Down the Rabbit Hole

Lost Girl Part 2

Soundtrack:

Elvis Presley A little less conversation

Orion Express Obsessed with you

Belinda Carlisle Heaven is a place on Earth

The three of them headed over to some corporate offices the other side of town. The new CEO was the youngest in the company's history and had been plucked from obscurity last week. Dean, Lacey and Garth were sat in the waiting room outside his office, watching his wife berate the new secretary.
"Are you trying to humiliate me? It's Marsha with an s-h-a not a c-i-a." The woman stormed off before the office door opened and Sam and Becky stepped out.
"Hey, is that your.." Garth nodded in Sam's direction.
"Yes."
"Awkward." Dean and Lacey got to their feet, meeting Sam and Becky in the middle of the floor.
"Hi." Becky pulled a face and walked off. "Ok, so..."
"So, no point going in. Guy's clean."
"You sure?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, positive. Becky grilled him like a pro. She's a real natural." Lacey raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"Huh." Dean didn't really know what to say to that.
"What's with the scrawny guy?" Sam frowned in Garth's direction.
"Temp." Dean shrugged before they were called in to their appointment with the CEO. Dean glanced over his shoulder as they entered the office, watching as Sam left with Becky.

"Throw a rock, hi a reporter these days, huh?" The new CEO joked as the three of them took their seats facing his desk.
"Well, your story's a big deal over at the, uh, Actuarial Insider." Dean smiled.
"Go ahead, shoot." The CEO nodded encouragingly.
"All right, how'd you get the gig?"
"Board came to me, asked, I said yes."
"Just out of the blue?"
"Pretty much."
"Huh. And any idea how the board landed on you over your supervisors?" Dean asked.
"Um, they didn't say."
"Could you tell us what specifically excited the board about your actual qualifications?" The CEO stared back at them.
"Say fellas, what's with the third degree?"
"Oh, uh, no offense. We were just wondering if you got here by nefarious means?"
"Whoa! Garth!" Dean gave him a look, while Lacey just looked amused.
"Oh, uh, I didn't mean, of course... corporate backstabbing, I'm sorry. I meant more like black magic or hoodoo." Lacey's smile dropped and she stared at Garth, open mouthed.
"Hahahah! He jokes! He's a jokester!" Dean laughed. "Let's rewind. Why don't you tell us what it felt like when your big dream came true?" The CEO let out a sigh.
"Look, on the record, it's great."
"Off the record?"
"It's not my big dream." The three of them looked surprised.
"Wait, you didn't want this job?" Garth asked.
"Hell, no. I'm a sales guy. I was good in sales." There was a knock on the door and his wife reappeared.
"Your secretary is an idiot. I'll be at the printers this afternoon."
"All right, dear. See you at dinner."
"Just have the idiot make a reservation. Here's a tip, remind her she works for the CEO, one more screw up, she's fired." She told him before turning to leave.
"Your wife seems pretty stoked on the promotion, doesn't she." Garth observed.
"Honestly, I've never seen her happier. I have no idea how I'm going to tell her I have to resign. The news is just gonna..."
"Kill her?" Garth finished.

The three of them rushed out of the office and hurried down the stairs, trying to catch up to Marsha.
"Mrs Burrows? Hi." Dean called. She turned around and gave them a withering glance.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, we're doing a story on your husbands promotion, wanted to ask you a few questions."
"I'm sorry, I can't today. If you schedule it with his girl..." She turned to leave but Dean grabbed her arm.
"Okay, you know what? I'm trying to save you from a really bad accident." Lacey started at him wide eyed, trying to mentally communicate with him that, that was not the best thing to have said.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No." Dean quickly removed his hand from Marsha's arm. "No. I'm pointing out a pattern. Why do people keep thinking I'm threatening them?"
"Because it sounded exactly like a threat, dude." Garth told him gently.
"Not threatening people, it isn't your forte hun." Lacey told him sympathetically.
"Look, for your own good, what did you do to get him promoted?" Dean tried again.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Now leave me alone. Or do I have to call security?" Dean took a step back and she nodded before heading across the foyer. "Bring the damn car around. I'm not walking five blocks in my heels." She barked at one of the doormen. A second later Lacey sees a flash of colour from the corner of her eye and Dean is running across the foyer. He tackled Marsha to the ground seconds before a chandelier crashed down on top of her. Lacey rushed across the room after him, holding out a hand to help them up.
"You ok?" He asked Marsha as Garth hurried over to join them.
"How did you know?" She asked, some of the brashness gone from her voice.
"Cause you're not the first. Come on." They picked their way across the glass strewn floor.
"You want to tell us what's up here?" Garth asked.
"I was having lunch with friends. This guy heard me bitching, next thing I know, he's making me an offer."
"An offer?"
"Craig's job for my soul. I know, hilarious. I mean what have I got to lose?" She laughed almost hysterically.
"Well, there's your soul. What kind of demon deal is this? Timeline's whack." Garth asked.
"What are you talking about? Demon?" Marsha looked between them, shocked.
"Let me back up here. You made a deal with a demon in exchange for your everlasting. Except those are 10 year contracts. Why's the bill coming due so fast?"
"I don't know. But I got a bad feeling about who's next. We got to find Sam, pronto." They headed for the door, Garth escorting Marsha.
"All right, all right, all right. Here's the plan. I drop this lady at my cousins. He'll stop anything trying to get her. We find Sam, hopefully fix this, everybody's home in time for America's got talent. Now, you'll be living with a tri-racial paraplegic sniper until this all blows over, okay?"