THE GHOSTWRITER

PART 12

Richard looks longingly at the sleeping figure.

No one knows, but every night he watches Maine secretly from the window.

The truth is, his actions make him flinch. But he can't stay away. Even if Maine had told him directly to stay away, he can't.

He won't.

Richard is a ghost---an amnesiac one at that---he doesn't have anything to lose anymore other than Maine.

It's might be love, he's still not sure, but he'll hold on as long as he can, even if that meant he'll do it from a distance.

Richard doesn't see the figure of another female ghost watching him from inside a hallway window. Leah looks at him with the same look he's giving Maine.

But Richard only ever watches Maine dream.

His eyes are only for her.

---

"Hello, Richard, may I join you?"

Richard smiles at the beautiful woman and pats the space beside him. He has taken into occupying the balcony again since his last encounter with Maine. There's no use in hiding from her anymore after their interactions in the past few days.

"What can I do for you this morning?" Richard asks kindly.

He likes Leah. He knows Leah likes him too. And if he isn't so caught up with his feelings for the still-alive writer, he would have finally gotten to know how ghost sex goes. But just the mere thought being intimate with someone who's not Maine... it just feels so wrong.

Leah smiles at him before she lifts her face to the skies, mimicking a position of someone sunbathing.

"I'm saying goodbye, Richard."

Now that is a surprise.

"Really? Why? You don't like it here?" It's fun to have someone to talk to, most especially someone who has not been around Maine for a long time. Someone who knows nothing about what happened.

Leah is like Richard's breath of fresh air when she arrived. Yes, she's a bit clingy knowing her history, but she's just all flowers and sunshine. He will surely miss her.

"Yes," Leah responds. "It's time for me to go away again and search again."

Richard finds it in himself to feel guilty.

"I'm sorry." He knows she knows the underlying meaning to that statement.

Leah laughs. "I understand. Have you told her your feelings?"

Richard shakes his head.

"Not exactly, but it's been pretty obvious so she knows about it now. I'm not sure if it's love because I haven't felt it yet or maybe I had once when I was alive. But may it be love or just a serious crush, Maine doesn't... I don't think she... she accepts any kind of... romantic feelings from me."

Leah glances at him. "Are you sure? With the way she acts around you, I think you actually have a chance. It's either she's just in denial or she's just stupid. Sometimes, Richard, words just can't perfectly describe a feeling so one has to result into actions. I know she's a writer and she's supposed to be good with words, but spoken words are different from written words."

"The truth is, her actions confuse me," Richard admits with a small smile. "With the way she told off my feelings, there's no doubt she won't look at me the same way I look at her. Ever. But... she also has these actions that confuse me lately. She acts as if... as if I suddenly matter. As if I'm affecting her so much. You heard about... the food fiasco, right?"