Ch1: An average day of seeing ghosts.

It was an average day of autumn, the kind of average days where you get the feeling that nothing special will occur, the kind of day that you can just feel the time pass without a major event happening.

In the past, i used to hate those days to a certain degree, but i learned to accept them, since life have no shortage of such days, not just to accept them, but to enjoy them even.

A day without events, without sudden occurences, without anything popping up suddenly in your face, meant a peaceful day, a twenty four hours of rest where you can put your mind at ease.

Sitting in the corner seat of a coffee shop that i am familiar with, drinking a cup of verbena flavored tea, no thoughts, no worries.

Aaaahh, i couldn't ask for a better day.

"Young one, can you believe in what you can't see?"

Said the old man who suddenly popped up in the supposed empty seat opposing me while i was lost in my musing, interrupting whatever relaxing contemplations i had.

"Huh? What kind of question is that? And isn't sitting in the same table of a stranger without getting invited kind of rude?!"

"Ohh i see, then excuse me young one, but let's put aside those trivialities for today, and ask you again, can you believe in what you can't see? Be it anything from the annormal realm."

So he just threw at me the most empty apology ever and just asked that again while adding that annormal part.

I looked at him with annoyance, i respect the elderly but there are limits to how much you can bear it.

"You're so persistent about such a stupid question gramps, and i don't know if my answer will get you anywhere, but if my reply will make you satisfied that you'll leave me alone to enjoy my few calm minutes, i guess i can answer that"

"Oh please, tell me then"

"No, i can't believe what i can't see, and if you mean by it supernatural occurences or anything similar , it's still a no, satisfied?"

"Yes , i'm truly satisfied young one, i will take my leave then, enjoy your peaceful morning while it lasts, life is short, cherish every second of it."

While it lasts?! Life is short?! What's with this cliché of a dramatic line ,Is that last bit some kind of threat or lunacy?! Maybe old people social skills get all rusty and confusing with age so they start using whatever vocabulary they have.

"With all due respect, that's some weird way to end a conversation, but since you're good with my answer, farewell old man."

The old man smiled, the warmest smile i saw in a good time, so warm it made me reconsider my rude reaction and feel guilty about it briefly, he may be weird, but you can sense his gentle side.

"Farewell, young one"

Once he stood up and walked to the exit wooden door, i noticed that he had quite the build, but moved slowly nevertheless , that was natural if you take in account his old age, around his seventies maybe? Or maybe sixties since his face features still looked sharp and not worn out yet, grey hair and moustache, he had a memorable smile and his aura was so peaceful that i didnt put my guards up for someone who's a stranger and just suddenly appeared in front of me.

The old man had also little to none presence despite his bulky body, calm steady steps thats you can barely hear, and he wore a brown suit and pants, and a white shirt and black tie, quite the classic look for this day and age if you ask me.

Now let's forget this weird exchange, act like it never happened,and get back to my perfect morning ritual, where no one gonna pop sudden..

"Good moooooorning sir Luke !"

I guess i was wrong.

"Hey?! Don't go on calling me sir knowing that we'r nearly the same age, it's awkward, and what's with your everyday upbeat attitude?! Don't you ever get tired of smiling widely to everyone? You may developp facial wrinkles"

"Come oooon, smiling is free, and you know that i can't help it, i looove my part-time job, and then what i'm supposed to call our dear client Luke? I treat all our good clients equally, older or younger, new ones or loyal daily clients !"

Then she came a bit closer and whispered, nudging me with her elbow, with a smug on her face.

"And even if, despite your gloomy loner looks, you are still my faaaavorite client Luke, so get used already to any special treatement from me, dont tell the manager though"

I guess telling the manager about her is not that bad of an idea.

Karen was my senior by a year when we used to study in the same highschool, a bundle of extra energy and joy, a true extrovert among extroverts, and she had a tendency to initiate conversations with any creature that seemed in her eyes isolated socially, or she just didn't tolerate seeing anyone doing solo activities for a long time, even by choice.

And she was a total looker, which explains her high popularity among her peers in school days, if i had to use two words to describe her i'll say "bubbly beauty".

"So Karen, i ordered my usual cup of tea, you served me as professionally as you always do, and i'm as thankful and grateful for your services as i usually am, so what brings back our dear world's most annoying waitress to my table?"

"The sight of the world's most gloomy client sitting alone trigger my motherly instincts, so i could not help checking on you to cheer you up and repel the loneliness"

"Motherly? Are you not self conscious that you're only one year older?! And what's with the cheering me up and loneliness talk? It's not like my first time enjoying a cup of tea alone, and you're supposed to be the first one to know that i hate it when it get interrupted,at first it was an old man, and now you, give me some break please"

"But it's the first time that i saw my dear Luke repeating some monologue like he's reciting the lines of some theater piece, and who's this old man that you're talking about all of sudden anyway?"

"The one that just exited the coffee shop a few minutes ago before our talk, you have quite the weak memory for a waitress bragging about loving her job."

"Are you sure Luke? They were a few clients this morning, so few i could remember each one of em, but no one of them gave the impression of being an old man or looked so."

"He wore some classy brown suit, suiting a man of his age, and he was quite bulky, i find it hard to believe that you forgot such a guy in matter of seconds."

"Luke? Are you sure?"

"By all means, i am."

"Luke, i saw you conversing with yourself, no old man was around."

"Huh?!"

"The manager forbids us from showing the coffee shop's interior security camera footage to anyone except in urgent cases, but for you dear sir Luke i'll consider it an urgent case, allow me to borrow some minutes of your time"

Karen held my hand and pulled me to a room at the back side of the counter, that small room contained some screens showing both the exterior and interior of the place from many angles.

She played the footage, winded it back to some minutes ago, and there i saw myself, sitting, getting my order from Karen, laying back a bit, and talking , talking to no one while facing the opposite chair, and then arguing with Karen when she got back.

I turned pale.
Was it a hallucination?
Was i day dreaming?
What was that?

A week passed, and my meeting with a certain shady expert cleared the matter.

This was the beggining of my first week dealings with the supernatural, the day i got aware of my ability to see non common existances, supernatural entities, ghosts and whatever beings out of the normal realm.

That day wasn't average at all.