Free The Grey Tier by Unknown Page A

felt before. Imagine soft, combed silk—feathery and sweet. It was both cold and warm at the same time and left a lingering imprint even after he removed his fingers from my face. He spoke in a hushed tone. “Bob is right, no more crying.”
    This man, ghost, being . . . whatever he was, shimmered. He was steeped in a golden glow surrounded by the deepest indigo, and his eyes were the deep, purple color of a mountain at sunset. Yeah, I know. Hokey as hell, right? But seriously, his eyes were incredible looking. He had dark hair that framed his face in thick waves. All I could think was— beautiful .
    I tentatively reached out to touch him and then retracted my hand quickly. I could feel . . . something. But it was simply a sensation—cool and then, slowly, growing warmer. I felt tingly—literally—all over my body. And I received no visuals at all.
    Meanwhile, Bob was crooning “Positive Vibration” in the background, but his singing grew softer and started to fade out. I didn’t want him to go. I mean, yes . . . this was all incredibly insane, but it sure was beating the heck out of the pity party I’d been throwing myself only moments ago.
    And then someone pounded on the French doors just off the kitchen and my two mystery guests vanished into thin air.
    “Edie! Evie! Open the fucking door!”
    Simone! I ran to the door, throwing it open. Cass started barking and Simone sidled in, scowling at Cass who growled and slunk away.
    “Simone, what are you doing here?”
    She ignored me and made a beeline for the fridge. “Are these the only beers you have?
    No Champagne? Wine? What the fuck?”
    “Uh, yes.”
    She sighed, popped the top off a cold Heineken, took a deep swig, and turned to face me. “Okay Edie. What the fuck is going on?”
    And that is when I saw him again. He was behind her, making a face, holding up two fingers over her head. I started to giggle nervously. She turned to see what I was looking at. He was gone.
    Simone smoothed her hair down. “Seriously, are you okay?!”
    I shook my head and muttered, “I wish I knew.”

Chapter Eleven
    “SO THIS IS REALLY what normal people do?” Simone asked.
    We were sitting inside a Denny’s on Sunset. She was in disguise wearing a short black wig, torn jeans, and a yellow T-shirt with pink writing that read, Fuck You . . . and the horse you rode in on. On the back was a cartoon woman on a horse flipping the bird. Classy.
    After showing up at my place and drinking four beers, Simone insisted on doing something normal .
    “Come on, Evie, let’s go where the real people go. Let’s do something real people do. Something normal. Where do you eat when you go out?”
    I was still feeling off-balance (go figure) with lingering tingling sensations running through my body.
    “Uh, Denny’s, I guess.” Yeah, okay . . . I realize Denny’s isn’t exactly gourmet cuisine, but where I come from, there aren’t a lot of upscale family dining options. And it was the first thing that came to mind.
    “Okay. Denny’s it is.” Then, right there in my kitchen, she stripped and yanked her disguise out of a big Michael Kors bag. She dropped the black, bobbed wig onto her head. “Call me Jill tonight. We can hang out . . . you know, just like BFFs!”
    “Right.”
    Now, at Denny’s, Simone was stuffing her face with some fine diner cuisine, and I was still in shock from the day.
    “This shit is good, Edie.” She paused for a moment and then winked at me. “I just do that for fun, you know.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Call you Edie. I know your name. I just like messing with you.”
    I nodded. “Oh.” At this point, nothing she said surprised me.
    “Hey.” She reached over and touched my shoulder; thankfully, I had on a light sweater, so no need to worry about uninvited visuals. “I know I threw a mini-tantrum earlier and I shouldn’t have. I was a little surprised you took off this morning and then when the cops showed up and started asking questions