Haunting Astrid (6 page)

I started haunting slowly, but I could tell that Astrid heard me and knew her resident ghost was at work. The hallways behind the walls led to almost every room in the remodeled house, and I followed the group from room to room, making my ghostly presence more and more known. “Get out of my house!” I said in my spookiest haunting voice. “This is
MY
house. Go away!”

The guests laughed, not the reaction I was expecting! “How are you doing this, Astrid?” one man asked

I’ll give Astrid credit; she thinks fast on her feet. If her guests thought the haunting was part of her Halloween party, then she was going to go along with it! I think fast on my feet, too… A result of smiling instead of throwing coffee or food all over a few diners who thought they could touch me while my hands were full of dishes when I first started working to support Bri and myself. I learned to make wisecracks that were funny but still let the guys know I wasn’t for sale. It worked, and Brian and I survived while I put myself through school and found a great job at the law firm. It still struck me as funny that I had worked there a lot longer than Joseph, who was a partner. He was a couple of years older than me, but his schooling took a lot longer than mine.

I got more creative in the things I said, startling Astrid, and her guests. “A party is a sneaky way to find another buyer for my house!
MYYYYY
house! You all need to leave!”

“Astrid, this is getting a bit creepy. Could you please turn it off…?” One of her female guests asked.

“I will not be silenced, woman. You are trespassing in
my
house!”

“Seriously, Astrid, this has gone far enough.” This time it was a man who spoke up.

“Where is your sense of fun?” Another of the guests laughed. “I think the special effects are really fantastic. I didn’t figure you for the techie sort, Astrid. How are you doing this?”

Astrid mumbled something, and led her guests to look at the kitchen. I loved the kitchen and I wished it was mine. I have to admit that Astrid has good taste in finishings, but the kitchen was truly special. There was a lot of storage in the beautiful cabinets, including two pantries. The counters were made of granite, and the backsplash of tiled glass. There was a farmhouse sink, and a large island that contained a gas cooktop. A double oven, which I drooled over, and the flooring brought the whole of it together. There was a lot of oohing and aahing, including mine… I hoped to scare the daylights out of her pretentious guests, and the woman who’d asked Astrid to turn off the ghostly affects announced she was leaving.

“Astrid, is this for real?” another woman asked fearfully.

“I’m sorry! There have been thumps and bumps, but nothing like this! I think the ghost is upset because all of you are here!” she wailed. I wanted to laugh. I’d accomplished what I set out to do, and now all I had to do was wait for everyone to leave and Astrid to go to bed, and I could get all of the equipment in my car and leave. Astrid wouldn’t be selling this house to anyone in her crowd, for sure. I figured her loss would be compensation for the increase in salary her ill-gotten promotion netted her.
Paybacks are hell,
I thought to myself. Her guests were all anxious to leave, and once they did, I started packing up all of the equipment, but every so often I gave off an eerie laugh… or a warning to leave
MY
house.

Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind, and I screamed and struggled to get free. A stinging slap to the seat of my black jeans warned me to settle down, and since I knew that palm anywhere, I quit struggling. “What are you doing here, Joseph? I thought you were out of town!” I was whispering, not about to expose myself to Astrid now.

“I did not tell you I was going out of town; just that I had plans for tonight.”

“You were invited to this damn party and you came without me?” My temper always picked the worst time to assert itself, like now. “How dare you come to this woman’s party when you know how she’s treated me?” I was screeching now, and I didn’t give a care who was listening.

“Astrid came to me at work a few days ago and told me that she believed a ghost was haunting this house. She wanted to know what she should do to rid herself of the ghost. I told her that it sounded more like someone was playing a practical joke on her, and I cancelled my other plans and asked to come here and look around tonight. I felt I wouldn’t stand out so much in a disguise with other people here. I never expected to find you in a burglar costume pulling a stunt like this one, Jodi Lynn Vanscoy! I am going to set your butt on fire!”

“Why? I have every right to get even with Astrid for all the mean things she’s said and done. When you dish it out you need to be able to take it.”

“You frightened Astrid for days on end, and when I asked you if you knew why she wasn’t sleeping, you denied knowing anything, and you got upset with me for not knowing that Astrid was behaving badly at work. Jodi, how did you come up with this idea?”

“From you. You knew that Astrid bought a home, but she thought it was something that the rest of us didn’t need to know. You even said it would be the perfect place to have a Halloween party… but none of us were invited. You want to know why…? None of us could afford this place, that’s why. Well,
you
could,” I corrected myself. “I decided that her guests deserved to know why she really invited them here tonight. It wasn’t for a true Halloween Party. It was so she could show off this house and hopefully sell it to one of them! People like Astrid don’t make friends… They use people!”

Joseph was angry, angrier than I’d ever seen him, and I wondered if he would decide I was too much bother to have as a girlfriend and dump me. He dragged me through the house to a room with a secret door into the passageway, and pushed the heavy bookcase open and marched me out into the festively decorated room.

Astrid was standing there, her expression one of disbelief. “You! How dare you?”

“How dare you threaten to fire me for months on end? How dare you shred my application for the job you stole from me? How dare you talk about this party for weeks and not invite any of your co-workers? How dare you treat everyone as if they were put on this earth just to help you in some way? You step on people, Astrid.”

“You purposely made everyone think this beautiful house is haunted and I will never be able to sell it now!” she wailed.

“Too bad.”

“I ought to sue you!”

”Astrid, you were permitted to keep your job and your salary after you were found guilty of illegally destroying a job application, and of threatening to fire people if they crossed you in any way. I would think that you would be anxious to give Jodi a second chance and offer her forgiveness, considering she had a lot of reasons for haunting you.”

Astrid knew she would create a lot of problems for herself if she said one more word. She looked at them and said, “Will you please leave and let me clean up this mess? I have an open house scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.”

“I need to get all of the equipment, Joseph. It isn’t mine and I need to return it. It won’t take but a minute. I have most of it packed already.”

Joseph helped me load up my car and then told me to drive straight home. He pulled up behind me and followed me, and I honestly felt like hitting the gas and going somewhere to hide. Reality was crashing down on me and it wasn't pretty. Now that I was discovered, I wondered what had possessed me to do something so mean! I was pretty sure I was in for a serious spanking, and I didn’t have anything to say in my defense that wouldn’t sound petty. Bottom line? I was wrong… even if it was Astrid.

I made sure the car doors were locked; I didn’t want the equipment stolen, but I didn’t want to carry all of it up all the flights of steps to my apartment. Besides, Brian would need to use my car to haul it all back to campus. I waited for Joseph to park and then put my hand in his as we walked up the sidewalk to the building. I was thankful that he was still willing to offer me that much comfort; I assumed this meant that he was probably not going to break up with me, though more and more I started to believe I deserved that. As I started to consider all the ramifications, I had to come to grips with the fact that what I had done was also illegal. I couldn't date - heck, marry! - a criminal defense attorney if I was breaking into peoples' homes!

He unlocked the door to my apartment as he normally did, and ushered me inside. “When do you expect Brian?” he asked.

“He isn’t coming home this weekend, Joseph. He went home with a friend for the weekend because they are giving a big Halloween party.” I took a deep breath, and then said, “Joseph, I know I was wrong, and I know I deserve a punishment. I’ve never done anything this awful before, but I was literally years looking for something I could do to get even with Astrid that wouldn’t get me fired. I think I kind of snapped, and I know that is not a good excuse. I’m sorry that I’ve upset you. I’ll do my best to accept the spanking I’ve earned.”

“Are you willing to apologize to Astrid?” he asked of me.

“No.” I was being honest. “I know I was wrong, but I’m not sorry I upset her. I’ve spent too many hours upset over things she’s said and done to feel sorry for giving her a small taste of it in return. I am sorry that I embarrassed you, and that I behaved badly in your eyes.”

“I think you will change your mind about apologizing, Jodi Lynn.” I shook my head side to side, but I think I knew that I would eventually give in to stop what was shaping up to be a very painful spanking. “Go into your bedroom and take off everything from the waist down,” he ordered, and I was shocked.

“Not my panties!”
I whispered in disbelief. He was old-fashioned, and promised me that I would be a virgin on our wedding night. I’d never been half naked in front of
any
man.

“This is a serious punishment, and part of your punishment will be the embarrassment of a bare bottom spanking. You can leave your panties, on but you go to the corner, and pull them down, and then you will stand there and think about why you are to be spanked. I also want to know how long you have been haunting Astrid. You will be punished for each and every day.”

“What? That’s too much!” I exclaimed.

“Arguing with me right now is not a good idea, Jodi,” he said tersely. "I am going to look for something to spank you with."

I was shocked once again. Joseph spanked with his hand, and I’d always felt his hand was enough to impart a serious lesson. Surely he knew that? Suddenly, my prank on Astrid was looking very stupid. I went into my bedroom and quickly stepped out of my shoes and my black jeans. I also pulled off my hoodie, and tossed all of the clothing into the hamper. I was left wearing a tee shirt and a bra underneath. I went to the corner and pulled my panties down my thighs, my hands shaking. It was sobering to stand in the corner, half naked, waiting for my boyfriend to come into the room and spank me with items he found in my home. I wanted to blame all of this on Astrid, but I knew it was my fault. I’d handled everything in the wrong way. I should have followed my instincts when I didn’t get the promotion and gone to Mr. Chantry Senior and asked him what I could have done to improve my chances for a promotion "the next time." The truth would have come out then and there, and this whole mess could have been prevented.

I heard Joseph enter the room, but I didn’t turn around. When he called me, I knew it was going to start the beginning of what was sure to be a very serious spanking. I was content to wait for that to happen!

“Come here, Jodi,” Joseph finally called me over to where he sat on the bed. He had a wooden spatula from the jar beside my small stove. He’d found my hairbrush, too. It had a wooden back, and I’d always wondered what it would feel like against my bottom. Joseph had also removed his belt and it was lying with my hairbrush and spatula on the bed. I slowly walked over to him, embarrassed that he could see my mons. It was enough to make me cry. “You are going to get a serious punishment spanking now… And you will be punished one day for each day you haunted Astrid.”

“You mean to spank me for forty-one days?” I was in shock and my voice squeaked like a high-strung mouse! “No, Joseph!” I begged. “I couldn’t stand it!”

“I did not say that all of the punishments would be spankings, Jodi.” That should have reassured me, but it didn’t. I had the feeling that by the time it was all over I was going to be very, very sorry.

“Lie over my left thigh and rest your upper body on the bed. I want to make sure you are comfortable, because you are going to be in this position for quite a while.”

“Joseph if I apologize to Astrid, could we skip this part?” I asked hopefully.

“No. I remember what you said a few weeks ago when I gave you that essay to write. You said that you meant it this time, but I don't think you did. I am sure you could tell Astrid you are sorry and not mean one word of it. Am I correct, young lady?”

Yes, damn it, he was right, but I sure didn’t want to admit it.
“I know I was wrong, Joseph, and I am very sorry that I did something that truly wasn’t funny.”

“We will be discussing this in great detail, Jodi, but tonight you are going to get one very sound spanking that is going to leave you so sore you won’t want to sit down for at least a week. In fact, I think I will make a point of keeping your butt uncomfortable to sit on while you are being punished for the next forty-one days. Now get in place and no more stalling.”

I didn’t think I was stalling, but I certainly didn’t want Joseph to think I was. I was in enough trouble without making matters worse. The position that he helped me assume over his left thigh and the bed was indeed more comfortable than most positions, and once the spanking started I was able to see why he wanted me this way. He held my right arm and hand against my side as his left arm held me down. My left arm was unable to reach back to protect my bottom, and I couldn’t kick my legs because his right leg had my calves pinned down to the floor. I wasn’t going to be able to protect myself in any way, and I knew that I was at Joseph’s mercy.