Chapter 46.

When I pulled on the handle and opened the door, I realized my hand was still shaking ever so slightly. Despite how we acted like nothing happened, I was still internally startled by everything. The thought of a ghost who took on the appearance, while simultaneously imitating the mannerisms of my ex, left me slightly shaken up on the inside. My thoughts were left in a tumultuous rut of disorderly chaos.

I couldn’t tell whether boss was messing with me or not; such thoughts left me more nervous and uncertain than ever. Why was she always so vague about everything? A ghost? Was something like that really possible?

I took in a deep breath, exited my car and made my way to the passenger side where I opened the door for her. She extended her right hand in my direction, similar to how she’d previously done at McDonald’s. I reflexively held onto it with my left like it was a conditioned reaction.

Ugh. Why did I do that like it was the only natural thing to do?

“You did it properly this time? Are you actually learning? Or were you so scared from earlier you wanted someone to hold onto your hand to reassure you?”

“It was just an accident. It definitely won’t happen again.”

“Your hand is shaking a bit, you do realize that, right?”

“It’s not, isn’t it actually yours that’s shaking?”

“Haha. No need to hide your true thoughts. Did you fantasize about me too much and get overly excited to the point you could hardly contain your carnal desires?”

“As if.”

As she teased me and I listened to the sound of her voice, the anxiousness I felt in my heart from the earlier encounter was slightly alleviated.

While we held hands, she got out of the car and dragged me along towards the worn down looking building. A sudden scene flashed by for a moment as certain memories overlapped with the surroundings. The outside world turned to the inside of an old mansion and the woman in front of me similarly overlapped with Adele’s figure for a brief instance before it returned to normal.

For a moment, my grip on her hand tightened, but it relaxed soon after when the scene returned to normal. Now before me, was a house that had definitely seen better days. The paint was peeled back in some areas while the gate was rusted in several locations. When we were outside the door, I made an attempt to pull my hand away from her so I could escape and flee back to the safety of my car; but before I had the chance, she turned towards me as asked, “want to have a cup of coffee before you go? Seeing as you plan to sleep in your car, it’d be a good way to warm up with how chilly outside is tonight.”

“I don’t drink coffee.”

“For real? What kind of man are you?”

“I just never grew to like coffee, does that really make me less of a man?”

“Then how about some tea?”

“I don’t really like tea either.”

“Hot chocolate?”

“I’m not really feeling like hot chocolate right now.”

“Beer?”

“I don’t drink.” At least not with women anymore.

“Wine?”

“Aren’t you allegedly frugal? Do frugal women have wine lying around for any random guest they have over?”

“Sex on the beach?”

“No thank you.”

“How about a coke?”

“A coke?”

“Yeah.”

“You drive a hard bargain.”

“I’m not bargaining though, and why is it you only struggle to decide when it’s a coke?!”

“Coke is the master class of sodas obviously. You can’t say no to a coke. By the way, how is a coke supposed to warm me up?”

“The sugar? How the hell would I know? You’re the one that rejected all the others.”

I was actually reluctant to stay after the hallucination I had just now, but I found it difficult to cold heartedly reject her in the end and I eventually caved in under her intense glare. I really felt like a pushover.

“I’m kidding, I’ll take the hot chocolate after all. Honestly, I was just a bit worried that you’d be financially strained if I took up your offer (lol).”

Her lip twitched a bit in response to my shameless jab; but for once, I somehow felt like I’d come out on top in our exchange despite being the one that caved under pressure. Without thinking too deeply behind her intent to invite me in, I followed behind her and entered the house.

After I entered through the front door, I followed her lead and took off my shoes. I placed them off to the side before I followed behind her into the living room. The floorboards were creaking with every step we took and by their appearance, it was clear they’d never been replaced.

“How old is your place anyways?”

“It’s a house I bought cheap off an old couple that passed away, so I’m not too sure. Would you be freaked out if I said that?”

“Ha! Like I’d be scared of that. Do you even know the freaky shit that happened in the new apartment I bought?” You want to compete with me on freaky places to live? You’re a million years too soon for that, young grasshopper. I stared up at the ceiling with dead eyes when I thought back to the other far from ordinary places I’d lived throughout my life. Why was I even competing over this?

“Then, you should let me come over and experience some of that freaky shit.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not, you’ve already come as far as entering my place, haven’t you? What’s the big deal if I went over to your place?”

“Ugh. I completely forgot because of what happened earlier, but you’re right. I really shouldn’t be here. Sorry, I’ll be leaving now.”

Katcha.

Katcha? What do you mean by that katcha sound?

“Hold on. You’re already here and there’s now recorded picture evidence to prove it. Whether you leave now or later it doesn’t really make that big of a difference, right?”

When I turned towards her, I saw a triumphant smile on her face. She held her phone up to me with the camera pointed in my direction.

“What are you taking pictures for?”

“Obviously so I can blackmail you into working for dirt cheap.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Am I?”

“Well, just sit down obediently and wait for the hot chocolate. I'm going to make it now, so be a good boy and behave yourself in the meantime. Also, you don’t need to worry about creating any financial hardships for me, I’ll just take the cost of the hot chocolate out of your paycheck.”

“Please don’t.”

I resignedly took a seat on the couch in the living room while she made her way into the kitchen area. She opened up a few cupboards with a cheerful smile, that bloomed on her face like a flower beside a tranquil spring. It was only barely discernible from her side profile and if I hadn’t paid close attention, I would have never noticed it.

Despite the house being old, the kitchen and the living room were an open concept design. I naturally saw everything she did in the kitchen, in plain sight, even from the couch.

She let down her hair that she normally had tied up in a professional manner. It hung down slightly above her waist, it was much longer than I’d expected. Her hair was a shiny pitch black, it was very well kept and the light above her reflected off of it and gave it a radiant sparkle. She removed her jacket and tossed it from the kitchen area onto the couch I was on.

Judging by the slightly warm smile on her face, she seemed to be in a fairly good mood despite what happened not too long ago in the car. She really moved from one thing to the next and never let anything weigh her down. I found that I was constantly pulled into her pace. Though, I still didn’t understand anything about her with how short the time we spent together was. The only thing I vaguely felt, was that I’d grown more attached to her over the short time that we'd been together recently.

However, that was also what scared me all the same. I was scared to grow any closer to her than this. I was scared to grow more attached to her. I was scared I’d come to like her. I was scared there would come a day where she would change. I was scared of becoming romantically involved, only to discover her true colors later on. I really had far too many fears.