Sadie was gently applying some makeup to the corpse after the family's request when she felt Roman's presence behind her. He never made a sound but after having dealt with him for a while now, she knew when he was there.
"You know, it's kinda creepy that you always sneak up behind me when I'm with a corpse," she said.
"Other corpses," he corrected.
"You're not a corpse," she said. "You're a ghost."
She turned around and looked at him. He had been a beautiful man when he was alive and now he was a beautiful ghost refusing to move on. He had been through this funeral home as well. She was the one preparing his corpse, and for some reason he chose to remain there afterwards instead of moving on.
She still remembered the first time she saw his ghost three months ago. At first she thought she was seeing double with his corpse still being in the open coffin but then he started speaking. Despite both her and the owner of the funeral home Mark Calaway urging him to move on constantly, he refused.
"I can't help it. I can't make noises in my current form. I keep trying. I never mean to scare you or old man undertaker," he said.
"Still with that nickname?" She giggled.
"He's starting to like it," he said.
"That he is," she said.
"When are you packing up to move the business?" He asked.
"Next week unless a fresh corpse comes in that needs extra attention," she said. "It's gonna be great with a bigger place. Mark wants to hire one more person. Maybe two."
"I'm moving with you," he said. "I'm not staying here without you."
"You really should move on, Roman. Nothing good comes from lingering on earth when you're dead. It'll only continue hurting you," she said.
She turned back to the corpse and continued with the job. He walked to the other side of the old lady she was working on but he wasn't looking at the corpse. He was looking at her. Her dark blonde hair put up in a ponytail and her cornflower blue eyes that were glued to the corpse instead of him. He always wanted her to look at him.
"Heart attack," she said.
He leaned down to study the corpse's face. She sighed and waited for him to give her room to work again.
"I can see somewhat through you but I still need you to move," she said.
He snapped his head up and gave her an angry look. His face quickly fell back into a more friendly expression.
"Sometimes I get jealous when you touch them," he said.
"They're dead," she said.
"So was I when you touched me and I could almost feel it," he sighed. "Fuck, I wanted to feel it so bad."
He smirked at her and leaned a bit closer. He knew he would never be able to kiss her but he wanted to so bad. If he had still been alive, she would be his. He was sure of it.
"At least I'm the only one who stuck around here," he said.
"Most ghosts stick to people or places that meant something to them while being alive," she said.
"I couldn't handle another ghost constantly looking at you. I want you all to myself," he said.
She giggled and grabbed the rose red lipstick. The family wanted the old lady to have her makeup done exactly like she used to. She leaned over the corpse and started to apply lipstick.
"My boyfriend will disagree on sharing me," she said.
"Boyfriend?" He growled.
"I thought I told you. We've been together for almost two years," she said.
The lipstick flew out of her hand. She snapped her head up in surprise. He looked just as surprised and stared at his hand. Apparently the anger he was suddenly feeling had made him able to slap the lipstick out of her hand. He looked over at her again, and his face turned into pure anger.
"I'm your boyfriend!" He yelled.
"Roman, you're dead," she said.
"I'm your fucking boyfriend!" He screamed.
He used the anger to push several things down on the floor. She slowly backed towards the door. When she reached it, he realized she was about to escaped. He flew over to her, grabbed her throat and slammed her up against the wall. Her feet was dangling in the air and she could hardly breathe.
"You will leave him the second you come home!" He barked. "Understood?"
"Yes," she whispered.
The door flew open and Mark came running in. His jaw dropped at what met him. A ghost holding his worker pinned to the wall.
"Roman!" Mark yelled. "Put her down!"
Roman turned his head and sneered at Mark.
"If you kill her, you won't ever be able to talk to her again. You have no guarantee her spirit will manifest here next to you, and you don't know if you can find her anywhere," Mark said. "Are you willing to lose her like that?"
Hearing he might lose her, Roman let go. Sadie fell to the ground and coughed. Mark ran to her and wrapped his arms around her to help her up.
"Let go outside. You need air," Mark said.
"She's mine!" Roman growled.
"I'm only taking her outside," Mark said. "Look what you did to her, Roman. She's in tears. Give her a moment. She'll come back to you."
Roman nodded and disappeared. Mark helped Sadie outside where they sat down on a bench.
"What happened in there?" He asked.
"I have no idea," she said. "He got angry hearing I have a boyfriend and suddenly he could move things. I've never seen him like that."
"I feared it would end this way," he said.
He sighed and gently patted her back.
"I always had a feeling he chose to stick around this place because of some sort of attraction towards you. I didn't know it ran this deep," he said.
"He wants me to leave Damian," she said.
"Then leave him," he said.
She stared at him with wide eyes. There was something in his eyes she couldn't quite understand.
"Let's go inside and finish the makeup. I'll help you. Then I'll take you home so you have my emotional support for what's about to come," he said.
She understood. They couldn't continue the conversation here where Roman might be listening in on them. So far Roman had never attached himself to her and followed her anywhere. They couldn't risk today being the first time. They needed him to stay at the funeral home. Whatever Mark had to say could be said later when they were away from here.
"Okay," she nodded. "Let's finish the job and close up for today."
