Part 3

Peter hid behind the dumpster outside Jenny's apartment listening for the entrance doors to open and close. She was a secretary for a real estate company just a couple blocks away. She walked to work every morning with a black shoulder-strap purse, knee length pin-stripe black skirt, and matching black suit jacket. She usually had her auburn hair tied back in a low pony tail to show off her lovely heart shaped face. She never wore makeup-something Peter had noticed the day he met her-but she didn't need to. Her skin was almost always pimple free and her freckles made her pale face not look washed out.
"Yes, I'll be in to work a little late today." Peter heard Jenny say.
He peeked around the dumpster to see a cell phone up to her ear. She wasn't dressed for work which made him wonder where she was going.
"No, Leslie, I'm fine. I just have an appointment." he heard her say. Leslie was Jenny's best friend. They worked in the same office and while Jenny was a secretary, Leslie was a full-time realtor.
"Well, Les, I'll see you around ten. I'm fine, I promise." Jenny assured her friend.
Peter didn't hear her say anything else but he did see her close her eyes and breathe in slowly. She then reopened her eyes, exhaled, and began to walk. He followed her silently and closely. He noticed a change in her posture and the way she walked as he followed her. Before Peter had "died", she had a brisk, confident walk people often mistook as her being snobby but he knew better. Jenny was the sweetest, most selfless person he had ever met. Now, Peter observed, she walked slower and with her shoulders hunched over. There was no doubt in his mind that he was the cause of this because he knew for a fact, Jenny had loved him as much as he had loved her.
Jenny turned into a building. Peter counted to ten before walking up to the building she had turned into. The sign read, "Dr. Susan Kiser and Dr. Dan Creed, Psychology and Counseling."
Peter felt his heart sink. He didn't like knowing that Jenny had to turn to total strangers to help her with her problems. He wanted to be there to help her. Although, if he was there, Peter doubted she'd be in such a position to need that kind of help.
When Jenny got home, Peter was waiting outside her bedroom window. She came into the bedroom and tossed her house key on the dresser. Her eyes were still red and puffy, obviously from crying. She disappeared into her bathroom. Peter waited twenty minutes until Jenny came back out, wrapped in a baby blue plush bathrobe he had given her for her twenty first birthday. He watched her as she ran a comb through her tangled hair. She laid down on her bed and didn't move for an hour or so, then she stood and began to get ready for work.