Chapter 27: Tales of Ghost

< Shirley >
"It's been a while, Nina. How have you been? Did you miss me?" I greeted Dylan's receptionist when I saw her working on her computer after I entered his office building.
Nina released a huff and looked up at me, annoyance visible on her face. "I thought you were gone for good."
"Not so soon." I threw her a flying kiss and proceeded towards the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Nina asked.
"To meet Dylan," I replied innocently.
"And who gave you the permission?" She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Dylan himself." I grinned and walked towards the elevator. When I got in, I started laughing after I remembered Nina's shocked expression, her jaw had dropped to the floor.
I fixed my light pink crop top when the elevator was about to reach its destination. Today I was because Dylan told me to pick up some important papers from his office two days ago. Also, I had not met him for the last two days because I was physically training myself at home and going on drives around the mountain area.
Walking out of the elevator, I proceeded towards his cabin, and this time, the guards outside his cabin didn't try to stop me. Without bothering to knock, I invited myself in. Like last time, the calmness of the environment engulfed me, making me feel ecstatic.
"Good evening, Dylan," I chirped happily.
"There's a thing called 'knocking'," Dylan pointed out, a frown creased across his forehead as he was trying to read a file. He was wearing a dark green suit matched with a white shirt and black formal pants, and with his hair brushed perfectly, he looked perfect, unlike the tired Dylan I saw in the evening when I was so-called stalking him.
"Good evening to myself too." I looked around his cabin since the last time I didn't have the time too.
"Hey," Dylan called out and I went near him. "Take these papers and memorize it." I started flipping through the papers that he shoved into my hands like a leaflet. "These are the basic rules of a car race. You must know them like the back of your palms. I want them memorized within today," he instructed robotically, his eyes focused on the context of his file.
"Look at me when you are talking," I demanded, taking a seat on the chair in front of his desk. I hated it when he wouldn't meet my eyes; it irritated me.
"What do you want, Ms. Hamilton?" Dylan placed his file on the desk in front of him and stared at me blankly. His grey orbs stared right into my light blue ones, analyzing my eyes like he was reading me like a book. "You have pretty long eyelashes," he blurted out of the blue.
"Huh?" I felt an immediate rush of heat through my cheeks.
Dylan snapped out of his trance and said awkwardly, "Not that I'm complimenting you. It's just...looks nice, I guess."
I pursed my lips, averting my gaze, murmuring, "Geez, you are better off staring at your files than me."
"You are probably right." Saying that he picked up his yellow file again to start reading while I counted the pages of the bundle of paper he gave me. I pouted as there were eight freaking pages of rules. My brain was going to get fused. "Anyways, you are going to memorize it in front of me. You can go and read it on the couch over there," he ordered, and I nodded. "That way, you won't distract me," he mumbled.
I stopped a smile from surfacing and put on a smirk. "Do I distract you, Mr. Lewiston?" I leaned over the table, bringing my face closer to his.
Dylan flicked his index finger on the middle of my forehead, pushing me away. "No, you don't. You are just annoying," he said. "You aren't even that attractive."
Ouch.
For some reason, I didn't get mad like I always do. I didn't even have the urge to throw things. It's like the environment was so calm and quiet, I didn't want to create any ruckus. Although I did feel a little hurt that I thought so highly of him while he thought so little of me.
"Can I memorize it after going home? Pretty, please?" I didn't know about him, but he would surely distract me.
"No, you're going to memorize it in front of me, so that I can ask you questions and confirm that you have learned all of them. Without knowing them, you won't even qualify for the race," Dylan explained.
Just then something to tease him clicked in my mind. A smirk formed on my face as I let out, "I get it why you want me to stay within your eyesight. After all, you are so in love with me." I giggled shyly as Dylan started coughing up. His reaction was priceless. If he was drinking water, he would have choked on water.
I started laughing, seeing his expression. He shot me a glare and looked away. "Just go away," he said in a flabbergasted tone.
"Should I?" I mused.
"Get to work quickly. Otherwise, I will give extra work," he threatened.
"What are you, my homeroom teacher?" I groaned.
"No, I'm your mentor, Dylan, and you are my student, Ms. Hamilton," he let out.
I frowned. "Drop the formality. I give you the right to call me Shirley." Dylan rarely called me by my first name, but whenever he did, I would get a strangely warm feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"I don't need it, Ms. Hamilton. Our relationship is pure of business," Dylan countered.
"Then what do you want? Should I start calling you Mr. Lewiston?" I scowled at him.
Dylan made a thoughtful face. "It does sound weird from your voice." I couldn't help but chuckle at the way he voiced it out with a cute frown.
"Let's call it a truce. Start calling me by my first name from now on," I declared and made my way to the couch.
I started reading through them. While I was reading it, I felt a gaze on me. I ignored it and continued doing my work. But the feeling wouldn't go away. The only person in this room other than me was Dylan. It wasn't like he would be staring at me. That's next to impossible.
But just for confirmation, I looked up to find Dylan looking at the files.
I was about to relax when there was some screeching noise. I tried to think it was my mind playing games. Then, a gush of strong wind hit my bare arms, causing me to jump up from the couch. I looked in that direction to find the white curtain was blowing along with the heavy wind. The clouds outside seemed gloomy as if it was going to rain. Phew, it was just my imagination.
"It's not like there could be a ghost here," I blurted out. A goosebump went through my body as another gust of wind hit me. The breeze was making it even creepier.
Dang it. Why did I have to remind myself of ghosts?
All of the tales of ghosts started roaming in my head. Annabelle, Bloody Mary, Freddy Krueger... I didn't even wanna think anymore. I frantically glanced everywhere around me to locate anything or anyone unusual, breathing rapidly. My world was starting to spin.
What was this feeling I was getting? I felt like something was getting close to me. Shit, it must be an evil creature.
Okay, okay, calm down, Shirley. Just imagine the ghost has a crush on you, so it wouldn't harm you, I told myself.
Just as I was starting to breathe properly, the fear of someone pulling my leg under the couch surfaced in my head, leading me to shriek away from the couch. I glanced at the glass coffee table, only to see an unknown reflection of a grotesque creature with long hair and nails, staring right at me.
I let out a scream and jumped a few feet away from the coffee table.
"What's wrong?" came Dylan's calm voice, and I turned my head in his direction to find him staring at me with an unknown emotion. "Why are you jumping around like a lady chimpanzee?" he questioned, putting his file down. "Are you possessed or what?"
"I think there's a ghost in this room," I breathed out, sneakily shifting towards him, trying to maintain my balance as everything was shrinking around me, it was being pulled into a black hole.
"It's only 6 o'clock, Shirley. No ghost is awake at this time. They haunt you at night," Dylan said. I knew it. Ghosts did exist. Even Dylan believed in them.
"Yes. It has been staring at me for a while, planning to kill me. But I think it has a crush on me, so it wouldn't harm me. It wouldn't, right?" I went near him and tried to hide behind his chair, hoping he would keep the ghost away from me.
"What? It can still attack you. It could be a vengeful psychotic spirit, and how do you know for sure it has a crush on you?" I gulped at his question since I made that part up. "If it's staring at you, it doesn't mean it has a crush on you or something. It might be planning to kill you," Dylan explained. Right now, it must be planning to squeeze my heart and kill me. Even the thought frightened me.
"Please make it go away," I requested.
Dylan didn't say anything for a while, creating an air of suspense before he sucked in a deep breath and let out, "Truth be told, I always knew there was an evil spirit in my cabin."
"Where is it right now?" I asked, squeezing his shoulders tightly.
"Right behind me," he stated.
"But I'm the one behind you, who else—" I stopped midway, realizing what he meant.
The ghost was right beside me.