Amanda Ashby - You Had Me at Halo

“But if we don’t catch her and find out once and for all what really happened then you’ll be stuck on Level One.”

“Vince, I’m stuck there anyway. After what I did to Todd, I doubt that machine is ever going to say I’m purged so it doesn’t matter. To be honest I don’t even care anymore. Just tell Gemma and my stepmother about this newest development if you get a chance.”

“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.

“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.

“Really,” Dr. Hill agreed.

Then something occurred to Holly. “So, if I only managed to get everything right by accident, wasn’t it a bit risky to let me go back to earth to solve the wrong issues? I mean I might not have made it.”

“That’s always a drawback,” the doctor admitted. “But if I’d told you to go down there and speak to your stepmother, or to ignore Todd altogether because he was a cheating bastard, would you have done it?”

“You knew he had been cheating on me?”

“Er…well, that’s really beside the point.” Dr. Hill squirmed in his chair before shooting her a hopeful smile. “Did I mention you’re my star pupil?”

Holly glared for a minute before her body was once again taken over by happy feelings. “I guess it all worked out in the end,” she conceded.

Dr. Hill wiped his brow as he stood up and started to pace the room. “I’m pleased you understand. It really was the best way for you to dig down and find out what’s important. So the question is what should we do with you now?”

“Give me a nice reward?” Holly said hopefully and the doctor smiled. “Preferably gift-wrapped.”

“Actually I was thinking more in terms of your future with The Company.”

“The Company?” Holly wasn’t quite sure she was following the program here. “Are we back in heaven or am I having a weird dream?” she checked.

“Oh, I forgot, you haven’t read your rulebook yet. The Company is what we call Level Two.”

“I’ve reached Level Two! One more level and I can see my parents?” It was more than she had dared hope for.

“That’s right.” He nodded as he continued to pace. “However to get to Level Three requires a vast amount of work. Some people get there quite quickly, like your father, while others spend an eternity trying to reach it. It all depends on your service record.”