Love is Enough

"I guess you convinced Joan that she saw your volunteers," Mack said, "but she really wants to think she saw two ghosts." He picked up the last remaining papers from his desk and filed them in the drawer beside him. When he looked up when his desktop was clear and asked, "Who were they?"

"Hannah and Gabby?" TJ asked, then lied. "They're friends of mine. I called them when Joan said she had too much to do. They like decorating."

"You know why we have an organized volunteer program, right?" Mack asked. "The Williams Family Trust pays us cash to match the time donated by our volunteers. Calling your friends instead of using the volunteers cost us money."

Mack suddenly changed topics. "The ghost rumors aren't going away," he said. He sat back and studied TJ. "There's no problem with the ventilation, you know. We had it checked. You're here more than anyone, so I suppose if anyone were to know about ghosts then it would be you, so I want to depend on you."

TJ didn't have to lie again, because Mack didn't ask a direct question, but TJ was uncomfortable. He sat down in the balcony after Mack went to dinner and waited until Hannah and Gabby appeared in the seats beside him. Hannah cocked her head at TJ and asked, "What's eating you?"

"Things are getting complicated," TJ said. "I'm trying to convince people that you're not here, but the truth will probably come out eventually, and I don't know what'll happen then."

Gabby bit her lip and looked at Hannah. "I don't think we helped you very much last night." TJ raised his eyebrows and explained, "One of the little dancers is already a spoiled bitch, so we kinda messed with her and kept her from gettin' ready. One of the older dancers came down to help her, and she was cryin' about ghosts."

TJ groaned, but then couldn't stop himself from laughing. He checked his watch, stood up, and said, "Don't do that again. Now I have to go open up. Try to leave the little girls alone." He started to step past Hannah, then turned back. "Don't go away or anything. I brought a movie for after the show."

Later, when the ballet was over and the theater was empty, TJ stuffed his jacket pockets with tissues and settled into the seat at the center of row ten. The house was dark, the screen was down, and the movie was ready to go.

Cold air swept around him before Gabby appeared on his right and Hannah appeared on his left. "What's the flick?" Gabby asked.

"Wings," TJ said. "It's a great flick, and you couldn't have seen it before."

The girls squealed and gasped through more than half of the movie before they fell quiet. Gabby cuddled up against TJ and asked, "Do you think I'm as pretty as Clara Bow? Do I have 'It?'"

TJ dodged Gabby's question. "Have you ever noticed that her eyes are a little crooked?" he asked.

"No!" Gabby said. She sat up on the edge of her seat and studied Clara's face for just a moment before she turned on TJ. "I see what you did!" she said. "You didn't answer my question!"

Gabby punched TJ's arm and pinched his side before he could push her away. "Okay, stop!" he said. He snatched Gabby's wrists, held her still, and said, "You've got 'It.'" She looked up at TJ with dark eyes framed by her bobbed hair. His nostrils flared to take in her scent, and he felt his cock stir. "And now you've got me, too," he said.

TJ let go of Gabby's wrists, they turned back to the screen, and all three of them sat with their hands on their laps. The movie was almost over, and David lay crushed in the wreck of the airplane he commandeered, when Gabby started going for the tissues in TJ's pocket. Hannah sobbed then caught herself, and when TJ gave her a tissue she disappeared without a word.

TJ was confused when he looked at Gabby. "What was that about?" he asked.

"She doesn't want you to see her cry," Gabby said. "I know you've seen her cry before, but that was before. This is now."

By herself, Gabby went through most of the tissues that TJ brought with him before the ending credits rolled. He put the screen up and shut down the projector, lowered the light over center stage and turned it on.

The Nutcracker backdrops and sets were gone—lifted into the tower or stored in the wings. Gabby sat on the edge of the empty stage, kicked her feet and watched her shadow from the single lamp swinging overhead as it moved back and forth across the front rows of seats. She nursed the never-empty gin bottle until TJ sat down next to her. "Is Hannah going to come back out?" he asked.

Gabby stood up and left the bottle behind. "I don't know," she said with a wave of her hand. "Probably not. She's confused. You confuse her." She stopped and turned around at center stage.

"I never needed to be a movie star like Clara Bow. This is where I wanted to be," Gabby said and waved her hand to the empty house. "At center stage with a house full of people watchin' everythin' I did and listenin' to everythin' I said."

TJ turned to face Gabby and crossed his legs while he listened. "Those girls cheated me out of it, and now my chances are gone forever. I have nothin' to do here and nothin' to say."

Gabby knelt in front of TJ with tears streaming down her cheeks. She laughed and brushed them away. "I'm still blooey over the movie," she said. "That's all it is." After she blinked the tears back she said, "You're a writer. Would you write somethin' for me? I don't need a whole play. I just need a few lines—somethin' to make people watch and listen."

TJ had pages of lines already written. Something in all that had to be good for Gabby, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to write something just for her. "I can do that," TJ said.

"Hot socks, TJ!" Gabby asked. "You'd really do that?"

Gabby launched herself at TJ. She wrapped his neck with her arms, and he had to brace himself to keep them both from falling backwards off the stage. Her kisses on his neck and his cheek were warm and wet. The touch of her lips and her tongue against his were thrilling.

Laughter jangled in TJ's ear while Gabby tugged him away from the edge of the stage and pressed him down on his back. Her hands traced over his body, she opened his belt, and thrust her hands down his pants. TJ was so confused that he asked, "What are you doing?"

"TJ! Do I have to spell it out for you?" Gabby asked. She tugged his pants and his boxers down. "I'm gonna French you," she said.

Gabby wrapped her lips around TJ's cock, and he didn't need more explanation. He hardened in Gabby's mouth so fast that she gasped, and he tossed his head back and groaned. She pumped his cock in her hand and kissed it. Her tongue slipped around its smooth head and along its sensitive edge, and TJ couldn't breathe.

TJ gathered his wits long enough to lift his head and look down at Gabby. Her dark eyes smiled at his excitement, and his cock slipped between her lips. She had its head in her mouth, then more, and then most of its throbbing length. It glistened when she pulled back; thick veins bulged under the thin skin, and Gabby traced them with her tongue, from his balls to the tip of his cock.

"Oh God, Gabby! You're going to make me come," TJ said.

Gabby closed her mouth around him and pumped his shaft with her hands. She leaned on his thighs, so when TJ's excitement made him twist and buck, she still held him in her mouth.

To TJ it felt like he was going to explode into Gabby's mouth, but that wasn't what he wanted. He confused her when he groaned "No!" and pushed her back. "What I really want is to be inside you," he said.

TJ took Gabby's camisole and pushed her down on her back. He kissed her mouth and she offered her throat. He took her throat and she offered her breasts. TJ sucked her nipple into her mouth and pushed his hand between her legs, and he tossed her knickers away.

Gabby lifted her knees when TJ climbed over her. She took his glasses off, dropped them beside her, and cradled him between her thighs. Gabby stroked TJ's whiskers and watched his face while his cock found her wet slit. She closed her eyes, and his penetration joined their bodies together.

TJ ducked his head against Gabby's shoulder and paused until he could breathe again. He found first one of her wrists and pinned it to the stage over her head, and then the other. He pushed himself up to watch and then, under the dim yellow light on a barren center stage, TJ made love to a ghost. Gabby's breasts bobbed in time to his slowly accelerating thrusts. She tipped her head back and opened her mouth. She gasped in excitement, writhed under him and pressed back against him.

Gabby's body tightened around TJ's cock. Her knees were at his sides, and her feet were by his hips. He plunged into her faster, and she urged him on. Their bodies slapped and ground together until Gabby's fingers curled in uncontrolled excitement.

TJ pushed himself deep between Gabby's thighs while her climax gathered around his cock. Her orgasm erupted up her spine and shot through her legs. He felt her spasms tighten around his shaft, and he bellowed into the catwalks as he emptied himself into her.

First TJ collapsed into Gabby's embrace, and then he rolled away to catch his breath. They laid on their backs with their arms and legs spread across the stage and euphoria washed over them both. They stared at the light overhead, their chests heaved, and their skin gleamed under a film of cooling sweat.

Gabby rolled over when she cared to move again and laid her head on TJ's chest. "That never felt so good," she said, "Even when I was alive." TJ held Gabby close and stroked her hair until she pushed herself away and sat up. She slipped her camisole over her head and let it fall to her waist then found her knickers draped over the never-ending bottle of gin.

TJ found his phone and checked the time. "It's late and I have to be here early tomorrow." He watched Gabby tip the bottle up and said. "It's going to be a busy day."

7.

TJ was right. It was a busy day. Matinée afternoons started early, and a lot had to get done before they were over. He worked until the last chords of the finale faded away, and the bows were done. Then he closed the break room door and sat down with the Sunday paper.

Gabby appeared first, and she pulled Hannah behind her. "I'm tired of this," Gabby said, and she shoved Hannah at TJ. "You gotta work out what you want from him, and get it." Gabby disappeared into a swirl of cold frustration and left Hannah staring at TJ.

"Did you get to watch the end of the movie last night?" TJ asked. He motioned to the chair beside him, and Hannah hesitated before she sat down.

"I saw it," Hannah said. "Did Gabby tell you why I left?"

"She said you didn't want me to see you cry," TJ said.

Hannah laughed out loud. "I left because Gabby wanted you to herself after the movie." She looked at the paper in front of TJ. It seemed like an afterthought when she added, "We talked about it before."

TJ saw Hannah's curiosity as she searched the paper, but she turned away when she realized he was watching. There wasn't much he could do right then because he still had to make sure the dressing rooms were cleared and the doors were locked, but he coaxed Hannah back to the break room later when the stage doors were finally shut, and they were alone. He sat her at the table with the newspaper in front of her and sat down beside her. "What do you want me to read?" he asked.

"This!" Hannah said, and pointed to a picture caption. "And this then this!" TJ traced his fingertip along the lines in articles that Hannah was excited about, so she could see the words as he read them. He explained the pictures and the advertisements.

They finished with the comics. Hannah sat close by TJ's side, and he helped her to read a little on her own. They were almost cheek-to-cheek over the paper when Hannah fell quiet, and TJ saw tears fall onto the paper.

"You shouldn't cry at the funnies, should you?" TJ asked, and Hannah looked up with wet streaks on her face. She touched her fingers to her lips, then without a word she put her hand on his shoulder and leaned close. She held her breath while she kissed his cheek and his lips, and released it against his neck.

TJ knotted his fingers in Hannah's blond waves and pulled her back just far enough to watch her face. He locked his lips over hers and pushed his tongue into her. The excitement that once stayed just under her soft skin erupted in his arms. It was in Hannah's scent and in her taste. It was in the way she moved and in the way she offered her body to him.

They broke their kiss when neither of them could catch their breath, and TJ said, "You're excited. What did you call it? Giddy. Are you giddy now?"

Hannah pushed back and, with her eyes fixed on TJ's smile, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Oh God, TJ! I don't know," she said and disappeared in a confused swirl.

TJ called her. He didn't know where she went, but she was gone. He threw the door open and sensed her cold presence, but she faded again. TJ tracked her from the hallway to the lobby. She flickered into view, and then vanished again. He found dust motes that swirled in her passing as she ran the stairs, and he followed. He called her name again, and again she showed herself.

Hannah's eyes were wide when she looked back at TJ, and she disappeared through the door into the house. TJ unlocked the doors and charged after her. Used programs scattered in the aisles and under the seats, and they let him see where she ran.

TJ chased Hannah up to the wall at the top of the balcony and cornered her there. She could leave right through him if she wanted to get away, but she didn't. TJ felt her chill and heard her breath. He could smell her sweat and her perfume.

"Why are you so afraid?" TJ asked. "Why are you so confused? Let me hold you."

Hannah was braced against the wall when she appeared, and TJ pulled her into his arms. He kissed her face, and kissed her lips, and he felt her surrender.

TJ laid Hannah down on the carpet at the top of the stairs. Her breath quavered. She tugged at TJ's belt, and he tore her knickers away.

Hannah surprised TJ when she pushed him back and climbed over him. He had only one shoulder on the landing, and he couldn't stop himself from slipping down while Hannah opened his pants and freed his stiff cock. By the time he caught himself, she was astride his hips, with his hard-on in her hands.

Hannah didn't seem to notice—or didn't care about—TJ's precarious position. "I don't know how this is gonna feel," she said. "You might feel like any other fella, and I don't want that, or getting you in me might be the best thing I ever done."

TJ struggled to push his cock up while Hannah lowered herself on him. The head of his cock slipped into her, and he groaned through clenched teeth. He was in Hannah's warmth and her weight rested on his hips. He braced himself there, with his butt on the landing and his shoulders on the steps.

Hannah leaned over TJ with his cock engulfed in her. She threw his jacket open and then his shirt, and buttons flew. She needed to touch his skin. Her body moved in sinuous twists while she ground against him. Her hands gripped the flesh over his ribs while she rode him.

TJ slipped down another step before he could stop himself, and only his feet rested on the landing. Hannah followed with hardly a break in her rhythm. The dim light from the stage was just enough for TJ to watch. Her eyes were closed while she concentrated on the sensations that rushed from between her legs.

Hannah's grip tightened over TJ's ribs, and he slipped sideways. Excitement spread from the sensitive head of his cock, down his shaft, and through his body.

TJ slipped again. He held Hannah, and they came to rest sideways on the steps. She laid her head on his chest, bit him, and gripped his sides while she ground against him. Hannah's eyes were open without seeing, and then her orgasm coursed through her muscles from each pulsing spasm.

Hannah relaxed her grip on TJ's sides and her bite on his chest, and that release triggered TJ's pent-up excitement. He bellowed when his essence gushed through his straining shaft and flooded Hannah. He pushed himself up into her again then again while he came.

They slipped down the steps once more, turning as they slid. TJ held Hannah until they came to rest upright. He kissed her face and her neck. He stroked her hair and her back. "That was incredible," he said. "Are you okay? Was that what you wanted?"

Hannah didn't open her eyes or lift her head. She breathed against TJ's neck and said "I... I never felt like this before."

TJ's softening cock was still inside Hannah when she pushed herself up and moved so the light from the stage fell across his body. He bled where her fingernails had pierced his skin, and her teeth left darkening marks on his chest. She covered her mouth, and through the tears that filled her eyes she said, "I hurt you! Oh God TJ, I hurt you!"

Hannah disappeared in a frigid blast that left TJ curled on the steps to protect himself. It was only after that when he realized what she meant. The blood on his sides stained his shirt and his chest ached from her bite.

TJ sat up and pulled himself together, and he was almost dressed again when Gabby appeared beside him. "Is Hannah okay?" he asked.

"She's crying," Gabby said, "Because she hurt you. She didn't want to hurt you." She opened TJ's jacket to look at the stains on his shirt.

"That's not important," TJ said. "I wanted her to feel better, and now maybe she feels worse."

TJ pulled his jacket around him again and watched Gabby's face. "This is too much for me, for now. I'm taking my days off, and I'm not coming here. Maybe I'll go to a coffee shop and write, but I can't come here."

8.

TJ knew he wasn't alone in the box office, but he didn't know who was with him until Gabby appeared by his side. He flinched away from her chill, but she was warm when she bent down to kiss his cheek. "Did you miss us?" she asked.

"I did," TJ answered. "It was harder to stay away than I thought it would be." He put his hand on Gabby's hip and slipped it around the curve of her butt.

Gabby pushed on TJ's shoulder so the stool he perched on swiveled around. She settled on his lap, took his glasses away and laid them on the counter. "It's been ab-so-lute-ly boring here without you," she said.

TJ laughed. "I guess the dancers took a couple days off at the same time I did." he said and changed the subject. "How's Hannah been?"

"I think she cried most of the time," Gabby said. "She's no company at all." Gabby looked out through the box office window and slipped off TJ's lap. "Someone's coming," she said and disappeared.

TJ sold five tickets before Gabby appeared again. "Do I have to go looking for Hannah?" he asked, "Or will she come here?"

"You won't be mean to her, will you?" Gabby asked. "She already wants to die but, you know, she's already dead. I don't think she could take it if you were mean to her."

"I want her with me," TJ said, "And I want her to stop crying."

Gabby disappeared then reappeared a few minutes later with Hannah behind her. Hannah stayed where Gabby left her even after Gabby disappeared again, and she watched TJ while he sold some tickets over the phone.

TJ left the sales window to face Hannah, and she flinched as if he would hit her. Instead, he stroked her hair and whispered in her ear. "Why were you crying?" he asked.

Hannah slipped her hand up between them and pushed back far enough to see TJ's face. "I hurt you," she said. "I didn't want to hurt you, and that made me think of dark things."

"It didn't hurt that much. I'm a little bruised, and my roomies got a laugh at my expense," TJ said, "They want to know who my hot new girlfriend is." TJ stopped and studied Hannah for a second before he said, "That was hot sex. I thought you liked it."