STALKER

Chapter 49 6th July still

It's all good and well to come to a decision but to put it into action is another thing. All it took to derail my good intentions was the sight of Granddad's wispy self-standing baring the way to my room. I'd walked into the house with Weirdo on my heels feeling confident and turned into an indecisive puddle when I realised that I didn't want to have this conversation with a crabby third party listening. I had no intention of telling Weirdo about John's personal life but I wasn't sure how he would take me sharing my secrets with someone, especially his arch enemy. He was a territorial old bastard.

"What's happening? I'm not sure who is tense him or you." Weirdo leaned in close and added. "Your Granddad and my Nana should get together. Can you imagine the conversation?"

"Hi, John." He yelled and waved at the empty doorway. What a dick.

I looked at him, one eye was winking at me through his heavy curls and he had an evil smirk on his face. If only he saw spirits, not just sensed them, he would have known a swirling menacing creature was approaching us and he wasn't happy. Unlike meeting Agatha and Maude which was like morning tea with the Golden Girls, granddad was more a wispy Dementor on a bad day.

I held up my hand and pushed Weirdo behind me. "Granddad please be patient, just for once. He's not as big a douche as you think."

"Hey!" I got a light slap to the back of the head for my trouble. I turned, glared at him, and pulled him by the sleeve through the house and out the back door to the garden.

"I was defending you...Jeez." I pushed Weirdo into one of the chairs. "You might not be a total douche but you are certainly a pain in the arse." He smirked, showing his dimples.

Thankfully the day was nice and the garden was still green and lush, even in the middle of winter. "John can't come out here. He can only move around the bottom floor." I explained.

"I'll make us some lunch and you can tell me about your strange family."

"And you can tell me your secret."  Weirdo added, just to make sure we had a deal.

Granddad was at the back door and didn't want to budge.  I was forced to walk through him, which I loath doing.  I don't mind when we have one of our chats and he lightly touches me.  But the full whammy walkthru is another thing.  It's like a thousand little shocks and tingles up and down my spine; and you're left with a wet, slick feel that briefly clings to you afterward....uggggh.     It's seriously gross.

Once in the kitchen I threw a salad together and made up a platter of ham, cheeses, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, Dolmades, and toasted some pita bread. I was starting to see the benefit of doing grown-up stuff like food shopping and keeping a well-stocked pantry. I grabbed a small eski from the laundry and filled chill bags, beer cans, and a couple of bottles of wine. It took a couple of trips but it saved me having to come inside and face Granddad again. All the time I was puttering around the kitchen he was weaving around me trying to get me to stop. John kept his word and didn't touch me but I am sure he was tempted to. I was getting really curious why both grandparents were so dead set against us getting to know each other.

Sometimes having Granddad around is like babysitting an annoying hyperactive child.  "Do you want to watch a movie, get your mind off  Weirdo?"   John, I discovered loved action films.  I've let him watch a few modern ones and he is totally mesmerised by the special effects and action sequences.    The last one was Die Hard.   He's now a big Bruce Willis fan.    "What do you say?  How about Iron Man again?"  But no he just kept impatiently swirling around the room.

In frustration, I finally stopped what I was doing, feeling pissed off.   "Please just give me a break. I just want to have a quiet talk, a nice meal, and a peaceful time in MY OWN HOUSE." I stressed the last point. "WITH a live human being for a change." I stopped and stared at him, or at least where his face would be.

"We'll talk later, I've got some goss for you.  I met someone interesting today...Weirdo's Grandmother. She dislikes me as much as you hate him....a strange coincidence." John started swirling around me like a tornado.

"And  guess what.....she can see ghosts too." I was joking around but it seemed to put him in a worse mood. 

 John was in a bit of a state by the time I left the kitchen. He was in the middle of the room expanding and shrinking, in my head, I thought it was the ghost version of hyperventilating.