Partners and Ghosts

Richard Sanders is a lonely 12-year-old boy. He lives alone with his mother. Richard’s father has abandoned them. One night he walks into his bedroom to find a red-haired girl his age sitting on the corner of his bed. Her name is Hannah. He does not know how she got there.

One would think that Richard would think this is odd. Instead, he wanted to find out more about Hannah. He learns she is from another planet where very human-like people are known as Partners. They can travel at ease, and that is how Hannah gained access to Richard’s bedroom.

Partners have other powers, and Richard sees an example of these powers when his mother comes into his room to say good night. Hannah is still there, but Richard’s mother has no idea Hannah is sitting in a corner reading a magazine. Partners can conceal themselves. Meanwhile, Richard and Hannah form a “partnership.”

Richard’s first kiss is with Hannah when both are 16. Despite this little passion, Richard is comfortable with his platonic relationship with Hannah. He feels comfortable with her and enjoys the friendship. He considers her to be his best friend.

During Richard’s senior year in college, Richard begins a relationship with a long-haired girl named Roseanne. Everything seems to be going well until Roseanne tells Richard that she is “late.” Richard is floored. An angry Roseanne lets him know she doesn’t appreciate what she considers a lack of support. She tells him she doesn’t want to see him for a couple of days.
At their next meeting, Roseanne tells a relieved Richard that she is not pregnant. But all is not well. Roseanne doesn’t believe that Richard cares for her. He insists that he does, but she is not convinced. She simply tells him “to leave.”

Richard is devastated. Roseanne was wrong. He did care about her. More importantly, he felt he was like his father, ready to abandon his child. He didn’t want to believe that. He would not have done what his father had done to him. But perhaps the old, tired saying, “Like Father, Like Son,” applied to Richard. Perhaps Roseanne was right in sending him packing.

The second half of the story centers Richard’s relationship with a woman named Michelle. Both are in their mid-twenties and meet where they work. Michelle comes across as a pleasant, outgoing person.

A few from work go out for drinks on a Friday night to unwind after a long week. Michelle and Richard end up alone. Michelle confides in Richard: She tells she had been sexually molested by her grandfather.

Richard is surprised that Michelle is willing to confide in him when they barely know each other. But he wanted to help her; It was almost a way to atone for he did to Roseanne. In the parking lot, they hold each other before driving away separately.

A few days later, Richard is walking down the hall at work and sees Michelle approaching from the opposite direction. However, as Michelle nears him, Richard realizes it is not Michelle. She can pass as Michelle’s twin. The twin gazes at Richard but says nothing. He looks over his shoulder and sees the twin vanish in a now empty hallway. Richard has encountered Michelle’s Partner.

Early the next afternoon, the “twin” approaches Richard’s open office. She has a more assertive walk and posture than Michelle. The Twin enters his office and asks if she can talk. Richard points to the chair at the side of his desk.

“You know who I am, don’t you?” the twin says.
“Yes. You’re Michelle’s Partner.”

The twin identifies herself as Teresa and is impressed that Richard is that perceptive and is not upset that he has met a Partner. He informs Teresa he has a Partner named Hannah.

Teresa gets down to business. She tells Richard that Michelle’s predator grandfather has died. Michelle will not be going to the funeral but will attend the wake to appease her mother. Teresa requests that Richard accompany Michelle to the wake the next evening. Teresa is impressed that Richard is willing to help Michelle. Now, Richard’s and Michelle’s relationship will truly develop.

Understandably, the wake is a traumatic emotional experience for Michelle. The grandfather’s death does not bring peace or closure. Michelle doesn’t understand why her mother is so intent on having her daughter even come to the wake. She leaves the wake as soon as she can, telling Richard she feels “the walls crowding in on her.”

Richard is taking Michelle to a casual dinner. She breaks down as he drives. Yes, her grandfather is gone, but the traumas remain.

Richard does his best to comfort Michelle. When he gets out of the car at the restaurant, he finds that Michelle is not following him in. She is back by the car, leaning on its side. Richard goes back to her, and she says, “You act like you care about me.” Richard responds, “It’s not an act, Michelle.” He then kisses her.

A few days after the wake, Richard has dinner with Teresa. The Partner wants the details regarding the wake. Richard fills her in, saying that Michelle held up well until she broke down in the car. Teresa is impressed by how Richard comforted Michelle.

As the dinner progresses, things get intimate between Richard and Teresa. As she prepares to leave, Teresa stands and inches toward Richard. She caresses his face, and he kisses her softly. Richard wonders about the seduction. Wasn’t Teresa supposed to protect Michelle’s emotional flank?

Teresa was the second Partner Richard had kissed. Or had there been one or two others that had concealed themselves?

Michelle learns of the affection between Richard and Teresa. She feels betrayed by both and begins to think Richard isn’t serious about her. She bolts from a dinner she is having with Richard. He has no idea when they speak again, if they do speak again.

Hannah meets with Richard and lectures him on getting romantically involved with a Partner. He knew better, she said. Yet she believes he can salvage the situation. But, she says, he must realize work must be done to help repair a relationship between a Partner and her Host. ( Richard is Hannah’s “Host.” Michelle is Teresa’s “Host.”) Once more Richard wonders if he is like his womanizing father.

Speaking of his father, a meeting between the father and Richard is arranged. Richard is surprised that his father wants to meet him but agrees to meet his dad at his mother’s house. Richard has mixed emotions but there is no way he would pass up on the opportunity. Womanizer or not, his father is still his father.

Richard is surprised that his father is half-way decent. He doesn’t expect much, but he decides he will take what he can get from his dad. Some of those feelings of rejection dissipate.

Partners Hannah and Teresa use their powers to help Richard and Michelle cope with their past. It helps solidify their relationship. Richard proposes and Michelle accepts.

Everything appears to be going well, but Hannah writes the last chapter of the story. Turns out that Richard is more like his father than he thought.

At first, Richard is stunned. There is a strong resemblance even with the age difference.