She looks at him, sleeping in the sofa, with his book on top of him. "Don Quixote", never heard of that book before. She is not sure how long she is being watching him or when he fell asleep. Time seems different now, unreal, like a dream. Is he sleeping? He might just be avoiding talking to her. She is not sure of that either. She is not sure of anything anymore for that matter. Uncertainty about the future shouldn't be a problem once you are dead, unless you are the stranded ghost of a holidaymaker murdered after meeting a rather sweet guy working in a café, a guy who likes old fashioned stuff and museums and literature from the 16th century. When he was born. She shakes her head unhappy, tutting to herself. "Rotten luck you have, the one decent guy you find to have fun this bloody holidays, not an oaf like yer brothers, a tad awkward but nice and and... Rotten luck!"
"Here we are, Home at last !" Alex exclaimed earlier as she opened the door of Honolulu Heights, with Hal in tow. "Do ye wanna drink?" Hal glared at her "Yes, please if you were so kind as to get me a brunette, with pale skin and ..."
"Ok, ok, Jesus, no need to get yer knickers in a twist, just trying to be nice and civil" Hal chortles "That's a first...""Listen, I will lock ye up in yer room, or..." her eyes followed Hal's to the chair, still in the middle of the living room, the bloody straps still attached. "Yes, well..." Hal hesitated "Just joking". Without glancing back to Alex he went to the kitchen and heated up something Tom and he made yesterday. A hotpot. An hour later, he came out and sat down with his book.
Alex turned around in the sofa "Un-be-liev-able. What de ye clean the inside of the cupboards fer? why didn't ye leave it and come watch Antique Roadshow with me? It's almost finished now!"
"Oh, I got carried away" he said wit big satisfied smile " It helps me, it really does. Besides,nobody is paying much attention to the house chores" ."De ye think it is MY job to do them because a/am a girl b/am a ghost c/all the above?", "I haven't said it is anybody's job," She huffed "Never mind, I like to clean, lets leave it at that" "Yeah, lets"
Silence. Alex turned to the TV again. Hal started reading the '3 million- pages- monster', as she named it,and ignored her. After a while she switched off the TV and started watching him reading. He didn't even noticed. Concentrated so intensely. She is still looking at him wondering what is in his head. Her mind wanders to the day she met him, that beautiful smile. Why did she want to meet him again after a disaster of mammoth proportions. She laughs to herself. " Ha!, mammoth!" She sighs. The boys are not in the joking mood most of the time. Too many tragedies.
Then she remembers her own. That day the body, her body, was found. Hal almost choked up in his breakfast when he read the news in the paper. Tom offered to take her to the morgue. Hal was not up for it. He spent the day tied to his chair. Feeling really guilty Alex guessed. Seeing her dad so pale and her brothers trying to be grown-ups, no tears, no sobbing, not in front of the coroner, and worse in the caravan, falling apart, calling the rest of the family, arranging the funeral. Something went back to the house, not sure how, and screamed and screamed and swore, mostly at Hal, then at Tom, at the toaster, she felt the light bulbs blow up and didn't care. She calmed down, and yet no door appeared, she was still with Tom and Hal.
She frowns. "Why am I still a ghost? I thought ye said if my body was found and returned to my dad and my brothers my door will appear?" she asks quietly to the sleeping Hal. " I have been thinking and well I promised Tom I will NOT get ye all riled up but I cannae tell ye when he is here, and he is always here so I will tell ye now but ye have to keep the secret..." Alex considers the ifs and buts, pros and cons, more and more explanations about why she should or shouldn't tell Hal what has been bothering her since she didn't cross over when she was so sure she would. "To make a long story short..." she laughs "I now think that my unfinished business might be that, dont laugh now, I didn't get to have a date with ye, nice you I mean. The first Hal I met and took me to a MUSEUM fer a date. I liked that guy, soft considerate awkward, and it is a royal shame I didn't have my kiss by the wooly mammoth...what do ye think?" she mimicks Hal's voice "Hum well yess you are correct it was a shame and I am entirely to blame, and also I cannot fail to notice my dear Alex you are after all wearing that ehem, rather elegant dress you chose for our second date.." she giggles. Hal moves in his sleep,throwing the book to the floor. Alex catches it before it falls and calls softly "Hal?", no response. He is fast asleep. She covers him with a blanket and starts flipping the monster book. "It might be good" she tells herself. Not much else to do.
Hal turns in the sofa, looks at her pensively. When she looks he pretends he is still asleep.
