the ghost of you ☔︎ shaymien

Seven

The street was cracked and empty as Shayne's tires rolled over the uneven ground. The car came to a sudden stop as Shayne slammed the breaks. Inertia caused his body to jerk forwards, and he was in such a rush he forgot to put on his seat belt, so his head almost slammed into the wheel. Luckily, some weird force prevented it from happening. It was as if his head and the wheel were the same magnetic force, therefore repelling from each other. Shayne let out a gentle sigh before exiting the vehicle.

His irises wandered around the empty street, seeing a shadowy figure standing underneath the obnoxious yellow glow pouring from the street lamp above. As Shayne stepped closer, the figure became illuminated under the glare. Shayne felt like a helpless moth drawn to the light as he pushed forward.

Shayne ended up face-to-face with a man with smoldering mocha eyes. The brown irises focused in on Shayne, seeming to light up at the sight of the shorter man. "Hey hot stuff, you came, " the brunette smirked, eyes staring Shayne up and down. Shayne could feel the red veins in his face, causing his cheeks to appear flushed at the unexpected compliment. How could such a beautiful man be complimenting such an average businessman like Shayne?

Shayne shook what he said about the stranger from his away. How could the stranger be beautiful? Shayne wasn't even gay. At least, he assumed he wasn't. He had a girlfriend and everything who he loved, even though he hasn't felt the headrush love tends to give you in a while. Every moment with her has just kind of seemed dull and uneventful.

"I-uh.. Why did you email me?" Shayne awkwardly asked, barely allowing the connotation of a question to slip through his tense words.

The stranger ignored his question, instead, he resorted to asking another of his own. "Are you happy, Shayne?"

"How the fuck do you know my name?" Shayne interrogated, suddenly getting defensive. He finally realized how obscure the situation was. Some random guy who knows his name sent him a cryptic email telling him to go to an abandoned street. It seems like the definition of sketchy. Shayne's heart began to beat out of his chest as he wielded his keys like a weapon in case things turn sour.

The stranger seemed to notice Shayne's sudden change in mannerisms and took a few steps back. "Woah there buddy I have no malicious intentions."

Shayne didn't seem to buy it as he still stayed in his defensive stance. "Answer my question. Are you happy?"

Those were the words that shook Shayne to his very core, bones seeming to rattle inside of his suddenly liquified organs. It was the kind of question that stopped a person dead in their tracks. A question that could change one's entire perspective on life. Shayne never really thought about it. He was financially well off, he had a nice girlfriend who made him meals and was affectionate, he seemed to have everything he could need but there was still a gaping void.

Every day it was just the constant cycle of getting up, gym, work, eat, sleep. There was no action or adventure in his life. His job was mind-numbingly uneventful, his girlfriend was stale and static, and his life was just a whirlpool of necessity. Shayne only did whatever he needed to do, but he never did what he wanted to do. He was still in his 20s, he was supposed to still be in the prime of his life, not wasting away at some desaturated desk job. His entire existence was based off of necessity and never any fun, and it was then when Shayne realized he was truly unhappy. He had been trying to fill the void with things like meaningless sex with Courtney or late night drinking sessions. However, those things are unable to cover up his life that was slowly being depleted and wasted away every day by a lack of entertainment. There was no risk-taking or challenges to conquer, just plain tv static. Shayne was unhappy. He was unhappy with the fact that he wasted his life following the path his parents had prematurely planned for him. The path of practicality and blandness.

After minutes of questioning everything Shayne believed in, he finally came up with his answer. "No. No, I'm not fucking happy. My life has absolutely no meaning. All these years I've wasted away in flavorless business jobs when I should've followed my heart. I used to have dreams, I had ambitions. I wanted to be an actor but my parents thought it was too impractical. They didn't understand my love and passion for it so I didn't go through with it. I used to be so adventurous, I went on spontaneous road trips in high school with friends without telling anyone. I had fun, I did what I loved. I used to be the funny guy who made jokes out of everything. Now look at me, I'm just some boring businessman with a boring job and a boring girlfriend whom I've fallen out of love with. I just keep her around as a novelty. This isn't who I am, I wasn't meant to end up like this. I wasn't supposed to end up as a sad, lonely man who feels isolated from the rest of the world. I haven't contacted any of my old friends in years. The people I call my friends are merely my coworkers to whom I am mere acquaintances with. So no, I'm not fucking happy and I hate the person I've become, " Shayne ranted, breaking down into gentle cries towards the end. The stranger comforted him for a while, before proposing one of the craziest schemes Shayne has ever heard.

"How about you run away with me. You can quit your job, leave your girlfriend, you can leave this life behind and start a new one. A new one filled of laughter and fun and adventure. You can leave this world behind."

Shayne looked up at the stranger, at first with shock but then his brain finally processed the concept. He could finally break free from the confining chains he had built around himself. He could experience the same joy and adventurous spirit he had in high school. He could reclaim his old self.

"You know what? Let's do it."

Hey guys its literally been forever oml. This book is officially off hold and updates should come semi-regularly. I've finally regained the motivation to actually write the rest of this story aye. Cheers for more chapters!

This hasn't been proofread bc fuck that shit I'm too lazy for that.

Also the new wattpad update is gross and the new logo is ugly af. I rest my case.