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The next day dawned, pouring with rain. Droplets drummed against the window pane and woke Nancy. For the first time in years, she opened her eyes and felt wide awake. I’ve never been a morning person. I always struggle to wake up. Maybe this is how I would feel if I’d had early nights and not had so much stress in my life. For fuck’s sake, this is all down to Damien being a knob and dying too early.
Stress powered its way through her fragile nervous system, and she involuntarily twitched and kicked Damien in the small of his back. He fell out of bed and hit the hard floor with a thump, his head striking the wall on his way down. With the air knocked out of his lungs, Damien raised a palm over his temple and felt a trickle of blood dripping from his fresh wound.
Nancy yelled, ‘NO! I refuse to be stressed out. I lost my husband and never knew where he went, then I got cancer and died!’ She shot out of bed and kicked the mattress in frustration.
Seeing the look of rage on Nancy’s face, Damien clambered to his feet and staggered towards the shower to hide.
‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ Nancy cried. ‘I am dead! I don’t need to be stressed.’
Damien peeked round the corner of the bedroom to see Nancy sitting on the edge of the bed. Creeping in nervously and sitting next to his wife, he then put his arms around her and held her for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she sat up again. ‘I guess that it’s sunk in now. Sorry if I hurt you...that looks sore,’ she said, reaching up to his face.
‘Well, I guess I deserved it. Hell, I deserved a lot more. Let’s eat and then make our way round to Eloise’s to see what the day has in store.’
‘What do dead people eat for breakfast? I’ve never thought about what food might be on offer in the afterlife.’
‘Bacon butty, brown sauce and a cup of tea. The breakfast of champions.’
They hugged contentedly, elated to be in each other’s company.
***
MAXINE, HECTOR, NANCY and Damien all arrived at Eloise’s hut at more or less the same time.
The curator sat next to Eloise on a new luxury Chesterfield sofa. Nancy looked at the sofa with envy. ‘I wanted that sofa when I was alive. It was on the adverts on the telly all the time.’
The curator smiled enigmatically. ‘I know. It’s really comfortable, Nancy. You never know, there might be more where this came from.’
Nancy looked at the others one by one, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘You really are the boss, aren’t you? Is there anything you don’t know about me?’
‘That’s for me to know, but let’s just say that it’s important to know about your colleagues. Believe me, if I knew of anything untoward then you wouldn’t be here now. I can always send you to Hong Kong if you like?’
‘I’m fine here. Thank you.’
The curator grinned, her eyes glinting with amusement as she looked at the assembled group. Nancy didn’t let it escape her attention that Eloise looked uncomfortable, just like the rest of them. Maybe she isn’t as important as she makes out.
Eloise asked Hector to make hot drinks for them all. He seemed pleased to be given a task, probably to break away from the mounting power play between the females. Of course, he knew that the curator was top dog; Eloise was merely her representative on the island. Damien and I know that Eloise is in for a promotion, but this is making me uncomfortable. Nancy has no experience of being here, and I don’t know how the boss is going to react if she breaks some damned rule.
‘Thank you, Hector. I’m sure you already know what to make for everybody, seeing as you didn’t ask.’
The big German blushed a little and looked at the carpet. The curator chuckled and smiled matronly at him. ‘Tea, of course, for Damien and his beautiful wife, strong black coffee for you and Eloise, and hot chocolate for Maxine and me. I guessed, and if anyone wants to swap their drinks, that’s fine by me.’
After a few minutes of clattering around in the kitchen area, Hector returned with a tray of hot beverages, clearly feeling nervous about his offering. ‘Don’t worry, Hector, I’m sure everyone is fine with their drink.’ The curator picked up her coffee and savoured the bitter aroma of the expensive blend. ‘This is a custom-made coffee from Brazil. Good choice, Hector.’
Nancy took a long swig of her tea and couldn’t resist a tease. ‘This is perfect, Hector. For Damien. I prefer mine a bit more brewed. I bet he’s made you his tea bitch, hasn’t he?’
Hector’s face, which had only just returned to its normal colour from earlier, flushed a healthy shade of pink once again, prompting Damien and Nancy to burst out in fits of laughter.
‘Okay, okay, you got me.’ He laughed, blushing even more upon realising that Nancy could tease him with ease. ‘Ja, he has me wrapped around his little finger. In fact, we have been become close friends.’ He winked at Damien. ‘Just as well you showed up when you did or he might have tried to kiss me at some point, I’m sure of it.’
The ice of the meeting was now well and truly broken. Maxine laughed along too, even though she still felt a little left out, given how long she had been stranded in the forbidden area of the island before Damien had shown up.
The curator held a hand up to catch the attention of the room. ‘We are here today to celebrate your promotions to the SMG. Maxine is the longest dead, and as such, she has a higher level of seniority. Of course, Nancy died at the right time, which would normally mean she’d be at the top of the tree if someone then made the decision to bring her here regardless. However, if it wasn’t for Damien, Nancy would’ve been reincarnated already, so I can disregard that rule. As a couple, they get second place in the hierarchy here. Hector, you are to be the guide for the next new arrival, as Nancy is a special case.’
Hector suddenly looked like he was going to have an eruption of some kind, and Damien put his hand on his friend’s arm. ‘What is it, Hector? Are you alright?’
While Hector visibly reined himself in, Eloise leant forward and nodded to him, giving him permission to speak his mind.
The gesture allowed Hector to cool a little, like a pan that had just been taken off the boil. He looked at the curator and explained, ‘I’ve been used to being the little guy all my life, despite my stature. Why is it that, yet again, I am being put right down the pecking order, even when I have made it to the afterlife, just like everyone else? And while I have the permission to talk, and I hope I am not punished for the next question, but why is it that when Nancy passed away, she was allowed to come here, but when my daughter passed away, I didn’t even get to find out where she went to? She could have come here. Nancy proves that.’
Eloise’s eyebrows shot up so fast that they could’ve easily detached and hit the ceiling. She sat on the edge of her seat and pointed at Hector. ‘How dare you speak to—’
‘Enough!’ The curator raised her voice to a volume that no one there had ever heard from her before. With a furious scowl, she turned to Eloise, whose face had turned to a brighter red than the colour of her hair. ‘You, Eloise, are of the same standing as the rest of these people now that they too are in the SMG. When I was speaking about their respective standing, I was just talking about the jobs that they shall be starting with.’ She turned her attention to Hector, who appeared to be wishing for the floor to open up and swallow him whole.
Unexpectedly, the curator’s face softened, and she spoke to Hector with a motherly tone. ‘Hector, as I just said to Eloise, I hold you in the same regard as anyone else in the room. I am not heartless, and I understand what you are asking. Firstly, you are not right down the pecking order. It is actually a privileged job to welcome the newcomers, and you are excellent at it. It just so happens that the next new arrival still needs to be greeted, even though the usual order of things has been disturbed.
‘Your next question is more complex. Nancy and Damien have never lost their love for each other. If anything, their time apart has burned their bond even deeper.
‘I am very sorry for your loss, truly, I am. The difference is that Ada is your offspring, not your soul mate. I should have told you, and for that, I apologise. Ada had reached the conclusion of her mortal journey and is now in heaven. She loves it there and sends her love to you.’
Hector’s eyes widened at the revelation. ‘Wait, you have access to heaven? The actual heaven above?’ He stared at the curator as he eagerly waited for an answer.
‘Draw your own conclusions, Hector. We need to move this meeting on.’
Hector hugged a cushion and spoke with sincerity. ‘Thank you. What you have just said means the world to me. I can now continue on my journey as a happy man.’ A tear of relief rolled over the sharp contours of his face, dripped from his chin and splashed onto the sofa.