Haunted Love

Chapter 2 Part 4

Chapter 2

Her hair came down and her heels came off as soon as she walked through her apartment door. Within five minutes she was no longer the sophisticated woman that sold houses. Instead, she was Single Girl, a woman with the ability to look sexy in sweat pants and eat an entire carton of ice-cream without gaining a pound...or at least that was what she pretended to be.

She spent day after day, hour after hour, pretending to be brave and strong and confident, but she was nothing more than a scared girl playing pretend. She knew she was pretty and she played up her make-up and wore heels to make her legs look amazing so she could get away with being kooky. But it was all just an act. She wasn't any of the things she pretended to be. She was timid and quirky and jittery. But sex sold...and boy oh boy, did it sell houses!

Lindsey sighed as she fell onto her overstuffed couch with the salad she had picked up in a drive-thru. Her feet ached, her eyes were tired, and she wanted to celebrate selling a house to the sexy Thane Wilson. Just thinking of him made her mouth water! She shoved a piece of grilled chicken into her mouth and moaned as she remembered what an idiot she had made of herself.

Lindsey wanted to forget about fancy dresses and old houses and men that she would never have a shot at. She needed to carve out some safe time for herself. She needed to be able to act any way she wanted and forget the world around her and its stupid rules on what was and was not normal.

She loved how safe she felt in her apartment, how calm it made her. The light blue walls and the framed black and white pictures of family and friends made her relax. The carpets were thick and clean, the curtains were light and lacy, and the scented candles she had sitting around made the place smell like apples and cinnamon.

She leaned her head against the cushions and closed her eyes as she continued to chew. She had strived for and invented a new persona. She was no longer the little girl that the other kids made fun of! Nope, she was now the young lady that every mother tried to set her single son up on a date with. She was the woman that walked around in designer dresses and perfect hair.

White gloves always adorned her hands and everyone assumed it was one of the little quirks that made her so unique and sophisticated. She snorted as she thought about what they would say if they knew why she never took them off outside her apartment.

The spirits that communicated with her were often harmless and fairly easygoing...but sometimes if she touched something with her bare hands she would sense things about people...evil things. She walked in and out of homes all day, every day, and she often felt things that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Those were the homes she allowed people to tour on their own. She couldn't count the number of times she had allowed women to walk into dark basements or attics because she was afraid of what she would see.

She took another bite of salad with her eyes still closed and smiled when she felt the seat next to her sink-in from an invisible weight. "So you are home! I thought you would be out haunting other people tonight."

Benjamin laughed and her eyes popped open at the happy sound, "And miss out on celebrating with you. What could be better than a rom-com movie marathon and an ice-cream party with my best friend? I mean...who else is going to see me, right?"

Lindsey shook her head and sighed with contentment. "You have spoiled me for other men. No living man will ever compare to my ghost BFF."

Benjamin winked at her as he revealed a wide smile and dazzling white teeth. If he were alive he would be the perfect toothpaste model. He had been with her since the day she had gotten a splinter in her finger as a child. She had cried for two days before he had reappeared in her bedroom to apologize for hiding. The previous owner's of her parent's house had done everything they could to get him to go to the light, but he had never budged.