• Chapter 1

• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8

If you’d like to see this story continued, send me a message and I’ll be sure to forward your message to him. I’d ask his permission to post a live link (and get the correct address) but if I did that, he’d be sure to tell me not to bother…

HOME

“Scheisse!”

He would just have to walk straight past her, ignoring her as if she was a stranger. But as he passed her, a gloved hand slipped itself gently, but firmly, round his arm.

“Aren’t you even going to say hello?” Her voice didn’t sound so strange now, coming from under the veil instead of out of thin air.

“Hello!” he snapped sarcastically, pulling his arm free. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I just thought I’d be friendly and walk with you to the station.”

“Well, don’t.” He gestured towards her hat with the veil hanging from it. “People are going to stare at us, with you wearing that thing.”

“They’d stare a lot more if I took it off.”

For a moment, Max thought about pulling it off her head, embarrassing her in public. But the chances were she’d just continue walking beside him, and he’d be the one to be embarrassed.

“Why don’t you wear a rubber mask, like they do in the films?”

“Ok. You find me a shop which sells totally lifelike rubber masks.”

“There must be something you else could try?”

“Like what? It’s been over five years since the Incident, and this is the most practical solution I’ve found.”

The conversation fell back into silence after that. Diane took Max’s arm again and this time he was surprised to find that he didn’t resist. They walked together like that until they reached the station.

“Have a good day, Max.” She hugged him, and he found himself hugging her in return.

Diane hummed to herself as she chopped the fresh basil, carefully making sure she didn’t cut her fingers by accident. The scent alone was enough to make her mouth water. She hoped Max would appreciate the result.

She smiled. The pursuit was going far more smoothly than she had dared hope. Although she had known that they were two kindred spirits, she had never dreamed that Max would start coming round to her way of thinking so quickly once Becky was out of the picture.

Diane gathered up the chopped basil and added it to the chicken and the rest of the ingredients. She noticed her fingers were slightly stained from preparing the food, an uncomfortable reminder of what she had lost. Once she had finished stirring the ingredients, she went over to the sink, and washed her fingers back into invisibility.

The chicken could be left to marinate until Max returned home. Diane removed the borrowed yellow apron, and wandered into Max’s living room, hoping to watch some TV to pass the time.

When she finally had Max all to herself, she could cook for him whenever she like. She relaxed a little as she sank down onto the sofa. Yes, when she had Max all to herself… But first she’d have to make sure he didn’t get back with that manipulating wimp Becky this weekend. And that left her with only a day and a half to win Max over.

Well, she could worry about that when the time came. She reached for the TV remote, feeling her way slowly across its buttons with her unseen fingers. What she wanted now was a heavy dose of soap opera, to take her mind off things.

The closing titles of EastEnders were finishing, when she heard the front door open. She crept quietly into the hall, not wanting to make her presence known in case Max had somebody with him. When she saw that he was on his own, she gave a sigh of relief.

He must have heard it, because he looked up. When she saw his face looking so nervous, Diane couldn’t resist throwing her arms around him, comforting him in a big invisible hug.

“Hello, Max,” she whispered into his ear. “Don’t worry, it’s only me.”

“Yes, I was thought you’d be here again,” he replied in that sexy German accent.
There was something on his breath. So, that was why he was late home. He must have joined the others in the pub after work. Diane felt disappointed that he could prefer mere colleagues to her, but she didn’t say anything. There’d be plenty of time to change that once she’d won him completely.

“I’ve got a treat for you,” she said as she ran across the hall and pushed the kitchen door open.

She paused to make sure he was following her and then removed the apron from its hook and put it on. She turned her back towards him.

“Can you tie this for me?” she asked.

“Erm, alright.” He hesitated and then began to tie the apron strings. “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes with that? It looks really strange seeing it making the shape of your figure inside-out from behind.”

“I prefer the freedom of total invisibility, but I’ll put some clothes on later to keep you happy, Max. If you don’t like seing me backwards, is this any better?”
She turned to face him once more.

“I suppose so.”

Diane smiled to herself. Max was even getting used to her invisibility now. This was the best news she could have hoped for.

“Now, see what I’m making for you; my fried chicken with peppers, basil and balsamic vinegar nestling in a bed of pasta. Just wait until you’ve tasted it. You didn’t eat at the pub, did you?”

“No, just a packet of dry roasted nuts.”

From the tone of Max’s voice, the question must have taken him by surprise, but it was the answer she’d been expecting. She’d spied on the gatherings down the pub in the past, and she knew that they took most of their calories in liquid form.

“Good. Now I’ll have to face the cooker while I’m cooking the meal. If you don’t like seing inside the apron, maybe should wait in the other room until its ready.”

The meal itself took only a few minutes to cook and serve. But before she called Max back into the kitchen, there was something else she had to do. She used the water from the sink to clean her feet, then she pulled her large holdall from where she had hidden it under the kitchen table, unzipped it, and started to remove its contents.

First came a pair of sheer tights, which she slipped onto her legs. Then, a figure-hugging pale-blue sleeveless dress with a keyhole front and criss-cross straps at the back. Once she had put that on, it hung just above her knees. Next she removed a pair of black platform sandals for her feet. Some bangles, also pale blue, on her wrists completed the outfit.

“Max,” she called. He came slowly into the kitchen, but his reaction when he saw her showed that he clearly liked what he saw.

She didn’t say anything but just gestured with a bangled wrist, towards the food on the table. Max obediently sat and she joined him.

“Go ahead, Max. You’ll like it.”

She watched as he nervously took his first taste.

“Mmmm… This is delicious. You’re a great cook.”

“Thank you. I have to be. I love good food, but I can’t eat in restaurants without causing a riot.”

The rest of the meal passed quickly, making the usual small talk. Max was starting to relax and feel comfortable in her presence, which is more than most men would have done. To Diane this was more proof that they were two of a kind.

After the dinner she insisted on washing up the dishes again. Then, taking her coat, gloves and veil from the holdall, she told him that she had to be going home again. He just nodded and mumbled an “If you must…” in reply.

Before putting her veil on, Diane reached forward and gave Max a gentle kiss on the lips. She was pleased to see he seemed disappointed that she didn’t go any further…

HOME

“Just look at all these dirty cups. It’s a good job you’ve got a good friend like me to wash them up for you. Haven’t you washed anything up since Becky left?”

Max was about to reply that that he’d been too distracted to do anything much, but he stopped. Why should he have to defend himself to her? Instead he watched her sleeves roll themselves up, revealing even more nothingness beneath them.

“Why are you wearing Becky’s clothes?”

“Well, you do want to see where I am, don’t you?”

“But why her clothes?”

Diane picked up a dishcloth in her left hand, revealing the shape of her fingers beneath it. She transferred it to her other hand as she replied, “What else could I do? It was too hot to wear a veil today. And my clothes without a head would have caused a riot on the streets.”

From where he was standing, Max could see the surface of the water in the sink part, and a bubble shaped like a woman’s hand form under it. A second later, the surface closed and a coffee mug rose out of the sink, held by a ghostly hand made from water droplets. The dishcloth in her right hand flew over, and began wiping inside the mug.

Aware that he was staring, Max tried desperately to continue the conversation:
“It must make buying new clothes very difficult.”

“Not really. I’m always getting new clothes. I just buy them on the Internet, and send back the ones that don’t fit.”

“Won’t the companies get suspicious if you do that too often?”

“Maybe,” she giggled. “They probably just think I’m a crossdresser.”

A small plate joined the cup on the rack beside the sink.

“How can you afford it?” asked Max, his curiosity steadily getting the better of him. “Have you got a job? A private detective? Or a spy?”

“No. I haven’t worked since the Incident. The company gave me a very generous compensation package. They had to, to buy my silence.”

“The Incident?”

The words slipped out before Max could stop them. It was silly, but as long as he didn’t know how Diane had disappeared, there was still a chance he might be able to pretend that this wasn’t real. To ask meant to accept her condition, her existence. But it was too late now.

“I was a junior lab assistant in the chemical research division. The lab was next to the processing plant and the bean-counters were always cutting corners. One day, there was a leak, toxic gas seeped into the air conditioning. Everyone had to evacuate the building. But I was overcome by the fumes, and collapsed into a workbench covered in test tubes, beakers, all full of chemicals. When the all clear was sounded, they returned to the lab and found me lying there, unconscious and invisible. I’ve a lot to be grateful for, I should have been dead.”

“And you’ve been invisible ever since?”

“Yes. In fact I’m less visible now than I was then. My hair and nails didn’t disappear straight away. I had to wait for the old, visible, part to grow out.” The last spoon joined the rest of the crockery on the rack.

“But what happened? Did the company try to find out what made you invisible? Why did they let you go?”

Diane laughed, as a towel wiped away the liquid outlines that were her hands.

“You’ve been watching too much science fiction, Max! Those jerks couldn’t even afford a decent chemical safety system. They’re not going to waste money on secret dungeons with armed guards.”

“So, they didn’t do any experiments on you then?”

“Oh, the company boffins kept asking me in so they could do all sorts of tests and biopsies. I still have to visit them once a fortnight as part of the compensation deal. But they really haven’t got the faintest idea what caused it.”

The towel hung itself back on the rail and Diane’s sleeves rolled themselves down, revealing the shape of her arms once more.

“What about your friends? Your family?”

“My boyfriend left me soon afterwards. He said he couldn’t love someone who wasn’t really there. And after all these years, I still haven’t dared tell my family about me. I’m alone like you, Max, I haven’t got anyone.”

Max didn’t want to argue this point, not again. He just said, “You must have someone.”

“Yes, now I’ve got you. Even if it’s only as a friend. I’m so glad we could talk like this today, but I really must be going now.”

“Going?” Max was relieved, but also slightly puzzled. This wasn’t like the obsessive Diane he knew.

“Yes Max, but not like this.”

She sat on a chair, and started to remove a white sock. Max stared, half revolted, half intrigued as it slowly came off, following the contours of Diane’s unseen foot. The other foot followed, then she stood up and lifted the sweatshirt over her head.Staring at the empty space where her torso should be reminded Max just how wrong the whole situation was, and he turned away, hoping to find something normal to focus on.

“Don’t be shy,” teased Diane, who must have misunderstood his actions. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before. Literally!”

Max glanced back, and saw the old orange jeans lowering themselves, to reveal a pair of knickers floating in midair. Those quickly followed, and then there was nothing left of Diane.

“Goodnight, Max. See you soon.”

He felt her lips give him a gentle peck on the cheek, but no more. Then, he saw the jeans float themselves of the chir where they were lying, and two keys fly out of the pocket and vanish. The jeans threw themselves into Max’s face. He removed them and saw the door swing open, then closed again.

He ran into the hall just in time to see the front door closing itself. Max breathed a sigh of relief, then wondered. How could he be certain that she wasn’t still around? He turned back into the sitting room, and sank down on the sofa. There was no sign of her; he really was alone. So why did he feel almost disappointed?