"So gentlemen, how may I serve you tonight?" Ben rubbed his palm together, wondering what the two ghosts had in store for him.
"I'll go first," the blonde ghost said.
"No, I'll go first. Who showed you here in the first place," the dark-haired ghost claimed.
"No, I'll go first, who was the one who told you about here?"
"No -"
"Yes-"
"It's me!"
"Not you!"
Both of them began to argue back and front
Ben sighed, rubbing his temple. He didn't sign up for this today, not after the mental shock from Jasper. His brain had malfunctioned when he saw that picture on Jasper's phone, he knew her; it was that same girl - the one that had death all around her. No matter how much Ben thought about it, this was a serious case and he had no clue how to save his friend without hurting him.
This was Jasper's first time falling in love with a woman. But of all ladies out there in the world, he had to pick one that would be the death of him?
Though both of them were best of friends, Ben understood the line he shouldn't cross. Jasper didn't even know he was a medium - all he comprehended was that he was a paranormal addict. How was he going to tell his friend that he should break up with the woman he's planning on marrying next month because she would kill him? Gosh, this was pretty messed up.
Jasper would not believe him at all and he wouldn't blame him, who in this world would acknowledge that?
"No, I saw the girl first!"
"Gentlemen, stop bickering like girls!" he boomed and received their harsh stare. He added tactically, "No offense,"
Both ghosts stared at each other and then back at Ben who continued, "I mean, I would hear you clearly if you both stopped arguing and talk one after the other like civilized ghosts,"
"Fine," said the dark-haired ghost whose eyeball was dangling from his eye socket.
One might ask, wasn't he scared or disgusted by some of their horrendous appearances? But then, Ben had been seeing them since his eighteenth year and as a human, get inured to it with time.
"So I'm Aaron and my friend here is Nivea," He pointed to his blonde partner whose flesh was loosely hanging from their jaw.
"I'm sorry for our inappropriate appearance, but we couldn't get the surgeon to attend to us before coming to meet you - apparently, an accident happened downtown and she's quite occupied," Nivea apologized.
And yeah, don't be so shocked but yes, some of these ghosts who have not crossed over nor received justice, make good use of their extra time to work in the ghost world. Some of them just stick to the occupation they did back when they were alive, the others adapt to the needs of the ghost available.
Madan chan was an example. She was one of the most popular ghost doctors because of her excellent skills. She had been a directress of a world-known hospital during her time on earth, but her competitor poisoned her and here she was. M. Chan - as popularly known - has refused to move on until her murderer dies. She wants to drag him to hell herself the moment he arrives here.
"Sure, go on, I'm already accustomed to this kind of situation," Ben urged them to go on. Right now, he needed rest.
"Just before our death," Aaron began,
"Nivea and I were best of buddies who attended the same university and roommates since we lived off-campus. So on our way to school that day, we stumbled upon this girl from our faculty - her name was Lily. And just like her name suggests, Lily is so sweet and kind and the most beautiful girl I've - "
"Can we leave out the description part, please" Ben implored, facepalming internally. This was a total waste of his time and energy. What could he possibly gain from these young lovestruck ghosts?
"Alright. Well..." he cleared his throat, " It happened that we both had a huge crush on her but none of us summoned the boldness to confess our feelings. On that fateful day, when we saw her across the road discussing with a friend from where we stood, I decided to go and hit on her - "
"No, I decided to hit on her first," Nivea corrected.
"No, you were joking. Everyone knows you are a good comedian and never for once, serious in your life, " Aaron laughed it off
"I was dead serious, man. Why do you think I'd strife over a woman with you?" Was his question.
There was dead silence as the truth dawned on both of them.
"So, let me guess," Ben decided to wrap this whole story up, "While contending on who should confess to her first, you both didn't didn't look properly and got hit by a car, life goes away!" he made a proofing sound.
"You almost got it, but the truth is that the trailer had a brake failure but we were too distracted to notice that, and here we are,"
Oh, so that was what happened? Ben nosed his head in understanding, this scene would make a comical yet interesting chapter in his new book.
"So what do you want me to do?" Ben asked them with his leg crossed over the other.
"Our burials will be conducted next week - our parents are in a worry to forget us," He joked but Ben sensed some pain there.
So far, some ghosts would rather their family members forget them and bear the loss in good faith, few others were scared of being forgotten hence lingered on, trying to find a way to make a connection with their loved ones while the rest had no one to remember them.
"I want Lily to know of my feelings for her," Aaron told him of his wish.
"Not just you, buddy but me too. How could you forgot we are in this together," Nivea didn't want to be left out.
Ben's brow raised, "So you want me to go find your crush, Lilly and tell her that you two love her and all?" he laughed, clearly amused by their request, "I'm sorry buddy but that's not possible. In this place, my face has value and any scandal is a huge detriment and loss,"
"We don't mean face-to-face conversation," Nivea cleared him.
"Oh, what then?" He had jumped to a quick conclusion
"Since we can't manipulate the earthly objects, we were hoping that you would write down the deepest message from our hearts and send it to her?" Aaron asked hopefully.
"Fine, alright," He agreed.
Ben spent the next hour, penning down their romantic words intended to a girl who never took notice of them while they were alive- He just couldn't believe that this was their unfinished business and the reason they haven't moved on.
By the time Ben was done, he was so tired that he couldn't even lift a finger, slumped on his bed, and drifted off to dreamland. Hopefully, the ghosts would respect his sleeping time.