Thanks sooooo much to bbblfl, Brooke, trisisabel, and The Setting Sun, my lovely reviewers! You guys are sososososo cool!

There were some questions on the time frame: Suze is in her late 20's and Jesse in his early 30's. They've been married for about 5 years so, no, the mysterious thing with Paul did not happen when Suze was married, but it did happen when she and Jesse were dating.

Also, a big shout-out to my friend Reneé! Happy Birthday! YOU ROCK MY SOX!

On with the story!

-$-

I didn't see Paul the rest of the week.

On Tuesday, I was still spacing a bit at work, but by Friday I was fairly convinced Paul was gone. I was totally focused that day to make up for how terribly I'd been working that week.

"Good work, Simon." Shirley slapped me on the shoulder as I walked out the door and she had a pretty strong arm. It must be from lifting those enormous stacks of money all day.

As I walked out the door with my arm at an odd angle as to rub at my sore shoulder, my elbow crashed right into someone's face.

"I'm so sorry!" I gushed before seeing it was none other than Paul, waiting for me to get off from work.

"Oh. It's you. Well, alrighty then." I gave my hair a quick toss before hurrying down the sidewalk away from him.

Paul, who had been silent up until then due to the amount of blood gushing from his nose screamed after me, "SUZE! WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, YOU BITCH! YOU BROKE MY GODDAMN NOSE!"

A few people that had, unfortunately, been passing by at that moment turned to give Paul, then me, then Paul again, an odd glance. A middle-aged woman pushed her toddler a little faster down the sidewalk as the child inquired as to what a "bitch" was.

Then Paul began chasing me like mad down the street. I didn't even try to escape. I knew he'd probably catch up with me anyways, so why bother? I could always make his eye match his nose if he tried anything.

When he finally caught up to me, I had a few things to tell him about his language.

"You know Paul, you should really set a better example for the children," I said to him, batting my eyelashes.

He rolled his eyes. "Just get in the car, Simon." He beckoned toward a shiny, silver convertible parked just down the street.

"As tempting as it is," I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster. "I'd rather walk." And with that, I started down the street again.

"Suuuze," Paul called after me in a sickly sweet voice. "You may want to get in the car, or I may take a spin down to the hospital and give your boy Jesse a call. He might want to know about our summer fun under the bleachers."

I whirled around to face him and he winked at me. "I was drunk at that party, and you know it, Slater. It was you who spiked my drink after all. I'm not so sure Jesse would like to hear that either."

If Paul was nervous about this statement, he didn't show it. "Come on Suze, just take a spin around the block with me. We can just catch up. You know, tie up a few loose ends."

I don't know what possibly possessed me to do it. Maybe it was the sincere, innocent way he smiled or the gleaming, tempting convertible in the background. In any case, I agreed and said I would go for a ride.

"But if you pull anything, Slater, I swear to God…." I grumbled as I slid into the black leather seat.

"Just relax, Suze." And with that, he began chatting casually about what he'd been up to the past ten years.

Apparently, he'd become a lawyer and lived in San Diego but still often went back and visited Carmel. He said he enjoyed all the "memories" from there and gave me a meaningful look. When I rolled my eyes and stared out the window, he asked what I'd been up to.

I filled him on how I married Jesse and we'd moved here to Philadelphia. I was working in a bank right now, but once I raised enough money I wanted to become a therapist.

"I knew you were destined to help people, Suze. You really like to take on other people's problems. Speaking of taking on problems… have you…. ?" He gave me a look.

"Just a few smaller cases here and there, nothing major lately." I said quietly. We both were silent for a few moments, thinking.

What had happened, anyway? Since I'd married Jesse, I'd only encountered maybe 30 or 40 ghosts and none of them had had major problems. Back in high school I'd met one or two a week.

Was it possible that my mediator powers were wearing thing? Did marrying Jesse have to do with anything, or was it just age? I knew Father D had been pretty old, yet he encountered just as many ghosts as ever right up until he died two years ago.

Was I perhaps not as strong a mediator as him?

"Paul…" I started. "Do you think it's possible that our powers can… fade?"

We were pulling into my driveway now. Paul shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, Suze, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. You see… I discovered another power of shifters. We can also perform some minor… well, curses."

I immediately turned to face him.

"What do you mean, Paul!" I yelled. "What have you done? If you did anything to Jesse, I swear to God…"

"No, I didn't. The person I cursed was…. well, it was you, Suze."

-$-

What's that crazy Paul been up to? Heh….

Please review, and ask questions if anything was unclear!