Imaginary Lovers

As a single woman, she should have been a bit hesitant to walk down small streets on her own, but with Blake beside her, Jasmine was fearless. She knew exactly what Blake was capable of doing to protect her.

Jasmine explored on her own, the endless narrow streets without thinking twice. She knew that if anything were to happen to her, Blake would protect her.

It was also something that Blake felt a certain pride in. Just by being next to her, he was giving her a sense of security that she had not felt ever since stepping off the large jumbo jet at SGN International Airport.

The tourist town was filled with summer visitors from Europe. There were quite a few blonde hair blue-eyed caucasians walking around the narrow cobblestone paths of the tiny ancient village.

To take her mind off the horrors of the day before, Jasmine and Blake wandered around in the back streets and found her way into the various inns and tiny cafes dotted along the warf.

She ate her fill of the local delicacies, gorging herself on the local seafood served at sidewalk cafes with their open grills.

At each of the places she visited, Jasmine lit an incense stick for Blake which meant he ate all the abalone and mussels and crabs and huge shrimp that she ate.

While Jasmine enjoyed fresh lemonade and passionfruit drink, she bought the local beer for Blake to drink. It was the perfect accompaniment to all the fresh grilled seafood he was able to enjoy as they hopped from one sidewalk grill to another.

As the afternoon wore on into evening, they found themselves in a coffee shop on the corner. There was an old piano that stood, dusty and neglected in the corner.

As soon as Jasmine saw the piano, her eyes lit up.

With permission from the cafe owner, Jasmine slid onto the piano bench and began banging away at all the old jazz standards, singing in her beautiful voice.

She was not as accomplished a pianist as Terry Williams was, but her piano playing was only meant to accompany her singing, which was superb.

Blake hovered beside her, feeling a deep sense of loss that he could no longer support her from behind with his bass. He was grateful, however, that he actually had a chance to continue hearing her sing.

It was something that he thought would never happen again, and yet, here he was, sitting beside her as she sang and played the piano.

Within a matter of half an hour, she had drawn a crowd that filled the entire interior of the coffee shop. After exhausting all her standards, she stood up, took a bow and left the cafe to cheers and clapping of hands.

They had entered the coffee shop when the light was golden and low in the sky. By the time they left, it was dark. And the night took her breath away.

There were colorful silk lanterns which were lit and hung everywhere outside each open doorway of the shops that remained open to cater to the European, Australian, and American tourists that filled their village.

The effect was that of a colorful place at night that could only be captured on a watercolor painting.

All the restaurants had lit candles in quaint holders on every table, capturing the glow of romance and beauty.

As they wandered through the area drinking in the sights and scents and sounds of the village by the water, it felt to Blake as if they were a newly-wed couple enjoying a vacation together.

Since it was something that would forever be out of his reach, Blake simply pretended to himself that they were a newly-wed couple.

He pretended that they were on their honeymoon, and he pretended that she loved him.

Blake didn't have to pretend that he loved her.

He had fallen for her somewhere in between LA and Vietnam and now, it was simply an exercise in futility to try and reason away his strong feelings for her.

None of the usual ghoul/living person arguments worked at all.

Nothing had prepared him for what it would be like to be a ghoul, and now nothing was preparing him for being a ghoul who had fallen in love with a human who was still alive.

It got so real for him that he found himself wanting to hold her hand as they walked around the area.

At first, it was very discrete. He merely held his hand within the same space where hers was. It looked as if they were holding hands but in reality, they were not even touching.

It didn't take long before Jasmine began to notice that he wanted to hold her hand.

"Can we just hold hands so I don't feel as if I'm hanging out here alone?" She whispered to him with a smile.

Blake was more than happy to oblige as he reached out with his hand and took her hand in a solid clasp.

And so it was, the jazz singer from LA walked all over the tiny village of silk lanterns hand-in-hand with her ghoul, laughing and whispering to herself like a crazy woman.

They wandered through the local clothing shops and he picked out for her numerous silk garments and embroidered slippers with beaded latticework.

Then they wandered into the goldsmith where he pointed to her all the best pieces they had in the shop. She bought bangles and earrings and several small rings with various designs.

Then he pulled her across the street, into the perfumery, where he picked out for her a mixture of jasmine and citrus blends that was evocative of the woman that he cared about.

They burned through hundreds of dollars that night without a care in the world. In ghoul form, money from the living world was limitless for Blake to acquire.

It was useless to him but it was able to bring joy to the woman he was holding hands with, so therefore, it was useful to him.

It was late when they finally made their way back to the hotel room.

By the light of the pale moon, Blake helped Jasmine as she began to prepare for bed.

And then silently, he helped her into bed.