I Left, He Realized He Loved Me

Chapter 3

Mr. Stone had always been a workaholic.

Maybe he figured he was paying me too much each month, so he ended up having me double as his secretary at the company too.

I left without warning, and so much work remained unhanded over.

To keep things running smoothly, Reid promoted a new secretary the very afternoon I died. Like it didn't matter whether I was there or not. It was all just the same work anyway. Someone else could do it just fine.

No. Scratch that. Someone else could do it better.

Because the new secretary wrapped up in one single day what had taken me five whole years to manage.

Reid stared at that thick stack of handover documents on his desk, looking kinda zoned out. Maybe he was kicking himself for not hiring that new secretary sooner.

The new secretary poured him a cup of water. Reid waved it off and said he didn't ask for it.

"But Mr. Blake specifically told me you need a fresh glass of water every thirty minutes."

Reid looked at the cup on his desk, his face still cold and unreadable. "Mm."

He seemed to have forgotten. All he knew was that whenever his stomach acted up, there was always a warm cup of water right there for him.

The new secretary set the cup gently by Reid's hand and casually asked if I was out sick. He also asked when I'd be back, saying that I forgot to send him that link for the shirt he asked about last time.

Reid paused in the middle of flipping through the handover papers. "He's not coming back."

The new secretary asked if I'd quit.

Reid looked at the cup of warm water beside him, his face completely unchanged.

Cold as ice, he said, "He's dead."

The new secretary was stunned for a second, then his eyes turned red, and he choked his way out of the office.

And Mr. Stone went back to business as usual, busy as ever with work.

*****

If Reid wasn't working late, he usually had dinner at home.

Maybe he was too worn out that night. He didn't ask Mr. Brooks to drive him back to the estate. Instead, he went to our apartment near the office.

I walked alongside him, just like all those evenings we used to take walks together. Except back then, I could still loop my arm through his.

And now, my arm just passed right through him.

Still, just being next to him was enough for me.

On our way back, we ran into the lady who ran the pet shop.

"Mr. Stone, the cat food Jude ordered a couple of days ago came in. When's he gonna come pick it up?"

Reid said he'd take it home himself.

Didi was a stray I took in last year. It was raining that day, and she was hiding behind a tree all alone, too scared to go near the bigger cats fighting over food.

She looked just like me back in the day.

I crouched down, snapped a few pics of Didi, and sent them to Mr. Stone, asking if I could keep her. But he never replied.

Later, when he saw me bring Didi back to the estate, he sneezed his head off while covering his nose, saying he was allergic to cat fur.

Then he had the maid deep-clean the whole place three times.

So I moved Didi to the modest apartment we hardly ever used.

Correction. Mr. Stone hardly ever used it. I was basically there every single day with her.

Truth was, I was there every day cleaning up cat fur.

After I left, Didi went back to shedding all over the place.

Reid must have thought it was too filthy. He didn't even step inside.

He just left the cat food he picked up by the door.

I stood in that little apartment for a long while.

Didi seemed to sense me. She came over, rubbed against my calf, and let out a little meow.

At least Didi still remembered me.

I'd heard people say that if no one remembered someone after death, their ghost would slowly become transparent and fade away.

I looked down at myself.

My feet were already starting to go transparent.