“…meeting at 7,” Lili’s voice said.
Mel struggled to remember why she was dreaming about Lili, as she was certain she was at home in bed. It was definitely dark. “Mmmph?”
A sigh of exasperation. “There’s been an incident and an emergency meeting’s been called. You’ve been tapped to take the meeting minutes, so you’ll need to be in at work before the meeting at 7.”
“Yeah, okay,” Mel mumbled. The phone beeped in her ear as Lili hung up. That was enough to wake Mel up properly.
Half an hour later, showered, styled and squeezed into a suit, Mel travelled to the train station. She could see the sun just rising behind the station, like the sky was on fire. Pretty, she thought muzzily, trudging down the stairs to the train at the platform.
Despite the early hour, the train was fairly full, but Mel managed to find one of the last free seats. She sank down onto her seat and pulled out her smartphone. She’d found a story about a lizard on a motorcycle that looked interesting and so it was. She was soon engrossed.
The train pulled up at the next station and another herd of commuters boarded, squeezing in like sardines. The doors closed and the train started to move. One woman, looking as sleepy as Mel felt, didn’t hold on to anything and overbalanced. She stumbled into Mel as she tried to regain her balance, but the train lurched and tipped her again. This time she fell face-first into Mel’s lap.
Mel opened her mouth to ask if the poor woman was okay, but she was silenced by the sound of Nybbas’ voice as he caught sight of her. “Ooh, hello!” he boomed, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of Mel with another woman draped across her lap.
Laughter erupted among the commuters and Mel felt her face redden, as did the other woman, who quickly picked herself up and squeezed between people to put as much distance between herself and Mel as she could.
She and Nybbas detrained at the same station. He walked beside her all the way to the office.
Nyybas had a broad smile on his face, looking far too alert for Mel’s foggy mind. “I didn’t know you liked eating out for breakfast.”
Mel thought about the raspberry yoghurt she hadn’t had time to eat for breakfast that morning. “This morning’s special,” she replied, inhaling the waft of bacon perfume emanating from a plaza café. She promised herself that she’d return after the meeting and taste the bacon creating such an irresistible aroma.
“I’d love to have breakfast with you one day then,” Nybbas returned.
Mel smiled. “How about after this morning’s meeting? I have a craving for bacon.”
Nybbas seemed stunned. “S-s-sure,” he stammered.
YOU ARE READING
Mel Goes To Hell
Humor“Great, see you in hell at 9 on Monday morning!" Even working in hell has a funny side. Mel accepted a job in the Hell Corporation. The push for cost-cutting, consolidation and privatisation meant most government services were contracted out to one...
