“No, I mean, yeah he died, but he left me his house in his will. And I hate the stupid city, it's so cramped and annoying. This place is so much better.” Yasmine said with a long, happy groan, leaning over the table for a moment to stretch her arms out. “I feel like I have room to breathe out here. Plus, I don’t have to use a stupid elevator all the time. Did I tell you I got trapped in one right before I left? It was awful!”

The way she had gone from this meek, shy girl to this threw Marla for a bit of a loop, but she listened intently as she continued to sip on her drink.

“That's awful, dear. How long were you trapped in it?” Expecting her to say an hour or more at least.

“For like five minutes! With another person!” Marla just blinked a little before giggling slightly, but she realized that it was probably a long time for her because of her condition.

“I see. I'm sorry that happened, but I'm glad to hear that you like it here with us. We're so happy to have you on the team. Where are you staying? I would love to bring you some housewarming gifts soon!” she said sweetly.

Yasmine looked over at Marla, staring a bit, her big amber eyes staring into the older woman’s bright blues. Tears suddenly started to well up in Yasmine’s eyes, causing Marla to backpedal at the sight.

“I am sorry dear, I didn’t mean to pry or nothin’. Ya don’t gotta tell me if you don’t want to.” She said, hoping she didn’t upset her too much. Yasmine just shook her head and sniffed, wiping away a few escaped tears.

“No, it's not that; you have just been so nice to me, and I can’t help but feel emotional about it. I went from feeling like a stranger in my own city to…to.” Her face scrunched up in an over emotional hodgepodge of happy, sad, and relief at once. “To like, I'm already part of the family.” She squeaked out, sniffing loudly again.

“Awww, you're welcome, dear,” Marla said, getting a bit misty eyed as well. Wrapping her arms around Yasmine, pulling her into her chest again and squeezing tight. “You are just the best thing I could have asked for. If I woulda had a daughter, I would've wanted her to be just like you hon.”

Yasmine sank into the plush comforts of the woman’s bosom, just enjoying the warmth of her newest friend. But she couldn’t stay there for very long as she quickly started to overheat from the alcohol coursing through her veins. As she pulled away, she gave Marla one last smile. When she looked across the table, she spotted Ethan quickly looking away, seeming a little flustered for some reason.

Marla spotted her son doing this as well, and she giggled at the sight before turning back to Yasmine again. Her eyes traced her pretty face before landing on the large bandage on her forehead. She hadn’t asked before because it seemed rude, but with the girl a bit out of it, it seemed like as good a time as any.

“What happened with that bump on yer noggin?” she asked bluntly. Yasmine looked over at her and immediately went another shade of pink.

“Oh, umm…” She tried to think of a good excuse, but couldn’t fathom a way to get out of answering. When Marla saw how much she was squirming, she frowned a bit.

“No one hurt you did they?” Marla whispered to Yasmine, who quickly shook her head. Which made her a bit dizzy and Marla had to catch her so she wouldn’t fall out of the chair.

“No, no, I kinda did it to myself, sorta,” Yasmine said as she took a small lock of her hair and played with it mindlessly.

“You did that to yerself?” Marla asked in confusion.

“Well, I accidentally ran into something and got a nasty bump. It's embarrassing to talk about.”

“Ohhh, I see, I understand sweetie, sorry, I was just worried somethin’ bad was going on. Please forget I said anythin’.” Marla said back, back tracking her question quickly.

Thankfully, food came shortly after, and when the massive slab of prime rib was set in front of her, Yasmine’s eyes bulged wide. It was bigger than her head.

“Wow! This is gigantic!” She said in awe, staring at the spread of a baked potato, steamed veggies and the freshly cut slab of meat that glistened in its own juices.

“Whats this shredded stuff on here, ooo is it cheese?” Yasmine took her fork and scooped up a small helping of the topping that sat on the prime rib. About to indulge in what she expected would be a nice cheesy experience, Marla reached over and grabbed Yasmine’s wrist, stopping her from putting the fork in her mouth.

“Yasmine dear, that's horse radish, you sure you wanna be doin’ that?” Marla said in concern. Yasmine gave the other woman a look of drunken confusion before looking back at the shredded spicy root on her fork.

“Do I? I dunno how it tastes?” Marla paused for a moment trying to think of a comparison she could give that she would understand.

“Ummm, you ever tried that green stuff that comes with those raw fish places?” Yasmine’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“You mean wasabi?”

“Yeah, that’s the stuff. It tastes kinda like that.” With Marla’s warning, even half drunk, Yasmine didn’t dare put the stuff in her mouth. Quickly removing it off her fork and scraping it off the meat. She was eternally grateful for the other woman’s quick thinking.

At long last, Yasmine cut off a small hunk of meat. Once it touched her tongue and she bit down on the piece, she shivered as the warm juices filled her mouth. Like everything she had the pleasure of eating in town so far, this was the best cut of meat she’d ever tasted. With the heavy buzz she had going on, it only enhanced the flavor. The floodgates were open, and Yasmine started to pack away the incredible meal, eating as much as her small body could handle.

By the time she couldn’t eat another bite, only a quarter of her prime rib was gone. All the vegetables had been eaten, and she barely dented her potato. She felt like her stomach was about to burst from all the food she ate.

“Ohhhhhh,” Yasmine groaned in pain, gripping her distended stomach. She felt awful, but everything had tasted so wonderful she couldn’t help herself but overeat.

“Haha, I would say I was surprised by how little you ate, but it looks like yer really sufferin' right now.” Marla chimed in, giving Yasmine’s shoulder a squeeze.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“It was so good… But I feel like I’m gonna explode.”

“Haha, well make sure you save yer leftovers and from what I can tell you will be able to eat for almost a week on just what's left on your plate.” Marla said, laughing a bit more.

And that was just what she did, getting a togo box, she packed up what was left of her meal. Pretty much everyone else was still casually enjoying their food, so Yasmine just sat there and focused on digesting for a bit. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back slightly, focusing on breathing and not the pain in her gut. Her buzz was now quickly fading, and a sense of normalcy took over. The sensation of coming down from the buzz wasn’t the best, but she still preferred it to being drunk.

Once everyone finished with their meal, those who wanted it got dessert. They started to gather up to leave. As full as Yasmine was, she still got a slice of made in house peach cobbler for later. Look at the time it was about half an hour to six, and she had no desire to go to the grocery store anymore. Plus she didn’t want to get in trouble for having recently drank and then trying to drive, even if she was much more sober now.

Marla ensured that Yasmine got the front seat again as they all piled up into the van to leave. The small woman felt a bit of guilt for staying out late and not going to the grocery store like she said she would, hoping that Monty wouldn’t be too upset.

In truth, Monty wasn’t upset. He was worried. Sitting on the porch railing, he feigned biting his no existent thumbnail, wondering just where Yasmine was. He had expected her home hours before, so now he was imagining the worst possibilities.

“What if someone swooped in and kidnapped her? Is the place she working for forcing her to work overtime, even on her first day? Or… maybe she met someone and went on a date after just one day together.” Whatever happened to her, he mostly just hoped she was okay. He didn’t know what he would do if something happened to the little girl that he had cared for all those years. It wasn’t really his place to get so attached, but it wasn’t like he had much of anyone else since her grandfather passed.

Just when his worry was about at its peak, the sound of an engine coming down the long curved driveway reached him. But it didn’t sound like what he remembered from when Yasmine left. Sure enough, a large van came rolling past the trees and into view. He continued to watch as it rolled up to the house and stopped. Confusion filled the ghost at first, but as the passenger side door opened and in the dim light, he could just make out Yasmine’s small frame in the dark, carrying a few containers.

“Bye, everyone. Thanks for taking me out.” She called to the people in the van. As they said their farewells, another feminine voice called back to her.

“I will pick you up in the morning before work, darlin'!” Yasmine smiled and waved as the van took off once more to turn around and vanish past the trees. Once they were gone, she let out a heavy sigh, her social battery thoroughly drained. She turned and headed up the stairs of the porch to the walkway.

Monty wanted to say something, but he was a bit stunned that the once impossibly shy girl now had an entire group of people to possibly call friends. He was happy but at the same time shocked that it happened, so much so that he just sat there in silence, unable to speak up.

Yasmine walked up to the front door and put her hand on the doorknob but paused before opening it. She frowned slightly before whispering.

“I hope Monty isn’t too upset. I went out like this instead of getting groceries.” Even though she didn’t have any real obligation to the ghost, she still felt like she had broken a promise.

Monty felt awful hearing this. She felt bad about spending time with other, real people. That wasn’t what the ghost wanted. He wanted her to be free to live her life how she wanted. Not worry about him. He was so distraught with this, he didn’t even realize that she had gone inside.

“Hey, Monty, I’m back. Sorry, I was out so late!” She called out into the empty house, flicking on a light switch. “Monty?” She called again. This time, the ghost snapped out of his somber trance and quickly floated into the house, pretending he was in the back.

“Oh, hey there, sorry I didn’t hear you. Welcome home.” Great, now he was lying to her. He couldn’t have made himself feel worse if he tried. Yasmine snapped to where the voice came from, giving him a guilty smile.

“Thanks, sorry. My new co-workers took me out to dinner to welcome me. I would have told you if I could. I wish I had a way to contact you at home so I could tell you what is going on.” She said, walking into the kitchen and putting away her leftovers and dessert.

“Oh, it's not a big deal. You don’t need to worry about me. Live your life, Yazzie, don’t let me inconvenience it more than I already have.” He said, trying to sound convincing. Yasmine closed the door and looked over at him, a frown on her face.

“I thought I told you to stop that whole I don’t matter thing Monty? You do matter. You especially matter to me!” She said, putting her hands on her hips, still looking a little wobbly. He finally noticed how unsteady she was and how her face was slightly flushed.

“Yasmine… did you drink tonight?” He asked, mostly out of curiosity. Her face flushed a deeper red, and she looked away from him.

“Umm, a little.” She said sheepishly, but realized that she was getting off topic. “Hey, don’t try and change the subject!” She accused, pouting slightly. Monty couldn’t help but feel a little worried at this revelation. He never really expected her to be a drinker.

“Okay, I understand, but please, be careful when you drink. I am glad that you got a ride home instead of driving.” Yasmine frowned again before rubbing her arm nervously.

“Honestly, it was kind of an accident. I didn’t realize my drink had alcohol in it till I had already taken a drink.” She looked away in embarrassment, feeling like Monty was probably looking at her like she was an idiot. She wasn’t far off, but it was more confusing than thinking she was stupid.

“How do you…”

“They called it iced tea!” she argued back.

“Oh… OH!” The realization was that he knew exactly what had happened to Yasmine that night. He couldn’t help but laugh a bit at her mistake.

“Your grandfather was a big fan of those Long Island Ice teas.” He said with a smile. Yasmine’s face shifted to a more neutral expression upon hearing this. She stepped close to him so she was barely a foot away and looked up like she could actually see him.

“Monty… please, tell me about you and my grandpa.” By the silence that followed her sudden request and how he reacted in the past, she already knew that this was a sore subject for the ghost. Monty frowned deeply and floated back from the petite brunette.

“Yasmine I-” He was cut off by her stepping forward to close the distance again.

“Monty!…I… I never even called him in the last six years… I am a horrible granddaughter. I just want to know more about him… and you. I can tell you two were close. Don’t try to say you weren’t. Let me honor his memory in some way. Just let me in.” Yasmine wasn’t sure where she was going with this line of questions, and she might still be a little tipsy with a splitting headache fast approaching. But the overwhelming desire to know surged inside of her.

Monty let out a heavy sigh. It seemed like there was no way out of this. He couldn’t just lie to her and say he didn’t remember. But he had hoped that he would have some more time to prepare before having to tell her the awful truth.

“Alright… I’ll tell you, but not tonight. It's late, and you still have work tomorrow. This weekend, I promise.” He said, placing an icy hand on her shoulder for just long enough to give it a squeeze. Yasmine, looked over at her shoulder where the invisible hand sapped the warmth from her body, but still felt comforting. It seemed she wasn’t going to get her way either just yet.

“Fine… I guess that works… I’m…gonna go get ready for bed,” she said, walking around the specter. Yasmine walked down the hall and to her bedroom door. She stopped at her door to look down the hall. “Good night, Monty.”

“Good night, Yasmine.” Monty called back, watching as she opened the door and walked inside. As the door shut behind her, he felt a surge of regret. He just had to bring up her grandfather again, didn’t he? The topic had changed so fast that it was almost jarring.

Yasmine quickly crawled into bed after kicking off her shoes and unbuttoning her blouse. She let out a groan of pain as her head throbbed with the pain of a headache. Now she regretted not going to the grocery and possibly picking up some pain meds cause there was no way she was taking the fifty year old pills Monty offered her yesterday. So she laid down, still in her clothes, and tried to sleep away the pain as best she could.