Hell Inc. (9 page)

“Humans
offer those kinds of services in dining establishments?” he
asked me after she'd left. I stared at him.

“What
are you talking about?” I wasn't in the mood to answer dumb
questions. I had several of my own built up and ready to go. He
blushed again, bright and red on those high, haughty, sculpted,
delicious cheek bones.
I am losing it. Definitely losing it.
I
looked around for the waitress and my drink. There's nothing like a
good shooter at two o'clock on a Wednesday. Levie licked his lips as
he thought about how to phrase whatever it was that he was going to
say. It was kind of sexy in a gross way.

“Sexual
services.” I stared at him, reliving the pumpkin eater moment
all over again. Literal had taken on a whole new meaning for me. I
guess if you'd never heard of a Slippery Nipple ...

“They
don't have cocktails where you come from?” I asked, trying to
keep my voice down as the waitress returned with our drinks. I
downed mine before she left the table and ordered another. “It
really must be Hell.” I didn't think Levie was getting it since
he was still staring at me with a perplexed expression. The little
lecture I had planned on alcoholic beverages was ruined though with
the appearance of the sphinx.

“What
walks on four legs, then two, then three?” it asked, settling
itself comfortably on the floor and looking at us both with curious
eyes.

“Man,”
I answered confidently, receiving a strange look from both Levie and
the sphinx. “What?” I asked. “I read Oedipus in
high school.” I stared at it, staring at me. “What are
you doing here anyway?”

“What
is the purpose of a box with no sides?” it asked back. I had
no response, so I decided to leave it alone. It would stay if it
chose and leave if it chose; there really was nothing I could do
about it. I wasn't overly worried though. I'd had things follow me
around before when they realized I could see them, but it never
lasted long. Once the novelty of teasing someone who reacted wore
off, they always left. I felt kind of guilty anyway. Technically,
if I hadn't been paying so much attention to it, the sphinx could
never have had the presence to knock over that pot.

I buried
my face in my hands and wished the waitress would come back with my
second drink.

“What
am I going to do, Levie?” I asked him, peeking out between my
fingers. He didn't much look like he cared. But I did. I was on
their security cameras. Eventually, they would find me and it would
be for much more than just breaking a priceless artifact.

I tried to
sort out the phrasing of my wish in my head and determine what the
exact specifications of the spell were. What could they see exactly?
Just the sphinx? Or everything? It would be amusing to find out, but
there was no way I was going back there. “I liked that
museum,” I stated to no one in particular. “And Terrence
was hot. Just my type, too.” Levie slammed his glass down on
the table so hard that the glass cracked. “What is your
problem?” I asked him. He grunted and glanced away. I checked
my watch; I didn't have time to examine demon mood swings. It was
three o'clock on the dot. Time to move to another table. I assumed
my mother would be late, but I wasn't sure how late. I didn't want
to even risk her seeing me with Levie. “Catch you later,
guys,” I said, trying to sound more cheerful than I felt and
walked to the table farthest away from them.

Not a
minute later, a woman sat down in the chair opposite me. She was
holding out her hand, long plastic nails painted bubble gum pink and
embedded with little silver rhinestones glinted back at me.

“Aren't
they precious?” She smiled at me, and I was shocked by her
straight, white teeth and head of thick, curly blonde hair.

“A-Andrea?”
Was this woman really my mother?
Impossible.

“Call
me Mama!” she shouted and leaned across the table to hug me
tightly. She was wearing a tasteful, red silk blouse and a white hat
with flowers on it. There was no way this was my mother. “Don't
I look great!” She put her hands to cheeks that were way too
smooth to belong to the twenty-years-and-running drug addict woman
that I knew. “I'm clean and sober now.” She took her
big, shiny red leather purse off of her shoulder and hung it over the
back of her chair. I was in shock; I didn't really know what to say
except kudos to this whole wishing thing. So far, so good.

“You
look great,” I breathed, shaking my head in disbelief.
“Really, I'm amazed.” Andrea (I wasn't really used to
calling her mother) giggled in a very girlish sounding way.

“And
darling, I'm paying for our lunches so don't even bother trying to
argue with me.” I gave a silent prayer of relief. I had been
worried this lunch was going to take the last forty bucks I had until
my final payday rolled around.

The
waitress came back with my drink and a look that told me what she
thought of my drinking habits. I flipped her off surreptitiously
under the table. Andrea appeared not to notice and ordered an iced
tea with lemon as we opened our menus together. “Isn't this
nice?” she asked, sighing and looking around the restaurant.
My back was to Levie, but I knew the moment she laid on eyes on him.
“How does such a handsome young man not have a lunch date?”
she asked.
Because he's a sour crab,
I thought. “Ginger,
darling, look behind you.” I didn't need to, I knew, but I did
it anyway.

Levie was
staring at me, his face an expressionless mask. He had a sandwich
dripping with barbeque sauce sitting on a plate in front of him. He
hadn't eaten any, though. I couldn't imagine it either. Sauce all
over that pretty little mouth and staining those graceful, pianist
fingers. I wanted to see, but I turned back around nonchalantly.

“Um,
yeah, cute,” I said, downing my cocktail. When the waitress
came back (with another drink I didn't order but that actually made
me feel bad for flipping her off), my mother and I both ordered
Caesar salads with grilled chicken. My stomach growled as I realized
I hadn't eaten yet. I watched Andrea closely as she folded her hands
in her lap and beamed at me. This was all still too good to be true,
but hopefully I could get something to eat before it all went to
hell.

“I've
really missed out, all these years. I missed you growing up, Ginger.
Can you ever forgive me?” This was getting to be a
little too much like a Lifetime movie for my liking, and I shifted
uncomfortably. Andrea reached out and brushed my face with her
fingers. “You're so beautiful, Ginger,” she sighed, a
little strangely. I couldn't say quite what was starting to bother
me, but there was something about her expression that struck me as
odd. I brushed it off as paranoia. All of the times I'd seen her
before, she'd only been nice when she was hitting me up for drug
money. She always went back to being mean after I said no. I always
said no. This time was different but still not right. I still
didn't feel like a daughter out to lunch with her mother. I sighed
as my initial awe began to wear off and tapped my fingers on the
table, listening to her talk. I didn't even want to know what my dad
would say if he ever heard about this. Luckily, I never planned on
telling him. He wouldn't believe me anyway.

When the food arrived, I concentrated on eating and let her continue to
babble nonsensically at me, hoping she'd get around to telling me the
secret she'd mentioned on the phone. When a shadow passed over our
table, I glanced up and froze in surprise. I definitely
hadn't expected him to show up, not in a million years.

It
was Queen Bee.

I
stood up suddenly, spilling my mother's tea. “Oh dear!”
Andrea exclaimed. Terrence rushed forward and began mopping up the
drink with a cloth napkin he'd snatched from an empty table.

“I
apologize, ma'am.” He smiled at my mother who blushed and waved
her hand at him as if he were forgiven. He turned back to me, eyes
intent and full of questions. “I didn't mean to startle you and
your lovely daughter.” I sat, my mouth gaping like a fish,
unsure of whether to speak or to run.

I looked around frantically for the rest of the angry museum staff, but
they were nowhere to be found. Lucky for me, since I doubted I could
stand to see the old man or that Cynthia woman again. “Don't
worry, I came alone,” Terrence whispered as he gestured at an
empty chair next to me. “May I? Just for a moment?” he
asked. Andrea giggled like a school girl.

“Of
course, darling.” She batted her eyelashes at him. This was so
not my mother. There was no way in hell. Hell. Well, maybe there
was.

“The
sphinx,” he whispered, leaning towards me, aquamarine eyes
glinting with amusement and blonde hair reflecting the dim lights of
the restaurant. Andrea leaned forward, straining to hear, but he
kept his voice pitched just loud enough for me. “He's behind
you.” I sighed. Goody goody gumdrops. At least he hadn't
mentioned Levie.

“I
know. It's following me.” Andrea was fanning herself with her
napkin, impatient and annoyed that she wasn't privy to the
conversation. Terrence leaned back, a thoughtful look on his pale
face. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He was even cuter up
close than he'd been from far away. My body was responding with
little surges of adrenaline.

“I
told the others to take the day off and meet back at the museum in
the morning. I want you to be there. I need you to answer some
questions for us.” I rubbed my forehead and tried not to sigh.

“I'm
sorry, but I can't.” I didn't really have a good excuse other
than just not wanting to be arrested, so I refused to elaborate my
answer. Terrence didn't look put off.

“Would
you prefer to meet somewhere else? Another restaurant? Here?”
Damn, he was persistent. But also gorgeous. I pushed that thought
away roughly and tried to focus on the task at hand. I had some
bargaining room now. At least I thought I did.

“Will
you forgive me for breaking the pot?” I asked, pursing my lips
and crossing my arms. Terrence smiled.

“You're
already forgiven. As long as you give me your phone number. And
maybe your name.” I couldn't help but smile back.

“Ginger,
Ginger Malloy. Feel free to laugh.” He didn't, just smiled,
and I got butterflies in my stomach. Terrence pulled a cell phone
from his pocket and handed it to me.

“How
about we meet at that brewery downtown on Olive for lunch? My treat.”
Despite all of the horrible things that were happening to me, I kept
having people volunteer to pay for food. I guessed it wasn't such a
bad day after all. I nodded. Since the brewery was close to work,
maybe I could spray-paint Rosanne's car while I was down there. I
just hoped Blake wasn't going to be working. If Erin got word of
this, I'd never hear the end of it. I finished programming my number
into his phone and handed it back. “I'll see you around, say,
eleven?”

“You
want me to get up that early?” I opened my mouth to argue, and
he laughed.

“I'm
not a morning person either. Let's make it two.” His face fell
serious, and he looked almost inhumanly beautiful for a moment. “You
really are special, aren't you?” I blushed; I didn't really
know what to say to that. Terrence glanced at Andrea and stood up
suddenly, pushing the chair back. “Sorry to bother you, Mrs.
Malloy,” he said to my mother and waved at us as he moved away.

I
was getting ready to ask him where the fire was when I saw Andrea. I
had expected her to be curious about who he was and what we were
talking about. Instead, her face was dark with a terrible anger. It
took me aback for a second.

“What's
the matter?” I asked her tentatively, thoroughly confused. She
slammed her hands down on the table and stood up. Most of the other
patrons went quiet and began to stare. I leaned back and blinked at
her.
What the hell? Was she bipolar now?

“You're
my daughter,” she screamed. “Mine!” And with that,
Andrea threw herself across the table at me, knocking my chair over
and cracking my head against the tile floor. Alcohol and pain ran
together and blurred my vision with flickering stars (no
My Little
Pony
theme this time though). I clawed at her as she loomed
large, her ridiculous nails gouging the soft flesh on my neck as she
wrapped her hands around my throat and squeezed. I tried prying her
off, but the impact had made me dizzy and weak.

Just
as the stars began to fade to blackness, hands reached down and pried
me from her grip. One set of arms yanked Andrea back, and another
set picked me up. Even with my impaired judgment, I recognized the
person holding me. He smelled faintly like smoke, and his arms were
almost unbearably warm: Levie.

“Thanks,”
I slurred. “I owe ya one.” I tried not to pass out. I
really did. Vaguely, I heard a woman screeching, and my mind
belatedly recognized the voice as Andrea's. What the hell had just
happened? We'd been having a nice lunch, hadn't we? I didn't realize
it at first, but I must have said something aloud because the last
thing I heard before I passed out was the sphinx.

“Who
knows where the sands will take us?”