See You in Hell (Mel Goes to Hell Series Book 2) (12 page)

She stepped inside, dripping across the carpet, heading for the kitchen to take care of the rose. Mature and red, both the lovely fragrance and defensive spikes marked it as a rose from a garden and not a florist. What was it supposed to mean? Was there some strange symbolism she was supposed to see? Or was it simply a lovely gift to remind her that there was more to life than HELL?

She placed the rose in a pint glass of water. Maybe she could look into learning to throw lightning from on high next week. She was sure some new situation at work would inspire her.

Mel checked the weather forecast before she hopped into the shower. It said cool with the chance of a shower and lengthy fine periods, but outside it looked like a perfect day that was heating up the way it always did in summer. She put out pants and a skirt and resolved to check the sky once more before she dressed. She didn't want a repeat of yesterday's drenching on her way to work today.

The fine sky and dark forecast hadn't changed. She tried to decide between the slim-fitted pants and the light skirt that flared nicely as she moved. In the end, Mel gave in and chose both. The pants first, the skirt over the top. If it was still hot when she got to work, she'd stick with the long skirt, but if it had cooled a bit, she'd take the skirt off and show off her new pants. She vowed not to give the people on the plaza another view they wouldn't forget.

She set off for the train station, the skirt swirling a little in the light north-westerly. The clouds for the promised shower had appeared on the horizon behind her, but she had an umbrella, so she ignored them and kept going.

She was perhaps five minutes from the train station when the skies opened in a brief downpour. She unfolded her umbrella and kept walking, knowing it would end soon, as it always did.

The umbrella kept her hair dry, but the light breeze had grown and the water came at her sideways. The umbrella was no use and the lovely skirt caught the wind and rain with equal greed. By the time Mel reached the train station, her skirt was soaked through and clinging to her legs. Her pants were drinking the water in her skirt like a man determined to find a cure for his hangover.

Bedraggled, Mel thought about heading home for a change of clothes, but that would make her late, so she made her way to the platform and caught the next train into the city. The other passengers avoided her as she fanned her dripping skirt out, trying to dry it.

By the time the train arrived, she was no longer dripping, but Mel was still very soggy. Her shoes squelched with each step from the station to HELL.

On the plaza and the street in front of the office, Mel found hundreds of construction workers in fluorescent shirts, protesting about the lack of local labour employed on a particular mining construction project. She squeezed her way through the angry men, wishing her pale pastels didn't stand out so much in a sea of fluorescent yellow and orange.

Once in the office, she breathed a sigh of relief as she sank into her desk chair, switching on her computer. It was a few seconds before she realised the water in her skirt and pants was quickly wicking into her underwear. She stood and headed for the toilets to do something about it.

Gerry saw her hurry past and commented, "You look wet. Did you get caught in the rain?"

Mel stopped and nodded. "Soaked through."

"Didn't you bring an umbrella or a change of clothes?" he asked sympathetically.

Mel blushed. "I had an umbrella, but it didn't do much, and I didn't plan on needing a change of clothes…"

Lili's head popped up above her partition. "Oh, I keep a spare pair of pants for after-work parties, in case I…" She trailed off and flashed a suggestive smile. "You can borrow them if you like."

Mel smiled at Lili. "Thank you, but I'll be all right."

Inwardly, she shuddered at the thought of wearing Lili's pants without her underwear. That would be terribly awkward, she felt. Not to mention the rumour that Lili was Lucifer's mistress – given Luce evidently slept around a bit, or attempted to, he'd probably been in those pants on numerous occasions.

Gerry looked worried. "Now, you know you'll feel better if you take all that wet gear off." He smiled kindly. "You really should take it all off and take up Lili's offer."

Lili nodded vigorously. "You really should."

Mel managed a sickly smile in response as she shook her head. "Thank you, but…"

Gerry grinned. "I'll just keep telling you to take your skirt off 'til you do."

A shriek split the air. Mephi stood with both hands to her mouth, staring from Gerry to Mel. "That's sexual harassment. Don't you give in to him and take your skirt off, dear. I'll report him directly!" Mephi hurried off into the ladies' loo. Gerry followed her, protesting his innocence.

Mel turned and walked as quickly as she could back to her office, shutting the door behind her. She shared it with three other people, but they weren't in yet. Resigned, she knew the ladies' loo was out, so she was glad she had the office to herself.

With her eyes fixed on the door to make sure no one came in, she shimmied out of her wet pants and underwear, leaving just a skirt clinging damply to her skin. She fanned it out, trying to dry it as much as possible.

A loud cheer floated up from the protesters outside and she turned around to see what had happened. They all looked like they were staring at her building. Maybe someone had unrolled a banner down the side, in support of their cause. She shrugged and spread her skirt out to its fullest as she sat down, turning her computer on and staring at the screen.

Down below, the protesters made unhappy sounds and started to move away from the plaza. She watched them go, for once pleased by the good view offered by her window. When the men had marched out of sight up the Terrace, she looked down at her skirt to see if it had dried at all. Silhouetted between the office lights and the window, she realised the lavender skirt was transparent.

"Oh Hell," said Mel. She really wished she'd worn stockings today.

"…meeting at seven," Lili's voice said.

Mel struggled to remember why she was dreaming about Lili, as she was certain she was at home in bed. It was definitely dark. "Mmmph?"

A sigh of exasperation. "There's been an incident and Luce has called an emergency meeting. You've been tapped to take the meeting minutes, so you'll need to be in at work before the meeting at seven. I had to call your agency to put me through to you, because they wouldn't give me your direct number, so I've wasted enough time already. Get in here."

"Yeah, okay," Mel mumbled. The phone beeped in her ear as Lili hung up. That was enough to wake Mel properly.

Half an hour later, showered, styled and squeezed into a suit, Mel trudged to the train station. She could see the sun just rising behind the building, like the sky was on fire. Pretty, she thought muzzily, stumbling down the stairs to the train at the platform.

Despite the early hour, the train was fairly full, but Mel managed to find one of the last free seats. She sank down onto her seat and pulled out her smartphone. She'd found a romance story set in the aftermath of the American Civil War that looked interesting and indeed it was. She was soon engrossed.

The train pulled up at the next station and another herd of commuters boarded, squeezing in like sardines. The doors closed and the train started to move. One woman, looking as sleepy as Mel felt, didn't hold on to anything and lost her balance. She stumbled into Mel as she tried to regain her footing, but the train lurched and tipped her again. This time she fell face-first into Mel's lap.

Mel opened her mouth to ask if the poor woman was okay, but she was silenced by the sound of Nybbas' voice as he caught sight of her. "Ooh, hello!" he boomed, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of Mel with another woman draped across her lap.

Laughter erupted among the commuters and Mel felt her face redden, as did the other woman, who quickly picked herself up and squeezed between people to put as much distance between herself and Mel as she could.

She and Nybbas detrained at the same station. He walked beside her all the way to the office.

Nyybas had a broad smile on his face, looking far too alert for Mel's foggy mind. "I didn't know you liked eating out for breakfast."

Mel thought about the raspberry yoghurt she hadn't had time for that morning. "This morning's special," she replied, inhaling the waft of bacon perfume emanating from a plaza café.

"I'd love to have breakfast with you one day then," Nybbas returned.             

Mel smiled. "How about after this morning's meeting? I have a craving for bacon."

Nybbas seemed stunned by her invitation. "S-s-sure," he stammered.

"Right, take your coffee. Time to start this meeting," Luce said, waving his hand at the tray of steaming cups that Mephi held. Mel concentrated on powering up her laptop, knowing Mephi would never make a coffee for her.

"Mel," she heard Luce say. She glanced up to see him jerk his head at the remaining cup on the tray. It was hers – no one else here owned a white and gold mug, and the white-hearted macchiato it contained was unmistakeable. Luce must have made Mephi do it – unless he'd made the coffee himself. She smiled her thanks as she took the mug. So sweet of him to remember.

Mel sipped her fresh-brewed coffee between typing, savouring the flavour.

"When was it found?"

"On the twentieth of October."

"Why haven't we acted on it before now? That was over a month ago!"

"She contacted us to tell us about it, but gave us the wrong phone number and never told us any more. We didn't know how to get in contact with her."

"Why did you bring it up now?"

"She sent us photos and it looks suspicious."

"Where is it? What happened to it?"

"She stored it in the freezer."

Alien invasion commenced on 20/10
, Mel typed.
Member of the public found body, reported find but couldn't be contacted. Alien body photographed and stored in freezer for further investigation.

"Why don't we have the body?"

"We've sent one of our staff to retrieve it. He was due there at seven, when the meeting started, so he'll contact us once he's identified and secured the specimen."

The phone rang. Luce hit the speakerphone button.

"Hello? Report."

"Luce, this is Jez from PR. We have enquiries from all the main media channels, requesting a press conference with you regarding the alien invasion."