Ghost Story

by J G Jerome

  “I miss you, Master. I missed three whole days of loving you due to my fear. I need to make that up.”

  Marissa says, “We’re thinking four extra long twin mattresses bound together into a big sex platform.”

  Josie throws her head back with an attitude. “Do you think you can hang, slut?”

  Audrey gives it right back to her. “You bitches better watch out, cause I’m gonna be up there to show you how it's done.”

  Rebecca squeals with laughter, and the other two laugh loudly.

  “Okay, Kitten. We need to sign off. Study hard. Use Erica to keep yourself focused. Clear?”

  “Yes, Master,” Audrey answers. “Actually, Erica was thrilled to have that role in my life. She didn’t glow with joy, but I could tell.”

  The way she emphasized ‘glow’ makes me feel there’s more subtext. I hold my arms out to the front and make a ‘uuurgh’ sound. Audrey laughs and says, “Exactly. It has worked out quite well for us. We’ve been roommates since shortly after I met you.”

  “Okay. Be safe. Sweet dreams, Audrey. I love you,” I tell her.

  “I love you too, Will. And I hope you delicious bitches are all scissor sisters, cause I want some of that,” Audrey says before blowing four kisses at the camera.

  “YES!” exclaims Rebecca with a proper fist pump.

  We all wave, and Marissa jumps up to disconnect.

  I cock an eyebrow at Rebecca.

  “What?” she asks.

  “You want some of that?” I ask as I nod at the screen.

  She gives me a very matter-of-fact look. “William, darling. You have one mouth and one cock. That leaves someone with a toy. Audrey would ensure we all have playmates.”

  Josie shrugs. “I can scissor.”

  Marissa says, “Can you ever, girlfriend!” Then she crawls on top of Josie to kiss me. Afterward, she continues. “So Will, please clue in the dumb normie.”

  I look at the two magician ladies. “Want to try?”

  Josie says, “Your mutual friend is Bernadette. I don’t know what her status is.”

  I murmur, “I’m not going to share that right now because it doesn’t matter. Just know that there are people that would want to kill her, and we need to be prepared to protect her. Who are the cool kids?”

  “The Catholic Church,” Rebecca says. “Her status will put her in the same bucket with them as me, which is ‘kill on site.’ Given that and her profession, I have a pretty good guess as to why despite it being outside of my craft’s body of knowledge. She’s a traveler.”

  I nod and watch the light go on as Marissa translates ‘traveler’ to ‘demon’ in her head. I tell Josie and Rebecca, “She has gone out of her way to help you out doing some things that are highly illegal - calling in some favors to get it done. There is a folder with your new identities. Josie’s name stays the same. Rebecca’s surname changes slightly. We have enough documentation to make you both cruise well below the watchful eye of the law.”

  Rebecca says, “I don’t need it tonight. I know that my name is now Silverstein rather than Silberschmid. Otherwise, everything stays on the same story as before.” She stands and sips her wine. “Marissa, do you think we could skip getting dressed to go to your place?” She gives us all an ‘innocent’ smile.

  Marissa smacks her bony ass. “Get dressed, trollop!” She turns to me as Rebecca prances off to pull her gym togs back on. “Will, I want to stay tonight, but we need to respect Josie’s rights too. This is going to be hard no matter how much we care for each other. Add Audrey and Viktorija - maybe Susan. The bedroom will be crowded.” She kisses me tenderly. “Be careful with our hearts and patient with our weaknesses, Will. We love one another and you desperately. We will make mistakes. Just - be patient and love us.”

  “Marissa, I am the one most likely to make mistakes, but I’ll get through it because we all stand on even footing and love each other. Everything else we can work out.” She nods at my response, and then she kisses me again.

  Marissa stands and slams back her wine. Then she slowly walks to the table to retrieve her workout clothes and slowly pulls them on.

  Josie whispers, “It’s the opposite of a strip-tease.” Marissa maintains an air of innocence as she acts like we’re not there.

  “And very seductive,” I agree.

  Rebecca and Marissa come to collect kisses, grab their things and head out the door. I hear the bolt lock once the door is closed.

  I look Josie in the eyes. “Are you ready, Ms. Carroll?”

  She looks at me intensely for a moment. “I am, Mr. James.” She gets up languorously. She reaches a hand for me. “Don’t make me carry you, husband.” I grin as I take her hand and follow that mass of strong femininity into the bedroom.

  30 - Homesearch

  I wake up with my large lover spooned next to my chest. I smile as I think about our lovemaking last night.

  Josie is by far the largest woman I’ve ever had sex with. I have always been attracted to tall women, but generally they’ve been more lean and slim. Josie is more woman in almost every conceivable way - wider hips, wider shoulders, thicker limbs, larger breasts, and even a more generously sized channel between her legs.

  I’ve always kind of taken my size for granted. Last night I warmed Josie up with my mouth and fingers. After I had given her a couple of orgasms, I pulled three fingers out of her and found myself very glad that I had the endowments God gave me.

  Josie was tentative at first, but she relaxed the more I nibbled and caressed her. I suckled her neck, I suckled her breasts, left marks on her breasts and abdomen - she moaned and squirmed the whole time, getting more animated the whole time. By the time my mouth landed on her pussy, Josie was gasping and whimpering without cease. I lapped up her nectar before I started to seriously attack her with my mouth. After three orgasms, I withdrew those three fingers and proceeded to claim her with my cock. We fucked each other fiercely. We made love tenderly. We slithered over each other’s sweaty bodies. It took a lot more energy to man-handle Josie than any other woman I’d ever been with, but she loved for me to move her, to pound her sex, to hold her ankles in the air or her hands above her head as she struggled.

  We crawled into bed before nine at night. I collapsed from exhaustion at three in the morning. Josie looked at me lying next to her as she lay there with limbs akimbo. She asked, “Had enough, husband?”

  I gasped to catch my breath. I looked at her, and after a moment I told her, “Give me five minutes.”

  “Oh Jesus!” she gasped.

  I lie in bed now with a grin on my face remembering the passion and acrobatics of the night before.

  “That good, huh?”

  I look towards the door to see Marissa leaning on the frame of the bedroom door with two cups of coffee in her hands. Rebecca’s grinning face is leaning on Marissa’s shoulder.

  I grin back. “Yeah, it was that good. What time is it?”

  Josie whimpers and rolls over to wrap her arms over me. She asks, “Has it been five minutes, yet.”

  I chuckle. Marissa says, “It’s almost nine in the morning. Delores is going to meet us at the house at nine-forty-five. Then we’re looking at the hotel at eleven - Zach is joining us. So get up, you two love birds.”

  Josie gives me a weary, brilliant smile. “Good morning, husband.”

  “Good morning, darling wife,” I answer

  She kisses me and slowly works her way out of bed. She moans every time she moves her legs.

  Rebecca chortles, “Somebody have a sore pussy?”

  Josie nods. Suddenly she notices the coffee in Marissa’s hand. “For me?”

  Marissa holds one out. “Hurry up, Punkin. We need to leave shortly.”

  Josie grabs the coffee and mosies stiffly to the bathroom. She stops and looks at me from the door. She points at her chest. “Yours.”

  I mimic her gesture. “Yours.”

  Josie grins and disappears into the bathroom.

  I get out of bed and
pull out fresh clothes. Marissa gets some out for Josie. We tag team for the bathroom, and Rebecca hands me coffee as I return to the bedroom. I pull my holster from the nightstand, clip it on, and collect my coffee and a kiss. We meet Marissa and Josie in the kitchen buttering toast and smearing liverwurst on it or dropping slices of cheese on them. We stand in the kitchen and wolf down breakfast. We wash the plates up quickly and head to the door.

  We meet Delores at the house at 236 S. Mt. Vernon. It’s a beautifully maintained white craftsman. The east-facing deep porch provides shade for the leaded glass of the door and front windows. It looks like it’s sitting on a tall stem wall centered on the crest of the hill, but based on the news from the ladies, I assume it’s actually the basement wall. We walk up onto the porch and are greeted by the homeowner - handshakes and hugs all around. Then we get the grand tour. Just inside is a large living room with a baby grand piano on the right side and a sitting area facing it on the other. Then a large dining table bisects the space before flowing into a roomy, modern kitchen. There’s a powder room on the far left wall, and a walkway runs along the right side of the kitchen past a pantry and laundry, past a stairwell leading down, before ending in the doorway of a spacious master suite. There’s a small balcony out the left hand corner of the building, a modest ensuite, and modest walk-in closet.

  Downstairs are four more bedrooms, two baths and a small rec room. Towards the front of the house is another staircase going down. Towards the back is an exit to the back yard. We head down the spiral staircase at the front into a bonus space in the sub-basement. There is a full bath with a large jetted tub, a bar, and a large open space. In the back of the space is a door with stairs leading up into the back yard. The backyard has a large two-and-a-half car stand-alone garage, a patio with firepit, and a grill.

  I huddle with my ladies and Delores. “What are we thinking?”

  Rebecca says, “The piano comes with it! I like the kitchen, too.”

  Marissa says, “That bonus space could be a training room.”

  “Or music room,” Josie and Rebecca say.

  I point out, “That was a king bed, and there was plenty of room around it for growth.” My ladies all nod seriously while Delores looks puzzled.

  Rebecca observes, “I found the metal rings on the bed posts intriguing.”

  Marissa smiles, “I also noticed a large X-shaped shadow on the wall. I didn’t know they were into that.”

  “Can we buy it, William?” Josie asks.

  I look at Delores. “When does my sale record?”

  She answers, “Supposedly by noon. The papers were all signed last night. I checked what they want versus the comps. They are a little high, but not more than about two percent. If you want it, take it before someone from California runs in and takes it.”

  Marissa says, “I can put fifty grand as earnest money. Can you cover cash on the rest?”

  “Yes, if we do a thirty or forty-five day closing,” I agree.

  Delores says, “They want forty-five minimum, ideally sixty days.”

  “Offer ten percent under asking price for forty-five days, full price for thirty days. Can you do that?” I ask.

  Delores taps her lips for a moment. “Yes. I know how to do that. I’ll get it to them today. They haven’t asked me to represent them, but they don’t have anyone else either. I’ll pitch the offer to them tonight.”

  “Okay.” I look at my phone to check the time. “Wow, we’ve spent nearly an hour here. Ready to go see the hotel?”

  Josie wraps her arm around my waist as I start walking around the side of the house. We meet the owners up front, thank them for showing us their lovely home, and then we load into the Audi. Delores leads the way in her Escalade.

  We get to the hotel ten minutes early. Marissa and Josie head down to the Raven to get coffee for everyone. Zach shows up with a minute to spare. The girls return with coffee a couple minutes later. We stand around in front of the entrance drinking coffee for five minutes before a smarmy gentlemen with liver spots all over his head shows up. He has reptilian eyes, and his sparse hair is greased back. He is wearing a dirty short-sleeved western shirt with a string tie. He’s not a zombie. He’s just a reprehensible human being.

  I refuse to shake his hand as I thank him facetiously for respecting our time. At that point I am nearly overwhelmed by the reek of stale sweat, stale alcohol, and stale cigarettes wafting from him. He opens the door and waves us in. He looks lustfully at my coffee as I walk inside.

  Immediately inside, there is a counter, display case, and old wooden stairs visible when we walk in. The geezer wheezes, “You’ve seen the ‘Prescott Hotel’ printed on the north side of the building. That original building was built in 1900, and then it was rebuilt in 1949 after the fire here. It was the territorial courthouse for a while, and then as you look back there...” he points to the back of the current space. “...this was also a fitness center. In 1979, the owner rebuilt the inside of the structure with metal girders inside to create essentially a building within the building. From there, they added four racquetball courts and a gym.”

  He leans against the counter as he continues gasping out his spiel. “The last owner had architectural plans drawn up for a development that made this area a ‘craft cocktail bar’ - someplace quiet to have conversations or quiet parties. Behind the stairs was to be a retail rental space. Then there would be six condos ranging in price from two hundred fifty to five hundred thousand each.”

  I tell him, “Okay. Let’s see the rest of it.” The geezer crawls up the stairs, and my posse and I follow him up.

  He wheezes out, “There is also a twelve-spot parking lot in the alley, which was planned to be a gated parking facility for residents.”

  The second floor is still full of small hotel rooms, as is the third.

  I’m mentally adding up all the things we would need to do, and I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that my paltry four-point-five million windfall is going to evaporate quickly. One-point-four for the hotel, five hundred thousand for the house, at least another five hundred for renovations on the hotel, probably about five thousand for immediate minor repairs and filling furniture gaps. That still leaves two million - if my estimates are right. Most of that will likely be taken by capital gains taxes unless there’s a loophole for reinvestment. I need an accountant. Much to think about.

  The geezer leads us back downstairs and reveals the ‘retail space’ part too. After that we gather outside on the sidewalk. The geezer locks up and marches away.

  I look at each of my ladies. They all look like they’re trying to puzzle through what to do with the hotel. I turn to my real estate agent. “Delores, let’s move forward with the house as we discussed.” She nods. “I think I need to discuss the hotel over with the ladies. I may want to enlist an investor or two.”

  Delores says, “I don’t think there is a rush. It has been on the market for nearly a year. He said he’s only shown it three times in the last six months.”

  I ask Zach, “What do you think, Zach? I have a ballpark figure in mind for renovations, but I have no idea how close it is.”

  Zach says, “Tell me what you’re thinking for scope of work.”

  I start ticking things off. “Rework the electric and plumbing. Make a residence on the top floor, hotel suites on the second floor, put a café-style restaurant on the ground floor, and maybe a handful of smaller rooms if there is space. Working patio lounge on the roof, with hot tub, and solar collectors to run the building. Fenced-in parking lot in the back.”

  Zach shrugs, “Well without actual plans it’s difficult to say. I would need to do a full inspection, but I don’t see any obvious signs of problems with the foundation. It had an industrial-strength renovation in 1979, so the structure should be solid. Even so, between architectural design, engineering, demolition, construction, and finishing it could easily run up to two-fifty to four hundred thousand...maybe as much as five.”

  “Do you think they would
take considerably less for the property?” Marissa asks Delores. “If we could get it for nine hundred thousand or even a flat one million, the renovations might be manageable.”

  “I don’t know,” answers Delores. “Think about what you want to do, and let me know. I’ll pitch any offer you want. I’ll pull together an offer on the house. Can you join me in my office in an hour? I’ll have the contract filled out, and then we can review it and sign.”

  Marissa says, “Let’s say two hours. We’re going to get some lunch and discuss this.”

  “Sure thing,” I agree. “Where do you want to go?”

  “Mama has lunch on standby. We’ll just go there,” Marissa says.

  So we do. Maria lays on a great lunch as I check my bank account. I see that I have an additional four-point-five million that I didn’t have this morning. I beckon Marissa over and show her the banking app. We share goofy smiles as we sit down for lunch.

  We all talk about the properties and what it would take to get the hotel into shape to open for business. Dan thinks that my five hundred thousand dollar estimate is probably not far off.

  I lay out my concerns that some of the money I just earned needs to be earmarked for getting Rebecca and Josie an education. That gets them all excited, so we talk about all the different things they could study. As we talk and laugh, I get a call from Bernadette, inviting us all down for a long weekend this coming Friday. She mentions there might be a little something I can help her with. I guess it’s time to find out if I am really a necromancer or not.

  We visit and laugh together with Marissa’s family. After two hours we finally wrap up our visit with Dan and Maria to meet Delores.

  As Marissa drives us to the real estate office, she reveals that she booked a hotel room with a king-sized bed at the Hassayampa for Saturday night. I immediately have the Google Assistant schedule brunch at Prescott Station for Sunday.

  Delores welcomes us warmly at the front counter as we walk in. “I just finished. I have a couple blanks to fill in, but otherwise I think it is solid. Let’s take a seat in this conference room.” I see there are five copies of the contract with accompanying pens and bottles of water waiting for us. I worry that Josie’s reading skills may not be up to the task, so I ensure I sit next to her.