CHAPTER 2

The red Volkswagen came to a screeching halt at the crowded parking lot. Suzanne opened her car door and stepped out, pushing her glasses back up her nose. She swore to herself to get LASIK done after this job was over. 

Right. You’ve been saying that for the past 6 years and you’re still wearing glasses.

Groups of students could be seen walking towards the entrance of Knewton University’s main hall. Knewton was one of the most prestigious universities in the city, second only to the likes of Harvard and Princeton.

“So your son lectures here. Impressive,” Suzanne said, not caring if anyone thought she was talking to herself. Yvonne Long’s spirit stood next to her and looked at the school proudly. 

“Yes,” she beamed with pride and headed towards the entrance. Suzanne grabbed a red shiny toolbox from her passenger seat, closed the door and followed Yvonne as the spirit glided through the crowded halls seamlessly. 

She must have been keeping a tab on him all these years.

They moved through the swarm of students and after what felt like a walk in an overly crowded maze, Suzanne found herself standing at the swing door of a lecture hall. She peeked inside through the slit glass window and to her surprise found the semi-circular hall to be rather packed. 

“What does he teach?” Suzanne asked. From the glass window, she caught a glimpse of Yvonne Long’s son. He had his back towards her as he stood in front of the hall facing a large projection screen.

“Quantum Physics,” the proud motherly ghost smiled, happy to see so many students immersed in her son’s teaching.

“Excuse me,” a freckle-faced red-headed young man tapped on Suzanne’s shoulder. She stepped aside and the man pushed open the swing door to head inside. Apparently, the class had just started. Suzanne slipped in and followed the redhead, taking a seat next to him at the very top row. 

From her seat, Suzanne could finally see Tom Banks. And he took her breath away.

He was devastatingly handsome. He stood erect with his lush brown hair combed back to reveal a clean and extremely well-chiselled face. His wayfarer blue eyes gleamed as he scanned the class while he continued his lecture, moving around the podium with athletic grace. His deep clear voice boomed across the lecture hall and commanded the attention of all who were there. 

Suzanne swore to herself that if he hadn't ended up being a lecturer, he would probably have become a famous model instead.

“Handsome isn’t he? He takes after my side of the family,” Yvonne Long said as if reading Suzanne’s mind. Tom Banks looked nothing like William Banks, save for his beautiful pair of bright blue eyes. 

“I didn’t say anything,” Suzanne flushed. “We’ll approach him when the class ends.”

The redhead turned to her with a quizzical look.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Suzanne said as a matter of factly.

Tom Banks lectured on, pointing a penlight at his screen. A simple black and white illustration by Tucker Nichols was shown, with overlapping circles taking up the whole screen. On the left circle were the words ‘MUST BE’, in the overlap was the word ‘REAL’ and on the other circle were the words ‘CAN’T BE’. 

“What is real and what is not?” Tom asked the class.

“Cern’s LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is currently the world’s biggest and most powerful particle accelerator around. And this baby has seen quite a number of things, from identifying how particles decay and picking up hints on new and unknown particles. Particles that have yet to be charted. It’s done practically everything, but for some reason, it has yet to find proof that there is anything that could make up a ghost.”

“Great, and we’re going to convince your son that you exist,” Suzanne smiled sarcastically at Yvonne Long. The ghost was far too immersed in her son’s lecture to pay any attention to her.

But the redhead turned to look at her again, this time with an annoyed look on his face.

“I see dead people,” Suzanne winked. He rolled his eyes and scooted to another seat.

“According to Brian Cox, and I quote, ‘If we want some sort of pattern that carries information about our living cells to persist then we must specify precisely what medium carries that pattern and how it interacts with the matter particles out of which our bodies are made’,” Tom continued, reading an excerpt from Brian Cox’s podcast. 

Suzanne opened up her red toolbox and took out one of the many little glass vials that laid neatly inside. She shook it and it started to glow. “I’ll need to use this then. He’ll have a hard time believing us otherwise.”

“Shhh!” a brunette in front turned around to hush Suzanne. Suzanne hushed back, “You shush too!”

“And in the words of the great physicist, ‘We need to invent an extension to the Standard Model of Particle Physics that has escaped detection at the Large Hadron Collider. And that is almost inconceivable at the energy scales typical of the particle interactions in our bodies.’”

Tom looked up from his lecture notes and pushed back a strand of hair that fell onto his forehead. 

“So class, what does that tell you? Are ghosts real? Or are they not?”

“Not real!” the whole class shouted back in unison.

Yvonne Long laughed and the lights in the lecture hall flickered slightly.

The lecture went on for another hour before it ended. By then, Suzanne was convinced that she needed to pay a visit to Brian Cox and show him a spirit or two.  She waited patiently for the students to disperse before making her way down to the podium. Tom Banks was gathering his notes and waving goodbye to a group of giggling female students. It was obvious he had a fanbase at the university.

After the last student had exited the hall, Suzanne walked up to Tom. He was already done packing up when he saw her. 

“Hello, I’ve never seen you before,“ he smiled. And what a smile it was. The guy was born to be a supermodel. He extended his hand.

Suzanne took it and watched her hand disappear in his. His hand was so large. She wondered if everything else about his was large as well. 

“I’m Suzanne Summers. Your mother sent me here to meet you.”

Tom’s eyes narrowed and he dropped the handshake, “Excuse me?”

“She’s here with us right now in spirit. She’ll be leaving for the rainbow bridge in 5 days but she wants to say goodbye to you before she leaves for good.”

He thinks I’m a quack. 

“I’m afraid you have the wrong person,” he said, trying to be polite before turning around to leave the hall.

“You grew up at Saint Annie’s Orphanage. The directress, Wendy Letterman brought you up as her own. I’m sure she showed you your birth certificate. It has your mother’s name on it. Yvonne Long”

Tom paused in his tracks. 

“She had her reasons for leaving you at the orphanage,” she had his attention now.

Tom turned around with a look of confusion and disbelief.

“Who sent you?” he asked.

Yvonne stepped forward and placed a shimmering hand gently on his cheeks. Tom instinctively went to scratch his cheeks.

“Your mother did. She passed away a few days ago but her spirit is here. I’m a clairvoyant Tom. I can see her. And if you want to, I can help you see her too,” Suzanne stepped forward while Tom took a step back.

“You’re crazy,” he whispered.

Yvonne shook her head, pleading for Tom to take a look at her.

Suzanne took another step forward, grabbed his hand and slipped him a piece of paper. 

“You can call this hospital. They have her records and belongings still stored there. She has a will, with you as the beneficiary. “

He stared at the paper, not saying a word.

Suzanne continued, “And once you verify the details, call me. My number’s on the paper too.”

She took out her little vial and shook it and the vial glowed. 

“Alternatively, you can break this, inhale the vapour and see your mom straight away,“ Suzanne gently placed the little vial into the palm of his hand before pressing his fingers close. The glow subsided. Tom never took his eyes off the vial.

“It’s my grandmother’s recipe, but I tweaked it a little so it works faster, and you won’t feel nauseating after-effects of the original vapour. Oh, and it’s got a minty smell too. Mint’s the in thing now,“ Suzanne said smugly.

“But I’d advise you to break the vial in my presence. Most people aren’t used to seeing ghosts materializing in front of them.”

“It’s your call, Tom Banks. Your mother doesn’t have much time left.”

“Neither does your father,” Yvonne Long said sadly.

“I’ll be waiting for your call,” Suzanne stepped back, straightened her white ruffled blouse and took her leave. Tom didn’t stop her. Yvonne stayed by her son’s side and waved goodbye to Suzanne.