You Had Me at Halo(41)

“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.

“Shhhh, Fluffy,” she hissed in a low voice, which only made the dog jump higher. Do something Vince.

Any suggestions?

I was hoping you’d have some, she said as more heads turned towards them but before Vince could answer, Andrew and a couple of the other technicians glanced over and waved.

“Hey, Vince. We were starting to give up on you. Come on, the rest of the guys are already at the bar.”

We don’t have time for this, Holly hissed in Vince’s head but he just gave her a shrug.

Look, we’ll just go along and escape as soon as we can. Besides, at least it will get us away from this dog.

You know, sometimes Holly wasn’t even sure why she bothered. Perhaps she should just call up Dr. Hill and put a stop to this ridiculous farce right now? But of course before she could say anything, Vince was already striding across the reception area to where Andrew was waiting. It seemed today was destined to be one of those days that anything that could go wrong, would go wrong. Perhaps it was Vince Murphy’s Law?





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


“I’m not drinking beer” Holly folded her arms so that Vince couldn’t pick up the bottle he’d just ordered from the barman. Do you know how many calories are in that thing?

Vince glanced down at his lean legs and then reached for the bottle. Look, when you get back up into heaven you can have as many Cosmopolitans or whatever it is that young dead career girls drink, but I like beer.

Holly was about to protest but after Vince took a long swig she started to feel some of the stress of the day wander off into the corner. Hmmmm. Normally if she had a glass of wine or a cocktail, the sensation was a lot sharper. Less smooth. She lifted up Vince’s arm to encourage him to take another swill. After all, he was right, it had been a long day and it wasn’t like she needed to squeeze into her skinny jeans anymore. Perhaps they should grab a couple of Hershey bars before the end of the night? After all, it seemed a pity to waste this newly inherited metabolism.