Page 2 of Almost You

Fuck this.I wouldnotbabysit him. This beautiful ghost. I did wonder who he’d been on Earth, though.

Somebody popular, I’d bet.

Not on the fringe of things like me.

That would make it harder, if his life had been a happy one.

I’d dealt with enough ghosts to know that the transition was tough when you first realized not only the being dead part, but also the nothingness. Your past erased. No clichéd people to haunt, not when you couldn’t remember them. No memories of hate or love. Just an absolute blank. You had to accept it; that was the secret. But this newbie ghost had his giant doe eyes on me. And dammit, I caved.

“I can stay with you some more…at least until I spot my client’s father,” I told him with a sigh.

He nodded. I really fucking needed to be as hard on the inside as I appeared on the outside.

I tried to be firm, crossing my arms. “If I see him, I have to leave you.”

“How will you find him?”

“I have pictures of him from different stages of his life, and I know some intimate details about the guy, but my job is still like digging for nuggets of gold in a river of shit.”

He snorted. “Good description. This whole place is colorless shit. What’s your name?” He smiled again, his hopeful warm eyes shining. His body had relaxed since I’d promised to stay with him longer.

What a smile he had.

I’d met hundreds of ghosts, but none that lit up the nothingness like him. I couldn’t hold back this time, and my mouth curved slightly in return.

“Christopher,” I said.

TWO

Ghost

Christopher.It was a nice name.

I wished mine would return to me.

My smile slipped. What the hell had happened to me? Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them away. I was trying to accept all this. But somewhere out there, I’d had a life and dreams for myself. I’d had people who must miss me and a home.I don’t belong here.

And how could there be an actualstingof tears if I were dead?

Fear launched in my stomach before sinking there like a weight. The longer I didn’t act, the heavier it got. Maybe I didn’t recall my life, but I was a planner. At least I thought so. I didn’t want to float around waiting for something. How the hell had I gotten here? Somebody must have dropped the ball or made a mistake. Shit must have gonewrong.No second chance. ’Cause here I was. Dead.

No amount of positivity would change that. Forget the gratitude journaling, if I did such stuff. I was angry at theunfairness of it all. I’d probably never gotten the chance to fly first class to Europe or drink really expensive booze. Or who knows what else? My heart sank. Had I ever been in love? I hoped that I’d at least fucked a lot and had fun.

Christopher moved to go, and I felt a pang of panic. I needed him. For one thing, he was breathing.

For another, Christopher talked.

When I’d approached other ghosts, they hadn’t seen me, or had pretended not to. I’d been alone. And whoever I was before…I didn’t think I’d liked being alone. Then Christopher had arrived.

Thank God.

I didn’t care if he found me foolish, a hot mess of a ghost. Despite his gruff attitude, I didn’t want Christopher to leave. I was afraid that after he went, I’d close my eyes and be in total blankness.

I wanted to keep staring at him.

And truthfully, I liked his face. He had good, strong features with those dark eyebrows and that blunt nose. Maybe it was the fixed scowl, I liked? Or the leather jacket stretched across those nice strong shoulders.

Maybe all of the above? His solid bulk drew me. And his eyes—a piercing, inky blue.

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