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“Oh, right. Thank you for antagonizing the beautiful and scary woman I have a crush on. She would probably rather castrate me than kiss me at this point, so you’re killing it. Literally.”
“You can deflect as much as you want.”Eva stood.“But you’re both nursing hurt, and if you gave it a real chance, you would be good for each other.”
“Yeah, well…” The back of Mitch’s neck went hot. He cleared his throat. “Even if that’s true, your helping is making me look bad. Bit hard to get a date when you’re ‘freaky shit guy.’ She must think I’m a bad omen.”
At this, Eva smiled. The kind of smile that meant she knew something he didn’t. That or she was planning something. Either way, it didn’t fill him with joy.“Have you considered that she’s worried about the same thing? Maybe if you spoke with her about it, you could find some common ground.”
Ah. So that’s what all of this was about. His child psych had said something similar about shared experiences bringing people together. Or maybe it was shared trauma. Either way, Eva obviously thought that bonding over supernatural weirdness would bridge the Great Wall of Sophie that had been metaphorically erected between their desks.
Mitch wasn’t as optimistic.
* * *
For once, Sophie’s annoyed huffs weren’t his fault.
“How? It was righthere.” She searched her top drawer for the second time, one hand still holding her hair up, ready for the hair tie that had gone missing.
“Here,” he said, tossing her a binder clip. “Try that.”
She caught it (good reflexes,Anderson),and did some sort of twisty swirling thing that mesmerized him.
“Thanks,” she said when it was done. “I swear I left the tie next to my water.”
“Must be our ghost.” He flashed a stern glare at where Eva was hovering in the corner.
She returned it with an eye roll before vanishing. Typical.
“What ghost?”
“Haven’t you noticed the strange things going on? Every day, it’s something different. Your things end up on my desk, mine end up on yours. This place is so old; is it any wonder it’s haunted?”
The whole ghost angle was a last-ditch effort to cover it up. He was embarrassed about Eva’s meddling. Here he was, working to get Sophie to trust him, but Eva was trying to make it worse.
“Yeah, well, whoever he is, he’s a dick.” Sophie said it like she was holding a grudge, her attention fixed on the wall as she glowered and shook her head.
Huh. Maybe he could sell this ghost thing after all.
“Hey, who says it’s a he? Bit sexist of you. Women are just as capable of hauntings.”
There was that smile he couldn’t get enough of. Oh. His heart did a touchdown dance.Langford with the long shot, but he scores.
“Thanks for the support, Mr. Man, but I’m pretty sure I know who’s behind this, and a woman wouldn’t be so needlessly annoying.”
Mitch glanced back to the corner, but no one was there.You’d be surprised.
ChapterSeven
SOPHIE
After nine years, Sophie knew all the quirks that made the building unique.
For one, the elevator squealed when it took off, and the button for the third floor was permanently stuck, as though someone had pushed it too hard once, and now it was afraid to come out again. Sophie would neither confirm nor deny that it was her, but she was exceptionally glad they didn’t have cameras installed.
Every day, the old door rolled open and closed with all the ease and quiet of a steam locomotive. Pulleys groaned, hinges squeaked, but eventually, it closed and slowly went on its way.
Not today, apparently.
Today, the door closed with an ominous clang.
