Love In The Wrong Dimension (Romantic Ghost Story) (28 page)

“
Yeah, I know. I went to see Claire afterwards, and I told her everything. She told me some stuff about wormholes, but Tom, there are risks. If the wormhole collapses ...mmm.” Tom cut her off mid sentence by kissing her firmly on the mouth.

“
Let’s not talk about wormholes right now,” he said softly, when he eventually drew away. “I just want to enjoy being here with you. Alone.”

“
Hmm, we’re not alone very often, are we? We never have the house to ourselves because the OMG is always there.”

“
OMG?”

“
Old Misery Guts,” replied Jemma. “This is the only place where we are truly alone. I don’t even see other ghosts here.”

“
I know. That’s why I love coming here, apart from the scenery, of course. And now I love it even more because you’re here.”

Jemma turned to face Tom and felt a thrill run through her when she saw the look of love on his face. “I love you so much,” she whispered, her mouth so close to his that their lips were almost touching.

“
I love you too.” His voice was husky, and it sounded even more sexy than normal. Jemma’s body felt alive with a mixture of desire and love, and, for a moment, she could almost feel her heart hammering loudly in her chest, as it would have done if she had been alive. Almost!

“
Tom, I want you to make love to me,” she murmured.

“
I can do better than that. Relax and let yourself go.” Jemma knew exactly what he meant. She remembered when she had first arrived, how Tom had taught her to surround herself with a small amount of energy which formed a very thin barrier around her. This was just enough to allow her to feel the touch from another ghost, as well as protect herself from unwanted intrusion into her soul. Now he was asking her to remove this barrier, and she did so without question. As the energy slowly dissolved away, Jemma felt bare and vulnerable. Tom kissed her again, and this time his lips passed through her own, and she felt the most intense surge of pleasure she had ever known. His soul was reaching into her own, exploring her and loving her in a way physical touch could never do. She experienced a myriad of emotions dancing inside her, one second hot desire, followed immediately with delirious happiness, then desperate urgency, but above all, love that was so intense it was almost overwhelming and she never wanted it to stop. Their bodies were truly merged now, every one of Tom’s atoms were a part of her, and still the sensation was growing stronger. She realised that she could now feel Tom’s emotions, his love for her, and she knew that he would be feeling her love for him as well.

She had no idea how long they were joined together, but when Tom eventually started to retreat, it was completely dark, the dim, cloud covered sun now replaced with an even more dim moon. Jemma had tears in her eyes, not from sorrow, but from euphoria.

“
Thank you, my love,” she whispered, as they both slowly lifted their energy barriers so they could touch each other again. She flung her arms around him as soon as it was possible, and clung to him tightly.

“
It beats sex, doesn’t it?” he murmured, as he covered her face with soft, light kisses.

“
I never knew it was possible to feel like that. I felt you, Tom. I felt your emotions, your love.”

“
And I felt yours.” He gently traced the outline of her lips with his fingertips, and smiled when she pretended to bite the tip of his finger. Then the smile faded, and his face became serious again. “Sorry to bring this up now, but what are we going to do about Susie? If she makes too much of a fuss she’ll attract Max’s attention.”

“
We’ll have to lie. When we get back, I’ll tell her that I’ve changed my mind and have decided that I can’t leave either of you. She’ll be so pleased that she won’t think it odd that I changed my mind so easily. She needn’t know anything about this, does she? As you’re the one leaving, once you’ve gone back and stopped the accident from happening, she won’t be here anymore. I don’t think we should say anything.”

“
Okay, but what about Claire? You said that you told her everything, are you sure we can trust her?”

“
Yes, she gave me her word. She said she’ll help us find a wormhole, but she also said there was a chance the wormhole could collapse while you’re inside and if that happens....”

“
Yes, I know,” interrupted Tom, “but it’s a chance I have to take. You’ll face the same risk, you don’t seem too concerned about that.”

For a moment Jemma nearly told him she wasn’t leaving, but if she was going to lie to Susie to keep the peace, then extending it a little for Tom wouldn’t do any harm. So instead she sighed and said, “I’m only too aware of it. I’m just trying not to think about my journey, it’s easier to focus on yours.”

“
Right, we’d better get back then, the sooner you make your peace with Susie the better.”

“
Tom?” Jemma reached out for Tom’s arm as he stood up. He took hold of her hand and pulled her up, putting his arms around her as soon as she was within reach. Jemma held on to him, not wanting to leave. “Can we do this again?”

“
What come here?”

“
No, you know... what we did. Can we do that again?”

Tom smiled and whispered seductively into her ear, “If you thought that was good, just wait until next time.”

They were giggling like a pair of lovestruck teenagers when they materialised back into Jack’s kitchen. Alice and Jack were preparing dinner and, at first, Jemma wasn’t interested what they were talking about; she was far more concerned about finding Susie. But something in Alice’s voice made her stop and take notice.

“
I’ve got to find Maggie, Jack,” Alice’s voice was desperate. “It’s really important, I’ve got an urgent message for Jemma, and I need Maggie’s help to get in touch with her.”

*****

Jack’s frown deepened as Alice told him about her encounter with the angel, barely pausing for breath. “Oh, Jack, I wish you could have seen him, he was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. Thank god Dean told me that he might be an angel, otherwise I would have got more and more freaked out, and he would never have been able to communicate with me, and I wouldn’t have got the message for Jemma. I’m so relieved that the boy was real, I was beginning to think I was going mad. You were beginning to think that as well, weren’t you?”

The question caught Jack off guard. He looked uncertain for a moment while he thought about what Alice had said, and his reply was tentative. “I never thought you were going mad, Alice, but you had been under an enormous amount of strain, and when you’re stressed, the mind can sometimes play tricks on you.”

“
In other words, you thought I was going mad. I knew you didn’t believe me.” There was a hint of accusation in her voice, challenging him.

“
I did believe you,” he snapped, “but you were becoming more and more hysterical every time you had an encounter with him, and I was worried about you. You were the only one who ever saw him, so it could very well have been a figment of your imagination. Anyway, at least your precious Dean believed you.”

Alice stared at Jack in shock. There was a new hostility in his voice that hadn’t been there before. It had never occurred to her that he didn’t like Dean, in fact, they seemed to get on really well at the concert. They were similar in so many ways, like they were both into their music, and both were very spiritual. The only reason she could imagine why Jack wouldn’t like Dean, was because he was jealous of her friendship with him. How ridiculous, she thought, her irritation surfacing again.

“
Yes, Jack. He believed me and he was right, so what’s your bloody problem?” She could feel her temper begin to flare, but the last thing she wanted right now was an argument. She had hoped that Jack would have been just as pleased for her as Dean had been, and that he would have been interested in every last detail. He hadn’t even asked her what the message for Jemma was. She had been on such a high after her encounter, but now she felt deflated and even more pissed off with him for spoiling her moment. “Anyway,” she mumbled, “if you hear from Maggie I’d appreciate it if you would let me know.”

“
Fine. I’m going out, I’ll be back later.” With that, Jack grabbed his jacket and left, banging the front door behind him.

Alice stared at the door in bewilderment. What the hell had that been all about? “Screw you, Jack!” she shouted, loudly, waking Casper who had been asleep on one of the chairs. He looked up at her, and gave a little grunt to show his annoyance at being woken up so rudely, before curling himself back up to resume his lazy slumber. By the time Jack got home, it was gone eleven o’clock and Alice had been in bed for twenty minutes.

“
Alice?” he whispered, quietly.

But she was still angry with him, so she didn’t reply and pretended that she was asleep. The next morning, she woke feeling tired and groggy. She reached sleepily out to Jack, but his side of the bed was cold and empty, and recollection of last night’s argument came flooding back. With a sigh, she dragged herself out of bed and went downstairs to put the kettle on. The house seemed so empty without Jack, he would normally be sitting at the table now, drinking freshly brewed tea and reading the morning papers. Normally, she would sneak up behind him, kiss the back of his head and nick his tea. She missed him, and she hoped desperately that this wasn’t a sign of things to come.

She decided that she couldn’t be bothered making herself any tea, if she couldn’t have Jack’s, she’d do without. She wished now that she hadn’t swapped her shift for tomorrow, it would have been a relief to go to work now and get out of the atmosphere of this house. She slowly got herself showered and dressed, but when she was ready, she still didn’t know what to do. When she’d swapped her shift, her first thought was that it would be nice to go Christmas shopping with Jack today, but that didn’t look very likely now, so instead she decided to go back to the flat and do some more packing. An uncomfortable thought sprang into her head then, what if Jack regretted asking her to move in, and that was why he was being so stroppy with her? Maybe she shouldn’t be in such a hurry to pack the rest of her stuff. By the time she was halfway down the street on her way to the flat, she had convinced herself that Jack had completely gone off her and was going to come home tonight to tell her that he didn’t want her to move in after all. When she got to the flat she was in tears, and on the verge of going back to the house to move her stuff back, before Jack told her to. She couldn’t face going into Jemma’s room today, so she decided to sort some of her own stuff out. She would have to move no matter what now, as her parents had a new tenant lined up for the new year. Slowly and half heartedly, she started putting her clothes into neat piles, and when all the clothes were sorted she reached under her bed for the flattened storage boxes she had put there when she had moved in. When she pulled the boxes out, she noticed something on top of one of them and, to her surprise, she saw that it was the green top that she had planned on wearing on the day of her interview at Glitz. That was so weird, how the hell did it get under her bed? She knew with absolute certainty that she had put it on the chair, although on reflection, she was glad now that she hadn’t worn it. What had she been thinking of, she thought, it really was quite ugly. Jemma would have hated it, in fact, Jemma would have told her not to wear it. It was almost as if Jemma had been telling her just that. Then she remembered the incident with the bangle. Jemma had been there that night, she had helped her find the bangle, and she had been there for her. “Oh my god,” she cried, aloud, “Jemma must have hidden it to stop me wearing it.” With that she promptly burst into tears, and all her grief and frustration came flooding out. She cried like she hadn’t cried since Jemma died, she cried for her dead friend, and for the possible loss of her beautiful lover. She didn’t know how long she sat on the floor, crying and clutching onto the green top, but slowly she became aware of a hand on her shoulder, a hand giving her comfort and gentle reassurance. She suddenly noticed that the atmosphere had changed, that there was another presence in the room and her skin tingled as she turned around quickly, expecting to see Jemma standing behind her, but the room remained empty. Even so, she knew that Jemma had been there and through her tears, she laughed aloud as she said, “You were right about the top, hun. Thanks.”

With renewed optimism, she finished packing her neat piles into the boxes and just as she finished taping up the last one, she suddenly realised something. “Jemma?” But the atmosphere had returned to normal and the presence was gone. “Shit, Jemma. I forgot to tell you something. I was distracted by that bloody top, but I need to talk to you. Jemma?” The room remained silent and empty, and Alice realised that she had missed an opportunity to give her friend the message from the angel.

Alice buckled down after that and, with the help of Abba Gold blaring from her speakers, she managed to finish packing up most of her belongings in the bedroom. The living room and kitchen were next, and Alice worked hard and tirelessly, focusing only on the job in hand. It was nearly dark by the time she taped up the last box, and it was only then that she realised that she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink all day. It was time to head home, she decided, although she did wonder whether the word ‘home’ was still relevant. Home to her didn’t mean the actual house, without him, it was just a house. No, home meant Jack, his genuine pleasure at seeing her walk through the front door, her nicking his tea and him her toast, and Casper jumping up onto the bed for a snooze just as her and Jack were getting intimate!