INTRO
Once upon a time, in the curious life of a disability lawyer, a series of events unfolded like a legal drama with a supernatural twist. Buckle up, dear reader, for this peculiar tale of love, faith, and spectral encounters.
A disability lawyer who is an atheist is married three times and is divorced three times because of fornication and adultery. The last woman he married was a catholic and said a true believer wouldn't of cheated. After the divorce he moves into an apartment at a discount and finds they say its haunted, but he doesn't believe in ghosts. He has dreams about a woman trying to seduce him but he denies her, eventually he is physically pushed by the ghost, the ghost says Jesus is real and the lawyer believes. He decides to marry the ghost instead of having fornication, but she vanishes and leaves from purgatory with his help. Later he tries to mend the broken heart of his last divorced wife, he tells her he's a true believer now and will never cheat on her again so they get back together!
STORY
Ghost Love
Part One
HE TOLD his third wife (he was divorced two times) that he wouldn't go to stripper bars, but, here he is at one watching women dance.
After the waitress gave Leonard Mackly another beer, he said thanks and she said your welcome; then, she playfully smiled back.
Leonard smiled as he spoke, saying foolish things since he was drunk. “You know I'm not supposed to be here, I lied to my wife.”
But the waitress with a rose in her hair and a heart shaped bra didn't talk back because she had other tables and customers to please. But this other waitress who was supposed to show her breasts, but didn't, was fired, and on her way out heard what Leonard said, so in her fury, she heard Leonard's phone ringing. She grabbed the phone, which was left out, and said:
“Your man is cheating.”
Too bad for Leonard when his wife heard that.
Leonard picked up the phone when the waitress walked out. She was wearing casual clothing. While Leonard was listening to his wife he asked for Stacy's phone number. She was the waitress who smiled at him.
Now his wife, who's name was Mary, was yelling at him. “You have to sleep in our boat until you take a lie detector test! She said.
Mary hanged up in anger, especially, when she heard Stacy give him the phone number.
Leonard was afraid to go home so he met Stacy in the after hours when the stripper bar was closed. At two a.m. they met at the boat and kissed. Leonard wanted to go further, but she said no.
Before he went home to see Mary, he slept until noon and was vomiting for the amount of alcohol he drank. Leonard forgot he committed kissed Stacy, but, she called him and left him a message saying it was a good night.
When Leonard got home, and before he unlocked the front door, he checked to see if Mary had left any messages on his phone. She did not leave any.
Leonard took out his keys and unlocked the door. It was noon when he started saying, “honey are you home?”
“Yes dear,” he heard a short sound almost as a whisper. Mary was near by. She was in the dinning room.
It was hot out, ninety degrees, so Leonard didn't have a coat on to put away.
Mary immediately said, “who is Stacy, and why did you ask for her phone number?” She was now in the kitchen, a couple of feet away, putting food away. She just got back from the store.
“I was working as a disability lawyer, and Stacy is one of my new clients,” Leonard lied.
“Oh, then why was there music, like in a strip club?” Mary said.
“Look honey,” he said, “I did what you said, I slept in the boat last night, and I'm willing to take a lie detector test.”
“Okay,” she looked and sounded serious. “Leonard, you can sleep in the house once you take the test.”
“I'll take it today,” he sounded alert.
He tried to give her a hug but Mary said, “no, not until you take the test.”
“Okay, I'll take it right now.” So Leonard walked out of his house and waved bye. Mary waved back in a pleased fashion.
Leonard was asked a series of questions before the test. He was asked who Mary says Leonard cheated with and any questions she says were lies, such as, if Leonard went to a strip club.
Now, Leonard was asked the same questions during the test.
After the test he was handed a brown envelope with the test results.
Leonard was told not to open it alone, but with Mary. He was confident he would pass the test and get away with all the cheating and lying he was doing to his wife.
When Leonard got home Mary was taking a nap on her bed. He sat at the foot of the bed and smiled, he said, “honey, I have the test results, want me to read them for you?”
“No,” Mary said, “give them to me.”
So she opened her hand and took the brown envelope upon opening it. There was nothing in the brown envelope except the test results.
Mary was astonished after she read it.
“You got the kissing question wrong, but passed everything else,” she said.
It took a little while for the test results to sink in. Mary's and Leonard's hearts were breaking, and by the time her tears were falling, and she was wiping the discharge with a long sleeve shirt. She spoke.
“Why couldn't you be a catholic like me, and not a atheist Leonard?”
Mary inhaled through her now wet nasal passages. She was sad and angry. “A true believer wouldn't of cheated Leonard.”
“I'm sorry Mary,” he said. “I'll admit it, I did the kissing the test said, but I promise, I'll never do that again.”
“Its too late,” Mary said, “the only way I'll take you back to be my husband again, is if you stop being a atheist, and be a catholic.”
“I can't stop being a atheist Mary, I'm sorry,” he said.
So Leonard kissed his wife's forehead and said good bye at the precision of the door closing. He had tears in his eyes. Now he wished he never lied and cheated on Mary.
Mary and Leonard went to a divorce court to finalize their break-up. The papers were signed and filed by both parties and the judge. In the settling matters, Mary received the most property because of her low income. She works as a cashier. She gets the house and one car, while Leonard has a higher income. He received a boat and one car. The break-up was finalized and they both went their separate ways.
The first thing Leonard thought he ought to do was to find a place to stay instead of just the boat. So he looked on the internet and found a very nice apartment for rent. It had three bed rooms and two bathrooms with a deck and swimming pool.
Leonard wondered why the rent was so cheap, only six-hundred dollars a month. Leonard kept asking so, eventually, the landlord told him why the price was half the amount. She said people don't stay very long, about a month to six-months long, then they complain about a ghost and leave.
Leonard wasn't worried about any ghost because he doesn't believe they're real, but, what he was worried about is if Mary would let him have any of the stuff inside the house, such as furniture and clothing.
Leonard was disappointed to find out she wouldn't give him any furniture, but, at least he got his clothing back.
After Leonard filled out an application, the landlord said the first one
who gives the deposit money gets the place to rent.
So Leonard gave the deposit money of six-hundred dollars, immediately. He got the place, since no one else gave a deposit.
Leonard made an appointment on Friday to sign the lease, which was four days from today.
Leonard slept in the boat until he signed the lease. The first thing he did when he moved into the apartment was hang up his clothes, including; his suits, ties, and casual wear.
It was a hot July seventh. So Leonard decided to meet his neighbors and take a swim at the same time, for they were swimming right now. His neighbors were a nice couple with their child swimming on a floating pillow.
“Hello, I'm your new neighbor who lives upstairs, my name is Leonard Mackly.”
All three of his neighbors responded, including the little boy who said, “hi.” The wife said, “please feel free to swim with us,” she noticed he was wearing swim trunks.
“That's exactly what I was going to ask you, if I could go for a swim with you guys.”
As Leonard tested the water and got into the pool, the husband spoke: “I'm glad you got into the pool with us, because I was going to cut the lawn in thirty-minutes.”
“Oh, thanks for telling me,” Leonard said.
“Sure, no problem, and my name is Dave,” he said as they shook hands.
The pool was large enough for each of them to have a space to swim.
“Boy, its a hot one out today,” Leonard said. And they all agreed as they swam for thirty-minutes.
Soon later they all got out of the pool and dried off with their towels. Dave went to get the lawn mower while his wife and son went inside and Leonard got ready for work, but, before Dave made it to the garage and Leonard got to his apartment door it started to rain.
Dave said, “I guess I won't be cutting the lawn now.”
“If you need anything, just let me know,” Leonard said.
“Sure, and same here,” Dave said, “do you need an umbrella Leonard?”
“If it isn't too much trouble, I do need one,” he said.
“Here's an extra one,” Dave said.
“Thanks,” spoke Leonard.
So with an umbrella Leonard went inside his apartment to dress for work. He wore a clean and smooth black suit with a red tie under his big smile.
Leonard drove down town at 4:30 p.m. to arrive early for work. On his laptop, which was one of the only things he got out of the divorce. Leonard prepared for trial.
Twenty-minutes later his client arrived, apparently she had trouble finding the place. She suffers from a mental illness called paranoid schizophrenia, and she was on medication for one year, which is enough to prove she has the illness.
Before the trial started, she was scanned by the police officer for any metallic items. There was no metal on her person. Her mother had the keys, and she drove her in the rain. There was only about eight minutes left until the trial started. With this time Janet and her lawyer Leonard prepared for the case.
She told him she has anxiety and paranoid thoughts about people wanting to kill her, that there are hit-men after her. She also had homicidal and suicidal thoughts.
After she told Leonard what medication she's on and that its not completely working the trial started.
After introductions, the Judge told her to speak up, for the microphone she was speaking into was for recording her voice not to raise the pitch.
The Judge asked her if she was on Risperdal for schizophrenia. She said yes.
Then they talked about what voices she hears and what hallucinations she sees. She said she hears a voice that tells her to kill people and she sees demons, but she doesn't think the voices and hallucinations are real like she used to think they were.
The command voices had no effect on her.
The Judge asked her, “do you do any chores?”
She spoke up and said, “yes, I do the laundry.”
Then the Judge notified her, “there are jobs available where you can work alone, so you don't have to be bothered by your mental illnesses.”
Then it was the lawyer Leonard's turn to speak, and he said, “Janet has no transportation to go to work, for her mother won't drive her, and she has anxiety when she rides the bus, because of all the people on it.”
“Is this true Janet, that you can't stay on a bus, that you have to get off because of your anxiety? You know Janet, if you lie to me you can go to jail for perjury.”
“Yes, I know,” she said, “and I can't go on buses because of my anxiety.”
“Any final notes?” The Judge said
Leonard and Janet said, “no.”
“Okay, I will come to a decision after I review this recording at home,” the Judge said, “I will send the results to both you Janet and you Leonard, and with that the case is finished.
Leonard and Janet shook hands and left their separate ways with a feeling that they will win the case.
Part Two
BEFORE LEONARD went home he went shopping. He bought eggs, noodles, milk, cereal, and coffee with pasta sauce. By the time he got home it was 6:10. He made dinner with what he bought at the store. So he had pasta with plenty left over he thew out.
With an hour and fifty minutes he decided to watch television, and lucky him his two favorite cable shows were on, Pawn Stars and American Pickers.
With the shows over at 8:00 p.m. he decided to go to sleep. During his sleep he had dream about an attractive woman. He dreamed she was lying on his bed. She was giving him a massage with one leg around him. Then she was kissing his neck and whispering in his ear saying, “lets make-out.”
But Leonard denied her and said, “no.” He said no because he wants to start changing his habits where he kisses other woman, since he doesn't want to get caught cheating on his next wife.
But the lady kept asking to have sex with him, and he kept saying, “no,” until he woke up.
He thought he saw an image on his bed for a half-second when he opened his eyes, then it vanished.
When Leonard was trying to get up something forcefully pushed him off his bed and onto the floor.
Leonard heard a whisper in his ear saying, “kiss me, or else.
Leonard felt threatened and that he was dreaming, because he doesn't believe in ghosts and this was clearly supernatural.
He pinched himself to find he was still awake, then he said, “I don't do that anymore, and especially not with a ghost.
Leonard got off the floor and searched the room. He thought, now I do believe in ghosts. The ghost must of left because he couldn't find it in his room, or his apartment for that matter.
Leonard began to think this was a one-time thing that he shouldn't worry about it.
So he decided to have cereal for breakfast then go for a swim before work. Leonard ate bran flakes which he buys for the extra fiber for a healthy digestive system. He finished his second and last bowl of cereal in his swim trunks.
When Leonard was swimming alone he felt a down push then being held under, he tried to break free for a whole minute. Then his head, which was like a tree full and thick in summer, breathed for air.
After Leonard recovered, he heard a voice from one of the lawn-chairs, and his heart started to beat rapidly, not just because she was attractive, but because she seemed to appear out of thin air.
“Hi, my name is Carla,” she said.
“I'm Leonard, he said.
“Come and sit down here,” she pointed to a empty lawn-chair. She was a dark skinned woman with pretty brown eyes, and Leonard was a muscular white male with thick, full, black hair, they fell in love at first sight.
So he sat down in the empty lawn-chair. The chemistry he felt with her was as if he was rocketing through space. “Wow, do you feel this chemistry between us Carla?”
“I sure do,” she said. “How about we make out?”
“Okay, just a little,” said Leonard.
So they made out and Carla was very aggressive as she kissed him. “Carla, not here, and especially because there is a whole family living down stairs. What would they say if they saw us?”
So Leonard pushed off Carla. As he blinked once she was gone, she vanished in thin air.
Now that was strange, Leonard thought, where did she go?
He finished swimming for about thirty-minutes, and he was pissed-off that he didn't get Carla's phone number.
Leonard dried off and he remembered he forgot to put on sun lotion, so he applied some.
When he had his suit and tie on and his laptop he was ready for work. This next case was for a blind person, all she needed to do was see a doctor to verify that she was blind then go to the trial.
It turns out she didn't need to go to trial. She won her case as soon as the doctor verified she was blind.
After the case Leonard went to buy furniture for his new apartment. He bought furniture for his bed room, dinning room, kitchen, and front room. It was to be delivered at different times because he didn't go to the same stores and they have different time schedules.
When Leonard got home his new kitchen table arrived, and he didn't experience anything supernatural, such as ghosts.
Next the television stand arrived.
The rest of his furniture should arrive tomorrow or the day after that.
Leonard ate dinner and watched reruns of his favorite shows before going to bed. When Leonard went to bed he had another dream or one that he thought was a dream.
Again a woman tried to seduce him, but this time he recognized who it was, it was Carla.
She rubbed his back, then sat at the foot of his bed cross legged. She kept whispering to him, “kiss me, kiss me, kiss me...”
When Leonard awoke from his sleep he was startled, but Carla was gone. So he got up to use the restroom.
It was July fifteenth, Tuesday, and after he used the bathroom, Leonard shaved and checked who rang the doorbell. It was more furniture movers , apparently they had a brand-new couch for Leonard's front room.
He opened the door for them and they brought it in.
Leonard ate breakfast and watched television on his new couch. He was ready to go for a swim after he watched television, so he got his swim trunks ready.
When he stepped outside and to his surprise, Carla was out talking to his neighbors.
Maybe Carla isn't a ghost after all, Leonard thought. And maybe I love her because I had dreams about her.
“Hello,” said Dave's wife, child, and Carla.
Dave spoke and said, “we're all friends here, and Carla said she's in love with you Leonard, what do you think of that?”
“Wow,” said Leonard, I'm in love with her too. Carla smiled when she heard that.
“Come on in the pool with us Leonard,” said Carla.
So Leonard sat down in the pool where his legs only pierced the water like a flamingo. Then he walked down the stairs and into the deep section where his chin was visible.
The boy was on a flotation device, while Dave and his wife were talking.
As the water got deeper, Leonard began to swim next to Carla with the dog paddle. “I have something to tell you,” said Leonard.
“What is it,” said Carla.
“Well, I've been having dreams about you.”
“What kind of dreams?”
“Well, they show I'm in love with you, what do you think of that?”
“Wow,” said Carla. “I like that a lot. Would you be willing to go to a place where we can be alone?”
“What kind of place?” Leonard said.
“How about your apartment,” Carla said.
“Okay, then lets go.” They both agreed.
So Carla and Leonard both went upstairs to his apartment, but, just as more furniture was arriving. Leonard opened the door for the movers as Carla waited upstairs.
It was the last of his furniture, including: A bed, lamps, chairs, dishwasher, and a dresser. It took a whole hour for the furniture to be moved in.
While the move was taking place Carla and Leonard were talking and watching Pawn Stars on cable.
After the move, Carla was talked up and was asking Leonard if she could see the bedroom, Leonard agreed saying, “yes.”
As soon as Carla got to the bedroom she was lying on the bed and asking him to come closer, but Leonard said, “no, not until we are wed. You are aggressive Carla, if it was the old me I would have jumped on the idea of us having relations, immediately, but now I'm different because I decided not to do fornication anymore.”
“Well that sucks,” Carla said. “There's something I need to tell you Leonard.”
“Okay,” he said.
“You know those dreams you've been having?”
Leonard nodded.
“Well they weren't really dreams, that was actually me trying to seduce you.”
“This is hard for me to say, but Carla, are you a ghost?”
“Yes,” she said. “But right now I'm stuck in purgatory.”
“Well you shouldn't be trying to have fornication,” Leonard said, and I have a question Carla. What is dying like?”
“Well, for me,” Carla said. “I got into a car crash and died instantly so I felt no pain. My soul was rising to heaven, and I saw Jesus Christ. He put me in purgatory for having fornication and adultery...”
“I can help you with that,” Leonard said. “Just stop trying to seduce me, okay?
“Okay,” Carla said.
After what Leonard heard he decided not to be a atheist anymore, Now he's going to be a Catholic.
When Carla got off the bed and stood, Leonard took her hand and fell on one knee, he said, Carla will you be my wife?”
“Of course I will, yes, yes, yes,” Carla said with a big smile on her face. They hugged snugly, and as Leonard spoke, she vanished between his arms. He said, “lets get married on August first at St. Adalbert church...Carla where did you go, come back!”
As the day went on Leonard waited for Carla to come back, then he received an important letter in the mail about Janet's disability case, she won the case.
Wow, good for her, Leonard thought.
A couple hours later which were passed by swimming and watching cable television. Leonard got ready for work.
His next disability case was about a man with no hands. His name was Derek, and Leonard will help him as his lawyer.
There was a discussion about whether Derek could afford robotic hands or not, and this conversation went on during the trial between Leonard and the judge.
Apparently Derek's health insurance wouldn't cover those hands, so Leonard won the discussion.
After the case when Leonard went home and before he loosened his tie and got on casual clothing, he searched for Carla and he was unable to find her.
The next day was July sixteenth, Wednesday, and after breakfast Leonard went looking for Carla. The first place he searched, besides the apartment, was the swimming pool.
And there she was, beautiful Carla once again swimming by herself.
“Hi, Carla,” Leonard said excitedly.
“Hi Leonard,” Carla said with a big smile, “get your swim trunks on.”
“Okay, I'll be right back.”
So Leonard got on his swim trunks. When Leonard came back he used the diving board for the first time and, splash, he was in the pool.
Carla and Leonard were hungry for each other so they made-out right away. Carla broke away for a moment and caught her breath, she said, “I know our wedding is at St. Adalbert church on the first, but what time is it at?”
“Its at noon,” he said.
“Okay, I'll be there,” she said. “And there's something I need you to change, make it until we leave purgatory do we part instead of death do we part, okay?”
“Okay, I'll be sure to change that,” he said.
“I'll be gone for a while,” she said. “Until its time for our wedding Leonard.”
“Okay,” he said.
Then she vanished between his arms.
It is now August first, Friday, and Leonard received a letter that Derek won his disability case. Leonard was so happy, that Derek won, while he ate breakfast.
Before Leonard goes to work today, he has a wedding scheduled, and right now he is looking for Carla inside the apartment and next at the swimming pool, but he couldn't find her.
She must be at St. Adalbert's church, he thought.
Right now it is 10:00 a.m. and Leonard decided to watch television until eleven-fifteen.
Now it was time for Leonard to get ready, so he wore a black suit and drove himself to St. Adalbert's church.
As the wedding started the best man and priest waited at the altar with Leonard for the bride. Next the groomsmen and bridesmaids came down in pairs. And last was Carla who came down the isle with pleasant music, they were all in awe of her beautiful dress.
After introductions and everything was said by the priest and Carla and Leonard both said, “I do.” The priest finished with, “you may now kiss the bride.”
And as they kissed Carla began to vanish before everyone in the church, starting with her feet and all the way up to her head.
“Don't be startled,” the priest said. “She's in heaven now.”
And after the wedding Carla was never seen again, except in heaven.
Leonard was single again so he thought about what Mary said, “a true believer wouldn't of cheated.” Leonard got on his best suit with a handful of roses.
When he knocked on the door and Mary answered it, she said, “I missed you Leonard, why did you come over?”
“I missed you too,” Leonard said, “and I came over to tell you something important, I'm a true believer now and I will never cheat again. Will you get back together with me?”
“Of course I will, after I destroy those divorce papers. She ripped them up and Leonard helped.
Mary hugged him.”
Then they started kissing,
saying, “we’re back together! We're back together... “
And Leonard spoke, saying, “yes we are! Yes we are...”
So they made-up and went swimming at Leonard's apartment.
