Winner of RPGC #38: Invisibility
Jackson sat at an outside table of Tobius Internet Cafe. He passed his card over the bill terminal and paused a moment to see the green checkmark appear before he put his card away. "Well, Marilyn, I have had a wonderful time, as always. Do you want to go out again next Saturday? Museum?"
"I would like that," Marilyn said. "But, I think..." There was hesitation in her voice, and Jackson could hear it. He leaned in a little. She continued, "I think I might be willing to take this to the next step." She giggled a little and let out a breathe of air.
Jackson was flattered. It had been only three dates, which had all gone perfectly. They had so much in common, books, music, taste in food. "I am honored. I look forward to it."
"I mean here," she said in a low tone. "I could take the next step here."
Jackson looked around. There were a few other men at the cafe but like any other place, it was hard to tell if they were alone or with another. He tried to see if any had been listening or were trying to look as well. One made brief eye contact with Jackson and looked away. Jackson looked at the space across the table from him. Like all other woman in public, she was invisible. They revealed themselves only by choice. "Are you sure?" he whispered.
There was silence for a moment. "You're right. Perhaps it's not safe." But then a pair of eyes appeared, blinked, and then disappeared again.
Jackson stared into the space before him. In the distance beyond the outdoor railing, cars passed, some with drivers, some without. Some with fake drivers, which were obvious to the discerning eye. He was trying not to see the activity in the street beyond, however, he was trying to keep and remember those eyes.
"You're quiet," she said in a subdued way.
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to hold on to what your eyes looked like. Beautiful," he said honestly in awe. Jackson had seen his mother and his two sisters growing up. His mother appeared all the time inside the home. His sisters, as they got older, appeared less and less frequently. He knew what they looked like, however, and they didn't have eyes like Marilyn's.
"Oh," she laughed. "Well, in that case, you'll look forward to seeing me again. I have a whole face to admire as well."
"I'm sure that I will," he smiled and pushed his seat back, standing and straightening his coat.
"Next Saturday, then," Marilyn said. The sound of her retreating footsteps indicated that she was already on the go.
"Next Saturday," Jackson said.
---
Throughout the week, Jackson worked like he always had. He arrived at the office building, found his desk, and proceeded to work through data and reports. The only woman in the office who chose to be visible was Susan, the office grandmother. Susan was in her nineties and actually had great great grandchildren. She could be seen talking to the men and to the women, although when talking to other women it always appeared as though she were talking with no one.
Men and women in the office hardly ever talked with one another unless it was necessary, at least not in the physical. Talking though the computer was another story. Rapidly staccato keyboards clickity clacked all across the office space. It was the norm. Messages from cute avatars and plain ones scrolled up the side of one computer monitor all work day as the conventional method of 'water cooler' socialization.
One topic scrolling quickly, the main topic, this week, was that of a news story: Film Actress Kim Porfaux was rumored to be dating someone. Office coworkers speculated about the actor that could be her real life love interest. Famous names leapt up the chat history one after another. Jackson, as usual, only glanced at the chatter, until someone mentioned that her real name was Marilyn Kim Porfaux.
He had been in the middle of creating a prompt for the AI to compile data from two reports when he saw the name. "Marilyn," he chuckled to himself. Then looked up the actress on the internet. He had not seen any of the films before, but none were really the genre that he watched. In the movies she always only wore "the bag". "The bag" was a piece of fashion clothing designed to show where a woman was without revealing much about her. Miss Porfaux was as mysterious as any other woman, but it stuck in Jackson's mind.
"What are you looking at, Jackson?" the ancient and jubilant voice of Susan startled him from behind.
"Susan! Oh, ah, the office chatter is about the actress. I'd never heard of her."
"Not a fan of historical romance? Me neither. I like history, but not romance. Had enough of that in my life. Documentaries are my thing. A little adventure show from time to time."
"Yeah, Sci-fi and Cop shows for me. I was just curious," he looked at the screen again.
Susan patted him on his head, "Whoever is dating her is a lucky guy." She then moved on down the rows of cubicles to chat with someone else.
"Lucky guy," Jackson said looking at the image of Marilyn Kim Porfaux in the bag, cinched at the waist, hat and sunglasses, waving to the camera.
---
He knew it was an insane idea. Friday night and even into Saturday morning, he looked up as much information on Marilyn Kim Porfaux that he could. He listened to interviews, but all interviews involving women had synthetic voice overlays. It was impossible to tell. He watched the historic romance, "Unseen Hearts along the Nile", and found that he liked the movie well enough. He even thought that the actress sounded like his Marilyn, which caused him to sweat a little. Who was he to be dating someone famous?
Saturday morning just before he was getting ready to leave his apartment, it occurred to him to try, "Kim Porfeux most recent sighting" in the search engine. The image that returned was unmistakable, the Tobius Internet Cafe. Jackson didn't know what to think. He was an IT guy, not some Hollywood hotshot. His watched beep twice, and he glanced at it. He needed to leave to make their date at the museum, but how could he focus now that he knew who she was.
On the drive to the museum he tried to remember their previous dates. Were there any clues? He remembered what when he said when he explained his job. "I look at reports and write more reports," he had joked.
Her response had been, "That sounds better than what I do. People tell me what to do all day. They don't really see me. I'd really just like to quit and be a landscape painter." 'They don't really see me' was a phrase many woman used because of the whole invisibility thing, but maybe she'd said it because everyone sees her in way, to be ironic.
He was in the museum parking lot before he knew it. He got out of his car and stood there holding his phone in a tight grip. Wouldn't most guys be thrilled to know they were dating a movie star? Jackson just felt overwhelmed. Then he saw the people far across the parking lot at the entrance: Paparazzi. He laughed a nervous laugh.
A fancy car pulled up. A woman's voice shouted, "It's Marilyn!" Camera's took pictures of the car and the driver as it arrived. The doors of the car opened and someone threw a bag of bright pink colored Gulal powder right at the open door. The partial outline of a woman's head and shoulder beside the driver could be seen. Camera's flashed and filmed the event in high definition. The pink peppered partial ghost looked around and appeared to be looking right at Jackson for a moment.
The driver yelled, "Back in the car!" and the pink dusted silhouette jumped back into the car and the doors all closed. The vehicle made a quick exit, and some paparazzi were quick to follow. Jackson walked up to the area where the car had been and watched as the car sped away with some pursuers close behind.
It all happened to quickly. Other bystanders not involved with the whole event looked around at each other. People exchanged shrugs and looks of concern and wonder. Jackson backed up a few steps and then finally retreated to his car. His blood was pumping, his mind was spinning, and he looked down at his phone. "Are you at the museum?" he texted.
A quick moment later a reply appeared, "Yes! That was crazy, right?"
Jackson breathed a sigh of relief. He laughed out loud. It couldn't have been her. He'd been psyching himself out for nothing. Maybe she was already waiting inside. He texted, "I'm at my car. Where are you?"
"I'm at your car, too," the text returned.
Jackson looked around as if he might see an invisible person. He laughed internally at himself and with a breath said, "You're here. Were you going to surprise me? Hard to do after seeing that."
"Yeah, my sister likes to plan elaborate things," Marilyn's voice came from the other side of Jackson's car.
"Your sister?" he said a little confused.
"Jackson," Marilyn said some shakiness in her voice, "I have a confession to make. It's about my job. Can I tell you in the car though?" The doors opened and Jackson sat in the car and the doors closed.
"Marilyn Kim Porfaux," Jackson said staring forward. In front of the museum some of the paparazzi still milled about hoping to see her come back through. Someone from the museum was yelling at the man who through the pink dust. A few visitors were looking confused as they tried to enter attempting to ignore the strange throng. Camera's occasionally took pictures of vacant air hoping that something would come of it.
"Yes... You knew?"
Jackson could hear her timidness. His mind softened towards her. For three weeks he'd simply gotten to know Marilyn, just a woman named Marilyn. Somehow he still couldn't reconcile the information he'd discovered online about the actress to what he'd learned on a few dates about the invisible woman beside him. "I think I just found out by accident this week."
"The rumors," she sighed. "I shouldn't have been so bold at the cafe. I should have been more observant."
"But," Jackson was riding the roller coaster of thought and emotions, "Our similar interests, and... and Historical Romance?" His incredulousness against the genre of her movies came off as an accusation.
"Have you seen my movies?" a slight embarrassment in her voice.
"Just one. Last night. I was trying to discern if it really was you? Unseen Hearts along the Nile."
"That one?" she groaned slightly, "Why not Hidden Promises and Hidden Guns?"
"Unseen Hearts along the Nile high a higher Rotten Tomatoes score," Jackson said as plainly as he could, and Marilyn laughed. Jackson could not help but chuckle along. "You said, 'People tell me what to do all day'. I'm guessing now directors."
"And an agent. also the studio. And maybe a few others. They won't let me do a Syfy movie original, or a Sitcom Comedy. It's off brand." She sighed, while the people in front of the museum continued to wait.
Jackson could hear the woman he'd been getting to know in her answers and her voice. He'd let some of the office gossip affect him, and he shouldn't have. She was still Marilyn from the dates. "There is another museum about an hour down the interstate. You want to go there instead?" He looked at the empty seat next to him, imagining those eyes, hoping she'd say yes.
Marilyn's eyes and lips appeared transparent then translucent in the air before him. She smiled, "That sounds like fun." Then suddenly that vision of her disappeared, and she was invisible again with a giggle, her giggle.
Jackson was captivated as a smile grew on his face. Those lips, those eyes, that smile. "Alright," he said turning on the car. It was a date. He laughed as he pulled out of the paparazzi plagued museum parking lot, "I see you."
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