Jen has been doing a writing challenge, I may go back and redo the last one sometime soon I had a great idea just haven't gotten it out of my head. Here is this week's challenge fresh off the brain. No promises on quality but hey writing exercises are good for the soul no?

Tandy munched on her parmesan crisps and looked across at the Mazza Galleria, not nearly impressive as it's Italian counter-part she saw last Spring at the G8 meetings but American architecture hadn't been it higher forte. She sighed and put then chips in her purse. As she walked to the sidewalk she started to get that small dread in the pit of her stomach before these things start, she always sense dread and coming disaster. Of course Jonathan proclaimed it to be the thrill of the hunt, but he lived for this work. To Tandy's thinking it was the necessarily evil.

Ever since the explosion at Army Chemical Corp three years back the War on Terror had moved from a handy catch phrase to something more sinister. Half of New England having to be evacuated and given a good bath after that chemical cloud spread down it's length. Even still the deaths had been in thousands and tens of thousands injured. Worst part of the mess, because it was chemical facility the gas was a bit different everywhere, so it made the injuries all the worse to treat.

Tandy tried to shake it out of her head, “no time for that sadness, work to be done” as she stepped into the mall. Some piano classical remix of some pop song played in the background but she could not recognize it immediately. The mall was filled with the same generic mix of clothing stores, toys, and various other retailers whose wears could have been found in any one of another hundred retailers. Tandy approached the mall map and scanned the listing until she found her destination.

Tindal's Tobacco was on the upper level on the far side of the mall. Tandy checked her watch and started to move at a quicker pace, she only had a few minutes to make this meeting and she hated the idea of moving on to the fallback location, it would mean another two to three hours of work and she would have to cancel a hair appointment and push back dinner with Jonathan. No need to cause that much trouble over no wrong.

The tune got louder in the escalators speakers and it's struck Tandy the song was a remake of some 80's Wayne Chung hit. So strange to hear what they will do with remakes she thought.

She passed a few teenagers adore in some faux leatherette dresses that seemed to be in Vogue, Tandy wondered when they had caught to popularity. Work occupied so much of ones time and mind, fashion hardly seemed relevant. She paused for one last look around the mall, before heading into Tobaccoist, not that she was looking for trouble honestly, but even a friendly meeting on neutral ground one had to take care. All clear she thought.

She turned and walked into the shop the first thing that she did was against everything she was taught. She stared and her jaw dropped “but Tony I thought you were dead” she croaked.