Conversation With A Ghost

Chapter - 2

"Sorry, I am late. Have you been waiting long?" She asked innocently.

I stared at her like a theist staring at God. Betty was growing more and more beautiful with her age. I noticed a red little pimple on her right cheek. It only made her look prettier. She snapped her fingers in front of my eyes when I didn't answer.

I looked down in embracement. "What will you eat?" I asked while still looking down at the table.

"I am not here to eat, Douglas." Betty replied firmly. I was stunned at her tone.

I creased my eyebrows and stared at her. Betty sighed. She tried hard to look around but couldn't stop a tear from rolling down her cheek.

"Hey?" I said, wiping the tear off with my thumb.

"Go back, Douglas. Go back." Betty then broke down. I was shattered into pieces. The last thing I wanted was to see my Betty cry like that.

She covered her face with her hands. I held her wrists, trying to see her face. The buzz boy arrived at our table and stared at Betty and then at me in disgust.

"Get us a piece of pineapple cake, please." I ordered angrily.

He rolled his eyes and left.

"What's the matter, Betty?" I asked. She continued to cry without speaking.

"Talk to me, please." I spoke in a small voice. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I was sweating bullets. I had no idea what made Betty cry so hard. I was worried that she was going to call it quits with me. Maybe because of something I'd done.

Betty looked at me with sore, red eyes. My heart ached to see my Betty in pain.

"What can I do to make you feel better?" I asked.

"You can go back to Washington and never return." She said, as the tears streamed down her face.

"Don't you love me anymore?"

"I do, Douglas. But I have been promised to someone else. My parents are getting me engaged to a rich bachelor from New York."

My vision shook for a split second. I could hear my heart breaking and my dreams shattering.

"This can't happen." I said in a whisper. I continued to glare at Betty, waiting for her to burst into laughter and tell me she was joking.

But Betty only continued to cry. She wasn't joking after all. Betty was promised to someone else. I couldn't understand what to do. She left from there and asked me to forget her.

I had no more money left to stay back in New York. But I couldn't just go back without taking Betty with me. I was in denial that Betty was going to belong to someone else. I lived under a tree that night. I didn't eat, neither slept. All I did was cry. I cried so much that my eyes began to burn. The next day, I waited outside her college for hours. I had no money left to buy food. I was starving, but convincing Betty to elope with me was important. I started to feel dizzy from hunger, so I sat under a tree near her college. Right before she came, it started raining heavily. I saw Betty walk out the gate with a big red umbrella. In an off-white gown, she looked like a goddess. Her hair was tied neatly in a bun, and a few curly red strands fell on her face. She was with her friends, smiling and talking as they approached the road outside the college. I quickly ran towards her from behind and called out her name. She turned and looked at me in surprise.

"Douglas!" She scolded.

Her friends looked at me and then at her with judgey eyes. They said goodbye to her and left.

I walked towards Betty. I was drenched in the rain. I had no umbrella to protect myself.

"I thought you'd gone back to Washington." She said. Still surprised to see me here.

"I can't live without you, Betty. Please come with me. Let's elope together, Bet. We can come back after a few months to meet our families. Everything will be fine once we are married, Bet." I tried to convince her while choking back my tears.

"Have you gone insane? This is not possible, Douglas. My father will have your head if you elope with me. Please don't ruin your life. Go back to your mother, my love. I am sure she is worried about you." Betty sounded emotionless. My heart told me she was only putting on a show. She still loved me.

"Will you be able to live without me, Bet? Will you be able to marry someone you don't love? Can someone else replace me?" I asked furiously in a raised voice.

"I have to learn to live without you, love. Edward is now my destiny. Please go back and never return." Betty turned to leave, but I held her hand.

She jerked her hand out of my grasp. "Don't you dare touch me," she said in a stern voice. Her eyes were wide while she spoke. "No one can see us together, Douglas. You and I will both be in trouble if someone sees us. Please leave."

I couldn't fight my tears anymore. "Don't do this to me, Betty. Come with me, please." I pleaded.

I could tell her eyes were getting moist. She turned around and walked away before she could start crying. I sat on the road on my knees in the pouring rain. Betty didn't look at me once; she just left. I managed to get a cleaning job in a small restaurant nearby to earn some money and sustain myself until Betty agreed to come to Washington with me. The owner let me stay in the kitchen and have a meal two times a day. I would take my break time when Betty would leave from the college. I would look at her from far away. A month passed by. I decided to approach Betty one more time. As she saw me coming from afar, she gasped and turned around to change her direction. I ran after her and called her name.

Betty turned around and slapped me. "How dare you come back here?" She scolded.

I looked down, embarrassed. "I will die without you." I said.

Betty broke down. I took her in my arms as she wept. I took her to the same diner we had gone to a month ago.

"I can't pretend anymore, Douglas. I don't want to marry Edward. I want to marry you." Betty finally said it. My heart was overjoyed. I had a broad smile on my face. I held her hands that were on the table and waited till she stopped crying.

"Come back with me. I swear I am not selfish, Bet. I want you to finish your studies and become a doctor. But living far away from you seems impossible. Let's talk to our parents and get married. You can continue your studies once we are one."

"I want to come back with you, love. But my parents will never accept you. We have to run away together. Because if we don't, my father will get me married to Edward, and I will never be able to see you again."

It was hard to believe Betty wanted to elope with me. I kissed her hands.

"I will wait for you tomorrow. Same place." I said.

"No, we can't meet here just before eloping. Too many witnesses. There is an abandoned house on Harvard Road No. 5. It's ten minutes away from here. I will meet you there." Betty said.

The next day, I told the restaurant owner to pay me my salary and that I wouldn't be able to continue with my job. He paid me. My salary was very low, but at least I could afford two tickets to Washington with it. I came to this house at two in the afternoon with red roses that day. Betty never came. I went near the college but didn't see her. I asked the watchman. He denied giving me any information and asked me to leave. I came back to this house, hoping that she'd have come by now. Time passed by. It was twelve at night. I knew where she lived, so I wrote a letter to her and dropped it in her hostel's mailbox. I lived on the porch of this house that night. The next day, I strolled around her hostel early in the morning, but Betty was nowhere to be seen. I wasn't sure if she'd gone to college because I didn't see her leave.

I went to her college and waited till the college hours were over. I didn't find her. I had left a letter for Betty to wait here if she came. That letter was on the same spot as I'd left it. Betty was not here. I was heartbroken again. Betty vanished on me. I couldn't eat even though I had enough money to last for a couple of days. I waited for her until one day my eyes were closed and I was sucked into oblivion. When I opened my eyes, I realised I had passed away. After two days, a couple of men came to take my body. The buzz boy from the diner recognised me. He told those men that he saw me with a pretty girl at the diner. When they left with my body, I tried to follow them. But I couldn't go beyond the porch. It was like someone was holding me back. I wanted to find out where Betty was. I could go to her hostel now, but something wouldn't let me set foot outside the porch.