Chapter 20 #3
Delilah raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s merely your opinion.’
Godfrey said, ‘I put this arrangement in last place.’
Karen giggled. ‘Should have listened to my advice, sweet cheeks.’
‘Competitions don’t usually have a last place,’ Delilah said. ‘You aren’t giving out any kind of prize, so I don’t care. I like Heather’s arrangement, and I put it in first place. My opinion has as much worth as yours.’
With a howl like a witch melting under a bucket of water, Karen faded away. Godfrey vanished next. The entire room turned pure white. A door clicked open.
Heather shook her head. ‘It turns out that ignoring them was the best way to handle them. That was way more satisfying than throwing a table. Thank you, Delilah.’ She hesitated. She desperately wanted to leave, but she owed it to Delilah to help with her trial too. ‘Which door is yours?’
‘I think my trial was in this direction.’ Delilah opened a door in the corner.
A raspy voice cried, ‘Girl, where did you run off to? You’d better not have been teaching yourself card tricks again! Those light hands of yours are the work of the devil.’
Delilah winced. ‘That’s definitely my room. Good luck.’
Heather stepped into a poorly maintained living room. An older woman glared at her with beady eyes. ‘Girl, are you bringing more troublesome friends home? Anyone who would associate with you would be a bad influence on you. It’s not my fault. I did my best, but you were born shifty.’
Heather winced. Her parents had been great, and seeing Jaime and Delilah reminded her how lucky she’d been.
She did not feel anger, only a sorrow, because they had both deserved better.
Straightening her back, Heather said, ‘Delilah is a wonderful person, and I’m proud to be her friend.
She’s helped me out many times standing up to difficult customers.
I wish you could see her through my eyes. ’
The crone sneered. ‘You look low-class.’
‘I don’t need your approval,’ Heather said.
With one last whispered insult, the ghost faded away. A door opened.
Delilah rubbed the back of her neck. ‘Aargh, I should have said, “I don’t need your approval.” That’s a way better retort. We did it!’ She held up her hand.
‘We did it together.’ Heather slapped a high-five.
In a softer voice, Delilah said, ‘Thank you for standing up for me.’
‘Any time,’ Heather said. They turned and walked through each other’s doors.
Both of them came out into the waiting room at almost the same time, their shoulders bumping together.
Standing next to the defunct lift doors, Lucy glanced over. ‘Oh, good, you’re here. I was about to leave without you. We don’t have any time to dawdle in repairing my masterpiece. As Dante said, “Our fate cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.”’
‘Where’s Jaime?’ Heather asked. There was no one else in the waiting room.
‘The girl left for Floor Greed.’ Lucy shrugged.
‘She said something about Floor Anger being even more unpleasant than the last time she came here. Tests have been known to change over time based on what lies in the mortal heart. She seemed distraught and determined to leave at once. John and Howard departed with her.’
‘I’m glad she’s not alone.’ Heather sighed.
‘The test was hard on her. It brought up her most traumatic memories. I realise we need to make it to the engine room before you can change anything, but I don’t think Floor Anger should treat the test-takers so unfairly.
People who are mistreated are allowed to get angry.
I don’t think that letting people walk all over you is a good moral lesson. ’
‘I agree,’ Delilah said.
‘Keep in mind that you weren’t supposed to be taking this test,’ Lucy said.
‘Delilah, you don’t have excessive anger to manage.
Floor Anger can actually be harder on people never supposed to be there.
It will draw on even crueller memories and situations to try to make them angry.
However, I do take your point. Barbara was quite provocative to me.
Perhaps this floor should be adjusted to be more about teaching people to use their anger in productive ways, rather than never feel it at all. ’
Feeling generous in her victory, Heather said, ‘I did learn something from this test about dealing with difficult people. Come to think of it, Delilah and I helped each other with our tests. Did we still pass?’
Lucy squinted at them. ‘Yes, you both seem to have the aura of a passing candidate. I will also need to fix the floor to make sure people can’t interfere with each other’s tests.
Since I don’t have a good method of preventing two people from going in at once, there needs to be stronger barriers between the tests. ’
If Heather had passed Floor Anger, even on a technicality . . . then she ought to be able to go to Heaven. She didn’t know how she felt about that. Hadn’t she just promised to stay?
Heather needed to talk to Jaime before making any decisions. She needed to fix the hotel before she could even think about leaving it. And she had four more tests to go.