(continuation of A Lover's Wait... If you guys haven't read that story first then I suggest that you do since this story is a sequel to the previous story).


I was more than relieved when we left the Carnival halfway to go home. We're currently in our aunt's SUV, with me sitting in the backseat with the window glass pulled down, taking in the breeze and gazing at the pitch-black fields of Bastora as the car passes by.

This helps me put my mind at ease a bit. I still can't believe what happened to me back there, and right now I just don't want to think about it. I'm glad Rufus understood that I needed to get out of there soon and managed to somehow convince his mom, Philomena, my aunt who brought us there in the first place, to leave quickly by feigning that he was starving, to which she, of course, agreed. If there's anything I know regarding Goan moms, it's that they do not in any way compromise when it comes to feeding their kids, at least not Aunt Philu. She'll make sure that her kids have eaten to their heart's content even before they go to bed and won't take no for an answer. Meat dishes dominate the other dishes that would be set up on the dining table. No wonder she complains that her dresses don't fit her because she's getting too stout for them anyway with the amount of food she hogs all day. I sigh silently, thinking about the day when I'll finally be in Dubai again.

My phone begins to ring after a while, and the caller ID indicates that it is my dad.
"Hey, dad."

"Hello, Ted. How are you? And what were you doing hours ago? I tried calling you a number of times, but every now and then your phone seems to be unreachable."

"Uh, yeah, my phone had no service, dad. Well, my Aunt Philu, Rufus, and I had gone to Mapusa to watch the Carnival, and you can guess the phone reception there was pretty messed up. "

"Oh, alright. Is Aunt Philu with you now? "
"Well...", I looked over at Aunt Philu at the same time when she looked at me from the rear view mirror and gestured to me that she would speak with him later.

"She's driving at the moment, dad, but she'll call you as soon as we reach home."

"Oh, that's fine with me. I hope you've packed up all your stuff and arranged your suitcases since, at the last minute, it's going to be a rush. "
"Yes, dad, everything's packed and ready. You don't need to worry about it. "

"Okay then, you take care of yourself now. Bye son."
"You too, dad. Bye and see you soon. "

I put my phone away and notice Rufus is looking at me.

"What?"
"You didn't tell your dad about your imaginary girlfriend?" He asks teasingly. I give him a look that tells him to shut up, but Rufus, being the clown that he is, just looks at me amusedly.

"A girlfriend?" My aunt Philu asks. I facepalm myself mentally. Great! I think to myself.

"Yes, mom. Dias here saw a girl and even claimed to be talking to her! " He exaggerates the last part.

My aunt Philu makes a tsk tsk sound and adds, "I'm not sure why you have to call him by his surname Dias, when he clearly has a name that's similar to a stuffed animal. I mean, a teddy bear's name is even longer than his." Rufus chuckles at this, while I just roll my eyes. It's not like she has said this the first time, but every time she uses this statement, Rufus cracks up real quick like a child.

"Hey, chill out, man!" He says when he notices that I'm giving him a bored look.

"What girl are you boys talking about though?" Rufus's mom asks, looking at us from the rearview mirror.

"Oh, the one Dias seemingly met at the carnival." Rufus explains by wiggling his eyebrows.

I narrow my eyes at his nonchalant attitude concerning my situation, and, at the same time, his mom claims that she didn't see me with anyone.

"Yes, I was engrossed in looking at the floats and observing the different Goan folk dances and I was even humming to the beats of Goan singer Lorna's Konkani songs, but I also made sure to keep a close watch on you boys just so I wouldn't lose sight of you both." She answered when I asked her if she may not have been observant enough to notice if I was talking to someone.

"I surely would've noticed if you were talking to anyone, Ted," she adds, with Rufus nodding in agreement.

"Well, it looks like you saw a ghost, Dias. That's the only explanation I can give you right now. After all, it wasn't like we were far away from the church's cemetery." He says this nonchalantly, with a smirk on his face.

I turn my head towards the window to look outside and sit in silence throughout the drive-in in hopes of ignoring him. However, I can't help but wonder if this could even be a possibility. No, it's real. Her touch, her kiss, her voice... everything felt so real. I feel myself shuddering as I think about all this, but more at the prospect of me making out with a ghost! I take a deep breath to calm myself down and push away those thoughts for now. Rufus is just trying to get under my skin, that's all. After all, ghosts aren't even real to think about, are they?

As soon as I reach home, I quickly freshen up and try to convince Aunt that I don't want to have my dinner, but in vain. I've lost my appetite after what I experienced a few hours ago. She forced me to have dinner with the family, and I had to give in. I'm in no mood to have an argument with anyone. I somehow managed to finish my dinner and rushed to my room to be alone for a while. I lock the room door and, with a huge sigh, I sit down on the chair in front of my desk. The small watch on my desk reads 10 p.m. I am thinking of calling my friend Kenneth Bist, but I don't know if he's busy since he informed me yesterday that he would be hanging out with his cousins who had come over for vacation at his place. I still leave a text for him to call me as soon as possible since it's an urgent matter.

I unlock my phone and browse through Instagram to search for Merylinn. I admit that I am not a big fan of social media and spend far less time on it, especially...