A Gift or A Curse

Chapter 25

"Hey, Johnny? Jimmy wants to know if you're okay."

Johnny changed his gaze from the road to Blake beside him. He threw a small glance at the rearview mirror and saw nothing in the backseat of his car, but he knew Jimmy was there, watching him.

He smiled eventually at her. "I'm okay. Don't worry about it." Mindlessly he landed his palm on her thigh. But only for a brief moment.

"Did you...call her already?"

Johnny shook his head.

"Why not?"

"And say what, Blake?"

She shrugged, glancing at Jimmy once. Jimmy said something to her, before she translated back to Johnny.

"You should tell her the truth."

Johnny snorted out a laugh. "No way. Matt will be fucking furious with me. If the news of Jimmy came back spread, even the slightest bit," he inhaled and whistled out a breath seconds later. "Can you imagine?"

"No I wouldn't know how it feels to be the center of public attention."

Johnny laughed aloud. He put on a signal before going on a left turn. "Yeah but you are the center of our attention. Everyone wants to know where's Jimmy, what is Jimmy doing. Don't you get tired of that?"

Blake wondered for a bit. She didn't get tired, yet. She felt accepted. With angry parents who never visited her and a shy quiet life she led in her eerie book store, made her a family of own. But with them, she will always be attended, always been asked to talk to, eventhough they mostly would want to talk to Jimmy but she was content with all of that.

"Hey, I'm gonna stop by for some coffee. You want anything?"

Blake jolted from her thoughts and looked around. Johnny was searching for a parking spot in front of a fancy coffee shop just opposite a vast view of a beach.

"No thanks, Johnny."

Johnny shrugged and left her in the car. While she was alone, but not quite alone, she watched as Jimmy leaned to the back seat and gazed out the window.

"Hey Jimmy. You're okay? You seem quiet this couple of days."

Jimmy smiled at her. His smile was so comfortable that it melt her insides instantly.

"Sometimes a man gotta take a rest, baby."

She felt her cheeks flushed upon that calling. Jimmy never called her that before. Not in seven days of their encounter. It's only been a week and she was falling head over heels for this ghost already.

"I wonder how many ghosts have you seen in your life but you never knew that they were ghosts?"

Blake snapped from her blushing thought. She wondered it too, in fact, everytime, ever since she met Jimmy.

"I used to saw a couple of people around the park where I live. One would ignore the other and the person who being ignored just stood by beside him. I didn't know that they were ghosts. They looked normal, like you."

Jimmy leaned closer to her front seat and smirked. "I'm never normal, darling."

She blushed again. "Jimmy! Stop calling me that!"

"You're sure? You want me to stop?"

She bit her lip and turned around to face the front. Jimmy leaned even closer and rested his chin on her shoulder. She gasped at his touch.

"Blaky baby. You want me to stop? Hm?"

"Yes." She mumbled shyly.

"So you want me to go then?" Jimmy teasingly pulled away from gazing so near at her face.