Chapter 3 – Lying
Melinda shook her head.
"Maybe . . ." she said reluctantly. The group of friends had just explained their story, and Charlie had explained hers. Melinda took a deep breath.
"I think . . ." she began, "That maybe Andrea's ghost is inside you?"
"What?!? A ghost is like, haunting me?" she cried in horror.
"Oh, no! Andrea is such a sweet, funny person! Oh, you would love her!! Oh, she understood straight away about my gift, and she was so enthusiastic about it, and even though she got killed by that plane crash, I was still with her ghost, and even as a ghost she was still a great person! Well, I guess Romano made her a little scared, but-"
"Honey," Jim interrupted. "If you start to talk about Romano and Gabriel, and everyone, we'll be here for hours. Stick to Andrea."
"Oh, right," Melinda nodded, "But, really . . . Charlie . . . Andrea would never haunt you, she must just be attached you for some reason."
"Why?!?!" Charlie sobbed in exasperation. Melinda bit her lip.
"Well, I'm not sure. Did you have anything to do with the Marino family?"
"No! I've never heard of them!"
"Well . . . you've never heard of them? You're sure?"
"Yes! Positive," Charlie sighed, rubbing her eyes. Melinda scratched her head.
"Well, I don't know! Are you sure you haven't heard of them at all? Not even Andrea's brother Mitch?"
Andrea/Charlie shot up, eyebrows raised.
"Mitch?"
"Yes, he was Andrea's brother."
"Uh . . ." Charlie hesitated, twisting a silver, engraved ring around her finger. "Nope. Never heard of a Mitch," she said, keeping her head down. Melinda looked at Charlie in disbelief.
"Really? Never heard of him?"
"No. Never."
"Never."
"Never?" Melinda asked.
"Never!" Charlie cried, pushing her lips into a hard line. She looked at Joey.
"Well, I gotta take off. Nice meeting you Melinda," she said sarcastically, "Bye Joey. I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Bye!" Joey called. Melinda sighed in frustration as the door of the shop closed with a thud. Jim shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Well, she knows who Mitch is," Melinda said tightly.
"I dunno what your problem is. It's this Andrea chick's ghost not yours," Chandler said, shrugging.
"I have a gift. I have to use it to help people," she sniffed.
"Well, I can take the gift back to the store for you, if you want," he offered jokingly. Melinda glared at him.
"Hey! You got a problem with my husband, you gotta problem with me!" Monica cried shrilly.
"Uh, Mel, maybe we should get going . . ." Jim said quietly, standing up. Melinda nodded and stood up, grabbing her bag.
"Well, uh, I'll see you guys . . . later," Melinda said as she turned to leave. The group said good-bye as Jim and Melinda walked back to their hotel.