Chapter 36 #2
‘Yay!’ The toy forgotten, Jaime ran out of the room.
Smiling, Damien sat in his chair. He reclined it and relaxed. That had been an exhausting first time, but it hadn’t gone as badly as it could have done.
It would have been the perfect first day if only Delilah had been there.
After he finished his years of service, he could go up to Heaven and see her – but by then, of course, Delilah would have found someone to love. She was an incredibly loveable person. The guys in Heaven would snatch her up right away.
‘Do you miss her too?’ Damien leaned down to stroke Nefertiti’s head. ‘You always did like her.’
Nefertiti rumbled in a way that indicated assent.
Damien craved chocolate to soothe his sorrows.
He rose, planning to travel to the cafeteria for a snack.
As he pressed the lift button, he sighed.
‘I’m happy for Delilah. I truly am. She deserved to get into Heaven.
She’s beautiful, brilliant and brave. I’m just going to miss her so much.
Meeting her changed me for the better. When she believed in me, I could start to believe in myself.
Even if I never see her again, she’ll always be special to me.
I wish we could have had time to see if I could have been someone special to her too— Gah!
’ The lift door chimed open, revealing Delilah’s grinning face.
This must be a hallucination. Damien covered his eyes. When he removed his hands, surely she would be gone.
Delilah said, ‘You’re already special to me, Damien. You were the first face I saw at the Purgatory Hotel for Wayward Ghosts. When I was at my lowest point, unable to figure out my test, you believed in me too. When I needed you, you came to help me.’
Slowly, Damien lowered his hands from his eyes.
Delilah stepped out of the lift. She wore a black-and-white striped shirt with a red coat on top, the golden buttons running down to her black pencil skirt. She had white gloves and a very familiar red cap. Tipping her hat at him, she asked, ‘How do I look?’
Damien swallowed. Vertigo rushed to his head. He had to grip the edge of the desk to stop himself from fainting. At some point, his mouth took over on its own. ‘You look perfect.’
‘Thank you.’ She twirled in a circle. ‘I like my new uniform. I’m new at being a lift attendant, so I’ll be relying on you to teach me all the tips. I negotiated regular breaks. We can talk during my next one.’
‘You’re the new lift attendant?’ Damien flushed at blurting out the obvious, but he still couldn’t quite believe it. ‘I thought you went to Heaven!’
‘Sure, I did briefly – to deliver Lucy’s letter.
It didn’t even cost me my push of the button.
I’m saving my own button for when I feel it’s time to leave the hotel, or maybe for a guest who desperately needs it.
’ Delilah winked. Nefertiti ran over to brush against her ankles, before vanishing and leaving them alone.
‘Letter . . .’ Damien’s brain still wasn’t working. If he could think, then he’d be horrified at all the feelings he’d blurted out.
‘Lucy wanted me to tell some relatives up in Heaven about her elopement with Howard. I thought it would be a quick trip, but when they found out that Lucy had adopted me a whole bunch of beings came to see me. They were . . . impossible to describe.’ Delilah ran her fingers through her hair.
‘Some of them were very kind to me. Others asked if I was planning to destroy the life on earth. Of course not! I said I was just an ordinary accountant, and they found that even more suspicious. It was very strange. Do you think that Lucy is a really big deal in Heaven and Hell?’
Damien snorted. ‘I have a strong suspicion, yes.’ His sanity was partly returning because of his amusement with Delilah’s gift for blundering into strange situations. ‘Why did you decide to stay here? I thought you wanted to get into Heaven more than anything.’
‘So did I, at first.’ Delilah shrugged. ‘I was obsessed with proving that I’m a good person.
But I think I’ve already proven that, to my own standards instead of someone else’s.
I’m proud of helping save this hotel. It hurt my feelings when I first heard that I’d gone to Purgatory because I lived a “middling life”, but now I’ve done something amazing, important and magical.
You and the others do good work here. I want to keep on saving people.
I had a lot of fun. I’ve made many friends who are very important to me.
’ She met his gaze. ‘I want to see and accomplish more. Lucy promised to take me on a trip of the cosmos, after she finishes her honeymoon. I’m in no rush to reach Heaven.
The people who are most dear to me are already here. ’
His cheeks heated. ‘It was your choice, of course – but I’m glad you stayed.
You’ll be an amazing employee.’ He also felt glad that she hadn’t stayed only for his sake.
That would have been a lot of pressure to put on a fresh, new crush.
Now they had plenty of time – an eternity, in fact.
‘I’ve made quite a fool of myself in front of you.
That always seems to happen to me. But can I take your words to mean that I have hope? ’
A mysterious smile formed on Delilah’s lips. She leaned so close he could smell the rose scent on her hair. Then she reached behind his ear and pulled out a red silk rose. ‘We can start with a coffee date. Lucy added a new coffee bar to the cafeteria. Have you seen it yet?’
A light flashed on the lift, and the long chime meant it had been called to the outside.
Delilah whirled round. ‘It looks like we have a new guest. I’ll be back! Wish me luck on my grand debut.’ She blew him a kiss, then vanished into the lift.
His cheeks crimson, Damien clutched the rose tightly. He felt so happy that it felt as if his heart might explode out of his chest.