Melody Bittersweet and The Girls' Ghostbusting Agency: A laugh out loud romantic comedy of Love, Life and ... Ghosts? Read Online Free PDF Page B

and gratefully accepts the glass of water that Marina has returned with. He knocks the whole thing back in one go and then hands her the empty glass.
    ‘Thank you,’ he says.
    ‘And you won’t need to wear a suit.’ I smile. ‘We like to keep things casual around here.’ I realise I sound like I’m quoting from a seventies handbook of how to be a hipster boss for buttoned-up people who don’t have a clue.
    Marina nods. ‘Yeah, casual. Dress down Fridays. Wear pink Wednesdays. Naked Tuesdays!’ She throws in jazz hands for good measure, because she clearly doesn’t feel that she’s terrified poor Arthur enough. His sudden coughing fit suggests otherwise.
    ‘She’s just kidding,’ I say quickly. ‘She’s like this all the time, you’ll get used to her. I have.’
    ‘The letter . . . it said trainee ghost-hunter,’ Arthur says, finding his voice at last.
    ‘That’s right,’ I say. ‘The agency is very new, but it’s our aim to help people who feel that their property is, for want of a better phrase, haunted.’
    ‘And we do . . . what?’
    ‘Well,’ my eyes dart a silent warning at Marina to let me do the talking. ‘We go in, find out if there are any ghosts in there, and if there are, we figure out what they want and hopefully resolve the issue so they can move on.’
    Arthur’s gaze never leaves my face as I speak.
    ‘How will we know if there are ghosts or not?’
    I clear my throat. ‘Okay. So, don’t freak out, but I can see them.’
    He jumps inside his jacket and looks at me as if I’ve grown an extra head.
    ‘With special ghost-hunting goggles?’
    I shake my head. ‘No, Arthur. I see them with my eyes, and I hear them with my ears. I’m a normal person, just like you, except that I can see and talk to dead people.’
    I speak in a low, measured voice and he takes it all in.
    ‘And you too?’ His gaze slides to Marina, who barks with laughter at the suggestion.
    ‘No way, José. Bruce Willis over there is on her own with that one.’
    Arthur pauses. ‘You know it wasn’t Bruce Willis who could see dead people in that movie?’
    I admire him for having the balls to correct Marina. Maybe there’s hope for him yet. He looks back at me and the flare of hope in his eyes is unmissable.
    ‘And you can teach me to see dead people too?’
    ‘I’m afraid that isn’t something you can be taught,’ I say tactfully. ‘You either do or you don’t. I don’t choose to be able to do it. I just can. All of my family can.’
    Arthur looks as if a light bulb has suddenly gone on in his head. ‘So are you like that Leo Dark off the telly?’
    I resist the urge to growl, ‘Not much, no.’ Instead, I sigh and say, ‘Sort of. A little bit. Only I’m a lot, lot better.’
    ‘She is,’ Marina pipes up from the chair. ‘She sees them everywhere, all of the time. You’ll get used to her.’ She smiles sweetly and adds, ‘I have.’
    And then, surprisingly, a wide grin splits Arthur’s face, like a slash of pure sunshine.
    ‘You two are funny.’
    Marina doffs her imaginary cap. ‘We’re here every day.’
    I look him square in the eyes and choose my next words carefully. ‘Well? What do you say, Little Art? Want to be here every day too?’
    He goes still, and then slowly picks up his letter from the desk and tucks it inside his jacket pocket while he considers his answer. When he looks up, his eyes tell us his decision before his mouth does.
    ‘I’m in.’
    I smile widely and reach out to shake his hand. This time his hand isn’t clammy and his smile is genuine.
    Marina escorts him to the door and shakes his hand too as she sees him out.
    ‘See you in the morning,’ she says, pumping his hand. ‘You’re a wizard, Arthur.’
    He stalls and his brow furrows. ‘I’m a trainee ghost-hunter, not a wizard.’
    Marina rolls her eyes and I look down to hide my smile. Things are never going to be dull around here with these two.
    Marina closes the door and leans her back against it.