Stepping out of the shower, Sam realised with some dismay that the spectre, which haunted her every waking moment, could not be washed away so easily, or laid to rest through being stoically ignored.  Life was so unfair, especially when it gave you an older sister who was enjoying things in life you’d never yet had the chance to.

“Are you finished in there yet?”  The demanding shout from her older sister Kate broke her train of thought.  “I’m in a hurry. Joe’s expecting me round in an hour.  We’re going out for the day.”

Sam, now wrapped in a big towel, opened the bathroom door before replying.  Joe.

He was the live ghost who wouldn’t go away, with steely grey eyes that bored right

into you, full of mischief and promise.  Ten years her senior, he had a stocky,

muscular body and a wicked smile. The answer to her secret longings that was

agonisingly out of reach.

He had moved in next door after inheriting the house from his deceased grandmother. Single and successful, he had taken a shine to Kate from the word go, and they’d been going out together for some time now.  That shouldn’t have been a problem for Sam – he wasn’t Kate’s first boyfriend – but Joe was different because Sam could see the longing in his eyes, every time he looked into her own, and it excited her more than she dared admit.

“Bathroom’s free now.”  She shouted.  “Tell Joe I need to talk to him this evening about those shelves I want him to put up for me in my bedroom, would you?”

Kate, looking a bit dishevelled, appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her younger sister.  She looked decidedly dumpy in the bathrobe she had donned in order to get some breakfast, mainly because she had a much fuller figure than Sam, and didn’t seem to care much about her weight. What she lacked in looks though, she made up for in her generous nature.

“I’ll tell him.  He might be able to do it for you tonight.  Doesn’t want to see that new film I’ve been talking about so I arranged to go with mum and dad this evening.  He’ll have time on his hands.”  She called, smiling broadly at Sam.