The disclaimer telling you that I don't own any Ghosts characters is off eating some candy somewhere. This takes place right after the events of The Silent Partner.

The Bitterness Of Adultery and Butterscotch

To say Carol wasn't having a good week was the understatement of the year.

Choking to death on a donut hole on Halloween was one of the top ten problems she had. Ironically, not the biggest one at the moment.

The two biggest problems were that the ghost of her first husband had confronted her about her affair and he wasn't happy.

The second was that two other ghosts were obsessed with the candy in her purse.

Death was a lot more difficult than Carol could have imagined.

And she had a feeling things were about to get worse.

"We need to talk," Alberta confronted Carol in the sitting room.

"Yes, we must talk about something very important," Isaac spoke up as he walked into the room with Thorfinn and Sasappis. "Now I understand Carol that you have candy on your person? In particular your handbag?"

"Thorfinn admits," Thorfinn spoke up. "That's big news."

"What is it with you people and your obsession with things in my purse?" Carol shouted.

"Not all your things," Isaac remarked. "Just the candy. What flavor is it again?"

"Butterscotch," Sasappis told him.

"Ooh!" Isaac grinned. "Tasty!"

"Thorfinn goes first!" Thorfinn spoke up.

"Says who?" Sasappis asked. "I figured it out!"

"I'm the Captain!" Isaac added. "I have rank!"

"Thorfinn has axe!" Thorfinn bellowed and showed his axe.

"That's a good point," Isaac gulped.

"You wanna go back out in the woods for another week, Thor?" Alberta shouted.

"Carol," Isaac spoke up. "I will give you two hundred backrubs for a taste of your candy."

"Three hundred!" Sasappis spoke up.

"Five hundred backrubs!" Thorfinn spoke up. "Thorfinn really wants to taste Carol's candy."

"Oh my God no!" Carol gasped. "Wait backrubs?"

"That's our currency," Sasappis explained. "Ghosts can't use actual money so we use backrubs."

"That's just freaking weird," Carol groaned.

"This whole being dead and a ghost thing is weird Carol," Alberta said. "Get with the program."

"I am not standing around and letting you people suck my candy!" Carol shouted. "You people are crazy!"

Sasappis told her. "When you hang around here for hundreds of years without tasting anything let's see how well you handle it!"

"Hundreds?" Carol shouted.

"What did you think this was a costume?" Sasappis pointed to himself. "Oh, wait you did think this was a costume. Right, you died on Halloween. I forgot that."

"I literally died two days ago!" Carol shouted. "How could you forget that?"

"To be fair there is a lot going on," Isaac remarked. "I'm engaged to Nigel. Thorfinn lost Flower who got sucked off. I'm going to be a silent partner in Jay's restaurant! I even got my own table!"

"Oh, good for you," Alberta congratulated Isaac.

"Not so crazy about the fact that Jay isn't going to put down any sawdust," Isaac remarked. "I mean people are going to urinate…"

"That's why they're putting in a bathroom," Sasappis rolled his eyes. "Hello? They have this new thing called modern plumbing?"

"Oh, that makes much more sense," Isaac nodded. "I forgot about that."

"To be fair ghosts don't use bathroom so…" Thorfinn shrugged.

Isaac turned to Carol. "Now Carol, I can let you be a part of this exciting venture. All I need is a little taste of your candy."

"NO!" Carol shouted.

"Just one suck!" Isaac shouted. "I'm not asking for much!"

"No! Besides I have bigger problems than some crazy ghosts who want to suck my candy!" Carol shouted.

Alberta explained to the others. "Pete finally told her that he knew about her cheating with his best friend Jerry."

"About time," Sasappis remarked. "And I missed it? Damn."

"How did he find out about that?" Carol was stunned.

Isaac remarked. "You literally stood in this room and declared that you cheated on Pete with Jerry. Remember? When you first came to the mansion two years ago? Did you think Pete didn't hear that?"

"And Pete did not know you cheat on him before that," Thorfinn added. "After remaining faithful for forty years."

Isaac admitted. "It was rather embarrassing."

"But really juicy gossip," Sasappis smirked. "But seriously you forgot all that?"

"I know you probably didn't believe in ghosts when you were a living," Alberta said. "But after you died and saw Pete you should have put two and two together."

"How was I supposed to know Pete heard that?" Carol shouted.

Sasappis blinked. "Again, we're all here. All the time. Watching livings all the time. Because let's be honest there isn't that much else to do. It's pretty much what we do. How is that confusing to you?"

"Boy, is she dumb," Thorfinn remarked.

"I am not dumb!" Carol snapped.

"You kind of are," Alberta said. "You swallowed a donut hole whole without chewing it. I mean…"

"Oh, there you are, Alberta," Nancy walked in. "Good Carol is here too. She can witness this. I'm tired of hiding in the shadows! I'm here to tell you that Pete is mine! So back off!"

"Uh what now?" Isaac did a double take.

"I missed something didn't I?" Sasappis blinked. "I really am slipping!"

"Nancy change tune on Thorfinn pretty fast," Thorfinn blinked.

"That's right," Nancy took a stance. "I'm fighting for my man here. Because Pete is all man and I'm going to fight for him with everything…"

"She knows," Alberta spoke up. "Pete finally told her."

"Oh, good because I really didn't want to do that," Nancy let out a sigh of relief. "Classic Pete breakdown?"

"Pretty much yeah," Alberta grinned. "It was beautiful. I'll tell you later."

"I can't believe it," Carol was still stunned. "How did this happen?"

"Oh, I know what happened," Nancy spoke up. "You thought you got away with cheating on Pete but it turns out you didn't. Like Stuart thought he got away without telling all of us he had Cholera. Boy did that plan backfire."

Alberta nodded. "As my friend Flower would have said, karma got you."

"Welcome to club," Thorfinn remarked.

"I'm in Hell," Carol groaned. "I cheated on Pete and now I'm in Hell."

"Nah it's just an endless purgatory," Alberta explained. "It feels like Hell sometimes."

Thorfinn remarked. "But there have been portals to Hell occasionally. But that mostly Elias recently so…"

"Wait what now?" Carol did a double take.

"People I think we're getting off topic here," Isaac spoke up. "That is the subject of Carol's candy and how we can suck on it!"

"She has butterscotch candy in her purse," Sasappis explained to Nancy.

"Interesting," Nancy paused. "Maybe if she held the candy in her hand…?"

"That's what we've been thinking," Sasappis nodded.

"Will you people forget about the damn candy?" Carol shouted. "Pete is furious with me!"

"Again," Sasappis gave her a look. "This is a shock to you?"

Isaac added. "Carol when one person loudly declares that they were cheating on their partner, it's to be expected the partner would be more than a tad upset."

"Boy she really is dumb," Nancy remarked.

"Look Carol," Alberta spoke up. "Pete's a great guy. He may not be perfect but he certainly didn't deserve what you did to him. I know what it's like to be cheated on. My boyfriend cheated on me. And the man he cheated on me with murdered me. But that's another story. The point is, you hurt a good man. And now you have to face what you did and make it right."

"Alberta's right," Sasappis let out a breath. "Pete's our friend. And we stand by him."

Alberta pointed at Carol. "You know the worst part of all this? You lied to Pete! Right to his face! If you had been honest and upfront he would have forgiven you!"

Sasappis spoke up. "No, I think the worst part is that she actually forgot that she admitted she had an affair with Jerry. Out loud. In this room!"

Nancy added. "You seriously forgot that? Wow. She makes Flower look smart."

"Yeah, even she wouldn't forget something like…?" Sasappis paused. "Well maybe she would?"

"Flower was so high on hallucinogenic mushrooms she could barely remember that she was dead," Nancy said. She pointed to Carol. "What's this one's excuse?"

"Fair point," Thorfinn remarked. "Even Flower remembered important things."

"Come on guys," Alberta said. "Let's go find Pete and leave Carol to think about what she's done." She started to leave with Thorfinn.

Sasappis and Isaac paused. "You could also think about the whole candy situation," Isaac added. "No pressure."

"We have eternity," Sasappis added. "We'll talk later." They left the room leaving Carol and Nancy alone.

Carol groaned. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Nancy remarked. "You could start by letting other ghosts suck your candy for free. That would be a great start to smooth things over around here. You could let me and Pete suck your candy!"

Carol groaned. "I knew I should have put mace in my purse when I left the house. Figures. The one time I didn't!"