Romance Anthology

Spirited Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Stay far away from Ida, Polly. I mean it.”

“Why? She seemed like such a sweet woman.”

Was she serious? Cole’s aunt was trouble. If Polly had a run in with her alone who knew what could happen to her? She had been hiding the fact that she could see ghosts. Whether it was because Cole didn’t know or if it had just been Rose herself that caused it was unclear. If she hadn’t known about the crystals beforehand and could currently see Polly, she wouldn’t have noticed. She had though, and that’s what mattered.

Ida had been subtle enough that anyone not in the know wouldn’t have seen a thing. Her actions gave her away though. There was no doubt the woman was planning something else. Why else would she give herself an invite to come over again? For a chat? Not likely. Thank goodness the building manager had insisted on changing the lock. It was unclear how Ida had gained access to the apartment, but she somehow had. Maybe a previous tenant had left a spare key with Cole in case of emergencies or something. It was plausible. Not something she was going to do given the circumstances.

“You shouldn’t go anywhere near her. Promise you’ll run from her.”

“I don’t understand. What was wrong with her?”

“She was looking around the apartment for the crystals.”

“I think you’re seeing things.”

“I wrote it off too, but Polly, she could see you.”

That seemed to stump the ghost. Her eyes rounded as her mouth opened and closed. She waited for the argument, but Polly seemed to be at a loss for words.

How quickly the day had changed. She had gone from wanting to block the ghost’s entrance to her apartment to wanting to keep her there for protection.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. Ida’s reaction to you was subtle. The more I think about it, though, I’m convinced I’m right.”

“How wonderful that someone else can see me.”

“Polly! Would you be serious for a minute?”

“I am. It’s fortunate that now I have two people I can talk to.”

“She locked you away. I don’t think she’ll want to chat over tea.”

“Just because she can see me doesn’t prove that she’s the one who did that.”

“True, but the fact that you can’t get into Cole’s apartment does.”

Could she not see reason? Everything pointed to Ida being a danger to Polly. If she wasn’t careful, Cole’s aunt could possibly get rid of her for good this time. It wasn’t that she didn’t want the ghost to go herself, but to the afterlife not trapped. Where was the self-preservation here? Even if they weren’t positive that Ida had been behind it, there was enough doubt to cause caution.

“Fine. I’ll keep away from her.”

“Good.”

“But just until you see that she’s harmless.”

Throwing her hands up in the air, she walked off. Polly was being stubborn. There was no point rehashing it with her. At least she had promised to stay away. Even if temporarily. It would give her some time to work on Polly’s wish so that she could move on. There would no longer be a problem with Ida if that happened.

“What the heck, Polly?”

“What now?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to kiss Cole? He’s been here twice now and nothing. You haven’t even tried.”

Polly smiled widely while staring at her. What was her issue now? The ghost sauntered over to her. She began poking at Rose’s arm. At least that’s what she was trying to do, but her finger was going into her arm, causing it to tingle.

“Polly, what are you doing?”

“I can’t kiss him. He likes someone else.”

“What are you talking about?”

Giggling, Polly spun around before facing her once again. She still had the same big smile on her face. Leaning close, she widened her eyes. Rose had no idea what had gotten into her. Taking a step back, she put distance between the two of them.

“Why are you acting so weird?”

It was Polly’s turn to throw her hands up in the air and grunt in frustration. Seriously, what was with the ghost? And could she catch it? That thought was concerning. Ghosts weren’t contagious. At least not to the living.

“He’s interested in you!”

“That’s ridiculous. Are you feeling alright?”

“Ugh! You’re very frustrating. Of course, he does. Anybody with eyes could see he was trying to get your attention.”

“No, he wasn’t.”

“He was flirting with you almost the entire time he was here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can’t really be that obtuse, can you?”

Replaying her conversation with Cole through her head, she analyzed it with Polly’s words in mind. She supposed his actions could have been seen as flirtatious. She still didn’t really think so. He came off more awkward than anything. Even when she was trying to see it through a different filter.

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that. Even if he was, and that’s a big if, I don’t have time for a relationship. Nor do I want one. I have too much work to do to try and move my schedule around someone else.”

Speaking of work, it looked as if she might need to take some time off. That rankled a bit, but Polly needed to move on. The sooner the better too.

Going over to the new laptop, she opened it up. She had almost been finished with her current editing project before Polly intervened. If she had to work through the night to get it done, she would. There would be no down time until then.

“Are you seriously working again? Right now?”

“Polly, if I’m going to help you, I need to finish this up first. I can’t just step away from my job when it’s not completed.”

The ghost huffed a bit but soon settled down. She could just entertain herself in the meantime. Tomorrow was a new day and Polly would have her undivided attention then.

Focusing on the screen in front of her, she tuned out everything else. Distractions would not help her process. Who knew if spirits even slept? One thing was for sure, Rose would not be going to bed that night.

* * *

She watched as Rose hunched over the odd contraption. The woman was daft. How was she supposed to help her find love if she couldn’t see clear signs of attraction herself? The woman could deny it all she wanted to. She had seen the way Cole had looked at Rose earlier. Perhaps his wooing had been very clumsy. Maybe he found Rose a bit intimidating. The woman was brisk and short with her words.

Why couldn’t she give just a little? As far as she could tell, Rose had nothing in her life but work. Well, and now Polly herself. Who wouldn’t want love in their life? Someone to depend on? No, she didn’t believe for a second that Rose wouldn’t benefit from a little romance.

That was that then. No matter if she found someone herself, she had to help Rose. There was no way she could leave until then.