the old man moves in she suddenly feels better. That's when he discovers Vera, and she discovers that she can be real, physically present, on the first night that a man spends in the apartment.”
“With the old dude?” Gavin asked in disbelief.
“It wasn't like that. He was a true gentleman, Vera assures me, though I'm not sure she would know what one looks like.”
“What then?” There wasn't much left in Gavin's glass now.
“The old man has to go away for a while, not sure why, but Vera doesn't want to be left alone.”
“But she's a proper ghost by now?” Gavin checked. He wasn't sure he was keeping up, his mind felt fuzzy.
“Sure. The physically present thing only happens on the first night, and only if and when she chooses. After that she can show herself and talk to you, but you can't touch her.”
Gavin felt there was something he was missing here, some question he should be asking, but he couldn't make his mind work.
Cooper kept talking. “Anyhow, the old man is only gone for a night when Vera gets this uncomfortable feeling, she says it's like an itch you can't reach. And that's when she realises that the first time wasn't a fluke. When the apartment has been vacant for a time she gets this itch and she can make herself physically present. And more than that, she discovers that she can actually walk out the door. She goes out and this itch leads her to a guy that is desperate to find a place to stay, and she brings him back here.”
“Does she do him?” Gavin asked. His tongue seemed to be having trouble getting the words out.
“Let's just say that this guy was another in a long run of bad choices for her. He really tears up the apartment. The old man's solicitors get called and the guy gets chucked out. The place is fixed up and Vera stays lonely until the old man comes back.”
“Does she do him?” Gavin asked, vaguely aware he was repeating himself.
“What—?” Cooper cut himself short. “No. The point is that she can only go out when she gets this itch, and that only happens when the apartment has been vacant. Are you still listening to me, Gavin?”
Gavin nodded. He was still hearing, not that it probably mattered, it was all nonsense, but he was incapable of speech now. He realised his eyes were closed, and wondered how long they had been like that. He had a feeling he should be concerned, worried even, but couldn't work up to it.
“Okay, I'll hurry it up,” Cooper said. “Vera and the old man get along really well, and when he dies he leaves her this apartment and a bundle of money with solicitors to keep it going. With me so far?”
Gavin nodded slowly. Maybe it was all a dream and now he was waking up. It was a pity, he'd been hoping for another look at that woman in her dress from the fifties. Maybe he'd buy one like that for Sophie. They could live in this apartment and pretend to be in the movies. He was vaguely aware that even he wasn't making much sense now, but it was a nice thought.
Cooper was still talking. “So the apartment is all paid for. When Vera gets her itch, all she has to do is find the one that scratches it and bring him home. He stays for a while but eventually leaves – like I said, she's got disastrous taste in men. The apartment lies vacant for a time and then Vera gets her itch and it starts all over again.”
Gavin's mind faded out the drone of Cooper's voice. He was dreaming. Gavin was dancing with a beautiful dark haired woman in a fifties evening dress on the balcony of the apartment. He called her Sophie and frowned slightly … that wasn't the right name.
“He's out,” Cooper announced to the room.
Vera appeared, leaning elegantly on the drinks cabinet. There was a subtle shifting of her stance that Cooper recognised as Vera taking on her physical presence. It was always a relief to see that it was working again. He went to her and they shared a long kiss.
After a time she pulled away from him and retrieved the glass from Gavin's limp hand, she didn't want the last dregs of the doped whiskey to spill and stain the sofa.
“You cut it fine tonight, Coop, he almost slipped away before you could finish,” Vera said. She returned and poured them both fresh drinks.
Cooper nodded. He would have to be more careful not to let his impatience get the better of him. He should know better, given his line of work. It had taken them a long time to work out just how much dope it took, and just how much of the story they had to tell before the victim passed out. If you didn't give them enough of the truth then it, whatever it was, didn't take. Vera would fade and you had to start all over again with another one, and sometimes it took a month or more before the itch would come back.
“This one said he didn't need the apartment,” Cooper said. He stroked Vera's fingers before he took the glass from her hand.
“He did,” she said confidently. “He likes the fifties, this place was some sort of heaven for him. He probably went to sleep dreaming that he was living here.”
“But is dreaming about it enough? The others have all needed a place to stay.”
“It's working isn't it?” Vera stroked Cooper's face as proof of her presence. “Anyway, Gavin does need a place, he just doesn't know it yet. Sophie found out what he was really like. When he gets back to the flat he'll find the locks changed and all his stuff outside the door with a threatening letter from a lawyer telling him to keep away.”
Cooper was impressed. “Your itch told you all that?”
“It was a good itch this time. Would you like to scratch it for me?”
“Don't you want to go out first?”
“Maybe later. I missed you, Coop.”
“I was only gone one night.”
“It was a long night. Besides …”
She didn't need to finish. It had been a long time since their last physical contact. As they talked their hands kept moving, gentle wandering caresses that just wanted the reassurance of touch. For the moment that was enough.
Cooper looked across at Gavin sprawled uncomfortably on the sofa. The guy would probably wake with a crick in his neck, but Cooper made no move to try and make him more comfortable. “The guys will be here just after sunrise to pick him up,” he reminded Vera.
Someone in Cooper's line of work knew people that would, for a small fee, happily pick up an unconscious man, take him somewhere, and douse him in cheap whiskey. When Gavin woke up he was in for a very bad day. He would find himself in a strange place with a patchy, unreliable memory, and a headache so bad he would be convinced he had been very very drunk. When he finally did get home he would find himself locked out of his now ex-girlfriend's flat and in need of a place to live. Cooper wondered if Gavin would remember anything of this place then, some did. Too bad; if he tried knocking at the door the police would soon deal with him. Cooper had a lot of respect for the police, they could be very helpful.
“I don't want to think about tomorrow,” Vera said, and hugged Cooper tightly.
Cooper continued to study Gavin, and his expression turned sour as he recalled what little he had learned of the man. “You really can pick them, Vera.”
“Thanks.”
“That wasn't a compliment.”
“Gavin wasn't so bad. He liked my dress, he liked the apartment.”
“He liked what was under the dress.”
“Don't you?”
Cooper ignored that. “Arse-holes, weirdos and psychopaths, every one of them! One of these days you're going to pick one I can't handle so easily.”
“I picked you, didn't I?”
“Which proves my point. I'm a con man and a thief, Vera, you know that.”
“You're the best pick I ever made, Coop.”
“That's not saying much. You really do have lousy taste in men.”
Vera kissed his neck. “You stayed,” she said softly, “and you worked out the loophole in the curse.”
“Which only proves I'm good at my job. And it's not a curse, Vera, it's a blessing. That's the way I count it. You could have been all the way dead, or you could have been a ghost with no chance of us ever touching.”
Vera pulled Cooper away. “It's a shame he has to be here all night. It always feels strange when there's someone else in the apartment, even when they are unconscious. Come on.”
Cooper allowed himself to be led through to the bedroom. He was a talented con man and a successful thief, but this gig was something else. He loved the time he spent with Vera, even when they couldn't touch. But both of them wanted more. So Cooper had set his mind to the task. Each man was supposed to have just one first night in Vera's company, but Cooper had found a way to steal those special nights for himself.
He grinned as he closed the door on their sleeping guest. That was enough time thinking about the mark, it was time to enjoy the spoils. Cooper and Vera only had until dawn before she faded back to her insubstantial ghostly form, and she would stay that way until they could go through this again.
# # #
gmw 14-Aug-2013
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Vera's Itch Page 3
