You Had Me at Halo

“Was she horrible?”

Holly chewed on her lip for a moment. “Actually, she was being sort of nice. If I didn’t know better I’d say she was upset.”

“You know…” Gemma seemed to ponder. “I think you could be right. She looked pretty distressed at the funeral, and then at the wake she kept wanting to talk to me about you.”

“I’ve only been dead for two weeks, but it’s weird because I’m not angry at her anymore. She admitted that we didn’t get on when I was younger and all of a sudden everything I had felt for so long… well it just sort of went. I guess I have to admit that I wasn’t an angel either. I suppose it was a two way street.”

Gemma paused for a minute. “A lot of stuff happened Holly, but you can’t live in the past forever.”

“Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” Vince added in a thoughtful voice and Holly, who had been about to laugh at the tried and tested cliche, wondered if there was something else behind his words? Actually there had been a couple of times when he had been more than just understanding about everything. Had his family been a bit dysfunctional as well? She knew he dad was in prison, but come to think of it he hadn’t mentioned his mom yet. She made a mental note to ask him about it later. When her brain was less full.

Then she caught sight of Vince’s watch and realized they were wasting time. “I guess the point is I did manage to get all of the things I need. The bad news is that Todd seems to have gone AWOL and Simon Trimmer won’t tell us where he is. Also, we need to get around to Rochelle’s house and look for evidence. Did I mention my head hurts?”

“Mine too,” Vince agreed as he rubbed his temples.

“Okay, so this is where I come in,” Gemma said. “I know I haven’t been much help so far and I’m really sorry about that. But the good news is that I have a date with Simon tonight.”

Holly’s life was going down the toilet and Gemma was talking about dating? Not that she wasn’t happy for her friend. Well, apart from the fact that Simon was proving to be a bit of jerk. It’s just…the timing could’ve been better.

“Oh, well I hope you have a nice time,” she tried to sound enthusiastic, since after all, just because she was dead, didn’t mean Gemma shouldn’t still have a life. “Though I must say Simon wasn’t really that nice when I tried to speak to him before.”

“Yes, but he didn’t know you were you,” Gemma defended. “And I forgot to say the reason it’s good news is because Simon wanted to know if it was okay to bring Todd along. I think he must be worried about him right now. Isn’t that so sweet?”

Holly instantly forgot her headache as she clutched at the phone. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t let me down. So where are you going?”

“To The Pool Palace, for nine o’clock.”

“Man, I hate that place,” Vince complained. “Do we have to go in?”

“Yes we have to go in,” Holly informed him. “I can’t very well speak to Todd from outside can I?”

“We might have a better chance of not getting hit if we don’t go in.” Vince pointed out.

“He’s not going to hit you once he realizes what’s happened.” Gemma immediately protested, obviously having no problems understanding the two-way conversation. “Oh, damn. My boss wants me. Look I’m probably going to be about another half hour, so why don’t you go on ahead to Rochelle’s and I’ll met you there as soon as I can?”

“That’s fine,” Holly agreed and as soon as she hung up the phone, she rubbed her brow. “I feel exhausted. This has been the longest day ever.”

Vince got to his feet and slung his satchel over his shoulder. “Yes, and it’s not over yet. We still have an apartment to break into.”

Once again Holly marveled at his man strength. If she were in her regular body she probably would’ve been drooping with exhaustion by now. Fit only to collapse on the couch with a glass of wine and her remote control, but he just seemed to feel…well…like it was business as usual. For the first time since she’d found herself stuck in Vince Murphy’s six-foot body, she realized that she could’ve done a lot worse.

* * *

As they made their way back up to the reception area, there was a steady stream of people leaving for the day. Holly was surprised, since she couldn’t even remember the last time she had finished work on time. She hoped that Rochelle Jackson wasn’t being quite so conscientious. Mind you, if she were, it would be the first time and—

“Hey,” she complained as she realized Vince had come to a halt behind a large marble column. “Why are we stopping?”

“Look.” He nodded in the direction of the front door. “There’s Andrew and the others.”

“So? Now I’ve spent some time with them, they’re not so bad,” Holly started to say before it dawned on her what Vince meant. She groaned. “Oh no. I said we’d join them for a drink, didn’t I?”

“Yup,” Vince agreed.

“Why didn’t I keep my big mouth shut? No, wait. Don’t answer that.”

For a moment she could feel Vince’s mouth twitch. “Don’t sweat it. We’ll just stay here until they go. Then when the coast is clear we can leave.”

“Who knew you were so sneaky?” Holly was impressed—and relieved. The sooner they got proof from Rochelle’s, the sooner they could go home and prepare for the big meeting with Todd tonight. What did one wear on a date when they were in a man’s body?

“I told you I had your back.” Vince gave a modest shrug before letting out a string of expletives.

“What’s wrong now?”

“I think we might have a bit of a problem at five o’clock.”

Holly glanced at her watch. “What are you talking about? It’s already quarter past.”

“No, I mean look over in the direction of five o’clock,” he said as he drew her attention towards the grand staircase over to the right.

“Oh, it’s Fluffy.” She glanced up as a familiar white-haired dog danced over toward them. “So what’s the problem?”

“Fluffy’s the problem.”

“Fluffy? Don’t be silly.” Holly rolled her eyes as the little dog hurried over. Technically, Fluffy belonged to Martha, the receptionist who knew everything and had worked at the company since before the dawn of time. Due to some slight ear problem, she had convinced Personnel she could not do her job without her specially trained hearing dog.

The reality was that Fluffy spent more time cruising around the building, begging treats and generally being adorable, than giving his mistress the benefit of his finely tuned audio skills. Not that Martha seemed to mind since she still never missed any gossip and she didn’t have to pay a dog-sitter for Fluffy during the day.

There had even been a stage when Personnel had informed Martha that Fluffy could no longer come into the workplace under new Health and Safety laws. Thankfully that very week, Fluffy had been the company mascot at the national Baker Colwell games, and since the head office had gone on to trounce all competitors in an unprecedented victory, Fluffy’s banishment had never again been mentioned.

“Here girl.” Holly cooed as she felt around in her pocket for her normal stash of treats, only to discover it was actually Vince’s pocket and that he didn’t seem to find it necessary to carry any emergency chocolate with him. Would she ever truly understand men?

“I really wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Vince, you’re just being silly. Fluffy loves me. In fact she loves everyone and—Oh My God…Fluffy, stop barking.” But the sound of Vince’s voice seemed to send the small dog into an apoplectic frenzy.

“Well, she might love everyone else, but she doesn’t love me,” Vince said in a caustic tone. “And perhaps we’d better not speak out loud. It only seems to aggravate her.”

You think? Holly glanced down to where the small dog was tugging at Vince’s trousers. Then she realized Fluffy’s antics were attracting quite a crowd. Perhaps it’s because dogs are really clever and she’s got a sort of sixth sense and knows there are two people in the one body?

Yeah, maybe, he said, but he didn’t sound convinced as Fluffy continued to jump and yap at his leg. Though I’m pretty sure it’s because she hates me.