After Death (Editing)

Chapter 7

After my major disagreement with Gabriel, I barely left my room for the rest of the week. When I came out to do anything I avoided him at all costs. I decided that I wouldn't speak to him until he sincerely apologized for the things he said. 

Gabriel knocked on my door, for the first time since our argument. "Hey Lilianna, can we talk please?"

I opened up the door for him, "Come in."

He sat down on my bed, "I came here to apologize. I shouldn't have brought up you know who like that and be so insensitive about your feelings. I wanted to help you, but I didn't do it the right way. For that I am sorry, can you forgive me?" His wide, brown eyes pleaded with me. 

I sighed, unable to remain angry at him for much longer. "I forgive you, but don't do something like that again," I said in a stern manner.

A small smile appeared on his face, "Thanks, hug?"

I hugged him for mere minutes but it felt like hours to me. It was comforting to know that Gabriel was there for me, especially in my situation where no one else could.

"So, do you want to get back into investigating my death?" I asked quietly.

Gabriel looked at me, shocked, "Are you sure?"

I nodded, "I am sure, so what are we going to do?"

"Well I got some information on Jack, Devlin's friend so I think we need to confront him to see if Devlin told him anything."

"We can't go up to him and expect him to tell all of his secrets."

Gabriel sighed, "Well you do have a point, what should we do then?"

"I think I need to be his friend and earn his trust and then hopefully he could tell me what Devlin told him."

"Or we could get him drunk." He suggested. "Think about it, earning someone's trust takes a long time, as you have said before. I know he is no stranger to alcohol so maybe with a little nudge we can get him to drink enough to spill all of his secrets."

It seemed a bit cruel to do that to someone, but it could work. Time was of the essence, the more information I could gather, the closer I would come to solving my death. 

"Is it that horrible, that it is leaving you speechless?" Gabriel asked.

I laughed, "No, it sounds like a good plan."

His smile exuded cockiness, "What a great plan it is, but how should we implement it?"

"I need to bump into him and invite for drinks. Do you know where he would be most of the time?" I asked.

"He goes to this bar fifteen minutes from his work regularly, it seems. You could meet him there."

"Okay, so when does he get off?"

"From the intel I have acquired, I'd say around seven. 

"Okay then, I need to be at that bar around seven. 

Gabriel rest his hand on my shoulder, "I am so happy that you aren't mad at me anymore."

I chuckled, "Me too."

He left my room shutting the door behind him. Speaking with Gabriel was the pick that I needed. I felt as if I would take on the world. 

Until it was time to meet Jack, I ate and then read some books. When I was alive, I loved reading. For all the books I owned, a room was barely enough. The feeling of becoming lost in a different reality was magical to me. I absorbed the worlds crafted by words and became emotionally attached to the characters. When they shed a tear I was a blubbering mess. Devlin didn't share my passion for reading unfortunaly, he was a movie guy. 

Before I knew it, I was soon time for me to go. I showered and put on a dress that I found in the closet. It was not my style at all. It was a midnight black and as short as my patience. I could tell I had a future of pulling the dress down as I walked. I paired it with a pair of comfortable flats. Looking in the mirror I contemplated changing, but time wouldn't allow it. 

Before we left, Gabriel showed me a picture of Jack so I would know what he looked like. He had a buzz cut of ginger hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. Gabriel parked in another building parking lot and hopped out the car to walk to bar. He didn't want to park right by the bar because that looked suspicious.

As I entered the bar, I was surprised to see that Jack was already there. I walked over and sat next to him. I ordered a Cosmopolitan. 

Jack's eyes were red and watery. He had five shot glassed next to him. "Tough day, huh?" I asked to him.

He chuckled and looked at me,  "You have no idea."

I sighed, "Life is stressful isn't it, but you just have to learn how to deal with it."

"This," he held up a shot of vodka, "Helps me deal with everything."

I was supposed to ask to go on a date and get him drunk. My conscience nagged me. It didn't feel right. This man sounded like he was an alcoholic and or bordering it. I didn't think I could go through with this. He looked so sad and distant. I wanted to help him.

"So what's got you down?"

 "A friend of mine died the other day" He replied softly.

"I am sorry to hear that." I tried to swallow the lump in my throat that was swelling up. 

"Yeah, we were close, it is hard to believe that he is gone." He gave me a sad smile. He shook his head and said "No offense, but I don't even know why I am telling all of this to a total stranger."

"Sometimes it is good to get these things off of your chest, even if I am a total stranger."

"True, so what has you down?"

"Me? I am completely fine."

He looked at me disbelievingly.

I chuckled, "Okay, okay, you got me. A friend of mine also died recently. We had been friends for a while."

"I am so sorry to hear that. I really am." He said sympathetically. "Would you like to go out sometime? We could maybe hang out or something." He asked with a faint pink color tingeing his cheeks.

I grinned,"I would love to, we should exchange numbers and then we could go out sometime."

I made my way to the exit of the bar when he called out, "You know I have your phone number, but I don't have your name."

Liliana nearly rolled of my tongue but thankfully I caught myself in time, "The names Emma. You what the funny thing is? I don't know your name either."

He smiled, "It's Jack."

I headed towards the door "Well see you soon Jack," I waved before leaving. 

Walking down the cold, empty street I decided that I wasn't going to get him drunk, it wasn't a good idea at all.  He looked like he needed a friend and I was going to be for him. I was given a bit of second chance on earth. If I had the opportunity to impact someone's life, why not try?

A/N: So what do you think about Jack? You have to listen to the song above, Hurt by Christina Aguilera. I was listening to it while writing this chapter and the tears are still falling, absolutely beautiful.