Charlie's Angels... of DEATH: Chapter 11 -- Still Waiting...

     Burkie sighed heavily and looked at his watch.  Again.  "How long does it take to find a pint of Ben and Jerry's and check out?" he grumbled.

     "Well, you let them con you into going to Super Target for an ice cream run.  That was your first mistake," CarCar chided.  "Never agree to Super Target when 7-11 will suffice..."

      "Yeah yeah yeah..." Burkie groaned, rolling his eyes.  "I just didn't want them to start whining if the ice cream selection at the local convenience store was lacking.  I hate whining!"

     "Point taken... but you also let them go into the store unsupervised," she pointed out.  "Without you in there with them to make sure they stay on task, who knows how long it'll take?"

     "I certainly wasn't going to volunteer to go in there with them!" Burkie retorted.  "I hate shopping!  And that place is massive!  And swarming with people!  I hate people..." Burkie grumbled some more, shifting in his seat.  "I swear, this is worse than herding cats..."

     "Let's see..." CarCar said, her tone all-business.  "Activating GPS on their cellphones and overlaying that with a map of the store...  It looks like Jen is in the fitting room, Mira is in Accessories and Handbags, Shannon is in Small Appliances, probably eyeballing the cappuccino makers, Meiling is in the Sporting Goods section, and Candy is in the snack aisle..."

     "Well," Burkie started, "at least it sounds like Candy is on task."

     "I said she's in the snack aisle, not frozen desserts," CarCar pointed out.  "She's probably distracted by the array of potato chips right now, and I would bet she's no closer to picking up the ice cream than Jen, who is on the opposite end of the store."

     Burkie sighed and slouched further into his seat.

     "Maybe you'd enjoy some entertainment?" CarCar suggested as a 15-inch monitor flipped down from the ceiling in front of Burkie's face.

     His face lit up.  "Do you have first-run movies, like say, The Avengers?" he perked up.

     "Not unless a bootleg version is on YouTube," CarCar answered.  "You're just going to have to pay the $15 to see it in the theater.  Hmmm, let me check my archives... One of the girls uploaded Iron Man 2.  Would that suffice?"

     "Sure!  Robert Downey Junior is brilliant as Tony Stark," Burkie said as the screen in front of him lit up.  "Wait," he said with a frown.  "What is this?"  He watched a tall skinny guy with poofy red hair dance awkwardly to a pop melody.  Burkie watched, mouth open in a mixture of disgust and fascination as the man began singing.  "We're no strangers to love, you know the rules and so do I..."

     CarCar busted out laughing.  "Ha!  I wish you could see your face right now!"

     "But..." Burkie trailed off.  "I'm so confused..."

     "You were just rickrolled!" CarCar laughed. 

     "But what about Iron Man 2?" Burkie asked.

     "Oh jeez," CarCar sighed.  "Rickrolling.  Google it.  It's a thing...  Maybe I need to school you on modern pop culture references while we wait.  It's like you're fresh off the boat..."

     "The FOB school was MY idea..." Burkie muttered, opening the passenger door.  "I'm going to stretch my legs." 

     "You have at least half an hour," CarCar called after him as he shut the door.

     "Duped by a bunch of girls," he shook his head just as his cellphone rang.  He looked at the caller I.D. briefly before answering.  "Hello Mr. Charles."

     "Hello John," Mr. Charles said tiredly.  "I hope the girls aren't giving you too much trouble."

     "Nothing I can't handle, sir.  They are just girls," Burkie said, hoping that Mr. Charles didn't detect the frustration in his own voice.

     "I would be lying if I didn't say that they wear me out sometimes," Mr. Charles said with a small smile.  "I hope you all are relatively rested though.  I am flying back late tonight rather than waiting until tomorrow afternoon.  The situation out here... it's more dire than I thought.  I'll need all of the girls up and fully functioning bright and early tomorrow morning.  Can you see to it that they're all present and accounted for at 0700 in the kitchen?"

     "Of course, Mr. Charles.  Have a safe flight back and I'll take care of the rest" Burkie said, hanging up.  He was already dreading the idea of dragging all of the girls out of bed in the morning.  Meiling was the only morning person out of the whole bunch.  "Worse than herding cats," he muttered, shaking his head.