Hell Inc. (4 page)

“As
your,” he paused as if trying to select the right word.
“Caseworker,” he all but spat at me. “I am
required to stay with you in your place of residence for a minimum of
forty eight hours and guide you through your first wishing
experience. I am not happy about it, and I do not like you. I will
deign to stay here because if I do not, Uncle Lucifer will be most
displeased and his wrath is slightly less appealing to me than
staying in this run down hovel that you call home.”

Frankly, I
was too shocked to say much of anything although I felt my blood
pressure rising with my own rage. Levie closed his eyes for a moment
and when he opened them, he appeared calmer, as if that outburst had
allowed him to let off some steam. I wasn't used to being insulted
like that, but then again, I wasn't used to having demons angry at me
either. I thought about throwing some insults of my own or maybe
just punching him in his frustratingly handsome face but decided
against it. I would remain calm. I would. I held out my hand and
Levie looked at it with the corner of his lip upturned as if I were
infected with the plague.

“Let's
start over.” I spoke slowly and carefully, holding my temper in
check. “My name's Ginger Malloy.
I know, it's terrible, feel free to laugh.” Levie didn't
laugh, he just stared at me, face expressionless. “Okay then,
is your name really Levie?”

“Leviathan.”
That was it. No elaboration and he didn't offer me his hand.
Feeling slighted as well as embarrassed, I stepped away from him and
went into the kitchen to check the time. I had to be at work in
forty-five minutes. It wouldn't do to get fired yet. Rent was due
soon, and I had no idea how long the whole wishing process took.

When I
came back into the living room to tell Levie, he had already settled
himself on my couch, romance novel in hand. This time the cover
featured a man who looked suspiciously like Fabio holding a swooning
woman in a maid outfit.

“I
need to get ready for work. What are you going to do?” Levie
ignored me completely, his attention entirely focused on his book.
“Do you want to come and have dinner at the brewery across the
street?” He looked up at me, his glasses precariously perched
on the tip of his nose.

“Human
food disgusts me.” I stood there for a moment, waiting to see
if he was going to say anything else. When it became quite obvious
to me that I was being ignored, I left him in the living room and
went to change. I would remain calm.
I would.

“Executive
Rent a Car, my name is Ginger, how may I help you today?” I
said all of this with the excitement of someone attending their own
funeral. Whatever the customer said blended into a mindless stream
of worthless conversations that I tried to block from my psyche, lest
it eat away more of my soul than the cubicle walls and beige décor
were already doing their best
to achieve. Not that I had a soul anymore anyway. But at
least I could get out of this, recession or no. I didn't need
another job and working at a call center
sucked
. I had
wishes. Three of them. If I could just decide exactly what I wanted
to do with them, I could throw my headset down and never answer
another question about full size sedans for as long as I lived.

I tapped
my fingers against the arm rest on my chair and tried to ignore the
troop of Leprechauns that were dancing merrily on my coworker's
desktop. The more attention I paid them, the more influence they had
on our world and the more damage they could cause. Even as I was
thinking that, one of them kicked over her open water bottle,
spilling the contents onto her keyboard and all over her lap. She
covered her mouthpiece and cursed, mopping at the spill with a pile
of crinkled white napkins that she fished from her purse. She didn't
seem to give the cause of the spill much thought. Not that they ever
did. People never wondered why there was only one sock in the dryer
when they knew they put two; they never thought about why the car
keys had migrated from the kitchen counter into their linen closet.
That would have been just too much effort on their parts. But I
knew. And I was sick of it.

I turned
my attention back to my computer screen and waited for my next call.
It was slow today, but then again, it was every Mother's day. Only
the most miserable and lonely people called to rent a car on Mother's
day. People like me. I sighed and tried to ignore the approach of
another coworker.

“Hey
Ginger, how's it going?” Erin asked me, settling her plump,
khaki suit covered self into the desk next to me.

“Fine,”
I lied, trying to deflect her attention. She giggled and slapped at
me companionably with her other hand.

“Oh
Ginger!” she exclaimed as if I had just relayed to her the
silliest little joke. “You don't have to lie to me! What is
it? Is it a boy?” Now she really sounded excited. I suppose
she would have. The thought of boys must have really gotten her goat
considering she hadn't been able to get in the vicinity of any since
hitting puberty. I cringed at my own inner monologue and tried to
wonder when the hell I had turned into such a cynical little ass
hole.

“No
Erin,” I said, pressing the hold button on my phone and
setting my headset down next to me. “It's nothing really.
Now, if you'd please excuse me, I'm on lunch.” I plastered as
nice a smile as I could manage on my face and batted my eyelashes
sweetly.

“Wonderful!”
She exclaimed, rubbing her hands together. “Let's have lunch
together.” I cringed inwardly but nodded and grabbed my purse
and jacket off the back of my chair.

“Yes,
let's.”

Erin led
me to the entrance of the brewery, promising to pay for me after I'd
protested the cost. Now I really felt guilty about insulting her,
even if only in my own head.

Lunch was
nice, even with Erin's brother, Blake, hitting on me continuously
while she dropped hints about his recent bachelor status. “I
didn't know your brother worked here,” I said, setting down the
remainder of my burger as my stomach protested the thought of more
food. Erin smiled.

“Just
while he's finishing up at the university,” she said, elbowing
me. I wiped my hands on my napkin to hide my disinterest. She
snapped her fingers, causing me to jump in my seat. “I've got
a great idea,” she gushed. “Why don't you come over to
my mother's house tonight for dinner? Have a chance to get to know
Blake. You did say you didn't have any plans tonight, right?”
I frowned. I didn't have any Mother's Day plans, but I had plenty of
things to do. “What's wrong?” Erin asked, putting a hand
on my shoulder and leaning forward, face scrunched with concern. I
felt bad for hating her and tried to answer with at least some
honesty.

“I'm
just thinking about my Mother.” Erin's eyes grew wide as
saucers. The woman loved idle chitchat.

“What's
wrong with your Mother?” She breathed, eager to absorb any
information that I was willing to give her. I shrugged and turned in
my chair to face her.
You mean besides her being a drug
addict and a prostitute? Nothing.
“It's nothing serious I hope,” she blurted out before I
could respond. “I mean, I don't know what I would do without
my Mother. She's my rock.” I opened my mouth to give the same
sort of generalized excuse that I always did when it came to Mom, but
she kept talking. Now I remembered why I hated her. “I'm sure
my mother would be just tickled to meet you. And I mean if you and
Blake were to get together, she'd be your mother, too!” I
cringed, outwardly this time. “Are you sure you don't want to
come tonight?”
Hell no.
I
scrambled for an appropriate response, polite but dismissive.

“Ah,
thanks but I'll be fine. I just wish I had a mother as supportive as
yours.” Erin smiled sadly and leaned back, oblivious to what I
was now feeling. A shift had occurred in the atmosphere of the
restaurant, one that only I could feel. That was it. I'd done it.
I could tell. The air was
different; it just felt
wrong
.
“Oops.”

“Oops
what?” Erin asked, standing up and grabbing the check from the
table. I rubbed my head as I tried to wrap my mind around what I'd
just said. It couldn't be that easy to make my wishes, could it?

I
stood slowly and followed her to the register. As Erin paid and
chatted with her brother, I leaned against the counter and tried to
control the roiling of my stomach. When I looked up, he was standing
there. I don't know how he did it, but suddenly, Levie was just
there, standing in front of the cash register, eyes aglow with rage.

“You,”
he screamed, causing the entire restaurant to go silent. “What
have you done, you fool!” His eyes were aflame and
smoke was flowing from his fingertips. Levie's wings were raised in
an aggressive stance, and I risked a glance at Erin to try to
determine if she was seeing the same thing that I was. Her face held
surprise but surprise at being yelled at by another customer, not at
seeing a six foot tall demon with little flames bursting from the
ground around his feet. “You have no idea how much trouble I'm
going to be in with Uncle Lucifer.” He cupped his face in his
hands. “He's going to destroy me. Throw me in the river Styx.
Stupid girl. Stupid, idiot girl.”

“Sir,
please calm down.” Blake stepped in front of the desk and put a
hand on Levie's shoulder. “We apologize, we didn't see you
there. We'll get you seated right away.” Levie paled and
threw Blake's hand off as if his very touch caused him physical pain.

“Don't
you touch me, human. Your kind disgusts me. Filthy primates.
Monkeys. Worthless.” He grabbed the register and proceeded to
throw it against the wall. It dinged cheerily as cash and coins
exploded from it like some sort of bizarre hailstorm. “Magic
is not a toy, stupid girl. Pray tell, what exactly were you
thinking?” All I could do was stand there. I couldn't admit
to knowing him, not in front of all these people. Maybe if I got rid
of him now before he said anything else, I could pass him off as just
another crazy. We were in downtown Everett after all, not like we
didn't have enough of those around here.

“Please,”
I said slowly, stepping away from the counter to stand next to Erin.
“Just go home or we're going to have to call the police.”
Levie pointed a finger at me.

“I
will leave, but when you are finished here, I will be waiting for
you.” He stormed out of the glass double doors, cracking one
when he slammed it shut. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

“What
on earth – ” Erin covered her mouth with her hand and
shook her head. “A man like that belongs in an institution.”

“I
agree,” Blake said, picking up the phone. “That's why
I'm calling the police.” I ignored them both and shrugged my
arms into my coat and made as if to leave. Blake put his hand on my
arm. He gazed at me, concern apparent in his gaze. Great.

“I
don't think you should walk back to work alone. It's dangerous, that
freak could be waiting out there, ready to jump you.” I
frowned.

“He's
right, Ginger,” Erin interjected, sounding far too excited.
“Let's have Blake walk us back, shall we?” Between the
two of them and Levie, I'd had just about enough for one afternoon.

“Blake,
look, I know most girls like the whole helpless maiden thing, but I'm
just not that into it, okay?” I tried to smile to soften the
blow a bit. “I'll be alright. It's only half a block away,
and we don't need an escort.” He looked ready to argue but
seemed to think the better of it when he saw my frown return.

“Okay,
then.” He shuffled his feet nervously. “But I was
wondering if maybe you'd – ” I held up a hand to
interrupt him.

“I'm
really sorry, Blake, but I have to go. I'm going to be late. I'll
see you later.” I didn't give him a chance to answer, just
opened the one uncracked door and hurried out without giving Erin a
chance to put in her two cents.