The Secrets of Ghosts by Sarah Painter

Author:Sarah Painter
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary Women, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 9781472054807
Publisher: Carina
Published: 2014-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Katie watched Max walk into Barton’s room and shut the door. She wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t do that, that you should always leave a door open when visiting a MOP or cleaning a room, but she was still in shock from the anger in his voice. The look of betrayal on his face. Maybe she’d let him calm down first.

She was halfway downstairs when the smell of Chanel No. 5 and a blast of cold air alerted her to Violet’s presence. She ran the last few steps and went into the Ladies, hoping to outrun the ghost. She’d stepped inside Barton. She’d made him move like a puppet. For the first time, Katie felt frightened of Violet.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyeliner had smudged so she wet her finger and swept it underneath her eyes, leaning close to the mirror to scoop the gunk from the corners. A slight movement in the edge of the mirror made her whip round. Violet was leaning against one of the stall doors. ‘You should take better care of your skin, you know,’ she said.

‘Hello, Violet,’ Katie said, keeping her voice even. ‘How are you?’

Violet shook her head, using that fluid motion that gave Katie a headache. ‘Why did you run away?’

‘How long have you been able to do that? Possession?’

Violet looked confused for a moment, then she giggled. ‘That was my first. Wasn’t it fun?’

‘It wasn’t very nice,’ Katie said.

Violet was peering at her own reflection, didn’t seem to be listening.

‘You shouldn’t do it — you shouldn’t take a person’s free will like that,’ Katie said, trying to catch Violet’s eye in the mirror.

‘I thought I was helping. Your young man doesn’t like him. I thought it would make him happy.’ She cast a disparaging look at Katie. ‘You don’t seem to be trying.’

‘I don’t have a young man,’ Katie said.

‘You’ll lose him if you’re not careful.’ Violet turned away from the mirror. ‘You talk to him too sharply. And he looked really angry just now.’

‘Were you watching us?’

‘You mustn’t make him angry,’ Violet said, her body vibrating. The air around her began to shimmer like a heat haze and her voice rose. ‘Men don’t like that.’

‘It’s okay,’ Katie said, putting her hands up. ‘Max is fine. We’re fine.’ In her desire to calm Violet down, Katie forgot for a moment that she wasn’t with Max, that this entire thing was a bored ghost’s fantasy. ‘And you’ve got the wrong idea — we’re not together.’

Violet shook her head again. ‘Well, that’s even worse. You should be.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Katie said, glad that Violet had stopped vibrating. She leaned close to the mirror and re-applied her liner.

‘He’s handsome,’ Violet said.

‘He’s a con man.’

Violet pressed her lips together. ‘You don’t know how lucky you are.’

‘That a man is interested in me? Oh, please—’

‘Not that.’ Violet waved a hand. ‘Someone interesting is interested in you. That’s far more rare.’

Katie had to concede that Violet had a point.

‘And he has a motor car.

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