Badabeedabadoo

Luciana “Lulu” Lukas had big aspirations for her second chance at life:
Step 1: Use future knowledge to get rich.
Step 2: Avoid past mistakes.
Step 3: Maybe, finally, get abs.
Unfortunately, her time-traveling luck ran out before Step 1. Broke, unemployed, and completely useless at stock trading, she’s forced to monetize the only new skill she gained—seeing dead people.
Now, with a growing reputation as a psychic-for-hire, Lulu helps the dearly departed get their last words in—whether their loved ones want to hear them or not. 
Ghosts ignoring personal space? Expected.
But can someone please explain why the clingiest one haunting her is a devastatingly handsome, and very much alive, CEO?!

CEO, Stop Haunting Me!

Lulu always thought that if she ever went back in time, she'd get rich easily—as likely many people think.

She'd invest in Bitecoin when it was dirt cheap, throw a few bucks into stocks that would explode, maybe even win the lottery. Easy money.

"That's easier said than done…" she muttered, staring at her phone screen in dismay.

Nobody ever talked about how much timing mattered. Yeah, sure, she knew Bitecoin had once been worth pennies, but right now? Only 2 years ago? Still over $60K per coin. Way too late for an easy fortune.

Then there were stocks—but who outside of finance actually memorized that stuff? Sure, she knew the big ones: Pear, Megasoft, Teslee, Doogle, Amazonia. But going back just two years wasn't enough to snag them at some crazy low price.

There were probably obscure stocks that would skyrocket within the next two years, but did she know them? Nope.

She groaned, flopping dramatically onto her bed.

Why did all the other time travelers in stories seem to have superhuman memory that remembered every bit of financial knowledge? Where was her cheat code? Did it get lost in the mail?!

But even if she did have a photographic memory of stock trends, she had a bigger problem—she was broke.

Opening her wallet, she was met with maxed-out credit cards, lint, and—

"Ooh, gum!" She exclaimed in happiness, while pulling out the single stick of mint gum from her wallet.

Her stomach sank as she checked her bank accounts. Negative. Negative. Negative.

And then, finally, one account with a positive balance.

"…I am the most useless time traveler of all time," she whispered, staring at the number in defeat. Tears dripped onto her phone screen.

Not only was she broke, but she was jobless. If she remembered correctly, it would be four whole months from now before she landed that marketing job at a start-up company that still didn't exist currently.

"Of all the years to go back to, why this one?!" Lulu screamed into her pillow, pounding her fists into the mattress.

She groaned, preparing to fully sink into despair when—

"If I went back two years… that means Marguerite's is still open!"

The first silver lining of this nightmare.

Marguerite's was a tiny French bakery just a few blocks from here. They had the absolute best almond croissants, the kind that made you believe in true love again. But in just a few months, Marguerite—the bakery's namesake—would pass away from old age, and the shop would shut down.

No bakery had ever come close to those croissants since.

Lulu glanced at her $9 balance. Then at the endless letters and emails from various creditors and overdue bills.

It's not like $9 was enough to pay a bill anyway. She might as well spend it on something that would make her happy.

Sliding on her shoes, she grabbed her bag and headed straight for Marguerite's.

Chapter 2: A Scam…