by TheTimeTrust
Words tumbled in and out of Pete Glover's dreams as he slept and dreamed.
You know how, when you were a child, you sometimes fell asleep in a crowded room full of adults, your parents and their friends? The sounds of many voices speaking all at once, interrupted occasionally by a laugh and a tinkling of glasses, has a peculiar effect of sounding like nothing more than a background humming noise. It is very soothing, just like the sound you hear while sitting in the back seat of a car, and it has an ability to induce one to sleep.
It was this sound that Pete was hearing now.
However, as his dreaming interacted with the conversation his ears picked up unconsciously, he began to realize that he was no longer soundly sleeping but actually paying attention to what was being said. It sounded like a man and a woman speaking to each other, and it sounded paradoxically as if it was coming from a great distance away as well as right next to his ear.
"You're so beautiful..."
"And you're a handsome devil."
"'Devil'?"
"No, I guess nobody could accuse you of being a devil. You're definitely on the side of the angels."
"I'm not so sure about you, though..."
"Whatever -- I take it back! You are a devil!"
"Too late. Besides, you know me better than anyone else does. I love you, and I'll never stop loving you."
"I know..."
"I wish you could stay here all night. I wish... things were different."
"I know... I love you too, but I also love him, and I don't want to be the cause of his hurt."
"It's going to have to come out sooner or later, love. And the longer it takes, the more he's going to hurt. He's my friend, too, remember."
"Let's not talk about him just now. We have so little time together as it is."
"It's strange, though. I never imagined that I'd end up falling in love with the girlfriend of one of my friends."
"Why did you?"
"It's hard to explain."
"Oh, really...?"
"No, I don't mean it like that. It's just that..."
"Yes...?"
"It's just that I've always lived by very high principles, which my parents instilled in me. One of those principles was to never go behind a friend's back with his girl."
"Well, it wasn't exactly all up to you. I had my own part in this. And was he really your friend when we met? You and he seem to have the least in common out of all of us."
"True. He and I have never really even had a one-on-one conversation. But still, it seems wrong, somehow..."
"The only thing that's wrong here is that we can't speak of the way we feel with each other openly among our friends."
"That's why you've got to tell him."
"I know, I know..."
"Tell me, when you were growing up, what did you imagine your life would be like when you had grown up?"
"Oh, I don't know. I guess I figured I'd meet my own Prince Charming, and we'd live happily ever after in a nice little cottage."
"A cottage? Really?"
"Uh-huh. And we'd have two-point-three kids and a cat and a dog who got along with each other."
"How do you compare your childlike expectations with the reality?"
"Oh, it's not so bad. I've met my Prince Charming... and although I'm still waiting on the whole cottage and family thing, it's still a possibility."
"Wow. I'd like to meet this Prince Charming. He sounds like a nice fellow."
"He is. Maybe a little bit too nice."
"Ah. Perhaps he's that way because he's found his own princess, the love of his life..."
"Geez..."
"Heh-heh. Yeah, this is getting a little bit cheesy, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Heh-heh."
"It's true, though. You've made me the luckiest man on earth."
"Well, thank you, sir! But I do believe you held that title for awhile before you met me."
"Just a minor technicality. I didn't know the meaning of the word 'luck' until you walked into my life. I love you, Shirley..."
"Kris, you're so sweet..."
Pete's eyes opened suddenly as the dream-state he was in was interrupted by jarring reality. He jumped up from the sofa and looked through the doors of the open bedroom.
He saw Shirley Francis in bed with Kristofer Schanz. The ghost. His ghost. Things were getting a bit confusing now.
"Hey! You -- whut's goin' on?!"
He arose and ran into the bedroom, his head reeling and threatening to send him back into unconsciousness as he saw the couple embracing each other.
"Kristofer! What's -- you -- her -- whut is all this? I dinna--"
"Just a moment, Shirley. I have to make a trip to the facilities. Be back in a sec."
"Hurry back, loverboy."
"'Loverboy'? Shirley, whut th' hell's ye talkin' aboot, lass?! I thought you an' Mick--?"
Shirley didn't seem to hear him or see him, however.
Kristofer hurriedly walked into the bathroom, clandestinely motioning for Pete to follow him. As Pete followed him in, Kristofer closed the door. "Pete? What's going on? Are you quite all right?"
"All right? What d'ye mean am I all right? My 'ead's gonna explodes if ye don't explains things right now!"
"'Explain'? Explain what? Explain to you once again that we have an agreement, you and I, that you give me some privacy, and I'll heed your timely advice whenever you have some to give? Pete, this is getting tiresome. I know that this is your mission on this earth, to watch over me, but times like these I really don't think I need anyone hovering around and watching!"
Pete just frowned at him and tried to take in the words he was saying. He could not understand what was going on.
"My... my mission?"
"Yes, Pete. You were the one who explained it to me. I couldn't save you from that car accident back in Mandelovia, despite all my abilities and my power of luck, and your spirit has been attached to me ever since. And, I must say, it has been trying at times, especially first getting used to the idea that there is a supernatural world co-existing with the natural world all around us. I'm a scientist, after all, not a witch doctor or some looney tune fortune teller."
"My... my spirit?"
"Yes, Pete. You're dead, remember? You're a ghost. A ghost that only I, Kristofer Schanz, alias Chance of MBL Consulting, can see and hear..."
"Shite."