A Very Reaper Romance

Chapter Five – 359 Days Left

Waking up the next morning, Jack’s thoughts immediately drifted back to the lady from the night before. He wondered how her daughter was doing and regretted not learning the lady’s name. He made a mental note to get the deceased name in future, just so future reapings didn’t feel so impersonal. Still, he felt fairly pleased with himself that he had figured out the protocol on his own and hadn’t completely screwed it up – the woman had passed over fairly uneventfully.

Jack got up and dressed ready for another day of wandering around, he had decided to operate under the guise of someone who had recently moved to town and was looking for work. It was perfect really, Barrowstead didn’t have much by way of establishments that could offer employment; most people worked in the bigger towns.

Pulling on a black hoodie and jeans, Jack checked his still unfamiliar reflection before grabbing the house keys and heading out the door. He headed straight to The Coffee Stop for his morning latte and was debating getting himself a pastry of some sort, when he spotted Zoie up ahead, walking beside an elderly lady and Jack quickened his pace to catch up to them.

“Zoie! Hey, Zoie!” he called, smiling when Zoie turned around.

Zoie’s skin caught the late-morning sun; warm brown and glowing, her curls pulled back in a messy knot that bounced as she walked. Beside her, the old woman looked like she’d been cobbled together out of old paper and plain stubbornness. Her pale skin stretched thin over sharp angles, the veins beneath like blue thread mapping her hands.

“Jamie, hi!” she said with a bright smile. Jack couldn’t help but glance at her plump lips and had to push the thought of kissing her out of his head. “Jamie, this is my Nana, Joyce. Nana, this is Jamie, the guy who helped me fix my phone when I dropped it.”

If Zoie looked alive in the way people meant when they said it, her grandmother looked as though a strong breeze might carry her off if it caught her at the wrong angle. Jack looked to Zoie’s grandmother with a smile, but his smile faltered when he saw the old lady was looking him up and down judgementally, her eyes squinting and her lips pursed. Whatever she saw, she didn’t like it.

“Hm,” Joyce said.

“That’s… not a greeting,” Zoie said gently.

Joyce sniffed. “I’m greeting him internally.”

Jack let out a small, awkward laugh. “Nice to meet you.”

Joyce’s eyes narrowed. “How old are you?”

“Zoie,” Jack started.

“Twenty-two,” he finished, because lying suddenly felt like more effort than it was worth.

“Hmph.”

That again.

“Nana,” Zoie said, warning creeping into her voice, “don’t be rude.”

“I’m not rude,” Joyce replied. “I’m observant.”

Jack wasn’t sure what she was observing, but it made the back of his neck prickle.

“Nana, don’t be rude. Jamie, we were just heading to The Coffee Stop for tea and a slice of cake, care to join us?”

“Funnily enough, that’s exactly where I was heading myself,” Jack said, trying to remain cheery while Zoie’s grandmother continued glaring at him.

They walked mostly in silence the remaining few yards to The Coffee Stop. Joyce watched him the entire way down the street, her grip on Zoie’s arm firm, her steps surprisingly quick for someone who looked like a strong cough might finish her off. Jack found himself matching his pace to hers without realising it, ready to reach out if she stumbled.

She didn’t.

Zoie spotted the look her grandmother was giving Jack. “Nana, cut it out,” she chastised.

Inside The Coffee Stop, they claimed a small table near the window. Zoie ordered for them all without asking – two teas and a latte – and Joyce added a slice of carrot cake to the order with the confidence of someone daring the universe to object.

“So,” Joyce said once they were seated, folding her hands atop the table. “You live here now.”

“Recently moved,” Jack said, forcing a smile. “Thought I’d try a quieter place.”

Joyce hummed. “Quiet kills more people than excitement.”

Zoie blinked. “Nana.”

“What?” Joyce shrugged. “It does.”

Jack’s stomach did a small, unpleasant flip.

“And what do you do,” Joyce continued, eyes never leaving his face, “when you’re not loitering in coffee shops with my granddaughter?”

Jack opened his mouth, then closed it again. He glanced at Zoie, who gave him an apologetic smile.

“I’m… between things,” he said. It wasn’t a lie. He was between living and dead.

Joyce smiled thinly. “Aren’t we all.”

“I thought you said you worked in data collection?” Zoie said, her brow furrowing as she recalled their previous conversation.

“Uh, yeah, I am,” Jack stammered. “I’m looking to switch up though.”

Zoie seemed placated by his answer and launched into a story about some sort of drama at uni, clearly trying to redirect the conversation, and Jack let himself fade into listening. He liked the way Zoie spoke when she forgot herself, hands moving, voice animated. Joyce watched her pride.

“I won’t be around much longer anyway,” Zoie said, casually, spoon clinking against her teacup. “I’m heading back to uni next week.”

Jack’s chest tightened.

“Oh,” he said. “Right. Of course.”

Joyce’s gaze flicked to him, then back to Zoie.

“You’re excited though,” Jack added quickly. “I mean. You should be.”

“I am,” Zoie said. “Final year. Proper deadlines. Real pressure.”

Joyce snorted. “She says that like it’s a good thing.”

Jack smiled, but something heavy settled behind his ribs. He knew Zoie was at university, only in town after her Nana’s surgery, but he hadn’t considered the fact she would have to go back.

“And you,” Joyce said suddenly, turning back to him, “will you still be here?”

Jack hesitated. “Well, yeah. I live here now so I think so.”

Joyce studied him for a long moment, then nodded once, as if confirming a suspicion she didn’t deign to share.

“Well,” she said, draining the last of her tea and pushing her chair back, “I’d best be off.”

Zoie frowned. “Already?”

“The tide waits for no one.”

Jack looked up. “Tide?”

“Cold water swim,” Joyce said briskly, shrugging into her coat. “Keeps the joints loose.”

Zoie grimaced. “She means freezing.”

Joyce smiled, sharp and pleased. “Builds character.”

Jack watched her stand, steady as a post, his heart thudding for reasons he couldn’t quite place. The woman had just been clinging to Zoie’s arm for support, and she was about to hurl herself into freezing water? He imagined the frigid sea closing over that papery skin, the shock, a heart stuttering. He envisioned collecting Nana’s soul, seeing Zoie sob the way the lady’s daughter had.

He swallowed.

“Nice meeting you,” Joyce said to him, softer now. Then, as an afterthought, “Try not to linger where you don’t belong.” And with that, she was gone, bell over the café door chiming cheerfully in her wake.

Zoie let out a breath. “Sorry about her.”

“It’s okay,” Jack said. “She’s… memorable.”

Zoie laughed. “That’s one word for it.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Jack felt something warm and unfamiliar bloom in his chest – the awareness of time passing whether he wanted it to or not.

“I’ll miss this,” he said before he could stop himself.

Zoie smiled at him. “Me too. But I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You will?” Hope sprang up in Jack’s chest.

“Of course. Someone has to keep Nana in check,” Zoie laughed. “Let me give you my number though, we can keep in touch while I’m away.” She sounded slightly unsure of what she was suggesting, but Jack couldn’t pull his phone out of his pocket fast enough.

He handed over the device and waited for Zoie to key in her number and call her own phone. “There, now we have each other’s numbers. I had better go pack though…” she said sadly.

“Okay, well, I enjoyed this.” Jack hated how awkward he sounded but he wasn’t sure what else to say and he didn’t have the confidence to lean in for a kiss. He kicked himself for the lack of confidence. He was already dead, what was the worst that could happen?

As they stood to leave, Jack felt it – the faint hum, low and distant, like a phone vibrating through fabric. His hand drifted to his pocket automatically, his fingers brushing the ledger.

It was quiet again just as quickly.

Jack frowned.

Outside, the street looked exactly the same as it had an hour earlier. People passed by. Cars moved. Somewhere, Joyce was wading into freezing water without a second thought. Jack watched Zoie walk away, her figure shrinking toward the bend in the road, and wondered, not for the first time, how long he could keep pretending he wasn’t on a time limit.