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THE VERY NEXT DAY, it's back to work for Nicholas, as well as the spirit who dutifully follows him. Me. While he vacuums floors, I sit at a child's desk and wonder if there's anything more I can possibly do.
Johnny is still with me. I thought he would have lost interest by now. Having witnessed an ample amount of the monotony of Nicholas' life, he asks, “Is there anything he ever does for fun?”
“Nicholas?” I sit up in my tiny chair and take a moment to watch Nicholas with his vacuum. Seeing his dull eyes and drooping lips, I answer with a sigh, “No... no, not really.”
“We've got to get this guy a vacation or something!” Johnny exclaims. “What do you think he'd enjoy?”
“He just took some vacation days,” I tell Johnny. “He didn't do much of anything besides sit at home and drink and sulk.”
“That's no good!” Johnny says. “This guy needs to have fun more than anyone's ever needed to have fun. I've never seen anyone more pitiful in all my life. I'm sorry, but it's true. If he took some more vacation days, where do you think he'd like to go?”
“Nowhere,” I admit. “I don't think he'd go anywhere beyond the diner and home. One time, a couple years ago, I got him to visit Mount Rushmore.”
“Really?” Johnny's eyes light up at the thought. “Maybe you could get him to go there again?”
“I doubt it.” I let out another sigh, because Johnny's questions are making me feel like a failing spirit guide. “When he went to Mount Rushmore, he got out of his car and stared at the giant heads for... maybe five minutes. Then he got back in his car, got some Burger King, and went home. It was a really long drive and the lamest trip ever.”
“Maybe it's lame because he needs a traveling companion?” Johnny suggests—as if I haven't thought of that before!
“I was his only traveling companion,” I reply. “He doesn't really get out and meet many people. I thought he might get together with Wanda from Harry's Diner, but she hasn't been at the restaurant for the last few—”
“Nah,” Johnny cuts me off. “No, not Wanda. I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure she has a boyfriend.”
“Wanda has... a boyfriend.” As I repeat the words, I close my eyes and reality sinks in. “Great. Wonderful. But I was sure she had a crush on Nicholas!”
Johnny sits beside me, in a desk that was meant for a second grader. It's too small for me, and way too small for him. If I wasn't feeling so depressed, I'd probably chuckle at the sight of this large man squeezing into the tiniest of chairs.
“We've got to get him to visit his daughter then,” Johnny declares. “If that's his ultimate goal anyway... yeah... we've got to keep trying.”
“Johnny...” I utter his name with a hint of aggravation in my voice. “You don't think I've been attempting to do that for the last three years?”
“Yeah, I know you have, but you've got to be more proactive about it,” Johnny says. “You need to shake him out of his daily routine. Every day, Nicholas needs to do something a bit different, or a bit bolder. He can't keep going from work to home, work to home, to the diner, to the booze, to the—”
Unfortunately, I shout my reply. I'm getting irritated, and it's obvious. “If you think you can do a better job than me, be my guest... but you're not even a spirit guide anymore! You're a fallen angel, Johnny! You're not supposed to care about any of this!”
“Maybe I want to care,” Johnny says. “Maybe... maybe I would go back to being a spirit guide for the right reason?”
“And what reason would that be?”
Before he can answer my question, the door opens, and Evangeline Harris enters the room with a box in her hands. Seeing her enter, Nicholas turns off the roaring vacuum and gives her his full attention.
“Good, there you are!” Evangeline exclaims. “I wasn't sure I'd be able to find you. I bought you a box of cookies, Nick.”
I have to smile, because Evangeline really is the sweetest lady, and no one ever calls him “Nick” that often. They might not be friends—not exactly—but she always treats him like one.
“Aww...” My charge's head shakes as he accepts the box of frosted cookies. “I'm not sure I can keep accepting these gifts, not when I've done nothing to deserve it.”
“But you have!” Evangeline protests. “You keep my room so nice and tidy. I think that deserves some appreciation.”
“Well, I do get paid for it,” Nicholas answers with a chuckle. “Still... it's nice to know one's work is appreciated.”
When I glance in Johnny's direction, his expression is... strangely devious. I'm not even sure he's paying attention to the conversation. I think he's paying more attention to me, so I ask, “What's with you right now?”
“You're cute when you're angry,” Johnny says. “Also, you want to know what could stop me from being a fallen angel? You could.”
I don't know what to say to that. I keep my eyes on Nicholas and watch him sample one of Evangeline's cookies. When he offers to share one with her, she accepts, pats his arm, and leaves the room with a smile on her face.
“Also, you know what else I'd like to do?” Johnny sets up the question with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “I'd love to take you on a date sometime.”
“A... date,” I whisper the words back to him.
He replies, “Sure. Why not? I think we'd have fun together, and I'd love to learn more about you.”
“There's really nothing to learn about me,” I warn him. “I'm the most boring girl in the world, but... still, I... I guess I wouldn't mind a date with you.”
“You wouldn't mind?” He repeats my words with a snort and a grin. “That's hardly the most inspiring answer in the world, but it's the answer I would expect from you. It's cute... and you're cute... and you're not boring... whether you believe it or not.”