Faye's Spirit (12 page)

“Look, buddy, if I had to put money on it, I think she would have had a relationship with you. The fact that she had a fantasy about a threesome probably made things develop more quickly, that’s all.”

Garth stared at the screen, watching himself going down on Faye. He thought he might have been embarrassed seeing himself that way, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Faye, www.total-e-bound.com

FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

76

watching the way she responded. “Thank you, for taking charge in there, it was out of my league.”

“It’s the natural order of things. I just happen to be a more sophisticated man than you.”

Garth shook his head, but didn’t respond.

“Look, it’s no big deal. I care about you, buddy.”

Garth figured this was probably Jai at his most serious. “I appreciate that. I care about you too.”

Jai stretched his arms out along the back of the sofa, easing back into a more relaxed position. He nodded down at his groin. “In that case how about you give me a quick hand job. This home movie has given me a stonking hard on.”

Garth jerked away along the sofa. “Get lost.”

Jai laughed. “Your face! Absolutely priceless.”

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

77

Chapter Ten

Back at the house that night Faye oscillated between the men while they ate pizza, sitting on Garth’s lap in order to feed him a piece, then doing the same with Jai. The euphoria she was experiencing after twenty-four hours of fabulous double-barrelled sex and so much experimentation had made her high.

“I need to focus on your resident ghost,” she murmured while she watched Jai devour his late night pizza.

His arm tightened on her waist.

“Don’t you think you should tuck us in before you get started on your paranormal work?” Garth said. “It’s only fair pay back, after all.” He grinned.

She reached out and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. “Like I can trust you to end it on a…tuck.”

Jai chortled.

She gave in to their request and laid on the bed between them while they watched TV.

She had to forbid any more hanky panky for the time being, lest it made her forget Maud.

When she got up to go, both men turned their heads to look at her.

“I’m going to go investigate. I have a feeling your ghost might be lurking around downstairs again.”

“She doesn’t come up and watch us does she?” Jai asked the question, eyeing her naked body as he did so.

“If I find her, maybe I’ll ask.” She gave him a quick smile and before he had a chance to quiz her any more she flung the shirt on and buttoned it as she left. Behind her she could hear them speaking, their voices lowered but still audible.

“Surely you don’t intend to sleep in my bed now?” Garth said, apparently infuriated at the idea of it, even though he’d been happily about to doze off with all three of them in it moments before.

“Of course I am. What, we shared Faye, and now you won’t share your bed?”

“It just feels weird, without Faye in the middle.”

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

78

Faye paused and smiled to herself.

“Can I remind you that we shared a bed when we did that visit to Rotterdam, and you didn’t complain then?” Jai’s voice was filled with irony.

“That was different. The company secretary booked us a double room because they all thought we were…together.”

“Yes, and that seems to be happening a lot recently,” Jai pointed out, “you really are in danger of destroying my reputation as a ladies’ man.”

Garth muttered an inaudible response then Jai demanded a larger share of the quilt.

Their voices faded as Faye made her way across the apartment and down the stairs but she found herself much amused by their banter. Again it reminded her of an old married couple who knew each other well enough that they could have a whine every now and again and get away with it.

As she darted down the stairs, she went over her plans. She needed to actively engage with Maud so she intended to be pushier with her. On two previous occasions she’d been able to request the ghosts came to her, once she knew their names. She’d been a bit further down the line with them, but she would have to give it a try with Maud.

The hallway was dark, but the streetlight outside cast an eerie glow into the hallway.

It made her feel cold. Cold was not good. Faye braced herself and headed in to the kitchen.

They’d left that light on, thankfully, and she breathed a bit easier.

“Right, here goes,” she whispered to herself, then closed her eyes and visualised the room as it might have been many years ago, when Maud was here. She stood in the centre of the kitchen, slowly turning around on the spot. “I’m here for you, Maud Radisson. I’ve come to visit with you, in your space.”

Nothing happened at first. She cocked her head and listened, her senses on high alert.

Outside a lone bird twittered and she caught the distant rumble of a night bus, but nothing indoors. The floor beneath her feet felt so cold and she wished she’d stopped to put some socks on. She looked into each corner of the room. This was the place to which Maud gravitated. Why? The newspaper article noted that she had been transporting catering supplies when she’d skidded on ice.

“Are you here? Will you talk to me again?”

At the window the sky was lightening. She went to fill the kettle.

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

79

Her fingertips began to tingle, and very soon her entire body tingled too, her awareness altering. A paranormal presence was close by, the atmosphere filling with static energy, that unique aura given off by a spirit trapped in time.

Faye urged herself to act normally, to be sociable, hoping that would make Maud linger a while. She wanted Maud to be more comfortable this time. The woman must have been lonely. She needed a friend. There was jealousy in her but no overt aggression, no throwing things or shattering glass. She’d come across that before and it wasn’t a pleasant barrier to surmount. A little jealousy she could deal with.

By the time the kettle was on the boil Faye had located the mugs. She spooned coffee into the mug. Then she felt Maud’s presence materialising behind her. Faye tried not to react too overtly. Once the kettle clicked off, she glanced back over her shoulder.

Maud stood in the doorway, observing her with curiosity.

Faye smiled. “I’m sorry, did I disturb you when I spoke your name?”

“My fault for giving it to you, I s’pose.” Maud shrugged. “Not like I’ve got anything else to do.” She strode into the kitchen, lifting her chin as she did so. “Why are you here? Did they hire you for the weekend?”

Ah, she was back in good form, and she had questions of her own. That boded well.

“Yes, they did hire me,” Faye responded. Then it dawned on her that Maud meant something entirely different to hunting ghosts. “Oh, I see. You mean for sex?”

“That is what you’ve been doing with them.” The comment was definitely tinged with jealousy and the ghost eyed Faye warily. She sat up on one of the work surfaces, perching on the edge, her feet resting on a chair below.

Faye had the feeling she often took up that position, perhaps observing Jai and Garth while they were in here. “That wasn’t why I came here. Actually, the new owners hired me because they wanted me to find out more about you.”

“Did they?” Maud’s expression altered, as if she hadn’t considered that option. A faint smile passed over her face.

“Yes, they sometimes sense your presence, so they got curious. They contacted me because I can help.”

Maud rested her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands. Faye felt more hopeful. This could only work in her favour.

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

80

Then Maud’s gaze returned to her and her smile disappeared. “But you had sex with them, both of them.”

“Yes, that just sort of happened.” Slight fib there, because it didn’t just happen. Both she and Jai had been edging it forward from the moment the subject of threesomes had been mentioned.

“Well, I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same,” Maud responded, somewhat sarcastically. “They’re both attractive blokes and if they like three in the bed, all the better for you, or so I would imagine.”

“Not something you’ve tried yourself?”

“No, a couple of the girls here had clients who were into that. I’ve never done it with two men at once.” She stared off into the distance, then blinked into the light at the window.

“You asked if I died here. Well, I didn’t.”

“How did you die?” She asked the question tentatively. Did Maud even know? Was it a missing memory, something she chose not to accept because of the circumstances surrounding the event?

Maud gave a sad laugh, and it seemed to echo around kitchen endlessly. “If you’d asked my pals, the girls who worked here, they’d have said I died of a broken heart.” She rose to her feet then turned away, but paused. “It’s not what you think though,” she added, defensively.

Frustrated, Faye observed her spirit began to fade.
Not what I think
? She didn’t know quite what to think. Maud was being cryptic, although it was obvious that she did have some sort of a grief that she carried still.

“Please don’t go,” she called out.

Maud’s physical presence hovered indistinctly.

Instinctively, she said the first thing that came to mind. “What will I tell Garth and Jai?

They want to know all about you.”

The spirit form solidified. “They seem to be more interested in you now.”

“Just because there is an attraction between us, doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten you.

They want to know more. They wouldn’t have hired me otherwise. The sex thing, well, it’s not the real reason I came here, is it?”

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

81

Mercifully Maud lingered. She sighed and wandered to the sink, glancing out of the window. “Look, I don’t blame you. Just ignore me, I’m jealous.”

Faye experienced an odd visual loop and saw Maud repeat that action of looking out the window over and over, through time. Maud seemed constantly drawn to the window.

Faye stepped closer to her side and observed her expression. Her eyes were focused on the yard outside. Her mouth was still downturned at the corners, but when Faye made a sound Maud turned her way and gave a reluctant smile.

“You have a beautiful smile,” Faye told her.

Maud, who had presumably been alone without flattery for several decades, smiled again. Faye felt her opening up, and moved on rapidly. “The guys, Jai and Garth, they are very interested in your connection to this house.” A different tactic. “What was it like when you used to live here?”

“It was a brothel, fancy place mind you.”

“In the 1960s?”

“Yes,” Maud replied, and again she perched on the edge of the cabinet and rested her high-heeled peep toe court shoes on the seat of the chair. This time she seemed more settled.

She put her chin on her hands. “It was an exciting time, the music and the people. We had a lot of top bods here, overseas politicians, people with money, great parties.” She winked then, and Faye felt warmth rekindling in Maud’s spirit.

“Government people used to come here for long lunch breaks.” She looked round the place as if remembering, and as she did Faye received a rush of information from her—

images and colours, smells and noise. “Although mostly they weren’t eating lunch, if you see what I mean.”

Faye began to see the place as Maud did in her memories.

The rooms were smaller, the building more divided with heavy curtains at the windows and expensive flocked wallpaper. It was packed with people, men in suits and women in all sorts of getups, from cocktail dresses to kinky underwear, while one woman carried a drinks tray wearing a tight black and white uniform with a bow tie and an apron. It took a moment for Faye to realise she was looking at Maud as she had been, serving cocktails. The woman in the vision stopped and smiled as a man leant forward from his seat and put his hand under her apron, fondling her thigh.

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FAYE’S SPIRIT

Saskia Walker

82

When Maud spoke again, Faye jolted back to the present moment.

“Mad times we had.” Maud nodded out in the hallway. “That front room where the big desk is now, it used to be one of the parlours. Comfy it was too. All plush velvet and deep seats, lots of cushions.”

She looked back at Faye for the first time in several minutes. “That’s the only thing I don’t like about these two,” she added conspiratorially, her cockney accent more apparent than ever. “What they’ve done to this place…it’s so…sparse.” She shook her head as if disappointed in the men.

“It’s the fashion now, they call it minimalism.”

“Needs a woman’s touch it does.” As she said it she gave Faye a sidelong glance, as if she still wondered about her role.

“So you were one of the party girls who worked here?” Faye asked the question in an attempt to move her back onto more fruitful grounds.

She reeled from how close to Maud’s memories she’d got. Vivid and real, it was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. In her past interactions with the spirit world she’d been a listener not a virtual participant. What did it mean? Were her skills reaching a new level, or was it just Maud and the nature of their two worlds, cross-crossing on an edge of kinky eroticism?

“No, not exactly one of the girls. I was hired as a cook. That was a joke. Mostly I had to keep up an endless supply of canapés and cocktails.”

“Ah, I see. That’s why you favour the kitchen.”

“I spent a lot of time in here, and we had a lot of laughs I here too, when the girls were on a break. Although I was called on to do all sorts.”

“Serving?”

Maud nodded. “That, and wilder stuff. Sometimes I was called on to strut around in my uniform with a whip, while one of the girls did her stuff with a bloke. Apparently he got really turned on by being watched while he was at it.” She rolled her eyes. “The things I saw!”