Page 108 of Ghost

Mason busted up laughing.“No.He made a pass at me.Flirted.”

Francis’ frown deepened.

Mason took a deep breath.“The bad part, or worst, depending on how you look at it, is that I didn’t even realize it until after I’d left.”Mason looked down at his hands and then back at Francis.“And then I felt guilty because of you.”

Francis sat back down, close to Mason.“I must admit that makes me very happy.”

“Then I went to see Ellen because...well, because I didn’t know how to cope with all that.That’s when she started giving me bourbon and talking about your funeral.”

The frown was back on Francis’ face.“I see.”

“No, I’m not sure that you do because I sure didn’t.”

“Please, explain.”Francis stood again.

“What I realized on my walk to Ellen’s is...well, it felt good to have someone touching me.”He looked up at Francis.“This is really hard for me, Francis.I want to have that.I want to be able to hold hands with you.Go to the movies, out to dinner, or hell, even go out dancing, and we can’t do those things.”

Francis turned away slightly, the hurt showing on his face before he tried to hide it.

“I want to feel your hands on me.Ineedto have human contact.”Mason stood and walked to stand in front of Francis.“If you were to stay here, I’m afraid I’d never leave the house again, and then I’m afraid that I would start to hate you because I would never be able to have those things with you.”

The look on Francis’ face went blank.“I will go.”He started to fade away.

“No!Please don’t go!Not now.”

Francis stopped fading but didn’t come back to his full appearance.

“I want to spend as much time with you as I can before you have to go.Please, Francis, don’t go.I love you.”

“And I love you as I have no other,” Francis said, slowly reappearing, looking more solid.

“This is so hard.”Mason covered his face with his hands, then rubbed his eyes, afraid he might start crying.“I don’t want you to go, but—”

“I must.”Francis sighed.“It is I who is being selfish and only thinking of myself.I should have realized that you needed those things.”

“Can’t we just be together until...well, we can’t?”Mason walked back to the sofa and sat down.“We can watch the Olympics just like we’d planned and then tomorrow I’ll fill you in on...everything?”

Francis sat next to Mason.“Of course, my love.”He smiled gently.“You should eat while it is still warm.”

They sat like that the entire evening, watching the spectacle of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

When it finished, which was late into the night, Francis stood and began to applaud, yelling, “Bravo!”

“I have to agree with you,” Mason said, also standing, picking up the box of empty food containers.“That was quite the show.Atlanta can be proud.”

“That was stupendous.It would have been very exciting to have been there and to experience such a spectacle.”Francis sighed.“What an exciting time this is.”

“Yeah, it was great.”Mason left to take the box and other trash to the kitchen, Francis followed.

“It is very late, and you should get some rest,” Francis said.

Mason yawned.“Yeah, I need sleep.”

He went through his normal routine, getting ready for bed.When he was all settled in, Francis lying beside him, he yawned again.

“Goodnight, Francis.They will probably do a rerun of the opening ceremonies again, so you can see it twice.”

“That would be wonderful.I would happily sit and watch it again.”He leaned forward a bit and Mason could feel what felt like a butterfly brush his lips.“Until the morrow.”