Ghost Sensitivity Training

CHAPTER FIVE

SINCLAIR

     Alexei, for what it's worth, doesn't swerve the car this time. He goes tense instead, clenching the steering wheel as he grinds his jaw. He says slowly, "So you were watching me all day."

     "Not all day," I admit. "I went and hung out with that Maddy girl. They had nothing but nice things to say about you." I inflect my voice, hoping to entice him.

     I wait. Entice him it does not.

     The waiting was perfunctory but I'm not willing to move on just yet. "So the choking."

     He's quick to interrupt, "Is none of your business."

     "I just ask because Nadine seems like she would be into that. I think her exact words were he can hold a knife to my neck as he fucks me. So if that's what you're, like, looking for..."

     "Nadine doesn't have two brain cells to rub together. She needs to worry less about getting fucking laid," he snaps.

     "I mean she's hot if you're into that," I say with a shrug.

     "Into what? Stupidity?" He glances at me, his gaze dismissive like even giving Nadine the time of day in this conversation is more than she's worth.

     "No, girls." I shrug. I wait some more. Anything? Nothing, got it. "I see we're still not getting to the point here. The point being the choking. I'm just trying to understand if that was like a sensory thing or a, uh, you know cry for help."

     "Do I look like the kind of person who's crying for help?"

     I chance him a look. His necks red. He's embarrassed.

     "Do you really want me to answer that?" I ask gently.

     "What I really want is for you to be quiet."

     I hum affirmatively. I can be quiet. I absolutely can do that for him. That is no skin off my back. The problem is even though we're both being quiet he is thinking very loudly.

     "Just to be clear, I wasn't trying to creep on you earlier."

     "Get out of my head, Sinclair."

     "I'm just, I just want the record to show that I am not a stalker. I was simply doing fieldwork."

     He ignores me.

     "It's not like I have anywhere else to go. And while I'd love to terrorize another coffee shop, it's not great karma. And I'm really concerned about my karmic energy."

     He pulls into the underground garage beneath his apartment building, finds his spot, and backs into it. Show off.

     I'm outside the car and waiting for him when he steps out.

     "Alright," he says with a huff. "It's been a long day. I'm done now. Can you go..."

     He trails there and it lingers. Home. There is no home for a ghost. It's everywhere and nowhere all at once. I put on my saddest, most pained expression, hoping to garner even more of his sympathy.

     And maybe he realizes this because he leaves a long pause between us before he says instead, "Don't do that thing where you disappear and then creep on me. If you're going to stay then just be visible."

     He leaves it at that, walking towards the elevator. I grin. A win is a win.

     I get inside with him, standing close, close enough to speak right into his ear, "I just want to say I've never watched you inappropriately."