Driving Me Wild

-June-

I don’t believe in ghosts. But one is in the way of my relationship. I get it. Nathan was Haley’s first love. They married when they were young. They were together for a long time. But he’s dead. He’s been dead for six years. She still can’t let him go.

I’m sorry.

I know, I know. I took a deep breath.

I want to help her get over her loss. Tonight, I invited her over for dinner. Nothing too fancy. I decided to do takeout. Haley would be over by six. I’m going to keep things simple.

I looked at my phone. Just a little bit longer. I sat back on my couch. I took a long drag of my cigarette.

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-Vince-

I still need to get through. I want to help Nina. She keeps shutting me out. But I won’t give up.

I found her outside the Red Bull. She paced around with a cigarette in hand. My, she looked so beautiful. I can’t understand it myself. Why her? I can’t figure it out.

She looked up and noticed me. I could see the coldness in her eyes.

“Hi,” I said. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

“What do you want?” Nina asked. I stood in place.

“How are you?” I asked.

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-June-

My doorbell rang.

“Coming!” I said. I walked over to the door. I looked out the peephole. Haley stood pacing in place. I smiled and opened the door.

“You’re here,” I said. She nodded. Haley still looked nervous. I held out my hand.

“Please,” I said. She took my hand and followed me inside.

“I want to make new memories with you,” I said. I led her to the stairs.

“You love your husband. I can live with that. You will still love him. I can’t change that.” We walked up the stairs.

“I can’t compete with a ghost. And I’m not going to. But I can do this instead.” We stopped at the door to one of my guestrooms. I reached out and opened the door.

I had the daybed pulled out and made up for relaxing. The projector was connected to my laptop. A string of lights made up the frame of a makeshift screen on the ceiling. Netflix was already waiting on the screen. My couch, cushions, and blankets added to the tasteful décor. I turned to see the stunned look on my beloved’s face.

“Come on in,” I said. “The show is about to begin.” Haley followed me into the room.

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-Vince-

Nina gave me a confused look. “What?”

“How are you?” I asked again.