October Ghosts (A Southern Romance Monthly) by CJ Hockenberry Page A

where you were. We were late starting the actual taping. The time before that was when you got lost and were late meeting the house's owner. Oh, and the time before that—"
    "Shut the hell up. It's not the same thing."  
    "How is not? Margo—I really like Chloe and I want to get to know her better. And I'm not going to back down this time."  
    "She's the wrong one."  
    "How can you know that? Exactly how many successful relationships have you had?"  
    "They're all the wrong one, Matt. Because the moment you get your dick warm you stop thinking about the rest of us who work to make sure the show goes on. Since you met her you've been late and inattentive. And the producers are already pissed off about you not wanting to make Miss Stohl look like a fool—"  
    "Who told the producers what I wanted to do? I didn't."  
    She put her finger into her chest. " I did. Because they need to be made aware that you plan on working with her on this one. That's not the way the show plays out, Matt. Ghost Hunt goes out and disproves the existence of ghosts. Hell, the selling point is the two of us used to make haunted houses. Have you even once gone over the house to check for devices? Pressure plates? Sensors?"  
    "No."  
    "You see? Because the minute you found out the psychic was attractive, you checked out. It's the same thing you did with Sarah. You got so involved with her you made mistakes."  
    "What in the hell has this got to do with Sarah?" The tightening started and he put his hand to his chest and took a deep breath. "Don't you dare bring her up. God, Margo, why don't you get a life?"  
    " You are my life, Matthew. This is my life!" She poked at his chest again as she took a step toward him. He actually stepped back. It was just he and she in the house. Phil was outside with the doc, waiting on them. "And I'm not going to let you fuck it up the way you fucked up our other job. And Chloe Stohl's not going to screw this up for me, or for you."  
    "What—" he said but pain centered in his chest. Oh no. No, no, no. Not again. Twice in the same day? He coughed and wheezed as he breathed. "Margo…stop poking me. Sarah didn't screw anything up. I had to quit because I was in the hospital for too long." Matt tried to inhale slowly, and it felt like it was working.  
    "Because of Sarah! She was the one that tried killing you. So you think Chloe's going to be any different?"  
    "Chloe isn't going to try and kill me." He gasped when he tried to exhale and he shoved his hand into his pocket and grabbed his inhaler. He shook it, inhaled twice and turned away. Within seconds the medication worked and his chest relaxed.  
    But that wasn't going to stop Margo. She came around him and pushed his shoulder. "Look at you. You're falling apart. It's been months since your asthma flared up and now you've had what, a dozen attacks?"  
    "My asthma and Chloe aren't linked and you know that. I'm stressed about Sarah."  
    "You aren't going to see Chloe anymore, you got that?"  
    Now he was just pissed. He couldn't breathe easy, he just missed another asthma attack, and his best friend was telling him he couldn't see someone he was interested in. Matt had never really disagreed with Margo. Mostly because Margo had been good at making decisions, and she'd been a great friend.  
    But this was way beyond friendship. He fixed her with a harsh looked and said simply, "No."  
    "No?"  
    "No, Margo. I am going to see Chloe. I am going to work with her tomorrow, and hopefully we can make a show that'll scare the crap out of the producers, and viewers. I believe making a unique and new show, and not some re-hack of a previous show is the way to make this successful." He watched her face as he spoke and saw shock. Matt had never talked to her like this. Even he was a bit surprised.  
    Someone clapped and the two of them turned to see Phil and Doc Coleman approach. The clapper was Phil.  
    "I couldn't agree more, Matt," he said and stopped a few