAINLY WOULD!" he sang,clapping his hands together. He gasped. "Will you sing for metonight?"

"Ipromise a serenade from this nightingale to you, my prince,"replied Floyd with a bow.

Oh,I bet he's referencing something very romantic, thoughtVeneer, who was unfamiliar with Hans Christian Andersen's TheNightingale and its parallels tohis current situation. He wiggled with glee and did a jig. "I'mgoing to go get ready, and then we can leave!" he sang as he ranoff to some other corner of the luxurious, tasteless estate.

Crimpentered the room just after Veneer left. "I heard more than Ishould of that conversation," she admitted. "I didn't realize youhad feelings for him! I thought you'd be kind of sore since, youknow, the whole 'captive' situation..."

Floydpressed his hands against the glass. "Please free me," he said."They don't have to know. Please,Crimp."

Shetsked again. "I'm really sorry, Floyd, but I need thisjob to pay off my student loans." she sighed. "As soon as they'repaid, I'll let you go and quit. I promise. Aaaanyway, cutting awayfrom that awkwardtopic... Congrats on your new boyfriend! I never knew you were acougar. Rawr. Heheh."

Floydwas unamused. "I may be a cougar, but I am not acougar for Veneer anymore," he declared. "I'm doing what I mustto see my baby brother again."

"Ooooh,"Crimp mused. "So the deluluisthe solulu."

"Please,"Floyd pleaded, "please freeme."

"Ohlook at the time, phone is ringing, I gotta go," sang Crimp as shefled the scene.

***

Veneerremoved the perfume bottle from the cardboard box. "TA-DAAA!!!"he sang as he held up the captive Troll in his palm for a better viewof the venue. "I couldn't take you to a real restaurant, you know,since I'm famous and us using you for your talent is definitelystretching the law a teensy bit. But I got us the next best thing!"