From the previous chapter

Laura had decided to scare off the woman she thought was Igor’s girlfriend by switching off the lights in his room and ringing her mobile with the recently acquired, ghostly ringtone, which she’d hidden under his bed earlier on. Fortunately, she finds out that the girl waiting for Igor is not the corpulent Mazeija who had turned up the week before, but a pretty Polish girl he’d met at the gym, so she aborts her plan, before calling it a night and making her way up to her top floor flat.
 
  Laura nearly jumped out of her skin when she collided with Igor on the second-floor landing.
 
     ‘I not know what to do… Catarina go all floppy!’ he told her in a panic-stricken voice.
 
     Laura nearly burst out laughing. ‘Floppy?’ she repeated, the smile twitching at the edges of her mouth.
 
     ‘It no funny!’ Igor cried before he grabbed Laura’s arm and propelled her down the corridor towards his room.
 
     Remembering her experience when she'd tried Marihuana for the first time three weeks before, Laura turned to Igor with a raised eyebrow as they reached his bedroom door. ‘What was she doing before she went all floppy?’
 
     A look of embarrassment flashed across Igor’s face. ‘I just kees her…’
 
     Laura thought back to the first time her husband kissed her when she'd literally gone weak at the knees. Yes, ‘floppy’ was probably an excellent description of the way she felt at the time. As soon as Igor opened the door, and she saw Catarina laid on the bed with a dreamy look on her face, Laura wondered if it had been the same for her.
 
      ‘I so worried!’ Igor told the seemingly recovered Catarina when he shot over to the bed and took her hand. ‘I bring my boss because I theenk you sick…’
 
     Catarina couldn't get over the fact he was making such a fuss. Yes, she had felt faint, but it only lasted for a few seconds.
 
     ‘I… I’m sorry,’ she said as she sat up. ‘I don’t know what happened. It was almost as though someone…’ She shook her head when she realised that what she was about to say would sound ridiculous. ‘…I should have eaten something before I came,’ she said instead. ‘I think drinking on an empty stomach made me feel lightheaded,’ she added with a nod in the direction of her abandoned wine glass.
 
     Laura wasn’t convinced. Catarina’s aborted sentence worried her. Much though she didn’t want to admit it, she was concerned that the ‘someone’ might have something to do with the ghost that had reputedly haunted Igor’s room. When she’d Googled the question ‘how to get rid of ghosts’ after the lights mysteriously turned themselves on and off, she ended up reading several articles regarding poltergeist activity. Seeing Catarina looking and sounding so disorientated made Laura wonder if what she’d read might be correct.
 
     ‘Would you like me to get you something from the kitchen?’ she asked.
 
     Catarina thanked her but assured her it wasn’t necessary. Sensing her embarrassment, Laura decided to say goodnight and leave them in peace. Whatever had happened, the girl seemed fine now.
 
    ‘You sure you okay?’ Igor asked Catarina as soon as Laura left.

     By way of an answer, she patted the bed beside her and held out her hand…

   

Samantha had been tempted to merge into Catarina’s body again as soon as she and Igor started to kiss, but she now knew what would happen if she did. That would be even more frustrating than watching them make love. With a resigned sigh, she’d settled on being a voyeur. At least that way she could be reminded of the passion she and Andrew enjoyed before she died.
 
     When they at last pulled apart, Igor felt wonderful. Making love to Catarina had been one of the best experiences of his life, and judging by the contented smile on her face, it had been good for her too.
 
     ‘You look happy…’ he told her as he rolled on his side and stroked her cheek.
 
     Catarina hooked her leg over his and nestled into his chest. Happy wasn’t a big enough word to describe the way she felt. Although she’d had other lovers, none of them had made her feel the way Igor did. ‘I am,’ she told him. ‘Are you?’
 
    His smile stretched from ear to ear before he kissed the top of her head. ‘Very… you are so beautiful, Catarina. I can’t believe how lucky I am.’
 
     She lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him with a loving smile. ‘I’m the lucky one. Meeting you has changed my life. I thought I would have to go back to Poland to meet someone like you. Just think, if Papa hadn’t arranged his birthday party here…‘
 
     Her words trailed off when she suddenly looked at her watch. ‘Oh my God, Igor. Do you know what time it is?’
 
     Igor didn’t have a clue, nor did he care.
 
     Catarina tore herself from his arms and started to pull on her discarded clothes almost as quickly as she’d taken them off. ‘It’s ten to twelve, and I promised my parents I’d be back by midnight!’
 
     Igor leapt off the bed and started to pull his clothes on too. ‘Will I call a cab?’
 
     She shook her head as she slipped her feet into her pumps. ‘I could be home by the time it gets here. I only live down the road.’
 
     ‘Then I come with you. I’m not having my beautiful lady walking home alone…’
 
   
 
Karen still wasn’t sure what to do. Having not succeeded in contacting Laura to tell her about the unlocked kitchen door before she left the Bedford car park, she’d forgotten all about it after she got home and joined Mark on the sofa to watch Big Brother.
 
     ‘It’ll be fine,’ Mark assured her when they turned off the TV and went through to their bedroom after it finished. ‘I’m sure the kitchen door has been left unlocked before. What could happen?’
 
     If she hadn’t signed for the huge delivery of fresh poultry and meat that was delivered earlier that day, Karen would have agreed with him, but the thought of hundreds of pounds of food being stolen by someone who might chance upon the open door, was now making her fret.
 
     ‘Do you think it’s too late to phone her?’ she asked Mark. ‘I tried the hotel number earlier, but it just rang out. I think she must have forgotten to transfer her calls to the flat.’
 
     Having looked forward to cuddling up with Karen after they went to bed, Mark realised his chances were slim if she was worrying about the unlocked door. ‘Then phone her mobile,’ he suggested. ‘I’m sure she won’t mind when you explain what happened. It’s Igor’s job to lock up, not yours.’
 
     Karen burst out laughing as he stepped out of his boxers. There was no doubt in her mind that an unlocked door was the last thing on Mark’s mind. ‘Okay,’ she giggled as she grabbed her mobile. ‘I’ll be with you in a minute...’
 
   
 
Samantha lay on the bed where Igor and Catarina had made love before their hasty departure. Watching them had unsettled her so much. It had reminded her of how it was with Andrew. Their nights together at the hotel were not only passionate, but loving as well, and just like Igor and Catarina, they had talked as lovers do afterwards, their bodies flushed with the afterglow of their lovemaking. She closed her eyes and imagined his arms around her, his lips on hers, and the aching inside her was so intense she could hardly bear it.
 
     ‘Oh, Andrew,’ she cried. ‘I miss you so much…’
 
     Her eyes snapped open when the sound of a ghostly voice filled the room….