THERE are some things that I guess I’ll never know… When you love someone, you gotta learn to let them go… When I dream about you, that’s when everything’s all right… You’re in my arms, here next to me forever… When I dream about you, girl you never go away… Just close my eyes, wait for my dreams… `Coz I still love loving you—

Jonathan turned around when someone pulled his headphone. He found his cousin Oreo grinning at him while waving his headphone. He sighed and took it back.

“What?” he said irritably.

He just ruined his senti moment on his favorite bench in the campus park.

“So, you indeed enrolled.” Oreo sat on the other side of the bench.

“Who told you?”

“Lola told me. Let me see your class schedule.”

He opened his bag and brought out a piece of paper that he handed to Oreo.

“We’re in the same class.”

“Oh, really?”

“Hm.” Oreo turned his gaze on him. “Let’s go grab some sandwich—”

“I’m sorry. I have an appointment.” Jonathan checked his wristwatch.

“What appointment?” His cousin’s forehead creased.

“I have an interview for my part-time job in a café.” He tapped his cousin on the shoulder. “Better luck next time.”

“Your father left you with a huge sum of inheritance. It’s enough for you and your future family to live for the next fifty years.” Oreo shook his head and stopped mid-way. He looked at him with eyes wide open. “Or is it happening again?”

Jonathan nodded. “It’s happening again.”

And he needed to divert his mind onto something. That is why he wanted to get a part-time job. Keeping himself busy is the only way he could ignore those annoying ghosts.

It all started five years ago. After waking up from a coma, he started seeing ghosts. Oreo’s father, his uncle, who happened to be a psychic, told him that his third eye must have opened when he crossed the afterlife and came back. He begged his uncle to close it, but he refused. His uncle was afraid that the process of closing his third eye might put his life in danger. So all he could do now is to endure it and ignore those annoying ghosts that approached him.

He rose from his seat and put on his bag.

“I gotta go.”

JONATHAN stared at the café’s signage.

It says Kismet: Forever And Always, written in a sassy font in red and purple. It sounded like a romance novel title rather than a café name.

He heaved a deep sigh and pushed the glass door open.

“Excuse me, I am here for the interview,” he said.

The woman behind the counter turned to him and smiled.

“Oh… Please have a seat.” She beckoned the nearest table.

Jonathan settled there as he waits.

“Which one do you like, coffee or tea?” the woman asked.

He just stared at her. It was the first time he was offered a drink in an interview.

“No—”

“I won’t take no for an answer,” the woman said firmly.

“Anything without milk is fine.” Jonathan cleared his throat.

“Okay.”

He waited for another couple of minutes before the woman came to the table with two cups of freshly brewed coffee.

Jonathan brought out his resume and handed it to her. She read it while sipping coffee.

“You’re applying for a part-time job. Why not make it full-time?” the woman asked him.

“I’m currently studying.”

“You’re still going to school at twenty-seven. What happened?”

Jonathan fixed his gaze on his cup.

“Can I make a pass?” he asked.

“Sure. Here’s the next question, then. What is love, Jonathan?”

His brows furrowed.

A man walked inside the café.

“Avon, how many times do I have to tell you not to conduct the interview if you lack sleep?”

The woman stood up with her cup of coffee and left him with the man who just arrived.

“I’m sorry. My wife’s a writer with a loose screw. But don’t worry, I will be the one to manage the café.”

“Roeden, I can hear you!” the woman yelled.

“Anyway, you’re hired,” Roeden told him.

“Just like that?” Jonathan could not believe he was hired that easily.

“It says in your resume that you worked in a coffee shop five years ago. That’s all that matters.”

“Oh… Thanks for hiring me.”

“What shift would you like to take?”

Jonathan showed him his class schedules.

“I’d like to work during my vacant periods.”

Roeden looked at him with arched brows.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded continuously.

“Okay.” Roeden stood up. “Follow me. I will give you your uniform.”

He followed him to a room where he found a woman sitting at the corner. But Jonathan knew better. It was a ghost.

Goddamn it, they’re everywhere.

He looked away so that they won’t meet. He needs to act like someone who can’t see ghosts.

“Here.” Roeden handed him his uniform.

Jonathan gasped and stepped back when the ghost appeared behind his boss.

“Y-you should have this café blessed,” he told Roeden.

Roeden smiled at him.

“Of course. I don’t want any evil entity lingering around here. My wife is enough, don’t you think?”

 His jaw dropped. He didn’t know what kind of response he should give.

“Relax.” He tapped him on the shoulder. “I was just kidding.”

Jonathan put his uniform inside his backpack. “I’m going now.”

“Sure. The soft opening will be on Sunday.”

“Then I will start working on Sunday.” He bowed and took his leave.

He was on his way to the parking lot when he received a text message from his cousin Oreo telling him to come back to the campus to pick him up because his car broke down. So, Jonathan got on his motorbike and headed back to school.

SHE ROAMED around the campus park to look for a prospect. She did not even choose the place. She just found herself coming to that university again and again. She thought perhaps there was something with that place. Maybe it was her school when she was still alive?

She stayed on a bench under the tree and watched everyone passed by. Then, a group of girls caught her attention. She heard them plotting an evil plan against their cheerleader.

Mean girls, she thought.

If only she has a physical body, she would kick their butts and pull their hairs. But wait, she may be a mere spirit, but she wasn’t powerless. She can do something. So, she flew towards the trash bin. Using the energy that she has, she pushed the bin towards the direction of those mean girls. It hit the back of the meanest girl among the group. She laughed hard, which caused the wind to swirl around the park.

`Serves you right!

“Oh, my gosh!”

“What was that?”

“This is crazy!”

“There must be a ghost somewhere here!”

They all ran away.

Then she saw a boy approaching her way. He was tall, lean, with perfectly sun-kissed skin. But she could not see his entire face because he was wearing a mask and a baseball cap. He picked the trash bin and put it back in its place. And to her amazement, he looked at her! He could see her!

“Hey!”

He flinched and ran away like a scaredy-cat.

“Did I just find the one I am looking for?”