Because Igor had been in the bar talking to his new girlfriend, and Laura hadn’t been at the reception desk, neither of them witnessed the hasty and undignified exit of the scantily dressed and corpulent Mazeija after the ghost, Samantha, scared her off.

The following day, Igor tells Laura he has fallen in love, so she assumes he’s referring to the ghastly Mazeija, not Catarina, the beautiful Polish girl he had admired from a distance at his local gym, but in fact had only met for the first time the night before.

Determined to get rid of the woman Laura thinks is Igor’s girlfriend, Laura decides to make sure Mazeija thinks there is a ghost in Igor’s room, should she return.
 




 
Igor couldn’t get over how well he and Catarina were getting on. During the week, they met every day at the gym, and afterwards they would sit in the coffee shop and tell each other about their lives before and after they arrived in the UK, their eyes holding each other’s gaze in a way that showed equal respect and admiration. The fact they could relax and talk in their native tongue made it all the more perfect.
 
     By the following Friday, Igor was walking on air. Although they’d touched occasionally when they sat opposite each other at the coffee shop, they were only momentary digit clashes, when they both reached for the same thing at the table. When Catarina not only took Igor’s hand after they got up to leave, but kissed him on the lips before they parted in front of the leisure complex, Igor knew she felt the same way about him, as he felt about her. Friday was her night off at the bar where she worked, so they arranged to meet at the hotel after Igor finished in the kitchen. After he told Catarina his room number, and assured her he’d leave the door unlocked, they shared one last kiss that left neither of them in any doubt as to what might happen later that evening.
 
   
 
Laura had spent the last five days researching how to make Igor’s girlfriend believe there was a ghost in his bedroom, should she turn up. For the most part the ideas were unusable because she didn’t want to leave any evidence for Igor to find after the event, but she’d at last found something she could use. She’d downloaded an app on her phone that gave her a choice of twelve ‘spooky’ Halloween ringtones, and the one she’d chosen, the one that sounded like a moaning, creepy voice, with the sound of dragging chains in the background, was perfect for what she had in mind. If, like the week before, Mazeija turned up and insisted on waiting for Igor in his bedroom, Laura was determined to frighten the woman out of her skin by disconnecting the electricity in his room before ringing her secreted mobile. With a bit of luck, Mazeija would be long gone by the time Igor finished in the kitchen, and Laura would have succeeded in putting a stop to them meeting at the hotel again.
 
   
 
After Catarina arrived at the Bedford at quarter to ten, she went straight up to Igor’s room on the second floor. When she opened the door, she was delighted to see he’d lit several candles, which made the room look romantic and intimate. With no need to turn on the lights, she sat down on the sofa beside the side table where Igor had thoughtfully left an opened bottle of white wine in an ice bucket, two glasses by its side.
 
     ‘Oh, Igor,’ she said in a dreamy voice. It was typical of him to be so thoughtful. She might only have known him for a week, but after five dates, she knew he was one of the kindest, most considerate people she had ever met. Put that together with the fact he was fit and good looking, she felt seriously gooey inside as she waited for him to arrive. She would have to get a taxi home after midnight, or her parents would worry, but Catarina didn’t doubt that the two hours they had together would be wonderful.
 
     Samantha, who had watched her from the corner of the room for a full five minutes, was not at all pleased. Who was this girl? She didn’t like the look of her any more than she liked the look of the obese trollop she’d managed to scare off the week before. This one was very attractive, and had an excellent figure, which in a sense made her even more of a threat. Igor was hers, and hers alone, so this pretty little thing had to be got rid of as soon as possible. 
 
     She was just about to start her flashing light show with the bedside lamps, when she noticed the light had gone out on the fridge. Sure enough, when she attempted to turn on the lights and TV, nothing happened. Without an electricity supply, Samantha was literally powerless to put her haunting antics into effect.
 
   
 
After Laura threw the electric switch for the lights and sockets in Igor’s room, she grabbed the phone to ring her mobile. Igor had come down to the kitchen at six, and after he told her his girlfriend would be arriving about ten, and that he’d left his room unlocked so she could let herself in, Laura didn’t hesitate to put her plan into action by hiding her mobile under his bed. Her duplicity made her feel guilty, but if it scared off that horrible woman, and stopped her from staying the night, it had to be worth it. She was just about to press the red button to activate the spooky ring tone on her hidden phone, when Igor appeared at the reception desk.

     ‘It okay I finish now, boss?’ he asked her, a huge, cheesy grin stretching from ear to ear. ‘Catarina is waiting for me up in my room, and I promise I be there soon…’

     Laura nearly dropped the phone. ‘Who… who’s Catarina?’ she stuttered. ‘I thought your girlfriend was called Mazeija?’

     Having no idea that his half-cousin had called in to visit him the week before, Igor looked confused. ‘No, my girlfriend called Catarina. She the girl I met last week at the Polish evening. The one I tell you about…’

     ‘Back in a tick!’ Laura yelped when she realised her mistake and shot into the office to put the electricity back on in Igor’s room. When she returned to the desk a few seconds later, she looked back at Igor with a relieved smile. ‘I hope you and your girlfriend have a lovely evening,’ she gushed.

     ‘I sure we do,’ he told her, before turning tail and almost running towards the staircase.

     As she watched Igor take the stairs two at a time, Laura prayed the electricity being off for a few moments hadn’t scared his girlfriend in any way.
 
   
 
Samantha was relieved when the sound of the fridge motor kicking in heralded the return of the electricity supply to Igor’s room. The frustration of not being able to play with the lights, or any of the other electrical appliances for that matter, had left her feeling totally frustrated.
 
     Now she could get rid of that wretched girl….