Instead of the relaxing bath I was hoping for, I just made myself more anxious with thoughts of Ze.

"He doesn't deserve it," I mutter to myself as I get out of the tub. "He's a bad man. A bad, bad man. So what if he was nice to me once?"

Grabbing a towel, I wipe my body and dry my hair as best as I can.

"Okay, maybe he was nice to me more than once. But that doesn't change his behavior or his insults," I tell myself with a nod.

Stopping by the vanity, I look around the various containers until I find some moisturizer. I leave my towel on the chair as I apply generous amounts of the cream all over my face and body. And because I haven't experienced such luxury in so long, I also dab some perfume behind my ears and on my inner wrists.

There's a wide selection available, but I go for a tuberose one, needing some flowery sweetness to banish the melancholy of my soul—but also because this happens to be Nikki's favorite.

When I'm done, I twirl around a few times to let the moisture sink in before I go back to the bedroom, ready to jump on the bed and close my eyes.

Yet as soon as I open the door, I spot a shimmering mist hovering right at the edge of the bed. The shadow takes the form of a man when I come closer, but particles of sparkling dust still hover in the air.

"Nikki?" I whisper in shock. I wouldn't have expected him to show up here, or now. "How did you get here?"

The shimmer intensifies.

"Where you go, I go. I thought you knew that by now," he says, his voice low and gravelly, echoing into the large enclosure. I don't think I'll get used to this disembodied voice of his anytime soon, yet I'll always be grateful to have at least this.

"You were able to follow?"

He nods.

I walk closer to him, ignoring the fact that I'm not wearing any clothes—it's not as if he hasn't seen me like this before. At least now I smell good—although I'm not sure if his ghost has any olfactory capabilities.

"Can you smell me?" I blurt out.

"What?"

"Never mind, that was a silly question," I mutter under my breath.

"Now I'm curious what you meant. Tell me," he murmurs, bringing his hand to my face, his cold fingers caressing my heated cheek.

I avert my gaze, blushing furiously.

"I felt good for the first time in forever. Clean. Pretty..." I trail off. "And I know you love this scent on me, so I thought maybe... I'm so silly, aren't I?" I shake my head, a sad smile painted on my lips. "You're just a ghost and here I am wondering if you can smell me, or if you're still attracted to me," I add in a low whisper.