The Haunting

This is a work of fiction. All characters and incidents portrayed and names within are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character or history of any person is entirely coincidental. All places mentioned are only used to provide a framework, not to imply anything in this story actually occurred in those places. Although everyone is a fiction of our imagination, any sex within, what little there is, takes place among persons over the age 18.

THE HAUNTING

Ian Burns walked into the house and was instantly assaulted by the aroma of roasted chicken coming from the kitchen. He hung his suit jacket on the hall antique coat rack just before his wife peeked around the door frame.

"Hi honey." Lisa said in her usual bright cheerful manner, the same manner which did nothing but irritate Ian lately. "Grab yourself a beer, dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. I made one of your favorites."

"Great." Ian replied, without meaning it, as he walked past Lisa to grab a beer out of fridge. If he noticed the hurt look on Lisa's face, he didn't bother to acknowledge it. Lisa couldn't help but be hurt by Ian's obvious refusal to kiss her hello.

It was one more example of how Ian had been rejecting her for the past three months. Earlier that same day Lisa had lunch with her mother, seeking her mother's counsel at what could be wrong. Which, given her mother's wild imagination was probably a mistake.

"He's trying to distance himself from you dear. Have you done something to upset Ian? You're not having an affair, are you?"

Lisa was shocked at the question. "Of course not, Mother! Why would you even ask such a question?"

"Well, you must have done something, Lisa. Ian loves you." It was typical of her mother to take Ian's side.

But, her mother's question, whether Lisa was having an affair, raised an alternative reason for his attitude. Was Ian having an affair? The thought of it scared Lisa to her core. Mother and daughter finished lunch and rather than return to the office to finish her day, Lisa called her boss to take a half day LWOP, went shopping and bought the ingredients for one of Ian's favorite meals. She was ready to fight for her man.

**

As much as he hated it, Ian had to compliment Lisa on the delicious meal. "That was good; what's the occasion?"

"Nothing special, just thought my man could use a good, home-cooked dinner. I know we've both been busy with work and such, thought I'd show my thanks for how hard you've been working lately. All the extra time at the office."

Lisa's mention of his "extra time at the office" gave Ian a moment of angst, but he tamped it down, swallowing his guilt.

Lisa ignored the way Ian's eyes blinked as she continued. "I have a surprise. I reserved a room for next weekend at that Ocean City B&B we stayed at last year. I thought we could spend a couple days hiking the coast again. It was so nice last fall."

"Last fall" thought Ian, "when I was in love with my wife." Before the affair changed everything. Ian couldn't think of a good excuse fast enough to avoid a weekend with his wife, so he just grabbed a quick one from thin air. "I might have to work next weekend."

Lisa was ready. "No, you don't. I called Joseph this afternoon and made him promise me you'll have next weekend off. I didn't want to lose the deposit on the room."

Lisa knew Ian's boss, Joseph. During the three years Ian worked at Genius Systems for Joseph, Ian and Lisa attended many functions with Joseph and his wife. Joseph had become almost like a favorite uncle to Lisa. One more reason why, if Ian divorced Lisa, his life at work would become a living hell. Unless he could make Lisa out to be the 'bad guy'.

**

Making Lisa out to be the reason for their divorce wouldn't be easy. Everyone loved Lisa, she was beautiful inside and out and most everyone knew she was devoted to Ian. So, why was he trying to ditch a beautiful, kind, loving wife? For another woman, of course.

Ian met Carmen Benyon in the café line at the diner across the street from his work. The brunette with a killer body was in front of him as they made their way down the buffet. She filled her tray with some of the more expensive dishes, Ian paid more attention to her backside in those tight black slacks than what ended up on his own tray. When she got to the register, she dug through her purse, acting befuddled.

"I know I had my wallet in here somewhere."

The hungry patrons behind Ian began to grumble. The brunette turned toward Ian, smiling. "Could you lend me fifteen dollars, please? I'll pay you back next time."

Ian was so taken with the woman's smile -- and her face, she was gorgeous - that he didn't stop to consider when the 'next time' would be. He had never seen her before, he would have remembered this face and those beautiful breasts, and he blurted out, "Sure" and to the lady at the register, "Put hers on my tab."

The brunette's smile widened. "Thank you."

Ian expected that to be the end of it and was pleased when she sat at his table.

"I'm Carmen."

Ian reached across the table. "Ian" as he shook her hand.

Being a good-looking man with the air of someone who is successful, Ian wasn't terribly surprised when the young beauty joined him. He's always had luck with the ladies, as far back as middle school. In college, Ian was the guy his frat brothers stayed close to, waiting to get the leftovers. There were always nice-looking leftovers.

While they ate, Ian glanced at Carmen's left hand, looking for a ring. Years ago, before he met Lisa, Ian had an affair with a married woman. It didn't end well for Ian. The cuckolded husband caught up with Ian outside his apartment one night. Unfortunately, Ian wasn't much of a fighter; more unfortunately, the husband was. Ian wound up with a broken nose, a fat lip and two swollen testicles. The lip and testicles healed, but the craziest outcome from the beatdown was this - Ian had his nose repaired and his looks only improved. Who said life is fair?

When Ian's father learned the reason for the injuries, the old man threatened to disown Ian if he pressed charges against the husband. He also told Ian it was about time he grew up and settled down. Like many playboys, when Ian went searching for a wife, he avoided any of the loose women he'd dated and bedded up until that point. He ended up meeting Lisa Collins at a charity function, Lisa checked all the boxes. Beautiful, smart, loyal, great body and nearly a virgin. Within a year of their first date, Ian and Lisa were man and wife.

Now, three years later, Ian's true nature re-emerged. Within two weeks of meeting Carmen at the café he was spending any free time he could in Carmen's apartment. Within four weeks, Carmen had Ian wrapped around her little finger and was asking him when he was going to divorce 'the wife'.

Instead of talking to his father, Ian called Simon Foster, an old frat brother, for advice - offering to buy the first two rounds if he could use Simon as a sounding board. The two sat at the bar chosen for such an occasion.

"Here's the thing, I'm not even thirty and my life is starting to look like my parents'." Is how Ian started the conversation. "I met this woman, Carmen, and she's making me rethink my choices. Carmen talks about visiting nude beaches and having sex in the warm Caribbean waters. Lisa talks about buying a house and having babies."

Ian noticed the changing expression on his friend's face. From a lecherous smirk at the mention of sex and nude beaches to a frown when Ian used the words "having babies". His frat brother understood the dilemma. He kept it up, if the scales weren't tipped in Carmen's favor before, the next two sentences would seal Lisa's fate.

"Carmen screws me silly, there isn't a sex act she won't consider; while Lisa makes love and is still a little bit shy after three years of marriage. Carmen's body is decorated with tattoos and piercing, Lisa can't understand how people can mark their bodies that way." Ian failed to mention Lisa gave in two years ago and had a small butterfly tattoo inked in a place where only Ian and her doctor would ever see. Lisa insisted that the tattoo artist had to be a female and the tattoo itself did please and placate Ian -- for a while.

Simon had the morals of an alley cat and the maturity of a freshman fraternity pledge. His response, "So, dump Lisa and have some fun with Carmen until you get tired of her. You know you will eventually dump her; she's just like all those whores you banged at school. And don't tell me you're in love with this Carmen -- I know you better than that."

Ian pondered Simon's words of wisdom -- or what sounded like wisdom after three ales and two Patrón shots. The two 'brothers' changed the conversation to sports and then Simon bragging to Ian about all the 'pussy' he was tapping at work. They were getting loud, so an hour later the bartender cut them off. Ian thanked Simon for meeting him, made plans to spend a weekend with him sometime in the future, and staggered home.

When he woke up the next morning, Ian's head was splitting with a hangover and the taste of vomit in his mouth. What he could remember from the previous night's discussion made him realize he needed to separate from Lisa. Listening to Simon's tales of singledom convinced him he married too young and the wrong woman. The problem now was the same as before -- and Simon couldn't help solve the problem -- how to make it Lisa's fault when the marriage failed. Ian called in sick to work; Lisa was already gone, but she left a nice note on the counter next to the coffee pot. In typical Lisa fashion, she hoped he had a nice time with his college buddy last night.

"Why does she have to be so damn nice?" he thought to himself.

**

"Why does she have to be so damn nice?" Ian thought to himself once again as he looked out the side window during their drive to the coast the following weekend. His entire act over the past few months - being grumpy and sometimes downright nasty, ignoring her, avoiding sex and, when they did have sex, just being selfish -- all of it, nothing was working; he couldn't get Lisa to lose her cool and attack him either verbally or physically.

Lisa spent the four-hour drive in a good humor. They arrived at the romantic B&B and Lisa seduced Ian into making love the first night; Ian had to admit it was fantastic. Lisa kept her body in shape, the time in the gym only enhanced her natural beauty. But still, she wasn't Carmen.

They woke up in the morning, naked, with Lisa's arm wrapped around his torso. They had a good breakfast, packed a picnic lunch into Lisa's backpack -- Ian's backpack held the water, a bottle of Pinot Noir, their first aid kit and a blanket -- before heading out on their hike.

It rained hard the night before; the temperature was in the low forties but promised to be sunny and sixty-five by the time they stopped for lunch. A lovely day to hike and reconnect. The trail opened up into the sunshine just as it reached the cliff overlooking the ocean; Ian and Lisa stopped to admire the sheer beauty of the seemingly endless horizon.

Their destination that day was an entry to a path one-half mile from where they now stood. The path was cut into the cliff, most likely by the original inhabitants of this land, leading down the eighty-foot-high cliff wall to the sandy bottom near the mouth of the river.

They never made it that far.

Tearing her eyes away from the horizon, something caught Lisa's attention; neither of them noticed how much erosion had taken place since their last visit here. The trail was once at least ten feet from the cliff edge, now it was four or five feet in places. Lisa bent down to look at the lily blossom no more than two feet from the edge when the ground buckled. As she slid sideways she caught an exposed bush root which prevented her from completely going over the edge, but now her legs dangled, churning as they tried to find something to use as a foothold.

"Help, Ian!" Lisa looked at her husband who stood frozen. "Help!" she screamed louder, trying to shake Ian out of his stupor. "Give me your belt!" Lisa knew it wouldn't do her any good if they both went over the cliff.

Ian just stood there. He wasn't frozen in fear, he was thinking. Maybe this was the answer to his prayers. An easy way to get rid of his wife. No pissed off boss or recrimination from their friends and family because he dumped his wife and found someone new. In fact, he'd be seen as a sympathetic character, someone who needs comforting.

They exchanged looks which explained it all. Lisa understood Ian was going to let her die, Ian understood Lisa's final thoughts were her knowledge of his deceit. "I'm sorry." Ian said, meaning it -- after all, he did actually love her until recently.

It's the last thing Lisa heard before the root gave way and she plunged eighty feet into the sea. Her body then swept out further by the combination of the receding tide and the current of the nearby river's outflow. Ian caught a glimpse of Lisa before an offshore low fog made it impossible to see anything, maybe she already sank. Ian sat on the ground and cried.

There was an inquiry, of course. There was speculation. Did the bastard push her off the cliff? People can be so cruel. Luckily for Ian, the investigators were thorough and competent. They found Lisa's footprints where she walked off the trail, they found the fresh erosion and where the bush had been before coming loose. All the evidence confirmed Ian's testimony. Lisa had walked off the trail, gotten too close to the edge, it gave out, she grabbed a root, but it wasn't strong enough to hold her weight, she fell and either died from the fall or drowned. No one would ever know that Ian stood by and let her fall.

Lisa's body was never found, not surprising given the proximity to the river's current. The Coast Guard did search for three days, but without luck. A week later the backpack Lisa wore that morning was found on a beach twenty miles north of where she went in, giving credence to the speculation Lisa didn't die in the fall and the hope that somehow her body would be recovered. But that never happened.

**

The tragic story of the beautiful young wife's death filled every news outlet within hours. Ian wasn't surprised when he returned home Sunday night to find his burner phone's voice mail account filled with messages from Carmen. He had left the phone powered down and locked in his briefcase, not taking the chance to take it on the weekend with his wife.

Ian listened to the messages, then called Carmen. Carmen picked up after the first ring.

"Oh my god, Ian. I heard what happened to her." Carmen never spoke Lisa's name, referring to Lisa always as 'her', 'the wife' or 'the bitch', but today refrained from using the more derogatory term out of respect for the dead woman. Carmen also did her best to leave the joy out of her voice as she faked her sympathy, Ian wasn't the only person to believe prayers had been answered when Lisa accidently fell off that cliff. Carmen tried not to consider the other possibility -- that Ian pushed her off so they could be together; although a part of her was smitten by the idea that Ian could love her that much.

Carmen rambled on for a minute. "When can I see you? Is there anything I can do? Why don't you come over so I can comfort you." Ian couldn't get a word in until he had to interrupt Carmen's monologue.

"Carmen, stop for a second. You know they're going to investigate the accident. I'm going to be under a lot of scrutiny for a while, at least until after the investigation ends. We need to keep calm and under the radar. Believe me, I want to see you as much as you want to see me. We just need to keep things the same for a few days. Keep it how it's been for just a little while longer. The good thing is we can talk every night for as long as we like using this phone. Can you understand that?"

It made sense, but Carmen had already waited three months for Ian to dump Lisa. Waiting another few days would be so hard, especially now that Ian was free. If anything, it was harder because they wouldn't be able to meet for lunch or make love at Carmen's apartment whenever Ian faked having to stay longer at work. (Ian was no fool, for every evening he spent in Carmen's bed, he spent an evening at work -- just in case the topic of Ian's overtime came up when Lisa spoke with his boss.)

Carmen had a temper, she was trying her best to remain calm while Ian explained how they'd have to be careful for a while. She already was hopping mad when Ian told her how Lisa had planned a romantic weekend at a B&B. So mad that she went out this past Friday night and got picked up by some big hunk who she assumed could rock her world.

In fact, Carmen was still in bed with the guy Saturday afternoon, they were watching TV while recovering from their fifth or sixth bout of sex when the TV program was interrupted with the news of the local woman's tragic accident. Carmen kicked the guy out, cleaned up the take-out cartons, beer bottles and the sheets before making the first call to Ian's burner phone. Carmen did her best to forget how the guy made her squeal in pleasure with his tongue and those big fingers, all before pounding her into the mattress.

Ian brought Carmen back to the present. "Carmen, did you hear what I said? I said I'll do my best to sneak away. I'll try to sneak out wearing a disguise; there have been reporters hanging out in the parking lot. I'll be over there Monday at nine."

That was one of the things Carmen loved about Ian. The guy was so damn easy, Carmen held up her hand, looking at her little finger that had Ian wrapped around it, knowing that the finger next to it would have a ring on it before summer's end.

**

All day Monday Ian was wired tight. He hadn't slept much either of the past two nights. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see Lisa staring at him with that look - knowing Ian would let her die. Ian realized one reason he slept so poorly the previous night was Lisa's scent lingered on her side of the bed. Lisa always wore a hint of the perfume 'Creed', only enough to catch Ian's nose as he snuggled into her neck, her cleavage or the intimate area between her legs. But now that she no longer shared his bed, he needed to rid the sheets of any lingering scent, so he washed the bedding.

With nothing else to do, he began putting Lisa's clothes, toiletries and other bed and bathroom items in plastic garbage bags, thinking no one would be in the master bedroom or bath. Ian left most of the photos in the living room, dining room and den, in case Lisa's mom or friends stopped over. He removed the two wedding photos in the hallway, replacing them with nature scenes. The garbage bags went into her study, he'd get rid of them after cleaning out all the closets and her study. He shut the door before going back into the living room to pour himself a double shot of Jameson.

At eight-thirty Ian sneaked out the apartment building's back door and walked the twelve blocks to Carmen's apartment. Carmen opened the door, wearing a smile and nothing else.

"Damn it Ian, I missed you." Carmen leaped into Ian's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Get inside and make love to me, I missed you and need you bad." Carmen reached down to grab his crotch with one arm still around his neck. This is why Ian fell so hard for Carmen, the woman was sheer, unadulterated passion who never turned him down, no matter the request. Nothing was off the table when it came to sex.

"You don't have a wife to go home to, tonight I'm going to show you how great sex can be." She said it with an evil grin as he threw her on the bed. "Come here, I promise to keep all the bites and scratches below the neckline."

Ian spent the night, returning to his apartment (how funny not to think of it as 'our apartment' any longer) before the first light of dawn. Ian wore his jogging outfit in case someone, as unlikely as it seemed, caught him on the street or coming into the building. Although Ian hadn't met any of the neighbors in the six months since he and Lisa moved into the complex, neighbors can be nosy and a pain, especially now that he was a 'celebrity'. It turned out he was right. Mrs. Simpson, the elderly widow across the hall, was taking a special interest in the young widower's comings and goings.