Page 12 of Ghost of a Chance
“Sure, you didn’t.”
Like she was going to believe this guy.Even if he was telling the truth, she was over him and this pushy city.
He looked like he wanted to say more, but Bri’s makeup was finished and everyone started returning to their filming spots.Instead he took her hand and squeezed it.
Surprisingly a feeling of warmth traveled up her arm.She pulled her hand away.She didn’t want to feel anything toward him but that potent cocktail of anger and regret, and she wasn’t in the mood to change that attitude.
The producer had explained earlier that this segment would be Kirsty’s last and would be about five to seven minutes.She could get through five minutes of talking to Jasper’s supposed ghost.
Clairvoyance involved awakening the third eye and seeing into the spirit world around her.After reading a few books and watching some TV shows, Kirsty had come up with a theatrical routine to make it seem legit.The rest was a mix of improv and telling people what they wanted to hear.So at least she already had that in her back pocket.
“Welcome back.Before the break I hinted that we might get to see K.L.’s real talent for extrasensory perception.That’s talking to the dead.One of my staffers Jasper has been haunted for years, but I’ll let him tell the tale,” Bri said.“Jasper, tell us what happened.”
Jasper looked at the correct camera and smiled that toothy grin of his bolstered by sheer nerve.“Well, my college roommate—um, Paul, died of a brain hemorrhage during our junior year while studying for his physics exam.After the funeral I started noticing certain things…the TV would come on andJudge Judywould be playing—”
“Love me someJudge Judy, she tells it like it is,” Bri interrupted.
The audience applauded.
“Yes, she does.”Jasper took a deep breath.“When I turned the TV off, it would come back on,” Jasper said.
“Is that all?”Bri asked.“Your ghost is a malfunctioning TV?”
Bri’s skepticism made Kirsty almost give her a high five.But she kept her hands in her lap.
“No, there are also lights going on and off in all of the apartments I’ve lived in.Usually whenever I do something that annoys Paul.And…when I try to get rid of the book, it shows up back in my apartment a few days later.”
“That sounds like a lot to deal with.Have you heard anything like this before?”Bri turned to Kirsty.
“Not per se, but it does sound like you have some unresolved feelings about Paul’s death.It’s common for spirits to haunt people that can’t let them go,” Kirsty said.“Do you feel guilty about anything surrounding his death?”
“No.I mean we had a fight before, but it wasn’t that big a deal.I know he would have forgiven me.”
Kirsty turned toward him.The spicy scent of his aftershave reminded her of being in his arms.Of that strange night that matched his totally fake story.For a moment she lost track of the question she was going to ask.Bri jumped into the silence.
“Do you have the book with you?Could you bring it out and see if you can get Paul to do something?”
Jasper flushed, the red tone washing over his cheeks and the side of his neck, and he took the book from the couch next to him.He lifted it up, presenting it to Kirsty…and nothing happened.They all stared at the book, waiting for something.
Kirsty actually felt embarrassed for him.Why did he start this if it was going to be so anticlimactic?Maybe he just wanted attention and never thought it would be televised.But he’d taken it way too far.
“I wonder if bringing Paul into the studio has forced him to move on,” Kirsty said.“Maybe he doesn’t like being in the spotlight.”
“Not everyone does,” Bri said, disappointment clear in her voice.“Well…that was—”
She broke off as the lights in the studio burst one after another down the line.There were gasps and screams from the audience.Kirsty felt a cold chill along the back of her neck and she rubbed her arms, looking at the book that had slipped from Jasper’s hands and was now lying open on the floor of the studio with the pages fluttering despite there being no breeze.
The cameras stopped rolling and the house lights went up.
Bri turned toward the two of them, all smiles.“Well.That was something.I mean I had no idea what we’d get from your ghost, but that was good TV, Jasper.”
* * *
Jasper was freaking out.That had been too much.Paul always had a flair for the dramatic.Such a diva.Of course he’d gone big.Even if it meant causing chaos at his job.But now at least Kirsty couldn’t say that Paul wasn’t real.
“This is what I’ve been dealing with,” he said.
“Shut up,” Kirsty said.“That was insane.Did you two set this up?”
