You Had Me at Halo

“Well, he didn’t, and I’ve got a full schedule on this afternoon,” Vince retorted before Holly took over.

“Where’s he gone?” she demanded.

Simon didn’t seem to notice a change of speaker as he folded his arms. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

What? Holly glared back at him. Of course it was her business. She had a lot of explaining and apologizing to do, and it was a bit difficult if the person in question was nowhere to be found.

“Personally, I’m not interested,” Vince replied in a calm voice. “I just wanted to let him know that I’m not his delivery boy. If he wants these taken over to Peterson’s, he can do it himself or arrange a courier.”

“Too late,” Simon retorted. “And I doubt David Harris would be pleased to hear that his good friend Stuart Peterson wasn’t getting the service he deserved.”

Holly couldn’t believe the snicker that was building in Simon Trimmer’s voice. Holly might just have to take issue on that, and she would certainly be passing it onto Todd when she finally managed to talk to him. She opened her mouth to reply but before anything could come out, Vince clamped his lips firmly shut.

Just leave it, Holly. I’ll get one of the guys to run them over.

Yes, but Simon’s acting intolerably. To think that Gemma wanted to date him, I’m just going to have to tell her he isn’t suitable.

You’re not hearing any arguments from me, Vince assured her as they headed back down the hall.

So much for that plan, Holly moaned as they turned a corner. I really thought I was getting somewhere. At that moment she caught sight of another suicide help line poster and she reached out to yank it down off the wall. This time Vince didn’t even bother to stop her.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Okay, Holly said as soon as they got back to the empty workshop and Vince put the laptops on the bench. So this is not good. Not only do I need to speak to Todd, I need to find him first. I also need to search Rochelle’s apartment, talk to Gemma, remind her not to date Simon Trimmer. Except Gemma isn’t answering her phone, which means I’m never going to get anything done and I’ll be stuck in Level One forever and never get to Level Two, let alone Level Three where my dad is and—

Hey. Vince dropped his hand so that Holly could no longer manically tick off his fingers. The first thing you need to do is stop panicking.

Yes, but the day is almost over and I’ve achieved nothing. Nothing. I think I’m going to be sick. Do you feel sick as well, or is it just me? Because I swear that—

Vince dragged in a lungful of air and Holly felt the panic start to subside. Look, he said in a calm voice. I think we’d better go and find Gemma. She might know where Todd is. Okay?

But—

But nothing, Vince cut her off. Now let’s go find Gemma. Trust me, you’ll feel much better when we can figure out a new plan.

Thanks. She felt a layer of calm descend upon her as they headed for the elevator again. Vince was right. She felt better all ready.

* * *

There she is. Holly nodded over to where Gemma and a gaggle of colleagues were standing next to a bulletin board, having an animated conversation. Vince paused for a minute but Holly didn’t want to waste anymore time, so she hurried across the office until she was just behind the group.

No one turned around so she did a polite cough.

I don’t think she heard us, Vince commented, as Gemma’s back stayed firmly facing them.

“Hey, Gem,” Holly said in a clear voice. “Do you have a minute?”

Gemma slowly turned around. “Oh, Vince,” she said in an over-bright voice. “W-what a surprise. I didn’t realize you were there.”

Holly stared at the way Gemma was wringing her hands together—a sure sign she was embarrassed.

You know, Holly. Perhaps we should just wait until Gemma’s finished work.

We can’t afford to waste anymore time, Holly reminded him before returning her attention to a mortified-looking Gemma.

“I was wondering if we—I mean if I—could have a quick word?”

“A-actually now isn’t such a great time,” Gemma said as she raised her eyebrows in the direction of her colleagues. There were four of them and they were all staring at Vince with great interest.

Holly lifted her own eyebrows. “Since we’re speaking about time, this is rather pressing—”

But before she could finish Vince gave a small cough and shot Gemma an understanding smile. “So why don’t you just call me when you’re free.”

A look of relief spread across Gemma’s face. “Okay then. I’ll talk to you later.”

Holly could barely stop her mouth from falling open. Yes, she understood that Gemma might find it slightly odd to be talking to her best friend when she was in the body of a guy, but Holly had never thought her friend would find it embarrassing Yet, she had been acting funny all day and the worst thing is Holly couldn’t say anything about it in front of Vince because there was no way she wanted to hurt his feelings.

At the back of her mind was the realization that up until yesterday she hadn’t been interested in spending time with Vince either. But that was different.

So why didn’t Gemma want to talk to Vince? He was a nice guy. Cute, funny, slightly moody, but these days with long working hours and not enough sleep, who wasn’t a bit moody? And kind. He was turning out to be genuinely kind person and Holly had the feeling he would’ve taken those boxes up for her stepmother, whether they needed to look in them or not.

Then she realized that somehow her brain had managed to make a little mental trip back to her old bedroom. No, that incident was wiped forever so her brain could just damn well behave itself. Okay?

Are you all right? Vince asked as the got out of the elevator and made their way back to the workshop.

Yes, I’m fine, she hastily reassured him since she didn’t want to let on about her concerns about Gemma. Or anything else that she most certainly wasn’t thinking about Why do you ask?

Because you just walked past three suicide line posters and didn’t try and tear any of them down…

Holly flushed. She was starting to get the feeling Vince knew her better than she’d thought.

* * *

Gemma rang ten minutes later. “Holly, I’m so, so sorry about before.”

“That’s okay,” Holly lied, careful not to give herself away to Vince by clenching her jaw. But she was jaw clenching on the inside.

“You know what it’s like when everyone’s talking shop.”

Hmmmmmm. Holly made a stubborn little snort.

“Of course it didn’t help that my boss was right in the middle of the most boring lecture ever. He does go on,” Gemma continued in a rush and Holly felt herself unbend a bit. She reluctantly admitted that it was true about Gemma’s boss. He was the king of boring lectures.

Perhaps she was just a bit touchy about everything? After all, that’s what got her kicked out of heaven in the first place.

“So, anyway,” Gemma charged on. “How did everything go? Did you get the things from your old house?”

“Oh,” Holly blinked. That seemed like ages ago now. “I got the necklace, the CD and a few other memory jogging items.”