The following stories are from my collection Lovers From Beyond 1. About this novel: Allusion and innuendo, who needs them? These ghosts go all the way! This daring collection features three sets of short stories. Haunted La Jolla involves amateur ghost hunters with a Victorian flair. Ghost Bustin' focuses on a popular TV show. Cynthia's Many Lovers stars a young woman and the ghost of her watchful father. Ghost hunting has never been this much fun!
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Haunted La Jolla
Episode 1
The Ghost In Apartment 13
While the sun was out and appeared somewhat robust and able to take on the morning landscape, the crisp breeze had contrary ideas. It was doing it's best to bring shivers to the numerous pedestrians at the immense and grassy park in La Jolla.
Among the many visitors that morning, most were gawking and taking pictures of the small herd of sea lions that squawked or flopped about on their bellies on the nearby rocks. Another portion of the crowd perched precariously on the edges of the unstable sandstone cliffs to have their pictures taken. Lastly, we come across a pair of the affluent area's longtime residents.
These were Eleanor and Victoria, both several years past the half-century mark, and both in desperate need of male company. Eleanor's husband had abandoned her for a younger woman some years before. Victoria's spouse would have done the same, save that she found out about her mate's affair ahead of schedule. With the help of her maid and butler, Victoria then had her husband's personal items waiting for him on the driveway upon his return from the office. This turbulence had taken place some time ago.
Eleanor had classic movie star looks, with rich blonde hair, full natural lips and handsome cheekbones. She also displayed a busty front, an ample rear, and a general air of aloofness. Her beauty and demeanor prompted observers to question whether she was some type of celebrity, the wife of a politician, or some other sort of important woman. Victoria, on the other hand, had her lush red hair pulled back into a knot, to show off her beautifully rosy cheeks. Her breasts were even more delicious than Eleanor's, but she kept them more conservatively concealed. Although Victoria's robustness gave her an approachable and warm demeanor, she could also act quite queenly when and if she chose to do so.
Knowing full well the capriciousness of the weather, the two wealthy women had smartly thought ahead and worn sweaters that morning. Suitably warmed, they took their customary weekend walk around the beautiful park. Victoria enjoyed the serenity of the palm trees and grass, and if tempered, the sounds of small children playing gaily with their parents. Eleanor, on the other hand, preferred to witness the tumult and clamor of the ocean waves crashing on the beachside rocks, just a short distance from the edge of the park.
They'd spotted a small pack of male surfers, or more accurately, boogie boarders, floating out among the waves. Warmer weather might have raised the two women's expectations of seeing chiseled chests and washboard abdomens on bronzed skin. The cold truth was that such inclement temperatures as were common that morning invariably led to these younger men being covered from neck to ankles in rubber bodysuits. Both women frowned at their misfortune and quietly moved on.
They next came across a short, stout Mexican woman, who had a sizable collection of hand-fashioned bracelets and anklets made of cheap metals or beads. All of these trinkets were for sale and sprawled across a park bench. This common jewelry held the interest of the two rich socialites only briefly.
When the two bored women observed half a dozen artists standing before their easels and contemplating the cove, they flocked over to critique their handiwork. The pair of old hens had attended numerous art shows together in the past, as wealthy and uninspired older women are prone to attend. Both Eleanor and Victoria soon classified the amateur artists' skills as being well below their level of enjoyment. They were at the point of detaching themselves from the tiny gaggle of spectators when yet another of their usual partners in crime could be see waving and power walking in their direction.
"Katherine, dear, where have you been?" Eleanor greeted.
Eleanor used that exuberant and somewhat snobby voice that guaranteed drawing the attention of several of the people standing around her. She played the part well, as her arms were outstretched wide to gather in the new arrival. Her illustrious embrace, of course, was more for show than it was from genuine joy.
Obligingly, Katherine withstood the kisses to either cheek, returned the same, and went on to repeat the greeting with Victoria. Katherine's hair was a more mundane color of brown, streaked with gray, and cut short and sassy. Her figure was decidedly lean. While Katherine's curves were not as pronounced as that of the other two women, she was unquestionably athletic and muscularly toned. Therefore, she could still be viewed as an attractive woman, if one were attracted to such a type.
After their salutations, the three women formed a compact and more or less confidential triangle between themselves.
"I've been so busy." Katherine started off, widening her eyes a moment later. "And you wouldn't believe some of the things that have happened to me!"
"Let's have a chat, shall we?" The ever-pompous Eleanor suggested.
In a royal manner, Eleanor led the other two women toward a nearby, and pleasantly vacant, green-roofed little structure. This was a spot where park visitors could sit and contemplate the ocean, or the park, or whatever it was that their hearts were so inclined to contemplate.
"We haven't seen you in over two weeks!" Victoria squealed, as the three of them took their seats.
"I know, I know." Katherine nodded. "I've been so busy!"
The more regal Eleanor placed herself across from the other two women, as if she were part of their trio, or perhaps wasn't, in the eyes of a casual observer. A moment later, she crossed one leg over the other and struck what might be deemed to be arrogant or elegant pose, once again depending on the observer.
"Yes, tell us what you've been doing with yourself, Katherine." Eleanor spoke. "Victoria and I were about to start a rumor about you running away with one of your landscaping people. We thought that perhaps you'd headed off to Cancun or some other such sun-drenched place."
"An adventure!" Victoria giggled. "Just like Eleanor and her valet!"
"What valet?" Katherine asked, looking suspiciously and directly at Eleanor.
Not expecting Victoria to have blurted out a secret as intimate as that one, Eleanor's cheeks understandably flushed.
"Oh, come on!" Katherine insisted. "Spill the beans, or I'll have to get Victoria's second-hand version. I'd much rather hear it straight from the horse's mouth!"
Eleanor sighed. "Fine, I'll admit it. I went through a particularly dry spell a few years ago. I was forty-five, if I remember the year correctly. I'd gone up to the Pacifica in Del Mar for their happy hour. I may have had one drink too many, because I ended up making a proposition to one of the valets that was working that night."
"You didn't!" Katherine gaped back.
"I offered a young man five hundred dollars a week, plus the conditional use of my BMW," Eleanor set her next two words up perfectly, like a studied actress. "For sex."
Victoria squealed.
Katherine covered her mouth in disbelief. "You didn't!"
Having heard the story before, Victoria recovered from the shock first. "Tell her what the valet was like. Describe him for us!"
"His name was Gregory." Eleanor thought back wistfully. "He had the long, lean body of an athlete. He was a long distance runner, I believe, and he was nearly six feet tall. And his endurance, my darlings, was to die for..."
"What happened to him?"
"Oh, he was guilty of being of the temperament of a typical young man in his early twenties." Eleanor shook her head, just slightly and not upsetting her lady-like demeanor. "Gregory decided one night that he was going to show my car off to his friends. He ended up trying to scale a center divider with it and somehow managed to destroy both the front and rear axles in one fell swoop. The insurance company covered the loss, so it wasn't a complete disaster. But alas, I had to let my poor little valet go."
Katherine considered Eleanor's beauty and figure. By far, Eleanor was the most attractive of the three. For the life of her, Katherine could not see Eleanor at a loss for male companionship, at any point in the past, ever. There was one question about Eleanor, which had been nagging her for some time now. Before she could consider the tactfulness of it, she went ahead and voiced it. "Eleanor, have you ever had plastic surgery?"
"Good heavens, no!" Eleanor balked. "Have you seen recent pictures of Donatella Versace or Jocelyn Wildenstein? They both look like something out of The Island of Doctor Moreau! Why would you even ask that?"
Katherine shrugged. "It's just that your boobs look so perfect."
"You wouldn't think so if you saw me taking my bra off." Eleanor joked. "But they are all natural. Why are we getting so far off the subject, anyway? We were about to find out where you've been hiding yourself for the last two weeks."
Katherine smiled.
It must be mentioned here, that Eleanor had inherited her wealth through her family. By contrast, Victoria had attained hers from marriage. Katherine, on the other hand, had earned her money the old fashioned way: through hard work, much perseverance and the shrewd manipulation of real estate.
Several of Katherine's holdings had made a tremendous amount of money for her. The most lucrative of these holdings were located in the outlying and low-income districts, near the metro area of San Diego. The savvy businesswoman had been in possession of such real estate at a ripe and opportune moment; right before the announcement of a new downtown ballpark skyrocketed home prices through the roof. Wisely, Katherine held on to these properties until the market peaked, at which point she sold them all off. In layman's terms, she made bank. Or alternately, she made a grip of money. Or something to that effect, you get the picture.
"Well," Katherine began her explanation. "I told you both that I'd purchased an apartment complex that was in default, in one of the bad parts of town, right?"
Both Eleanor and Victoria confirmed this.
"I went down there, and I took my small army of landscapers, general contractors and clean-up people with me." Katherine boasted. "Because I got the complex for such a good price, I gave the place a facelift worthy of a prime-time reality show. I kicked out the criminal element, which opened up a handful of apartments. I didn't even have to raise the rent after the make-over, which made my current tenants that much happier."
"But how are you going to pay for all of those renovations?" The always practical Eleanor asked.
"Oh, that was easy." Katherine replied, waving offhandedly. "The new tenants moving in are going to pick up the tab over the long term. I'll still make a handsome profit off the complex if I decide to sell early. However, I think I may hold on to the property a bit longer, in light of what's happened there recently."
The look that appeared in Katherine's eyes was clearly coquettish.
"Well, go on with it." Victoria urged, having little patience for the droll financial details.
