Love Thy Neighbour (Friend-Zoned 2)

***

Ghost shuffles around on his chair.

“You okay there?” I ask.

He replies a choked, “Yeah. Fine. ” He looks kind of flushed.

“You need some water or juice?”

He looks grateful as he splutters, “Water! Yes, water. Perfect. Thanks. ” I place the water on his side of the table and finish up my breakfast. I pop the last piece of French toast into my mouth and moan.

How great is food?!

I look up just as Ghost swallows hard and gets up and walks stiffly to the bathroom.

What a strange man!

I love food. There’s a type of food to deal with any emotion.

Depressed?

Fried food.

Happy?

Baked goods.

Content?

Ice cream.

I could make a whole chart up.

Ghost exits the bathroom and trying to make conversation, I ask, “What are you doing today, friend?”

He grins. “I don’t really know. It’s the only day off I get, so I try to cram a whole lotta crap into it. ”

I nod in agreement. “Me too. I need to go grocery shopping though. You would’ve noticed this morning when you broke into my apartment to steal milk that I only had a drop left. ”

He chuckles. “Yeah. You need more milk. ”

“You need anything from the store?” I ask cautiously.

He looks shocked at my offer. I mean, I am pretty shocked at my offer. Ghost has been back in my life for about twelve hours, but in that time, he’s revealed more about himself to me than what he had in a year. And I want to know about him.

That’s my reasoning and I’m sticking to it.

He finally responds, “Yeah, I do have to get groceries. ” He looks unsure but asks, “Can we just go together? I normally browse around because I don’t write a list. ”

He doesn’t write a list?

Sacrilege!

I’m kind of excited about going grocery shopping with Ghost. “Sure. No problem. ” I shrug and respond in a bored tone.

He says to meet in the hall in a half hour. In that time, I shower and dress.

Then we’re off.