You Had Me at Halo

though she was glad he didn’t die, if he had, she now realized that she would have definitely stayed friends with him in heaven. They could’ve hung out and laughed at the stupid things going on below. It would’ve been okay.

She gave another little sniffle but before she could get too weepy, the sound of her stepmother’s voice on the phone reminded her they were on a deadline. They had to get moving.

I’m fine. She tried to convince herself. There’ll be time for getting upset later. Right now we’re got work to do.

Lead the way, Sherlock. Vince grinned and Holly pushed the outfit to one side. Towards the bottom of the carton she finally retrieved the CD Todd had burnt her and the black velvet box, which held her necklace.

She flicked up the lid and for a moment gazed down at the perfectly round pearls with their intense luster. They were so beautiful and she tried not to think how much better they would’ve looked if accompanied by a gigantic diamond engagement ring.

Vince coughed and Holly snapped the lid shut. Sorry, she muttered as she caught sight of the stupid stuffed rabbit Todd had given her a few months ago. He had won it at a local fair, but it had a cost him a fortune in attempts to do so. But that was Todd. Once he wanted something he didn’t stop until he got it. It was the same determination that made him so successful at work. And so attractive. No wonder that stupid tart, Rochelle Jackson, wanted to get her French-manicured nails into him.

Holly picked the rabbit up and hugged it to her chest before quickly shoving it in her bag. Then she moved onto the next box where she found a slinky black skirt and a camisole that had cost her four weeks’ wages.

She had been wearing that outfit the day she and Todd went on their first date. If anything would convince him, this would be it. Well, that and a bit of private bedroom information, though with Vince listening in on every word, Holly had decided that sex secrets would only be used as a final resort (and definitely no mention of their first night together which didn’t actually go as planned, but thankfully there had been a vast improvement since).

You know just because I don’t care about my manly image, doesn’t mean I want to go around wearing a skirt. Vince took control of his hand and put the offending item back in the box.

I don’t quite think you have the legs for a DKNY pencil skirt, Holly retorted as she reached for it again. Anyway, it’s not for wearing. It’s for sentimental purposes only.

I hope you remember that, Vince said as Holly heard her stepmother coming up the stairs.

Fine. She quickly shut the box up. “As long as you help me get this stuff in the satchel, I’ll do anything.”

Anything? Vince sounded interested.

Stop it, she hissed as she quickly stuffed everything into his satchel. Good grief. Besides, what on earth did he think she could do when they were in the same body? Then a disturbing thought entered her mind, which she immediately blocked, but not before she felt some sort of movement in the trouser department.

Oh my God. Vince she yelped.

Hey. He held up his hands in innocent protest. I think I know how my body works better than you do, and I can promise it has nothing to do with me.

Are you saying it’s me? She tried to hide her disbelief. Of all the silly things.

That’s exactly what I’m saying. So what were you thinking about?

Holly blushed. There was no way he was right of course, but just say for argument sake he was, well there was even less way she was going to admit to anything. It’s not important, she said instead. Besides, here’s my stepmother. C-can you make it go away?

Vince sighed and while she had no idea what he was thinking about, she was relieved to feel that…things… had settled down. Boy, talk about a loaded gun.

Thank you, she said.

Don’t mention it. Well  that wouldn’t be a problem since Holly was quite eager to wipe the whole episode from her memory. Completely.

“Here you go, Vincent.”

Holly plastered a smile onto her face. “Oh thanks, Mrs. Evans.”

Holly blew on the coffee for a minute, pleased of the distraction. Just concentrate on the coffee, she instructed herself. It’s all about the coffee. Then she took a sip and felt the caffeine snake its way through her. Ah, that was better.

She was about to take another sip when she realized her stepmother was studying her anxiously. Oh no. Holly’s first instinct was to look downwards, but thankfully everything was under control. Then she caught sight of Vince’s satchel. Perhaps taking the rabbit wasn’t such a good move after all?

“I-is everything all right?”

Her stepmother sat down on the bed. “Sorry…yes, everything’s fine. It was just that phone call. It’s so hard to talk about Holly as if she’s actually dead.”

Holly let out a sigh of relief as she realized the rabbit was safe. “Well that’s okay then…I mean…uh, did the journalist ask you a difficult question or something?”

“No more than anyone else has asked.” Her stepmother blew her nose. “I guess I’m just finding it overwhelming. After Joe…that’s Holly’s father…died, he trusted her into my care and it was the only thing that helped him go in peace. I’ve made such a mess of it.”

Holly stared at her in surprise. Was she for real? Her stepmother had never given a hoot what Holly, or her father had thought. She was just in it for the money.

Wasn’t she?

“Er…well I’m sure that’s not true,” Holly said in a diplomatic voice; not quite sure what else she should do.

“It is. You see I never got on with Holly. Not really. I pretended to try for Joe’s sake, but she was so…I don’t know…difficult. And I guess I saw her as a threat so I wasn’t very nice to her. Then of course by the time I realized how stupid I was acting, it was too late to change. If I hadn’t been so insecure, I might’ve been able to have a better relationship with her. Perhaps stop her taking her own life?”

“What?”

What?

“Mrs. Evans, no one thinks that. Holly didn’t commit suicide. It was an accident. It wasn’t your fault,” Vince butted in before Holly could even speak.

“Yes it was.” Her stepmother started to sob uncontrollably now and Holly was getting seriously freaked out. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Holly had a few…troubles…after her father died. Anyway, she seemed better but I never took the time to ask if she was okay. I just assumed it was because she was busy at her job.”

“She was,” this time Holly did manage to answer.

Her stepmother looked up; the tears still heavy on the lashes that fringed her dark blue eyes. “How do you know? I didn’t think you and Holly were still friends.”

They had never been friends. How many times did she have to say it?

“Of course we’re still friends,” Holly assured her without even bothering to cross her fingers. After all she’d already seen heaven and it didn’t seem quite so important to ensure her safe passage there.

Her stepmother pulled another tissue out and wiped her eyes. “You really don’t think she—”

“Absolutely, one hundred percent, positive that she didn’t plan to…you know…”

“It’s just I heard some of the people at the funeral talking and I couldn’t bear it. It was hard enough when Joe died. I tried to put a brave face on for Holly, but this time I couldn’t even do that. It seemed so unfair that someone so young and lovely could die.”

“I know it does,” Vince suddenly said in a soft voice, and before Holly could stop him, he put his arm around her stepmother’s shoulder and gave her gentle hug.

Hey.

What on earth was going on here? Did Vince have some sort of Mrs. Robinson fetish or something? Why did he just take over like that?

She longed to ask him but he seemed too busy being nice to her stepmother and Holly couldn’t quite find the words to say. And did her stepmother call her lovely again?