I could hear the fragility in her voice as tears began to flow. “Please don’t cry, Suzanne. You don’t know just how much this means to me. I would be so happy if you stayed here together with me as a couple! I love you so much.” We kissed deep and passionately. “My only worry is the rift between you and your parents. Did your father not stand up for you?”
She laughed. “Him? I wish! He gave me such a dirty look, as if I was a prostitute! I’ve never seen my Dad look so angry. I even told them that we did not have sex, but I don’t think either of them even believed me.”
This surprised me. It was 2017 and couples living together without being married was not unusual and even quite common. I just could not understand why her parents had not been more understanding. “Give them time and I feel certain that they will come round and understand the reasons for your actions. At twenty-five, you should be able to make your own decisions without asking for parental approval.”
Suzanne laughed. “I doubt it! Anyway, they are the ones who will miss the rental money I pay them every month. It’s a good job that I didn’t tell them that your house is haunted or their reactions could have been even worse.”
“Well, you are very welcome to stay with me as long as you want, even with the resident ghost. To be quite honest, it’s like a dream come true. I have always found you very attractive, Suzanne but I did not realise how much you liked me.” I checked my talking watch and realised that it was after five o’clock. “Are you hungry, Suzanne? It’s nearly dinner time.”
“I am famished. All this tension with Mum and Dad has given me quite an appetite. What were you planning to have for dinner?”
“I was thinking of having steamed halibut, oven chips and vegetables. I think it could stretch to the two of us with some extra chips and vegetables. Would that be okay for you?”
Suzanne laughed. “Oh, yes, that sounds great and I can give you a hand in the kitchen.”
True to her word, Suzanne assisted me in producing an enjoyable meal, washed down with a glass each of Chilean red wine.
As we were enjoying the meal, Suzanne, suddenly, laughed, saying, “Tonie, did you know that your face has gone quite a deep shade of red?”
I was not surprised. Embarrassed, I explained, “My parents always told me, that, when ever I drink wine, my face always turns red. The alcohol must increase my blood pressure, but it has never caused me a problem. So, it’s just something I have to live with, as long as I can still enjoy a glass of wine, it doesn’t bother me if I look a bit like a plum.”
Suzanne broke into a fit of giggles with this description. As usual, Kelly lay curled up at my feet, never interrupting me while eating, yet, as soon as we left the table, she was by my side, alert and attentive.
Suzanne insisted on clearing the dishes off the table and I accepted her help, knowing that she could do this far quicker without my help. Suzanne washed the dishes, while I dried them and put them back into the cupboards. I was determined to be methodical and keep everything where I could easily find them. She did appreciate my need for tidiness and order, which I had organised to my liking after just a few days of living in this new house of mine.
Suzanne had been searching on the internet for genuine Ouija boards. As expected, Amazon did have information on such boards, but the reviews were quite poor. She had, however, found one company which seemed quite legitimate and their board did have good reviews. I had absolutely no idea about such things, yet, on her advice, agreed that we should order this item to be delivered within the next few days.
We did have the television on that night, yet neither of us concentrated much on the actual programmes, preferring, instead, to talk about our personal likes and dislikes. It seems that we had a lot in common, which I found very comforting and reassuring. Kelly, not wanting to miss out, kept nudging my hand, as a reminder that she would like a little bit of attention as well.
As the evening wore on, we were acutely aware of the time when we had to decide just where we would sleep, that night. “I don’t want this weird presence to think that we are beaten. I think that we should sleep in the bedroom and face up to it.”
“Are you certain? What if it turns the bed over with us in it?” Suzanne sounded genuinely concerned, perhaps even frightened. “It could do us quite a bit of harm, if it became violent.”
“Somehow, I don’t think it will. It was only when we moved downstairs that it started throwing things around in a temper.”
“Well, if it was trying to attract our attention, it certainly worked. But, why? And what does it really want of us?”
“I only wish that we knew”, I answered with a sigh. “Perhaps it’s trying to tell us something important.”
I checked my talking watch. It was only nine-thirty. “If it is alright with you, Suzanne, I think it may be better to go to bed early. We need plenty of sleep before getting up for work, tomorrow.” She agreed and accepted my suggestion of trying to sleep in my bedroom.
As we were leaving the room, I asked Suzanne, “Has the mouse returned on the painting?”
Suzanne walked up close to the picture. “No, it must still be too frightened to return.”
“Well, it’s certainly living up to it’s reputation. I hope that, one day, it will return to the place where Cuneo intended.”
Suzanne laughed. “Anybody listening would think we are absolutely crazy. It is a mouse in a painting! It’s not real! Things like this do not happen in the real world!”
I smiled and spoke in a goofy voice. “Welcome to the crazy world of Buckingham’s Palace!” I wish that I could have been as brave as I sounded, but, in reality, I was feeling very nervous and anxious at what lay in store for us, on that night.
Suzanne laughed. “Now, if it really was Buckingham Palace, I could imagine that it could be haunted, but this is a three-bedroomed semi-detached in a quiet suburb, south of Manchester. Things like this just do not happen.”
After letting Kelly out for a pee, we entered the hallway and settled the dog in her bed, where she seemed quite happy to stay. “You are not much of a guard dog, are you, Kelly? You want to stay down here while we face some unknown monster upstairs.” Kelly still did not seem concerned at all and lay down, while I gently stroked her back. “Goodnight, Kelly.” With a deep sigh, I began to ascend the stairs, Suzanne following close behind me. Gingerly, we entered the bedroom, not knowing just what to expect. Everything seemed quiet, normal and without a hint of a threat. The air temperature also appeared to be quite normal for an evening in July.
Suzanne peered around me, trying to survey the bedroom. “Everything looks normal and okay”, she said in a tone which lacked any conviction. Cautiously, we entered the room. Everything appeared quiet, calm and quite normal. For me, this was based purely on my feelings, yet Suzanne could see nothing out of the ordinary to alarm her.
Thinking about the previous night, I said, “I don’t want to leave you on your own in this room and so, it may be better if you use the bathroom first.”
“What about when you want to use the bathroom, yourself? ”
I had thought about this and said, “When you have finished, I will come into the bathroom, so we can still be together without invading your privacy.”
“Would you not be too shy?”, she asked coyly.
I laughed. “Not after last night. There is no shyness left in me after sleeping together. Even though it was on the sofa, we were pretty intimately close.”
“That’s true”, she agreed. “I did notice that our closeness aroused you, as it did for me. Since we both feel the same about each other, we may as well use the bathroom together, as you suggested.”