Date Night

“Are you coming tonight?”

I looked up from my computer to see the smiling face of my coworker, Erin, looking down at me.

“Coming to what?” I asked.

“We're all going out to karaoke tonight, me, Carlos from accounting, Andrea from reception, Steve from marketing, you know, the Gang!” Erin replied.

“The Gang” was the nickname that Erin had given the group of single work-friends from our office that occasionally go out to bars together and try to pick up dates. The group used to be much larger, but it dwindled the more success the individual members had romantically. There's a metaphor for something in there, but I can't think of one at the moment. Erin had been championing my inclusion in the group for months now, and sometimes I went out with them and had fun, but I knew what tonight was, and it meant I had to turn her down.

“Sorry, I'd love to go, but I've got plans tonight.” I smiled.

“Romantic plans?” Erin questioned.

“A gentleman never tells,” I chuckled. “Maybe next time.”

“I'll hold you to that,” Erin said as she started to walk back to her desk, but she stopped. “You know, it's funny. You always turn me down whenever there's a full moon, makes me wonder...”

After a few moments of an intense staring contest, Erin broke out into a fit of giggles and continued back to her desk. Now, I know what you're thinking, the full moon thing, I get what's going on, I'm a werewolf and that's why I can't go out during full moons. And you're wrong, although my real reason does have something to do with the supernatural. The night of the full moon is when the barrier between the natural world and the spirit world is at its weakest. And for me, that meant it was date night.

About a year and a half ago, my fiancee, Christina, died in a tragic car accident, but I couldn't let go of her. We were high school sweethearts, we were gonna get married one day and have kids and a whole life together... and it was snuffed out in an instant because of one faulty stoplight. I fell into a dark pit after that, I started drinking heavily, went on autopilot for months, I was weeks away from being fired, from losing my apartment, and one night, months after Christina's death, in a drunken fit of grief, I used a Ouija Board to try and contact her spirit. I don't know what I expected to happen, to be honest, so imagine my surprise when I found it that it actually worked!

There Christina was, back in my living room, sure, she was a little more translucent than usual, and wearing all-white, but I had her back! We were both ecstatic to see each other, and I resolved to never lose her again. But, obviously, I had to keep my renewed relationship a secret, for one thing, I doubted anyone would believe me, and if they did, I get the feeling that dating a ghost is probably taboo. Unfortunately, the drawback is that we can only see each other once a month when the full moon is in the sky, but for me, that's a small price to pay to have Christina back in my life. Just talking to her and knowing that she was okay in the spirit world made me feel better. Everyone around me noticed how I'd changed, although they thought I'd finally gotten through the grieving process, they were none the wiser to the fact that I'd lost the need to grieve at all.

“Erin's still trying to get me to put myself back out there, but don't worry, I'd never stray from you.” I raised a wine glass and took a sip.

Christina sat across from me, sitting cross-legged, although sitting is the wrong term as she always levitated slightly above the ground. She couldn't partake in drinking or eating for that matter, but Chrissie didn't mind that I did during our date nights. I think she enjoyed the normalcy it created.

“That's nice...” Christina seemed distracted tonight. I hoped it wasn't something I'd said.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Robert... How long can we keep this up?” Christina replied with a question of her own.

“What do you mean? Keep what up?”

“This! Our date nights! Our relationship! It was great at first, it can get lonely on the other side, but... this isn't healthy for you...”

“This isn't healthy? You saw what I looked like the first night! I'm a lot healthier than I was before that! Before... I got you back...” tears started to well in my eyes and I took a shuddering breath.

“I know that my love, but... You need to move on.” Christina looked away the moment the words left her lips. She knew how I felt about that particular phrase.

“Move on? Why would I move on when I have everything I've ever wanted right here?” I reached out and tried to grab her hand, which failed for obvious reasons.

Christina just shook her head and sighed.

“You see me once a month, but you have a whole life you live every day that I can't be a part of anymore! And I've tried to make this work, for both of us, but it's getting harder every month.”

“So what? It's long-distance, like when you did that study abroad program in college!”

“This isn't the same and you know that! Besides, whatever we might have done together can't happen now! We can't get married, I can't give you children...”

“Marriage is a piece of paper, Chrissie, what we have goes deeper than that! Who cares if we don't have a ceremony or exchange vows? And we can adopt!”

“Adopt? Sure, and our kids will have a ghost for a mother? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? You won't even tell my parents about this, but you'll tell our children?”

“Babe, that's years away, we don't need to think about that now! We have time!”

Christina stood up suddenly and soundlessly stomped her foot on the ground, her foot slightly sinking through the hardwood floor.

“We don't have time! Our time ended the moment that car slammed into mine and killed me! And I can't let you keep your life on hold for a future that can never happen!”

“We'll make it work! I know we can!” I was on my knees begging by this point, tears flowing from my eyes. “I can't lose you again!”

“Robert, you never had me back to begin with, this was never supposed to be a permanent solution. I'm dead! And nothing can ever change that! When I came back, it was because I saw how you were and I couldn't leave you in that state. But it can't be forever. There's a place beyond where I've been, where souls at rest go, and I can't leave unless you realize that! We both have somewhere else we should be right now. Erin's a nice girl, from what you've told me, I think she likes you, and you should be with living people who care about you right now, not a ghost.”

“Please, don't leave!” I begged.

“I have to... and I can't come back,” Christina sniffled through her tears.

Christina started to sob and I saw her form slowly fading away. I rushed towards her and tried futilely to grab at her.

“Robert... Always remember that I loved you.” Christina said quietly as she vanished into the ether.

I silently mouthed “I love you” back to her, before breaking into the most anguished cry that I'd had since the night I'd gotten the news about Chrissie's death.

True to her word, she never returned, not even on the next full moon. I'd lost my fiancee again, but somehow it didn't hurt as badly as the first time, maybe because I'd already grieved her loss. I took to heart what she told me, and I stopped trying to live the life I'd had planned out, and started living the life that was unfolding in front of me.

“Are you coming tonight? Oh wait, it's a full moon, right? I guess I already know your answer...”

I looked up from my computer to see Erin, already starting to walk away.

“What is it this week? Karaoke? Bowling?” I asked.

“Escape room, actually,” Erin replied. “Does that mean you're in?”

“It does,” I smiled.

“What happened to those 'other plans' you usually have?” Erin questioned.

“They fell through, so whose idea was the escape room?” I answered.

I was still going to take it slow, but Christina was right, Erin liked me, and while she could never replace Chrissie, I knew that wherever she was, she was smiling down on me and happy that I was moving on with my life.