Ray pulled at the collar of his button shirt. He could feel it strangle around his neck. Peter took a sip from his wine glass, and from across the elegant table spread watched his friend nervously loosen his tie. "So," Ray heard Peter begin, "what do you think of her?"
Ray's mouth hung open. "Well, um, she's...she's...Linda seems very nice, and so is your Sharon. You sure can find some lovely girls, Venkman," Ray said as he reached for his wine glass. Peter didn't buy Ray's fake compliments. From the moment the date started, Ray acted as though he did not want to be there. He acted distant, uninterested, and seemed anxious to get away. Peter sat his glass down and sighed with annoyance.
"Ray, can you at least try? I did this for you!" Ray blinked at Peter's serious expression. "I've been worried about you and I just thought you could use some fun for a change and engage with the living for once, take a break from dealing with spooks and ghosts for awhile. So can you at least try to have a good time here?"
Ray bowed his head in shame. The two men then heard the light sounds of female giggles as their dates entered back into the restaurant from the restroom. Ray held his head up, deciding to try and behave more gentleman-like toward everyone. Ray watched Peter get up from his chair and pull out Sharon's chair for her to sit down upon. Quickly Ray stood and reenacted the same motion for Linda. The two ladies grinned with delight over the polite gesture.
Feeling too anxious to stay at the firehouse and uncomfortable with Ray being out with another girl, Renee quietly followed Ray along on his date without him knowing. Her translucent figure moved near their table, where she watched the group date have dinner. Ray watched Peter move in close to Sharon, whispering things into her ear. He watched Sharon giggle and press herself closer into him. Ray envied the flirtation and wished Ren was with him, having dinner with him, both dressed in fancy clothes, out on the town together. He frowned and glanced down to his fork on the table.
"Why do you look so sad?" Ray heard his date ask him. Ray looked up to Linda's face as she asked, "Did I do something to upset you?"
Ray's eyebrows perked up. "No. No. You're fine. I just, um, have a lot on my mind."
Linda seductively leaned in closer to him. She enjoyed how her action made Ray squirm nervously in his seat. It made her feel powerful, as if she were a lion going in for a kill. "So, what is on your mind?" she said with a flirtatious grin. A sweet little ghost named Ren - that's what was on his mind he answered to himself. Linda suddenly leaned toward him. Ray could feel himself begin to sweat. Linda was an attractive woman who seemed physically interested in him, but the more closer she got, the more uncomfortable he felt.
"What's on my mind?" Ray gulped and Linda nodded yes. Ray quickly thought of an answer. "My work. I have so much to think about."
Linda flipped her curly blond hair, her red lips smiling up at him. "I'm just fascinated with what you and Peter do and I can't believe I'm on a date with a real Ghostbuster." She placed her fingertips on the knot of his tie and slowly trailed them downward.
"Um," is all he could mutter. Just then, the lights throughout the restaurant flickered erratically. All the diners looked up and around from their tables, curious to what was happing. The flickering finally came to a stop and all went back to normal. The dining crowd laughed over the spectacle.
"What was that?" Linda asked, now sitting up and off of Ray. Sharon giggled as Peter's arms playfully wrapped around her as he joked out loud, "It must be a ghost! This restaurant's haunted!" Peter's comment made Sharon go into a laughing fit. Linda scooted over to Ray and placed her hands on his shoulders. The touch of the living woman's hands made him flinch. "Well, if this place is haunted, I'm glad to be here with a handsome Ghostbuster," Linda's flirtatious voice whispered into Ray's ear. Just then, the glass of wine that stood on the table tipped itself over, spilling into Linda's lap. She gasped in disgust and stood up from her chair. She stared down at the red stain on her fashionable dress.
"My dress! My dress! Oh, it's ruined!" she squealed angrily.
Ray grabbed a napkin. "Here, let me try to help."
"No! No!" She pushed his hand aside. Sharon got up from her chair to help her friend. The two ladies soon were off to the restroom once again. Peter looked to Ray as he took another sip from his glass and muttered, "Nice, Ray."
Ray's eyebrows perked up defensively. "I didn't do that! It was an accident!"
Peter just stared at him and replied, "Then maybe it was that light-flickering ghost who did it."
Ray stared back as Peter's comment repeated in his mind. Ray blinked his eyes as realization kicked in. Peter watched as Ray rose up from his chair and threw down his napkin onto the table.
"Excuse me, Venkman, I need to get some air," Ray said sternly. And with that he left the dining room to a balcony where a few smokers stood in the cold night air puffing away on their after-dinner cigarettes. Ray leaned against the railing and sighed irritably as he looked out over blinking New York city.
Ren's ghostly figure moved behind him. Ray suddenly heard her small voice say, "I'm sorry." Without looking away from the twinkling city lights, he frowned. The smokers nearby finally finished and returned to the warm dining room inside, leaving Ray and Ren alone. Ray straightened up off the railing and turned around to the sound of where her voice spoke.
"Ren! I can't believe...why did you...I don't even know what to say!" She watched his chest rise and fall angrily.
"She was all over you, so of course I did some ghost tricks on her. What was I going to do, let another woman paw at you?
"You embarrassed me and now they all think I'm some kind of oaf. Peter's annoyed, Linda's dress is ruined and they all think it's my fault!"
Ray exhaled and she watched his breath puff out of his mouth into the cold air, reminding her how alive he was and how not alive she was.
"Ray, this isn't easy for me. Watching you go on a date..."
His voice then suddenly interrupted hers. "Yeah, I know! It's not easy!" She watched as his expression turned into sadness and his voice lowered. "Ren, I'm having a hard time with this," he said as he shook his frustrated head. She moved closer to him as he began to spill out his emotions. "I just really wish you could be with me, you know. I need you and I think about you all the time, but I can only have you in my dreams, and sometimes it's not for very long. During the day I can't see you or touch you." Ren bowed her head as she listened. "It's like I can only have pieces of you at certain times." He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's frustrating for me, Ren. I thought I could do this, but now..."
"I understand," her soft voice spoke.
"Ren, I'm trying to be honest with you."
"You don't have to explain. I get it." She looked down to her hands, which she held out in front of her, and she stared sadly at her translucent fingertips. Her gaze then moved to the large windows of the restaurant where she watched couples at dining tables laugh and dreamily look into one another's eyes. Her eyes then shifted to the table where Peter sat with Sharon as they continued to cozy up with one another. Linda sat across from them with her face in her hand, awaiting for Ray's return.
Renee suddenly felt intrusive. Ray was a living man and had a life to live, a future to experience. He was flesh and blood and needed a woman that could be there for him in all. She was just a ghost, a dead person, a dead dumb ghost who was here in limbo and didn't even know why! Ghostly tears filled her eyes as she realized it was maybe time to let go of any hope of a relationship with Ray. He deserved better - better then what she could give him.
"I'm sorry, Ray." she spoke in a soft, low voice, "I'm sorry for interrupting your life. I shouldn't have stayed around you. Maybe it's time I should go."
"No! No, Ren! I didn't mean to make you think you should go. I'm not asking you to leave," he tried to correct her.
"I think it would be best if I did."
Her eyes glanced back to the table where Linda sat impatiently. "You should get back to your date, Ray. She seemed to like you. I just hope she will take care of you, bring you a drink the next time you're sick."
"Ren, please, don't say these things. Please don't leave. I'm just frustrated, but I still need you. My life would be empty without you!"
She looked into his desperate eyes, but her mind was made up. She had to go.
"Maybe this is why ghosts don't communicate with the living. It just causes problems."
"You're not a problem, Ren. Stay with me!"
Ren stared at Ray one last time. She moved before him and placed her cold lips upon his cheek, giving him a goodbye kiss. He closed his eyes over the cool sensation.
"Goodbye Ray. Maybe I'll see you on the other side, someday in the far future."
"Ren, please," his voice cracked in desperation.
"Bye Ray," her emotional voice said as her translucent figure shaped itself back into a pink misty orb and sadly disappeared into the night air. And with that, she was gone.
Peter perked himself up in his chair as he saw Ray approach the table. He noticed his sad demeanor and slow stride.
"Something wrong, Ray?" Peter asked out loud, making the two women look up. They too became curious to know why Ray looked so horribly depressed.
"I, uh, I have to go. I'm sorry everyone, but I'm just not...I just can't do this right now. It was very nice to meet you, Linda. Thanks for the night out, Peter. I'll, um, see you later."
Everyone at the table watched a broken Ray leave the restaurant. Peter shrugged at the two puzzled women.