“Drake,” I thought. “Are you there?”
“Bien sûr, je suis là! Of course I’m here!”came the irritated response. “I’ve been here the entire time you’ve been asleep, waiting for you to wake up! I’ve been keeping myself company!”
I laughed—I couldn’t help it. He just sounded so irritated and somehow I found his irritation amusing. Feeling like I had to pee, I stood up and started for the bathroom when something occurred to me…since Drake was sharing my body that meant he would play witness to me peeing and, furthermore, eventually he’d also see me naked…
“Ah, oui,” he said, his voice taking on a pleased tone. “I had not considered that absolute benefit to our arrangement.”
“Ugh, I need to be better at hiding my thoughts from you!” I railed back at him as I pushed open the door to the bathroom and wondered if there was a way to keep him from seeing me during times I’d rather he not. Thinking it might work, I craned my neck upward so I could only see the ceiling as I pulled up the ridiculous nightgown Christopher had lent me and, feeling for the toilet, blindly guided myself down.
“Do you really think this necessary?” Drake demanded in a put out tone.
“Yes! I need to maintain some shred of my own privacy!” I yelled back at him.
He chuckled. “Has it not crossed your mind, ma minette dearest, that I have already seen you in every state of your undress?”
Hmm, I’d forgotten about the fact that Drake had already witnessed all my embarrassing moments considering he was haunting my house and he was beyond nosy. I didn’t say anything but frowned as I exhaled and figured I might as well not encourage a neck cramp. After I finished my business, I flushed the toilet and walked to the sink where I glanced at myself in the mirror. I didn’t look any different, I thought to myself as I washed my hands and wondered how much my life would change now that I had Drake eavesdropping on it.
“Let’s practice something,” I thought.
“Practice what?” came his perturbed response.
“What can you see at the moment?” I continued as I stared into the mirror.
“I see your reflection, ma beauté. And while I must admit I am not in the least bit fond of that nightgown the warlock lent you, I am quite fond of the way in which your nipples protrude through the very thin fabric.”
“Really, Drake?” I ground out at him. But then I reminded myself that being upset with Drake for his constant suggestive remarks was like being upset with the wind for blowing. And, what was more, I had a theory to test. I focused on myself in the mirror again and then thought the words, “I’m shutting you out so you can’t see what I am seeing at the moment.”
“Pourquoi? Why would you do that?” he demanded.
I smiled broadly as I wondered if my words had the desired effect. “Can you still see me?” I asked aloud. “And for that matter, can you hear me when I talk out loud like this?”
I could feel the fact that he was annoyed. “Bien sûr! Of course I can hear you! You do possess ears, you know? And as to whether or not I can see you, when you disallow me to share in your vision, what do you expect the outcome to be?”
So it had worked. Drake could only partake of my life and experiences when I willingly allowed him to. That was a huge relief in and of itself because it meant I could force him out whenever I wanted to. Both of us were spared when a loud knock on the front door announced we had a visitor. Not knowing who would be visiting this early in the morning, I reached for my robe, which was hanging on a hook behind the bathroom door.
“Please enable me to see again,” Drake announced. “I am curious and slightly ill at ease that we have a visitor.”
“Okay, I give you permission to see what I see,” I announced out loud as I pulled on my robe and started for the front door. There was another knock on the door, which apparently meant I was taking too long to answer it. “Who is it?” I called out, my hand perched on the doorknob.
“It’s me,” Ryan called back.
Hearing his voice caused my entire stomach to sink in on itself, which alerted me to the fact that apparently I still wasn’t over the fact that he and I had a wonderful future ahead of us as friends…just friends. I pulled open the door and smiled at him as he gazed down at me and grinned in turn.
“Ah, le barbare. The barbarian,” Drake muttered in my head.
“I don’t want to hear about it!” I threw back at him. “He’s my friend, and if you don’t like it, I’ll just put you on mute again!”
“I shall bite my tongue. No need to threaten me, ma minette.”
I didn’t respond but, instead, focused on Ryan who continued to stand in my doorway, looking decidedly nervous or uncomfortable about something. “Ryan, is everything okay?” I asked.
He nodded and then shook his head, running his hand through his hair as he looked past me and into my living room. “Are you busy, Pey?” he asked, finally returning his gaze to my face. “I, uh, I was hopin’ we could talk for a few minutes.”
Confused as to what he wanted to talk about but undeniably curious, I held the door open wider for him. “I don’t have any plans this morning so we can talk,” I responded.
He didn’t say anything but quickly walked inside as I closed the door behind him. When I turned to face him, he was already staring at me and his expression was one of befuddlement as he took in my robe and then my nightgown. “Where did you get that white thing?” he asked, pointing at it and obviously not appreciating it.
I was about to tell him that Christopher had given it to me but then realized that would mean I’d have to unleash the whole long story about Christopher and Lovie possessing me with Drake’s soul and I couldn’t say I was in the right frame of mind to explain the whole thing. Especially not when it was clearly obvious that Ryan’s visit had everything to do with getting something off his chest. “Oh, around,” I answered evasively before changing the subject. “So, what’s up? You seem like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
He chuckled as his eyebrows reached for the ceiling and then he sighed. He glanced around himself before returning his gaze to mine. “Is there somewhere we can sit?”
I smiled because he was more than aware that the only two rooms that were completed in the house were the guest bedroom and bathroom. I just nodded and took the lead down the hallway and into my makeshift bedroom where I took a seat on the bed and he sat just beside me, turning his enormous body so that he was facing me.
“Okay, so what’s on your mind? Spill the beans!” I said with a laugh as I wondered if this was the point at which he was going to try to talk his way out of finishing the rest of my house. He just had a worried expression that made me fear I wouldn’t like whatever was going to come out of his mouth.
“I, uh, I’ve been thinkin’,” he started and glanced down at his lap as he rubbed the back of his head and then brought his eyes back to mine.
“About?” I prodded, wondering why he was finding it so difficult to just come out with it.
“About us, Peyton,” he answered almost immediately.
I felt my stomach drop but then had to remind myself that we’d already had this conversation. “It’s okay, Ryan,” I said with a small smile. “I’m totally okay with us being friends.”