You Had Me at Halo(70)

“Sure.” Vince’s voice sounded gruff. “If that’s what you want.”

Holly wanted to laugh hysterically. The way this scenario was playing out was so from what she wanted that it wasn’t funny. If she had her way she wouldn’t be dead. She would be alive and she would be with Vince.

She reached out and touched his face in the mirror. How had she never noticed how gorgeous he was? But it wasn’t his blue eyes and full lips; it was his inside that was gorgeous as well. Okay so not the literal kidneys and heart stuff. But the other stuff. That’s what counted. If only Holly had understood that sooner.

“About what Amy said...that you liked me. Was that true?”

Vince nodded. “Yeah.”

“I remember you asked me out when I first started at Baker Colwell.”

“You said no,” Vince reminded her.

“Well, I haven’t been able to resolve any of my other issues since I’ve been back here, but this is one I might be able to fix.” Holly coughed and stared at his face in the mirror. “I didn’t say yes then, but I’m saying it now. I just wanted you to know that.”

“Thank you,” Vince said softly. “That means something.”

Holly touched the glass again and willed herself to remember what he looked like before walking over to the dresser and picking up the photograph of them both from when they were eight.

“I’ll miss you Vince.”

“I’ll miss you Holly.”

“I won’t forget you,” he said and Holly desperately wished she could say the same thing to him as she clutched at the photo he had given her earlier that morning.

And then there was nothing.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN


“Right, Miss Holly Elliot Evans, client number XY4588890. The time is one o’clock and this session will commence immediately.”

Holly sat up with a start and tried to work out what was going on. She was in a white room and the man in front of her had ginger hair and chubby fingers. He looked familiar.

“I know you,” she finally said.

Then she turned her attention back to herself. Her arm seemed strange and she held it out. It was shorter than she remembered, and so were her legs. A quick check of her hair confirmed it was hanging down her back. Then she glanced down at the photograph that was still clutched in her hand.

Vince.

“Oh My God.” She jumped up from the couch and waved the photograph around in the air as a series of events came tumbling into her mind. “I remember! I did it.” She spun back to where the man was still patiently sitting. “You’re Dr. Alan Hill and my name’s Holly Evans. My best friend is Gemma Gulliven,” she squealed in excitement. “I’m twenty-two years old and I love chocolate. I beat the system. I remember.”

Dr. Hill stood up and pulled an apologetic face. “Miss Evans, calm down.”

“But this is so exciting.” She couldn’t stop smiling. “I remember everything. You love shopping, my Level One tutor was Tyrone and Rochelle Jackson is a big fat tart whose fingers are going to swell so bad that my ring will look awful on her. I can’t believe it.”

Dr. Hill raised his hand. “Miss Evans. Please. Could you just calm down for a minute, there’s something I need to explain to you.”

“What? That I’m a genius for beating your mind wipe?” She waggled a finger at him and grinned.

“No.” He shook his head and walked toward her; his new white loafers squeaking slightly as he moved. “The reason you can remember everything is because you didn’t have your memory erased in the first place.”

Holly put her excitement on hold for a moment. “What?”

“There was no need to erase your memory because your manual purge was successful.”

“No it wasn’t,” she told him firmly. “Everyone still thinks I committed suicide and even though I know Amy Jenkins gave me those pills, it’s never going to be proven, is it? I mean who’s going to arrest her just because she owns some motion sickness pills? I was stupid to even think it mattered. And then there’s Todd. Wasn’t I meant to go down and make my peace with him? I was even going to apologize to that son of a bitch. But I remember quite clearly that I punched him instead. And you know what the worst thing is? I don’t even care. I’m pleased I did it. In fact I would do it again in a twinkle. So there’s no way I passed.”

Dr. Hill held up something in his hand. “I’ve got one machine that begs to differ.”

Holly looked at the small device and wrinkled her nose. “I-I don’t understand. How’s that possible?”

“Let’s see, you made amends with your stepmother, you saw your boyfriend for who he really was, you let go of your hang-ups about suicide, you figured out what you want to do with your life and you even showed compassion to the girl who inadvertently killed you. Holly Evans, as of now, you’re my star pupil.”

“Really?” Holly tried to hide her disbelief as she felt her chest swell with pride. Not that she really had a clue what she’d done, apart from screw everything up, but still it was nice to be appreciated.

And she had her memories.

She was also completely filled with love for Vince. It wasn’t just a feeling. It was more. It was part of her, and she certainly never had anything like it with Todd. Okay, so it would’ve been a million times better to be with Vince now, but at least she could remember him and perhaps if she played her cards right, she could spy on him from time to time. Would that be breaking some sort of heaven/earth privacy thing? She might have to check up on that one.