“That’s what makes him so mysterious,” I said.
“That’s what makes him the typical guy.”
“Just you wait. I’m going to make you a believer along with all of our readers.”
She smiled and brushed her wavy black hair out of her face. “Well, believe it or not, I’m happy for you. When do you get to start?”
The waitress arrived with our food. I took a bite even before Beth had her plate set in front of her. It was impossible not to. This place had the best grilled chicken salads in the world! I don’t know what they used or how they did it, but somehow, even the lettuce and baby tomatoes tasted like lemon pepper. “Mmm...” I let my eyes close. “Oh, as soon as I can find women who have had him come to them, and are willing to talk about it,” I said after swallowing.
“Think there are many out there?” Beth asked as she dug into her own plate.
“I’m sure there are enough for an article. Maybe I can get the boss lady to let you go with me to interview them.”
She finished her first bite, and then pushed her glasses back up her nose. “I doubt it during business hours, but I don’t see why she would care when I’m not working.”
“Would you want to?”
Another shrug of her shoulders. “Maybe. Crazy people are always interesting.”
“Does that mean you think I’m crazy?” I asked.
Beth grinned. “I think you’re interesting.”
We both broke out in a laugh.
“Oh,” she said. “I meant to tell you I got tickets to that charity Indian art exhibit.”
“That’s great! I really wanted to see that. Maybe we should go shopping after work, get new dresses for it?”
My best friend smiled. “You know me. I’ve never met a store I didn’t love!”
Chapter Three
“Shopping” meant just one store to the two of us. Of course there were others in the shopping center, but NORAH’S always had everything we just had to have. With almost designer dresses at almost department store prices, you might have called it an outlet except for one thing. Customers were pampered with delicious finger sandwiches and herbal teas. Beth called it a shopaholic’s spa, and she wasn’t wrong.
“What do you think?” she asked and held a black and white dress to her body.
“Pretty,” I told her. “I especially like the diagonal stripe pattern.”
“You don’t think it plunges too low in the front?”
I rolled my eyes. “Beth, you’ll still be able to wear a bra with it. It doesn’t plunge low at all.”
“Are you sure?”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
She smiled back at me. “Good point.”
“Why are you always so shy about your body anyway? I keep telling you how jealous I am of it.”
“I know, but I don’t like the idea of showing it off. If I’m going to have a man come up and talk to me, I’d rather it not be just because all the exposed flesh gave him an erection.”
I just laughed. That was so Beth. Then it was my turn to ask an opinion. I pulled a dress with thread thin straps off the rack. “What do you think?”
“Oh my God, that’s gorgeous! I love how blue it is. It would go great with those navy heels you bought last week. I wish I had seen it first.”
“Do you think Geoff will like it?”
She took a sip of her chai tea. “If he doesn’t he’s an even bigger idiot than I tend to think.”
“Good, I want to take him out for a nice dinner to celebrate,” I said and headed for the dressing room.
Beth slipped into the one beside me. “Where are you going?” she asked as she shrugged out of her blouse.
“I’m not sure, but I know I want Italian.”
“You should try that place on Summers Street. I had the penne from there the other night and it was really good.”
“Date?”
“No,” she said, “just me treating myself.”
“You really should let me try to set you up with someone. Geoff has this friend”
Her little laugh cut me off before I could even say a name. “No thanks, I have absolutely no problem waiting for my dream guy.”
We stepped from behind the light blue curtains at the same time. “Wow!” I said as soon as I saw her and how the fabric seemed to mold her hourglass figure. “I told you. You look incredible!”
She pushed her glasses up. “I don’t know, I still think it’s too low.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re crazy. And you’re getting that dress if I have to buy it for you myself!”
Beth still played with the top, tugging at the places that only hinted at cleavage in the mirror. “Hmm... Maybe, I do want something new for that art exhibit. Are you sure it doesn’t make me look slutty?”
“Maybe if we lived in one of those really old silent movies. If anything you look innocent. Now, what about me?”
She turned and her eyes went wide behind her slipping lenses. “Honey, you’re beautiful!”
I smiled and looked in the mirror. She was right. The square top revealed only an inch of cleavage and the skirt fell to my knees so I could still show off my calves. Geoff was going to lose it when he saw me in this!
Chapter Four
A couple in love couldn’t have dreamed of a more intimate dining experience than Georgio’s. Sconces along the wall kept the dining room in a low light and candles on every table illuminated the faces of lovers. It was so romantic. All around us, couples held hands across the table and smiled at each other. They even kissed between every single bite because the lips of their mate tasted even more delicious than the food.
“Don’t even look at the prices,” I said. “We’re celebrating after all.”
“Huh?” Geoff looked up from his PS Vita.
“I told you. Marion accepted my article.”
My boyfriend rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, your little Phantom thing.” Then, he was right back to ignoring me.
“It’s not little, it’s huge! This could be the first thing ever written about him! Aren’t you proud of me?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure. Turn, turn, turn!” Geoff was so into his game that he was frantically steering his virtual race car in the air until his knee kicked the table. All around us, heads turned at the clatter. Luckily, I was able to hide my embarrassment behind the menu.
A pretty redheaded waitress approached our little table for two in the corner. “May I take your order?”
“Um, yes, I’ll have the fettuccini with a glass of white wine. What do you want dear?”
Geoff didn’t even look up, just shrugged. “I don’t care. Just get me a burger.”
“This isn’t the kind of place that does burgers,” I whispered across to him.
“Just whatever then. No, no, no! Get back on the damn road!” He yelled at his game.
I sighed. “Bring him the same.”
The waitress gave me a smile of pity when she took our menus. Something told me she knew what it was like to be ignored by a boyfriend on what was supposed to be a special night out.
“Oh, did I tell you? Beth got the two of us tickets to that charity art exhibit for our girl’s night out next week. Maybe you could have some of your buddies over that night.”
“No, no, no! Don’t fucking crash!”
I knocked on the table in front of my boyfriend. “Geoff Raedell,” I whined. “Pay attention to me!”
“Yeah, whatever babe. Just let me finish this race.”
I groaned. I knew I shouldn’t have bought that game for him, but he just wanted it so badly. He opened it and hadn’t look at me since, didn’t even notice my brand new sapphire dress, but I always have this crazy urge to make people as happy as I am. Lucky for him, I was in the best mood of my life that day.
Thirty minutes later, it still felt like it was just me and the breadsticks. Finally, our food arrived. That got my boyfriend’s attention enough for him to turn off his new game. It was almost as if he had been racing in real life hi
mself the way he dove into his food.
Immediately, he spit it out. “Oh God, that shit’s nasty! Why the hell would you order me this?”
All I could do was sigh. “Play your game. I’ll have the cab drive through a burger place in the way home.”
Geoff winked at me. “Thanks, babe. You’re the best.” His eyes were already back on his screen when he asked, “Hey, do you want to have sex tonight? It is a special occasion after all.”
I sighed. “We’ll see,” I said halfheartedly.
At least the pasta was delicious.
***
Geoff was on me as soon as we were home. The door had barely closed before his hands reached from behind to grab my breasts. I winced at his too tight squeeze through my dress, but he must have thought it was a sound of pleasure. “Oh baby,” he groaned. “Believe me; I want you just as bad. Do you even want to try for the bedroom or should we just go for it right here?”
What could I say? Might as well get it over with. “Here,” I pretended to purr.
He spun us around so fast I actually got dizzy. Geoff roughly pinned me to the wall, banging my head against the picture of us on a picnic. I don’t know why he was in such a hurry. He wasn’t even hard when he pressed against me.
Geoff ripped my brand new dress when he lifted my skirt. “Hold that,” he told me.
I kept it bunched around my waist while my boyfriend pulled my panties to my knees. Then...
Smack!
“Ow!” I screamed at the incredibly painful sting when he slapped the right cheek of my butt.
Geoff just hooted. “Whoa, yeah! I love that ass of yours!”
“Th-thanks.”
His belt buckle jingled behind me as he undid it. I just leaned against the wall and waited for him to get his pants open.
He still wasn’t hard. I wasn’t surprised. Frankly, Geoff was impotent more than he wasn’t. Honestly, I think sometimes he really didn’t have the interest he liked to boast he did. Maybe if I looked like the girls in his games it wouldn’t be a problem. Yes, he was able to get the occasional erection, but tonight just wasn’t one of those times. He brushed his penis up and down my skin, even in the split of that part of my body he said he so loved. Geoff tried and tried and tried, but it just didn’t work.
I sighed when he finally gave up and pulled my panties back into place. “We’ll try again later,” he said when he kissed me.
“Okay,” I replied, but I knew we wouldn’t. I could hear the noise of his new game before I even lowered my dress.
It was all right though, a relief honestly. As dry as I was, I certainly wasn’t excited at the thought of him inside me like that.
Chapter Five
I was up until almost 2:30 in the morning searching for just the right place to post my ad. The only sites I found that might work were the ones where people shared their ghost and haunting stories. I must have spent another hour just trying to figure out exactly what to say. The Phantom’s name would have to be left out of whatever I posted. A woman knowing his name might be the only way to know if her story was the one I wanted, instead of one made up for the money. In the end, I kept it simple.
Ladies, has a ghost snuck into your bedroom to seduce you? Has a shadow fulfilled your fantasies? I am a journalist willing to pay for your story.
I read over it one more time to make sure it was perfect, added my email, and crossed my fingers that it would be enough.
***
I checked my email as soon as I woke up, even before I showered or did anything at all to get ready for work. It had only been a few hours, but I still hoped.
There it was; a reply. I was so nervous that I had to take a deep breath before I opened the message from a woman named Amy. It was even simpler than my ad, just an address and the words, “He came to me.”
A shiver went through me even to read that tiny bit. There was only one “He” that she could be talking about. Before, even for all my obsessing, he really was just a legend I believed in without any actual proof. Now, here was a woman who was the proof. She’d had an encounter. I didn’t know if I was more jealous or excited to hear about what he had done with her.
Chapter Six
Amy lived in a suburb just outside the city in one of those practically Brady Bunch neighborhoods. Three boys were riding their bikes up and down the street, and two little girls were playing in a little pink and white plastic house in a yard. I checked to make sure I had the right address, and then had the cabbie drop me off in front of a two story yellow house with a blue minivan in the driveway. “Thanks,” I said as I paid her.
I had to ring the bell twice before a woman came to the door. In a simple cotton dress and slightly messy dark blonde hair, she was the cliché housewife. “Are you Sasha?” she asked as she wiped her hands on her apron.
“Yes. Do you still want to talk?”
“Please, come in. I’m sorry about the mess.”
She led me into the living room where naked Barbies and their clothes littered the floor along with those giant Legos made for toddlers. Hot Wheels were under each couch side table. I couldn’t help but smile. On the wall, a young girl and her baby brother grinned at everyone who came into the house. “How old are your kids?” I asked.
“Ally’s six and little Alex just turned four yesterday.”
“Aww,” I said. “They’re cute. Are they here?”
Amy shook her head. “No, they’re visiting their nana. I didn’t want them to be here and accidentally hear this. They’re not old enough to learn about such things yet.”
“Yeah, I understand.”
She motioned for me to sit on the slightly stained sofa. “Would you like something to drink?” she offered. “I have diet coke and the kids’ fruit punch.”
I laughed a little. “Diet coke is fine, thank you.”
Amy disappeared for a second, and I pulled out my digital recorder. She came back just a second later with two iced glasses of soda and sat down in the rocking chair across from me.
“Where do you want me to start?” she asked as I set my recorder on the coffee table and turned it on.
“Wherever you like,” I said.
There was a long pause as she thought about where to begin. When she finally spoke, I listened with all the fascination of a little girl hearing a ghost story around the campfire.
“My husband is in the army. It was a couple of years ago and he had been overseas for almost eight months when it happened. Little Alex was going through his terrible twos and in one day, the boy had pulled every pot and pan out from under the cabinet, unraveled the toilet paper roll, and tried to eat the dog food. All his sister did was laugh, and encourage him. By the time bedtime came, I was so exhausted that I didn’t even get under the covers. I just adjusted my old Care Bears sleep shirt from where it had ridden under my butt when I plopped down, turned off the light, and fell asleep.
“A few hours later, something woke me up. I don’t know what it was, I just had this sudden feeling I was being watched. Slowly, my eyes opened and adjusted to the dark. At first, I didn’t see anything but our dresser with all my angel knick-knacks on top. Then, I turned over and there he was, just a man shaped silhouette against the window that let in the light from the streetlamp outside.
“I opened my mouth to scream but before I could make any noise, the shadow said ‘Shh…’ and whatever fear I may have felt disappeared.
“I remember asking him, ‘Who are you? What do you want?’
“There was a deep chuckle before he spoke. I’m The Phantom of course, and what I want is you Amy.”’
“Wow,” I couldn’t help but say.
“A shiver went through me when he said my name,” Amy went on.
“The silhouette moved forward. I was just able to make out a hand when he braced himself to lean over the bed. His other hand lifted my chin. I couldn’t make out the features of his face as it came closer, but firm lips definitely pressed against mine.
“Oh, I had never i
n my life been kissed like that! Not when Jason Walsh had taken my virginity, not the first time my husband and I made love. Not even on my wedding day! The Phantom’s tongue was insistent as it pushed into my mouth, but gentle when it wrapped around my own. It squeezed and stroked. A hand reached behind my neck and pulled me closer. Our kiss lasted so long I lost my breath, but I didn’t care. When he broke it, I gasped for air. ‘Again,’ I begged him.
“’Later,’ was his answer.
“He kissed my chin, then down my throat until he reached the neck of my sleep shirt. It didn’t stop him. He kept kissing me through that thin faded pink cotton while his hands began to push it up.
“I never imagined such a tease. Hands grazed my bare flesh, up my outer thighs, the briefly exposed skin just below the leg of my panties that wasn’t quite hip... There was a small interruption as they passed over the top of my underwear but then they were on my waist. All the while his kisses continued south through the valley of my cleavage hidden under my sleep shirt. The very fact that his mouth seemed to ignore my breasts made my nipples stand. Another kiss was pressed just below my ribs. God, he did both so slowly that when my shirt was lifted enough for his mouth to finally meet his hands at my navel, I almost drenched my panties!
“I remember biting my lip and choking on a scream when the sensual torture continued. His lips and hands traded places. My sleep shirt was lifted higher until his hands had to slide up the mounds of my breasts to keep it going. When he reached my painfully hard nipples, his fingers gave them a twist. It was exactly at the same moment his mouth reached the place where skin bordered panties and we were right back to where we started. Hands on flesh... Kisses through cotton.
“I couldn’t hold back anymore when he reached the crotch of my underwear with another kiss. My entire body arched and I cried out. There is no doubt in my mind that he could taste my sudden cum through that cotton!
“I want you to know that I have never cheated on my husband. I have never had sex dreams about anyone else, but as I came down from that orgasm, I couldn’t even remember the name of the man with whom I shared the bed that all this was happening on. In fact, there were only two words in my brain.
The Phantom Page 2