Duncan thinks his family is happy when he travels for work. However, he returns to find his daughter seeing ghosts and an unknown stranger in his closet. Who is the man and why is he there? Is his wife cheating?
I’ve been married to Emmie for 15 years. In fifteen years, we’ve weaved a life together, weaving in family joys and sorrows.
Our daughter, Leila, a bright-eyed ten-year-old, brought us fun and interest like only a child can.
Life was fine until Leila mentioned a ghost.
Leila told a harmless story. I thought my daughter’s imagination was wild at the time.
As a businessman, I traveled frequently. I was used to living by my schedule with Emmie.
I imagined she would struggle to develop a life with me packing up and departing every few weeks.
“Your job matters,” Emmie added. “And sure, it takes you away from us from time to time, Duncan. But it’s worth it because you enjoy what you do.”
I didn’t anticipate her comprehension. But I should have known—my wife was unlike everyone else I’d met.
I knew my wife and kid would be home and in their routine when my partner at the firm told me we had to drive to another state for a business meeting with prospective investors.
“How long will you be gone this time?” Emmie questioned while cooking dinner.
“Just over a week,” I said, eating the counter’s roasted nuts.
“That’s okay,” she smiled. “You’ll be back before we know it.”
It was easy to imagine my wife wanted me to stay away and enjoyed our distance. However, as she helped me pack and put snacks in my suitcase, I knew she was everything Leila and I needed.
“Yes,” I answered. “But will you manage with Leila after school? I could ask my mom.”
Emmie laughed.
No doubt, my mother loved Leila and being a grandmother on her own terms. She wanted to pamper our daughter for an hour. She wouldn’t stay with Leila unless forced to.
Emmie added, “I’ve asked my mom already,” stoking the stew. “She’ll come over the night before you leave, because I know the airport drop-offs are always early.”
Work presentations and homework dominated the rest of the week.
Then Emmie’s mother, Marie, arrived.
“Another trip?” she questioned. “Lots of traveling for you, Duncan.”
Emmie took me to the airport the next morning. Before going home to prepare Leila for school, she adjusted my tie and waved farewell.
I returned early from the business trip. I took a cab to my wife and daughter’s favorite bakery and bought their favorite snacks before going home.
“Dad, you’re home!” Leila ran to the door and sprang into my arms.
“My trip ended early,” I hugged her.
Though I liked my job, I knew I missed elements of Leila’s youth.
“Do you want ice cream?” I inquired. “Before Mom gets home from work.”
Leila nodded and called to her grandmother Marie that we were heading out.
My daughter reported that she had seen a ghost in the house.
“What do you mean, honey?”
Leila watched a drop of ice cream fall onto her shoe while staring at her cone.
“The other night, when I was going to the bathroom,” stated. “There was a ghost. Floating by the stairs.”
“I’m sure you saw Grandma or Grandpa,” I add.
I knew that when my mother-in-law stayed, Emmie’s father came for supper and the night before returning home. He disliked long absences.
Leila,”Grandpa didn’t come this time,” “Only Grandma. She said that Grandpa was with their cat.”
I had nothing else to tell Leila. I didn’t want to dismiss her as imagining things. However, I wasn’t sure about discussing it.
“How about this?” “If you see it again, or if you see anything strange, you come and tell me immediately.”
We headed back after Leila nodded excitedly.
After coming home, my wife and Leila were cooking and doing schoolwork. Since Marie was missing, I figured she was napping.
I wanted to unpack later in the week, but my wife despised half-packed bags and clothes piles.
The biggest shock of my life came when I entered our walk-in closet.
An older man buttoned his clothes between my work clothes and Emmie’s dresses.
I shouted “Emmie!” before asking his name. “What is this? Who is this man?”
Next, I heard my wife and daughter’s thunderous footsteps through the house.
Emmie entered our bedroom, calling “Duncan?” “What’s going on?”
“I should be asking you that,” I said. “Who is this man?”
With startled eyes, Emmie said, “What man?”
Emmie shrieked when the older man emerged from the closet.
“Who are you?” she exclaimed.
I expelled the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. When I found the man, I suspected my wife was cheating.
The look of surprise on her face told me this man was also unfamiliar.
“That’s the ghost!” Leila exclaimed, hiding behind her mother. “I saw him last night!”
“What?” Emmie and I both said.
Hissed, “Call the police!” Emmie.
Marie entered with a glass of water.
Before seeing the man, she inquired “What’s going on?”
“Tony?” she asked. “What are you still doing here?”
“You know this man?” Emmie exclaimed. “How?”
My mother-in-law frowned. I had never seen her so uncomfortable.
“Explain yourself, Mom,” Emmie urged.
Marie admitted, “I’ve been seeing Tony for a while.”
“I think you should go and watch some TV,” I urged Leila, who ran out of the room.
Emmie, sitting on the bed, questioned, “You’ve been cheating on Dad?”
Marie appeared to have seen the ghost my daughter saw.
“Look, Emmie,” Marie exclaimed. “Dad and I have been having issues for a while now.”
“So he knows about this?” my wife demanded from her mother.
“No, darling,” she said. “Dad doesn’t know. I don’t think I could tell him anyway. But I’m not getting any younger, and I need some joy for whatever is left in my life.”
Emmie clutched her head.
“I need you to promise me that you won’t tell Dad,” she said.
My wife gasped and left the bedroom.
“Duncan,” I said. “You’ve got to talk to her. This has to be a secret. We cannot tell my husband.”
“Up to Emmie,” I said. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”
Marie and Tony left our home shortly after.
“I can’t believe my mother,” Emmie stated as we discussed the afternoon.
“Look, at least you found out now,” I add. “It’s not a secret anymore.”
“Yes, but at the same time, I don’t know how I can keep this from my father. But more than that, I don’t understand why my mother had to bring him over to our home.”
I agreed with her—Marie was an adult with free will. However, I couldn’t understand why she would do it at home.
She was supposed to watch our daughter too.
It was reckless.
“I thought he was there for you,” I shouted.
Emmie set her mug on the coffee table.
So “That’s a much bigger conversation,” she remarked. “But I get it. It would have been quite the shock to see a random old man in our closet.”
Tony hid in our room since he was leaving when Emmie got home. Leila and I entered when he believed it was safe.
The closet was his refuge till he could flee. Marie believed Tony had left. And rested in the guest room.
“It’s just a mess, Duncan,” Emmie replied. “I don’t know if I can lie to my father.”
Saying “Then don’t,” “I’m not happy that Leila was exposed to this.”
I knew the secret would haunt her. My wife had trouble keeping secrets—this would send her tumbling.
“I don’t want to hurt my mom,” she added after we put Leila to bed.
“Sleep on it,” I said.
I sat in bed that night wondering what would have occurred if I hadn’t come early. Could Leila have seen Tony again and become more scared? I felt uneasy about a stranger entering my home after hours. Since Emmie didn’t know either.
It’s up to Emmie to determine what happens next, but I’ll back her.
What would you do?
Liked this story? Another tale! |
I cried when I saw what my rich husband was hiding in one room.
Alexis had no idea what she was getting into when her parents made her marry Robert. Alexis disregarded her husband’s one rule and entered the room he warned her about, revealing truths she wasn’t expecting.
I didn’t understand why my parents wanted me to marry before finding someone.
“Alexis,” she began, “Robert is a catch. He’s a wealthy man who will take care of you. You wouldn’t even have to work.”
I couldn’t refuse. Father made it obvious.
He said, “You marry Robert, Alexis,” smoking a cigar. “Or you can figure out your own living arrangements.”
I considered Robert my prince charming. Our family bakery lost customers because it didn’t offer gluten-free choices.
“We will continue to bake what we know,” my father said.
Our marriage was arranged. Robert was icy and wouldn’t allow me get to know him. I don’t know how my dad connected us.
Our wedding was a lavish display of Robert’s wealth. The wedding planner for Robert had considered everything.
He had me a unique wedding dress made. Despite wedding plans, we hardly spoke.
“I’m looking forward to being married,” he said one evening before the wedding.
“But I don’t know what I’m doing,” said.
That was the closest Robert came to admitting me.
I moved into our new house two days after our wedding.
“Come, I’ll show you around,” Robert said.
He showed me our mansion, which had huge golf courses, a glistening pool, and a fleet of personnel at our disposal.
“It’s beautiful,” I exclaimed in the kitchen. “Everything is beautiful.”
“Now, Alexis, this house belongs to you too,” he boasted.
I grinned at the stranger in front of me. We might create something of our marriage.
“But one thing, Alexis,” began. “There’s one rule. The attic. Never go in there.”
I nod to Robert. Why I wasn’t allowed in the house was beyond me. However, I realized I didn’t know my husband well enough. I had to comply.
A few days later, Robert departed to a conference, leaving me alone in our huge house.
“How dare you come in here? Now, I have to change the locks in my own home because my wife does not respect my requests?”
Bobby’s face went red with wrath.
“I just want to understand,” I mumbled. “I just want to know you, Robert.”
He slowly lost his fury and began to regard me as a friend rather than an intruder.
“Alexis,” he said, “Sit.”
Robert took me to the living room.
“My father was a stern man. He was a soldier and he believed in keeping emotions locked away. These are the only things I have of a time when I felt loved,” he said.
I hung on his every word as his voice broke.
His soul was revealed. Our family heard stories of lonely childhoods and boys seeking parental approval.
