Love In The Wrong Dimension (Romantic Ghost Story) (16 page)

When the group were comfortably seated in the living room with their cups of tea and biscuits, Jack started the meeting. Alice noticed, with disappointment, that Maggie wasn’t there. But just as she was hoping that she hadn’t changed her mind about coming, the doorbell rang and Alice nodded to Jack that she would get it.

“
Hello, love, am I late?” beamed Maggie, as Alice pulled open the door.

“
Hi Maggie, don’t worry, they’ve only just started. Would you like a tea before you go in?”

“
Ooh, yes please.” She studied Alice for a minute. “My god girl, who put that sparkle in your eyes?”

Alice felt herself blush as she turned around to get the milk from the fridge.

“
Sparkle?” she asked, innocently.

“
Honey, you’ve got the look of someone in
love
. I’d know that look anywhere, and if I’m not mistaken, that glow in your cheeks wasn’t there the last time I saw you either. So, who’s the lucky man?”

As Alice turned back to Maggie and handed her the tea, she was grinning from ear to ear.

“
Well, now that you mention it...”

“
I knew it!” chuckled Maggie.
“So do I know him?”

“
Maybe.”

“
It’s Jack, isn’t it?”

“
Well, yes,
” Alice grinned.

“
Good on you, girl. I’m very pleased for you. Now, before we go in and join the meeting, I need to show you something. Do you remember when we were doing EVPs at the Marling Hotel?”

“
Yes, that’s when you tried to catch voices on a voice recorder, right?”

“
Right. Well, while we were in the room at the top, I left a recorder running in the adjacent room, and when I was going over all the footage afterwards, I came across something I think you should hear.”

“
Really?” Alice was intrigued as she watched Maggie rummage through her enormous bag, her bangles rattling as loudly as ever.

“
Ah, here we are. Now, listen to this,” she said, and pressed play on the small device she held in her hand.

Alice wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but she certainly hadn’t been expecting to hear Jemma’s voice, distant and tinny, but definitely Jemma’s voice, saying “
Alice? It’s me
....”

“
Oh my god,” screamed Alice. “Oh my god, it’s Jemma. Maggie, that’s Jemma’s voice.” She was breathless with excitement as she
realised the implications of hearing Jemma’s voice on the recorder.

“
Yes, I thought so. It seems she wants to talk to you.”

“
What’s all the noise about?
” frowned Jack as he opened the door to the living room and stuck his head out. As soon as he saw Alice’s face though, he rushed into the kitchen and threw his arms protectively around her. “Are you alright? Have you seen the boy again?”

“
What boy?” asked Maggie.

“
I’ll tell you later,” said Alice.
“Will you play the recording to Jack please?” Apart from the fact that she wanted Jack to hear the recording for himself, she was desperate to hear Jemma’s voice again.

“
Alice? It’s me
....
Alice? It’s me
....
Alice? It’s me
....” Alice kept pressing the repeat button, needing to hear the recording over and over again.

“
I have to talk to her, Jack. I don’t know how, but I have to talk to her.”

*****

“
Oh my god!” screamed Jemma in joy. “She heard me. She bloody heard me. Oh my god, I don’t believe it, Alice actually heard me!”

She flung herself at Tom, jumping up and down in excitement. “Do you know what this means?” she cried. “This means I can talk to her. It means that she knows for absolute sure that I’m here, and that I want to talk to her. Maybe now that she knows, she’ll find out how she can make contact with me. Maybe this Maggie woman can help her. Maybe...”

“
Calm down,” laughed Tom, as they walked back through the wall into the living room, “I’m really pleased for you, but have you thought about what you would say if you did speak to her? A lot has changed since you first arrived and tried to contact her. I think you know now that she won’t be able to tell you what to do, which is what you originally wanted. All I’m saying is, if she does find a way to contact you, don’t waste the moment by being unprepared. Decide what’s important to say to her beforehand.”

“
Do you know what?” she grinned, “I’d tell her that I’m really pleased for her that she’s with Jack, and I’d tell her that I’m happy. In fact, I’m happier now, than I’ve ever been, and that’s because of you.” She playfully kissed the tip of his nose before continuing. “Do you know what? I don’t actually care anymore about leaving here, because I’m with you and I never want to leave you. Not ever.”

“
Wow, you’ve certainly had a change of heart,” he laughed, as he kissed her back.

“
Too right I have.” She glanced over at Susie, who was busy trying to tickle a woman’s ear, and Max, who was listening to the meeting with his usual sour face. She felt an overpowering need to get away from the house for a while. Not from Alice and her friends, but from the constant hostility from Max. Even Susie’s innocent teasing about her relationship with Tom was beginning to get a bit tiresome. “Tom? Why don’t we go to the beach? I’ve heard everything I need to hear from this meeting today, and right now, I just want to spend some time with you. Alone.”

“
Sounds great. Come on, let’s just go, they won’t even notice we’ve gone.” Tom grabbed her hand, and Jemma just managed to catch the wink from Susie before they disappeared.

When they got to the beach, it was deserted, apart from a couple walking a dog along the water’s edge. Since Jemma had told Tom how she felt about him, and when she learned that her love was reciprocated, Jemma had been so happy that she could barely think about anything else. As they were walking along the wet, soggy sand, Jemma started skipping, grabbing Tom’s hand and dragging him along with her.

“
Hey, what’s the rush?” he laughed, as Jemma tugged at his arm.

“
I know you must think I’m mad, but I’m so happy, and I’ve got all this incredible energy, and I just want to skip and run and jump in the water,” she laughed, as she caught up with the couple and their dog. “Hello, beautiful dog.”

To her amazement, the golden Labrador turned around and ran up to her, barking a greeting and jumping up in delight.

“
Look at Sandy,” said the woman to her friend, “what’s got into him?”

The couple stared, in disbelief, as Sandy ran round in circles, tail wagging wildly, and barking excitedly at absolutely nothing.

“
Oh isn’t he lovely?” said Jemma, as she knelt down and patted the dog affectionately. “I can’t believe he can actually see us.”

“
They say animals are more sensitive than humans – Casper definitely knows we’re around. I don’t think Sandy can feel you petting him though, unless you’ve got very good at channelling your energy.”

“
He does seem to respond though, doesn’t he?”

“
Yes, he does. Maybe he really can feel you. It takes some of us years to learn to do that, and it seems it’s taken you less than three months.” Tom looked impressed as he watched Jemma playing with the dog.

“
He’s gone completely mad,
” said his bemused owners. “Look, he’s rolling over as if someone’s tickling his belly, and he’s actually licking the air!”

“
Bye bye, Sandy,” called Jemma, as his owners eventually managed to drag the dog away, “hope to see you again soon.”

They continued walking along the water’s edge, holding hands and enjoying the winter sun sparkling on the water.

“
Isn’t it weird,” she mused, “that we can walk in the water and not get wet.”

“
We can do more than that,” he grinned. “We can walk under the water as well. Don’t forget, we don’t need air to breathe, we pass through water pretty much the same way that we pass through walls. Come on, I’ll show you.”

He grabbed hold of her hand, and led her further and further into the sea, the water level getting higher as they walked. Eventually, the water reached their heads, and they carried on walking until they were actually under the waves.

“
Wow,” said Jemma, “This is amazing, it doesn’t feel any different to being up there on the beach.”

She
stuck her tongue out at a jellyfish as it swam past “Ha ha, you can’t sting me!” she sang, as they passed through a clump of seaweed.

“
Obviously this isn’t quite as spectacular as it would be somewhere like the Seychelles,” grinned Tom, enjoying Jemma’s awed reaction. “There’s no coral or exotic fish here.”

“
Well, let’s go to the Seychelles, then!” said Jemma, excitedly.

“
It’s not that simple. It’s a lot harder travelling over long distances, we could end up anywhere, although it could be fun trying. But not today,” he smiled, “let’s just enjoy being in Norfolk today.”

“
I wish we could eat,” said Jemma wistfully, when they eventually got back on to the sandy beach, “I’d love some fish and chips right now, and a nice hot cup of tea.”

“
It took me years to get used to not eating,” said Tom, “I still miss a nice curry and pint of lager.”

“
It
’s ice cream and chocolate that I miss the most,” sighed Jemma, thinking longingly of the Baileys ice cream she had seen Alice pop into the freezer the other day.

“
Let’s not think about food. Come on, I’ll race you to that dune over there,” he called, as he ran off, leaving Jemma watching him in amusement. She waited until he was about a metre away from the dune, closed her eyes, and instantly transported herself to the dune, just as Tom was approaching it.”

“
Hey, that’s cheating,” he laughed, grabbing her and throwing her down on the grassy mound of sand. He kissed her gently before collapsing next to her. “I never thought I would fall in love here,” he said softly. “You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. I can’t imagine how I managed all these years before you turned up.” He propped himself up on his elbows, and looked down at her. “Do you remember when you called me Hot Lips the day you arrived?”

“
Oh no,” groaned Jemma, “that was so embarrassing.”

“
I think that was when I fell in love with you. I nearly kissed you there and then.”

“
Why didn’t you?”

“
Are you joking? In the state you were in? Don’t forget, you had just died and were very traumatised.”

“
Oh yeah. That seems like such a long time ago now. The only thing I wanted was to get out of here, and now, the only thing I want is to stay here with you.” Jemma sighed, contentedly, as she gazed up at the clouds.

“
Were you happy before you died?” asked Tom.

Jemma thought back to her excitement at starting her college course, but that wasn’t happiness. That was hope. Hope that she could find a way out of the rut she had got herself into.

“
I don’t think I had truly been happy since my mum died,” she said, thoughtfully. “I just sort of drifted through school, jobs, boyfriends. I had no ambition, and didn’t really think too much about what lay ahead in the future. Alice was the only real, solid thing in my life, and when she left to go to New York, I felt completely alone. It was only when she came back and we moved in together that I felt like I had some sort of home. A real home, and when I decided to go to college the day after going to Jack’s party, I finally felt that I was on the right path. And then I died.”

“
I watched you at that party,” said Tom, “I thought you were amazing, even after you got pissed on that punch.”

“
Alice said she had felt some sort of presence in that house. Who would have thought that that presence would turn out to be the love of my life?”

“
Watch it,” grinned Tom, “it might have been Max’s presence she had sensed.”

They laughed, talked and kissed some more before deciding it was time to go home and make sure that Susie hadn’t caused too much havoc at Jack’s meeting. When they got back, however, Susie was nowhere to be seen and the meeting had finished. The living room was empty, except for Max, sitting in his usual place, looking as grim and miserable as ever.

“
Where’s Susie?” asked Jemma. She was beginning to get a little less intimidated by Max’s offhand manner, although he still gave her creeps.

“
Dunno. She said something about going to see Claire.”

“
Oh!” Jemma was surprised. She didn’t realise that Susie and Claire were that friendly, or that Susie even knew where Ashdown Forest was.

Damn. She had been dying to tell Susie all about her day with Tom and their new friend, Sandy. Tom was off to visit his dad’s grave and she certainly didn’t feel like talking to Max, so she decided to go to Ashdown Forest herself, and find them both.

When she got there, she found Susie sitting next to Claire on the bench. Neither of them had heard Jemma arrive, and, as they were obviously in the middle of a conversation, she decided to wait until they had finished before she announced her arrival.

“
Don’t get me wrong,” she heard Susie say, “I’m really glad for Tom and Jemma, but it sort of complicates things.”