“That doesn’t sound very romantic,” Emily stated, and I kept quiet. She knew that my marriage was crap, so it wasn’t like I had anything to hide there.
“You haven’t mentioned a person lately. What happened with that date a few weeks back?” I changed the subject and instantly regretted it. Before meeting, I would have cared to know more. She deserved happiness. Right now it felt like my intestines twisted in knots, thinking about someone touching her.
“Oh, that didn’t last through dinner. He didn’t think I was funny, and ordered a side of mayo to mix in his milkshake. So gross. Dating is hard right now, so I feel I’m just not meant for anything other than my vibrator for the next few years.” Her hands instantly covered her lips, and I closed my eyes to summon the strength of the supposed Titan powers in me.
I was so fucked.
Chapter Six
Emily
“So you finally got laid?” my best friend Selene asked as we walked through a cemetery in the moonlight.
“I didn’t sleep with him. He’s married,” I scoffed and ignored the feeling of my tits perking up thinking about sex with Vincent.
Her blonde hair swished around as she arched an eyebrow. Those blue eyes that saw dead souls, saw right into my living one. She scanned my face for something, then shrugged.
“Like you’d sleep with a married man. Sure.” I rolled my eyes.
“I’m married, so technically I sleep with one now.” She walked down a few rows and stopped. It had been a few years since I found out my friend was part of the Hero Society and had powers. Not just any powers, she was a reaper. If someone died near her, she could take them on. Of course, I’d found out through being kidnapped and held hostage by a psycho ghost, but at least it’s all out in the open. Her powers were why we met in the first place. Death sang like a sweet siren to her, and one day she followed the tune. I’d been working at the hospital while in school, and we bonded over our shitty mental health.
But hey, look at us now,I thought. Selene was married to a hottie and had a little toddler, and I was alive. Gotta celebrate the little things in life.
She stopped in front of a newly covered grave, and I peered at the tombstone.
“Roger Mills. Is this for the paper or hero work?” Selene also worked for the newspaper as a journalist in the daytime.
“Both, sort of. Roger worked for Terratrex and was part of that accident a few weeks ago. They just buried him and with no funeral for family. It feels like a story. So I wanted to see if he’s around.” She glanced nearby, and I didn’t bother assisting. I didn’t have powers like her, and I definitely didn’t want to see the dead again. Once was plenty for me.
“Any luck?” I gave the other tombstones the side-eye just in case those dead people wanted to be shady. Selene shook her head.
“Care to hang around for a bit?” She walked to a memorial bench under a big evergreen tree. I didn’t answer but plopped down in the space beside her. “How’s everything else going?” Selene wasn’t usually much for small talk with most people, but since the early stages of our friendship, she always opened up to me. Most patients did. And she cared enough to check on me and listen about my life.
“My sister is a twat, and I say that with both love and exhaustion. I swear she’s the only person in the world that doesn’t like me trying to comfort her. It usually makes her more annoyed.” I sighed, thinking about how I offered her a hug after her newest boyfriend broke up with her, and she slammed the door in my face.
“Comfort by Emily is top tier. Her loss.” Selene opened her palm, and I laced my hand in hers. It was ok for me to accept comfort too. Or at least that’s what I tried to tell myself. I was the caretaker, the mom of everybody. But allowing others to take care of me was hard.
“Otherwise, work is work. I do my best and hopefully it helps.”
“It does.” She squeezed my hand. “Now back to letters dude. Are you going to see him again?” Selene asked as her gaze scanned the cemetery. I didn’t ask if she saw anyone else, because I really didn’t want to know. A warm breeze blew from behind us, and I smiled, then saw Selene shake her head.
“I swear if some ghost just mouth breathed on me, we’re having an exorcism,” I whined and rubbed where the air touched.
“Not how that works.” She chuckled and I shivered from the creepy feeling on my skin.
“Gross. Imagine how you’d feel if people breathed all on you while you’re trying to rest in peace.” I attempted to get my point across, but of course no one answered.
“Now that the ghosts got told off by mom, answer my question?” she prodded, and I squeezed her hand once.
“We chatted for a bit about random things, nothing personal after the hug. Then he said he had to go and he wasn’t able to meet all the time, but if I wanted to chat in person, send a letter.” It was for the best. We’d stay pen pals unless we really needed in-person talks. The distance kept my heart safe.
“Are you ok with that?” The journalist in her came out, and I shrugged.
“Yeah. He’s nice and caring, and I don’t know, Selene. Both of our situations are so complicated. I don’t think I needed to like him more than I already do. He’s already too important to me. He’s my other best friend.”
“I get it. I wasn’t wanting Jude either, but it happens. Maybe this guy is supposed to be friends only, but I’ve found love rarely happens when you want it to. Love chooses; you don’t always get a say.” She squeezed my hand back, and I pondered her words for a few silent minutes.
“Oh, there’s my guy. Hang out here, ok?” She stood and left for a chat with ghostly Roger. I was so glad I wasn’t born with powers. Seeing the dead, super strength, immortality, or anything like the others at the Hero Society sounded intense.
