Page 7 of Dancing with a Ghost

"All okay in here? Do we have enough lobster?" I was trying not to panic.

A nod from the chef as he continued to cook. I'd leave them to it. It was crunch time for them.

Hoping nothing else went wrong, I walked back to the reception room. I was feeling slightly calmer, happier that things seemed to be going to plan.

That was until Aaron Cooper stopped in front of me.

"Fancy running into you."

I groaned. Nothing good could come of this and as I tried to sidestep him, he moved the same way, not letting me pass.

"I think we should reacquaint ourselves, don't you?"

No, I didn't, but the more I tried to avoid him, the more persistent he became. I was about to push him out of the way. Guest or not, I wouldn't be accosted in my own hotel, but before I could do anything, Aaron flew backwards, landing right on his arse.

I shouldn't have laughed, but the look on his face was comical, one of shock and disbelief.

"What the hell did you do? You pushed me!"

I shook my head. I'd done no such thing.

"I didn't touch you, Aaron. Maybe you've drunk more than you thought."

I stepped over his sprawling figure and made my way back into the garden room, but not before smelling the distinct smell of tobacco. Seemed my ghost hadn't liked his attention. Perhaps he wasn't so scary after all.

Chapter Four

Matthias

Thatguyhadanerve. I had no idea who he was. He'd not visited the hotel before but then to accost Toby; it made me madder than I'd been in a long while. Not since fighting over the Channel anyway, when the adrenaline had been running so high, I thought I really could fly.

I shouted for him to get away from him, leave him alone, but my shouts went unheard, even to Toby. Seems I needed to focus on my words to make them heard. He knew I was there, though. I could tell how he’d sniffed the air and strangely, that pleased me. I followed him wherever he was going and ended up in a room full of people. Noisy, raucous people. I didn't like it. The need to keep Toby in my sights was overriding any discomfort I was feeling. I didn't want anything else to happen to him. I watched him from the edge of the room as he moved about the crowd, always at ease, helping out where he could, the smile never leaving his face.

He was a joy to watch. I could do it all day, and when he came to the table where the guy sat, I saw him tense, his jaw tightening. I moved closer to hear what was being said.

"Everyone," the idiot said, "this is Toby. We used to be together, but we split up ages ago. We just didn't gel, did we babe?" He turned to look at Toby, and I watched as Toby's fists clenched by his side. I didn't know what this man was talking about and why was he calling him babe? Toby wasn't a baby. Far from it, in fact.

"I'm sure no one is interested, Aaron." He turned to the person on his left. "How's everything? Is the food okay?" He continued to ignore the man in the obnoxious shirt and made his way around the table. I could tell by the man's face that he didn't think it was over, that he wasn't happy with being ignored. I'd have to keep my eye on that one.

I went back to my place by the wall and continued to monitor the proceedings. Toby was flagging, having been on his feet all day. He carried on, though, keeping everyone happy and overseeing the day. It exhausted me just watching him.

As daytime turned to night. Toby was still there, making sure all was in order. The tables had been cleared to the side to make room for what people called dancing. It wasn't like in my day and the music they played was deplorable. It was a racket, a loud series of thumps and unearthly sounds. I hated it.

I knew Toby needed to be here until the end, but I didn't have to be and as much as I wanted to stay by his side; the music drove me out to the gardens again, taking comfort from the solitude. Being around people after all this time was draining, even more so than usual. I'd not been there long when I heard raised voices.

It was that man again, and this time, he had Toby by the lapels of his jacket. He was clearly intoxicated and this time, I saw red. I roared my disapproval, focusing on my voice. They both turned at the sound, a look of horror on both their faces. I didn't waste any time, and shouted again.

"Get away from him." It didn't even sound like me, just garbled words, but he seemed to get the idea and ran, leaving Toby looking in my direction.

"Is that you? Are you my ghostly friend? Come to save me again?" He stepped in my direction, straightening his suit. "I'd like to thank you. That's twice now you've saved me from him. Where are you? What's your name?"

He turned in a circle, unable to pinpoint my exact position and I focused more than I'd ever done. I wanted him to see me, needed him to see me, needed to make that connection.

I concentrated hard, not entirely sure what I was doing, but if I imagined myself appearing to him, maybe that would work. He'd almost seen me earlier in his office, but I couldn't maintain it then, my energy was already weak.

Here went nothing. I closed my eyes, willing myself to appear, trying to bring forth my image. It'd been so long since I'd actually seen myself, it was hard to do.

I started from the bottom, working my way up, remembering how I looked all those years ago before I ended up in the hospital.

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