The Ghost

Chapter 16

The day goes by quickly, pretty much the same as yesterday, minus the man who attacked me, and Julia going home early. 

"That man kept watching you," Julia says as her, Mason and I clean up at closing.

"I know," I respond. "It's unnerving, really."

"I can imagine... Why do you think he's watching you?"

A spy, perhaps? "I don't know. Perhaps he's enamored with me."

"Not really anything new," Keith says.

"Shut up, will you?" I look at him, an amused smile on my face.

He chuckles. "Sorry, Dear. Just stating my opinion."

"And which one would that be? The opinion you have about me, or the opinion on the opinions that other men have about me?"

Both Mason and Julia laugh.

Keith raises an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face. "Which opinion of you are we talking about?"

"The one you made obvious yesterday, in this very room."

"Ah, that one." He grins.

I roll my eyes and look at Julia, who's looking at the both of us, an amused smile on her face.

"What opinion yesterday?"

Mason cuts in. "You'd have to have been there, Julia. It was hilarious."

I sigh. "You guys are impossible." I continue cleaning while the guys explain what happened.

By the time they finish laughing about it, I've cleaned all of the tables, swept and mopped the floor, and put all the chairs up. I stand, leaning against the counter, reading through the messages on my phone from Kirsten.

"Oh, come on, Cecelia. Are you seriously not going to laugh about it?"

"Hmm?" I look up from my phone, at Julia. "Oh. I'm laughing on the inside, trust me."

Keith looks at me. "What's wrong?"

"Carla keeps messaging me."

"About?"

I glance at Julia and Mason, before looking back at Keith. "We'll talk later."

He nods, saying nothing more.

"Who's Carla?" Julia frowns.

"A friend of ours," I say with a small shrug.

My phone dings, and I look at the message.

<Cecelia, are you going to respond to me, or are we still not speaking to one another? >

I sigh and quickly respond with:

<Carla, I'm still at the cafe, and what I can say is currently limited. You'll just have to wait until we can get there. >

<You're still at the cafe?>

<Yes. We just closed up. We'll be there soon.>

I don't wait for a response; I just shut my phone off and slip it into my back pocket.

"Cecelia, is something wrong? You haven't been acting like yourself lately," Julia addresses me with a frown.

"I'm fine. Luck's just not been in my favor lately." I shrug.

Keith looks at me, but says nothing. 

"We should get going. Carla wants us to meet her for dinner," I tell Keith.