The Ghost

Karen hadn't slept all night. She was fuming. Her husband was still denying that he was seeing someone else. She knew better. He had spoken about this woman in the past. Just a friendly coworker he had told her. Karen wasn't buying it.

About a week beforehand, she had found a much too friendly homemade Christmas Card from her. Karen read the card. " So happy to call you my friend. Love Cindy." It was tucked away in his briefcase. When Karen found it, she was sitting right next to her husband. She pulled out the card and asked him about it.

"Uh, what are you doing snooping in my stuff?" he asked her angrily.

"Honey, you are the one that told me I could find the mail in here," she answered.

"Fine, whatever," he said.

Karen gave him a puzzled look, glanced again at the card. Cindy.....where did she hear him say that name before? Then it dawned on her. She worked as a secretary at work. She had never seen Cindy, but knew that she was a single mom.

Karen knew that without some sort of evidence, she couldn't accuse her husband of doing anything wrong. Call it a gut feeling. She suddenly remembered that there was a voice activated recorder sitting in their bedroom on the desk. She went into the room and checked the batteries. Dead. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of AA batteries, and put them into the recorder. She tested it.

"Test, test testing, hello hello." she talked into the recorder. She rewound it and played it back. She tested it to see if it would only catch her voice and turn off afterwards. It worked. She watched the tape spin as she spoke, and stop as she remained silent.

Now, where to put it where it wouldn't be noticed. She decided to put it in his small office in the back part of the house. She hid it behind a couple of papers. He never was a very neat person, but tonight she was thankful for it.

Karen headed for the bedroom, alone. Her husband still hadn't gotten back yet. She was used to his working long, late hours, but she wondered if he was really working.

About one a.m., she awoke to her husband fixing her leftovers; spaghetti and meatballs. She heard the beep beep of the microwave, and decided she would stay in bed in hopes that he would head into the office. Maybe she would catch him talking to her on the phone. Then she dozed off to sleep.

The next morning, she got up and made coffee. Her husband was still fast asleep with the covers pulled over his head. As the coffee brewed, she quietly walked into the office, and grabbed the recorder from underneath the papers. She walked over to the door to shut it softly. She noticed that some of the tape had rolled forward. She rewound the tape, held her breath, and pushed PLAY.

What she heard literally raised her blood pressure. It sent of jolt of adrenaline through her stomach and heart. She felt sick. No, it wasn't her husband talking to his lover. It was definitely the sound of a woman, however.

"Out. Now. House." It was a strange, almost electronic sounding  female voice. She hit rewind, and played it again. The voice was clear, but chilling. Karen thought to herself, do I wake up my husband and play this for him? She decided to keep her secret that she was spying, and just casually mention at breakfast what she had found. She would tell him that she was purposely looking for ghosts. It wouldn't surprise him, because he knew she was 'into' that sort of thing.

At breakfast, she played him the tape. He gave her a puzzled look, and raised his coffee cup to his lips, sipping. He just shook his head, and asked her to play the tape again. Again, Karen played the strange woman's voice.

"Wow, that is spooky. Where did you say you had it?" he asked her.

"Just had it in the den. What do you think it is?" she asked her husband.

"Dunno. It is definitely weird."

It was at least a distraction for Karen. She had forgotten for a little bit about whatever it was that her husband may or may not be up to. But, she had decided, before her husband left, to tell him to expect a surprise at work today. He had half heard her, kissed her goodbye, and headed out the front door.

She had the day off, and had decided to meet her husband for lunch. She knew that as she went into the front office, that she would see this new secretary. At fifteen minutes to noon, she got in her car, and headed to her husband's work.

Karen felt some nervousness at what she would find. As she pulled up to the building, she took a couple of deep breaths. What would she find? She turned off the key, grabbed her purse, took a quick look in the mirror, and walked inside.

"Hello, may I help you?" said the pretty young woman.

"Yes, is John busy?" Karen asked her.

"Hold on just a second, I'll buzz him."

Karen's heart sank. This was definitely Cindy. There was a plaque on the desk. The plaque that Karen expected to see, because she found a reciept earlier that week from a trophy and plaque business in her husband's office as well.

Lunch went alright for Karen, but her husband could tell that her thoughts were far off. He asked her if she was ok, and she said yes, she was fine.

She forced herself to lighten up at lunch. Her husband told her about a couple of coworkers, then said 'Cindy'. Karen lifted her eyes to John, as if searching for an answer.

"She's really working out well. I've never seen a woman multitask the way she can."

Karen faked a smile. She felt as if it was a dig at her personally, because she wasn't a very organized person. She wondered if he had kissed her. She pictured the two of them alone, sitting in a parking lot, pressing their lips together and kissing each other passionately.

"Honey!" said John.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" asked Karen.

"I said we had better head back, I'm late," he told her.

They got into his car and drove back to the office. Karen kissed her husband goodbye, and got into her own car and drove home. The drive was filled with thoughts of John and Cindy. She needed more proof.

She got onto her computer and decided to put a keylogger on John's computer. She had borrowed the program from her best friend a few days before, and decided it was a perfect time to put it in.

Once again, her husband was late. Very late, in fact. It was nearly 2:30 a.m., and she could hear him walk into the office. She could hear him typing. She quietly cried to herself in her bed. She was so very afraid of what she would find the next day. Finally, sleep overcame her. She had missed so much sleep in the last few days, and it finally caught up with her. She almost overslept.

John had already left, so she hurried into the shower, and got dressed. She stepped into the office for a quick look. There it was, in all it's disgusting glory. Karen wept, then bawled as she read their conversation.

jb9999:so, did you enjoy dinner?

cin39494:absolutely. i cant remember the last time i had so much fun.

jb9999:well, you shouldnt have grabbed my leg under the table like that. it made me want to crawl up under the tablecloth "wink"

cin39494:ooo you naughty naughty boy!

The conversation abruptly ends.

jb9999: hey gotta go. i think Karen's up.

cin39494:k.bye

Karen immediately went into her bedroom. She felt as if she were on auto-pilot. Her suspicions were no longer unfounded, and as she started packing her clothes, she called her cousin. She felt a lump in her throat as she explained what had happened. Her cousin was the only person in town, and she asked her cousin if she could stay with her for a while.

"Sure, Karen. God, I'm so sorry," her cousin told her.

Karen grabbed her important papers, and a few other things she figured she'd need. She didn't even leave John a note. She packed her car, and left.

Karen suddenly felt a chill. She thought about the strange ghostly voice...Those awful, prophetic words...

"Out. Now. House."