CHAPTER 1 : THE CLAIRVOYANT

Suzanne Summers was a clairvoyant. And a genuine one at that. Not one of those rip-offs who stared into crystal balls and charged clients a hand and a foot. Well, alright. Maybe her charges were quite exorbitant but it wasn’t every day the average Joe got to find out that his dead great grandfather wanted to share with him, his secret stash of gold bars hidden underneath the floorboards of the family house.

In short, Suzanne was good at her job. She could see ghosts, speak to them and relay their messages to their loved ones. And for that, she was paid handsomely.

Today, Suzanne sat in her office. Sunlight streamed through the sole window of the room through its recently wiped glass with dust mites dancing in the sunbeam. Suzanne was hunched over her white Ikea Micke desk, papers strewn all over the place as she chewed on her ballpoint pen. Her curly dark hair was tied up loosely in a bun while her glasses kept sliding down her button nose. She didn’t look like a clairvoyant. In fact, in her late twenties, Suzanne looked more like a worn-out secretary that she did anything else. But she wasn’t one to complain. She had grown up playing hide and seek and hopscotch with Sally the ghost more than she did mixing with other kids her age. Her teenage weekends were filled gossiping with lingering spirits more than going to the movies. Most kids shunned her at school, thinking her weird and scary. But Suzanne didn’t mind.

“It’s a gift to be able to help the departed,” grandma never failed to remind her.

And that was the mantra she grew up with, to help the deceased and make good money out of it in the process. The clairvoyant business enabled her to buy a cosy little penthouse at one of the poshest condominiums in town, drive a bright red Volkswagen and to send her now a senile grandmother to a luxurious adult care centre.

Part of her penthouse had been converted into her office, where she was now sitting in. Opposite Suzanne sat a plump old lady with an eager smile.

“I don’t do animals ma’am,” Suzanne tried to explain. Especially when they’re still alive.

“But I heard you’re the best at finding missing people”, the old woman wasn't giving up without a fight.

Suzanne forced a smile, “You just said it, ma’am, people. I don’t look for lost animals. I’m sorry but you came to the wrong place. Why don’t you call the animal shelter instead?”

The woman stood up, pushed a crumpled photo of her cat into Suzanne’s hands and pleaded at her with her half-glazed eyes. Suzanne could tell that the woman didn’t have much time left in this world.

“Please? She’s family,” the old woman pleaded. She pushed another envelope, this one with a wad of thick crisp notes in them into Suzanne’s other hand.

“Look ma’am,” Suzanne eyed the money. No, no, no, don’t do this.

“You can take your money back. I’ll help you look for your cat. It’ll be free of charge. But I can’t promise you anything.” Why on earth am I promising her this?

The old woman was ecstatic, “Thank you, sweetheart. God bless you. I knew you were the best in your field.”

Suzanne walked the old woman out the door and closed it with a sigh. She hated doing charity. It was a waste of time and it didn’t help pay the bills. But she couldn’t say no to a dying woman.

“That was very kind of you,” a soft haunting voice came from behind. Suzanne whirled around and found herself face to face with a shimmery figure.

“Lady, you need to make an appointment before coming in you know,” Suzanne rolled her eyes, walking right past the ghost. She headed straight to her desk and began clearing them up.

“I need your help,” the ghost followed her to her desk and sat where the old lady had taken seat earlier on. Sunlight shone through the ghostly figure of an attractive woman in her sixties. Her hair was tied up in a neat bun, contrary to Suzanne’s messy do and she was dressed in a white hospital gown.

“Then you should know I require a downpayment,” Suzanne said wryly. “I assume Mr Hendricks sent you here?”

Old man Hendricks was her grandmother’s old flame. He was a semi-retired clairvoyant who had guided many lost souls to the rainbow bridge. These days, he hung around hospitals and retirement centres so much so that most of her clients came to her through him.

“Yes, but I have no money,” the ghost admitted sheepishly. “I could help you with the next lottery draw though,” she offered.

Suzanne had gained much from lotteries and shares the past years, thanks to the help of her clients.

“Alright, name?” Suzanne opened her iPad and created a new folder.

“Yvonne Long. I’d like to reunite my son with his father.”

“Uhuh, I’ll need details about your son and the father?” Suzanne pushed her glasses back up and continued typing.

“My son is Tom Banks. He’ll be 32 this year. His father is on his deathbed as we speak. Tom doesn’t know about his father. He doesn’t even know about me either.”

“You see, he grew up in the Gracious House orphanage. I left him at their doorstep when he was just a few days old,” Yvonne Long’s voice quivered. If ghosts could cry, she would probably have flooded the whole room by now.

“I see. I’ll need some proof to show him that you’re his mom.”, Suzanne typed on.

“He should have a copy of his birth certificate, it has my name on it. The orphanage told him I passed away during labour. The Directress understood my need for secrecy back then.”

Suzanne looked up, “And that would be…?”

“His father is William Banks.”

Suzanne almost fell off her chair, “Excuse me?”

“His father is William Banks.”

The Mayor of New York.

“Umm, it's past April's fool you know?” Suzanne was bewildered. The Mayor had a clean record of being a no-nonsense, down to earth man whose love for his town and family knew no bounds. A son born out of wedlock was not something Suzanne would identify him with.

Yvonne Long’s shimmering face looked annoyed. She crossed her ghostly arms.

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Suzanne quickly shook her head, “No ma’am, not at all. It’s just hard to picture the Mayor ever having an affair is all. He’s been such a great figure in the political scene. He could have even won the Presidency election if he hadn’t fallen ill last year.”

“He’s dying. If there’s one thing I regret, it’s that I didn’t look for Tom before I died. I don’t want to leave this world without allowing him to meet his father.”

“Please, Miss Summers. Please help me before my time is up.”

Every departed soul had 7 days on earth to bid their loved ones goodbye, to resolve any issues and to lay down their burdens before passing the rainbow bridge. Once they crossed the bridge, there would be no turning back. That meant that Suzanne had very limited time to help reunite the Banks family.

“It won’t be easy. I’ll need to charge double for this.” She could use the money to go on a long-overdue shopping spree throughout the whole of Europe.

“That won’t be a problem. I’m a ghost now,” Yvonne Long chuckled as if finding this amusing.

“And I’m assuming you passed away this morning?”, Suzanne asked. She needed to work out a plan if she were to bring this long lost son to the most beloved political figure in the country right now.

“2 days ago.”

“Were you lost? Didn’t you see old man Hendricks at the morgue?”, Suzanne asked, bewildered that it took so long for the ghost to have come to her. That meant that they had roughly 5 days left. “Do you know you’re on a time limit here?”

Yvonne Long stood up from the chair and faced the window. Sunlight streamed through her translucent figure as she stood looking out the window.

“I understand that. It took me that long to decide…please know that this decision did not come lightly. I don’t want to turn Tom’s life upside down. My only wish is for him to say goodbye to his father before it’s too late. William would want to meet his firstborn if he knew about Tom.”

“So William Banks doesn’t know about Junior. Great. Piece of cake,” Suzanne looked straight into Yvonne’s face. “I can’t promise anything.”

“Especially not with the kind of security the Mayor has around him these days.”

An assassination attempt on William Banks two years ago left him with a gunshot scar through his cheek and the addition of 2 bodyguards who revolved around him 24/7.

“You’ll get the grand prize for the next draw.”

Suzanne smiled, “In that case, let's go find your son.”