Invisible Future

by Lindsey Anderle

  Lane looked down at me before wrapping me in his arms and drawing me close. I laid my head on his chest and cried out all the anxiety, the hopelessness of my situation.

  After a few minutes, I started to breathe easier. I sat back and wiped at my eyes and nose. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Lane.

  “Are you feeling better now?” he asked softly, brushing his hand over my hair, smoothing it down.

  Nodding, I realized I truly did feel better. A weight was gone that I hadn’t fully noticed was pushing me down. I felt lighter just telling someone about my secret.

  I took a shaky breath. “Now is the part where you tell me you can’t see me anymore and I need help.”

  Lane chuckled and took hold of my hand again. “I’m not leaving you Abby. In fact, I’d like to look at the note.”

  I froze, looking at him. “You’re really not leaving?” I whispered, surprised.

  “I’m not leaving,” he whispered back. “I can’t say I understand what you’re going through, but I want to help you.”

  I could only sit there, stunned. This guy was too much. I didn’t deserve him. Shaking my head, I stood up. “No, no this is too much.” I started walking. “I can’t drag you into this with me.”

  Lane jumped up and ran in front of me, blocking my way. “Wait, Abby, where are you going?”

  I wiped at my eyes again, tears flooding over. “I’m leaving. I am insane. No guy in their right mind would willingly stay with me after that. So, I must be going out of my mind. I’ve made you up, you’re a figment of my imagination.”

  Lane just stared at me, biting back a smile. “Abby, look at me.”

  I sighed, reluctantly bringing my eyes up to meet his. Lane was looking at me, and I was amazed to see no skepticism in his expression. He wasn’t making fun of me or indulging me.

  He took hold of my hand, bringing it to his cheek to touch. “Do I feel like a figment of your imagination?”

  I shook my head, unable to speak.

  He took a step closer, so there was no space left between us. He wrapped his arms around me. “Does this feel real to you?”

  I clung to Lane, needing to feel grounded, to feel real. “Yes,” I whispered. “You feel real.” I hugged him tighter to me.

  “Okay, then,” Lane said, kissing the top of my head. He led me back to the bench. Wiping my tears away, he smiled at me. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m here for you.”

  I nodded, drawing in a shaky breath. I smoothed my hair back and wiped my face off.

  “God, this is going horribly,” I said. I reached over to my purse, digging through the contents until I grabbed onto the page that had turned my life upside down. I handed it to Lane, watching as he read it.

  He bent his head over the page, and I noticed how he mouthed the words sometimes as he read them. It got harder to breathe as he got closer to where I knew the note to be. He read past it and kept going. I let out the breath I hadn’t noticed I was holding.

  I sat back and looked up at the sky through the trees. I was truly alone. Nobody could help me.

  “Abby?”

  I didn’t move. “Yeah?”

  “Nobody else can see the note?”

  “No,” I breathed out, close to breaking down again, tears squeezing out of the corners of my eyes.

  “Abby?”

  “Yeah?”

  I felt Lane take my hand. “I can see it.”

  The whole world shifted on its axis, causing me to lose my breath. I clutched Lane’s hand like a life preserver, saving me from floating away.

  “You can?” I turned to look at him. “You really can, you’re not just saying that?”

  Lane pulled the paper up so I could see it and he pointed out the exact spot where the note started. “It’s there, isn’t it? It says it’s a new technology, they don’t know how you’ll receive the message.”

  All I could do was stare at him. “You’re not messing with me, are you?” I asked, too afraid to be let down again.

  Lane shook his head no. “Please, believe me. I would never hurt you like that. I swear I can see what you’re talking about.”

  “You can see it? You can really see it? So, I’m not going crazy?” I didn’t even know how to react. “But wait! How can you see it? Whitney and my boss couldn’t, how can you?”

  Lane shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. But I see it, just like you can.”

  I rubbed my face with my hands. “Okay, so what does this even mean? Are you part of my delusion or is this all a big joke?”

  “This is no delusion. You’re perfectly fine and you’re going to keep being fine.”

  “Well, now what? How does this help me? This still doesn’t make any sense!” I slumped back against the bench, feeling despair steal over me.

  Lane rubbed my shoulders. “It’s okay. This can be a good starting point for you.”

  I threw up my hands. “Yeah, but how? What am I going to do, go around and show everybody this paper to see if they can see it or not? I don’t think so,” I said, shaking my head.

  Lane laughed. “Yes, that’s true, but that’s also not what I had in mind. I think your idea would take just a little too long with no results.”

  My cheeks flamed up at the teasing tone of his voice. I sat up straighter, crossing my arms. “Okay, then mister smarty-pants, what was your idea?”

  Lane smiled and stood up. “As much as I’m loving seeing this feisty side of you, sitting here and arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere.” He extended his hand to me, to help me stand up.

  I pushed it away and got up on my own. “I’m not arguing, you’re arguing,” I said, as I started walking back down the pathway. I didn’t bother waiting for Lane to catch up.

  I didn’t need to worry though, because he caught up with me easily enough.

  “Not arguing, huh?” he asked easily.

  “Nope,” I said flatly, not looking at him.

  “Okay. Just making sure.”

  I dared to look at him out of the corner of my eye and saw him grinning down at me. I huffed and turned away, walking faster.

  Lane kept pace with me and I felt his arm go around my shoulders, hugging me to him. My heartbeat picked up. I just couldn’t resist this man.

  I slowed down a bit to a normal walking pace and leaned into Lane a little. He responded by squeezing me to him, kissing the top of my head.

  I sighed. “Okay, fine, I overreacted. So where are we going?”

  “Back to your place,” Lane responded. “I figured Whitney could help us out since she’s already in the loop.”

  Ugh. Back to Whitney’s teasing and innuendos. I didn’t think I could stomach much more of it. But I knew I would have to, for my sake.

  “Okay. Back to my place. To figure out…something.”

  Lane nodded. “It’s going to be okay Abby. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  I ducked my head, feeling heat rising in my cheeks. I still couldn’t believe I had lucked out with such an amazing man. Wrapping my arm around his waist, I squeezed him back, feeling the firm muscles of his stomach. My whole face felt like it was on fire now.

  “How about we pick up some dinner on the way back?” Lane asked.

  We had reached the car by then and I paused by the passenger door. “I could definitely go for some Chinese food right now.”

  “Chinese it is then!” Lane said enthusiastically.

  We both got in our seats and Lane pulled out onto the street.

  “I’ll text Whitney and see what she wants,” I said. I pulled my phone out and opened it to our conversation.

  Me: Hey, Whit, we’re going to bring home some Chinese for dinner. You want anything?

  Whitney: Yeah, I want to know what happened with you guys! You ran out of here pretty fast!

  I rolled my eyes at that.

  Me: I wonder why! You and your stupid sex jokes

  Whitney: Lol, you know I was just teasing! Seriously though, where did you guys go?

  Me: To the
park to talk. I wasn’t sure how much I should tell her over a text message. It’s a bit of a long story. I was going to fill you in when we got back

  Whitney: Okay, fine. And I’ll take beef and broccoli with an eggroll

  Me: Got it! See you soon

  Whitney: Don’t forget the sweet and sour sauce!

  Me: Okay, mom

  I put my phone down. “Okay, I have Whitney’s order.”

  “Good. I’ll run in and order if you’ll tell me what you want.”

  Lane was pulling into the parking lot of Chef Noodle. It was moderately busy; the parking spots were half full.

  “Will you get me orange chicken and some of the rangoons? Oh, and Whitney wants beef and broccoli and an eggroll.”

  “Got it. I’ll be right back.”

  Lane leaned in toward me slowly, eyes playing over my face. I could feel every glance like a soft caress and then I was leaning in too. His lips pressed softly against mine, and now I’ve forgotten how to breathe. Too soon, the moment ended and Lane moved away, smiling.

  “That’s never going to get old.”

  I blushed again, biting my lip. Anything with Lane would never get old. I watched as he got out and I leaned my head back against the seat, my breath whooshing out.

  I observed the other customers going in and out, noticing that nobody glanced in my direction. It would ordinarily have never bothered me, but after the day I had, I needed the normalcy of random people walking around and glancing in my direction, even for a second.

  I sat forward, being as obvious as I could about watching the people walk by. And yet nobody would turn my way.

  Oh, please let this all be in my head, I thought, feeling desperation come over me.

  My mouth had dried out and my palms were getting sweaty. I didn’t want to start panicking for no reason, but I almost couldn’t stop myself. I was alone in the world, nobody could see me.

  Without thinking it through, I reached over to the steering wheel and pressed down on the horn. If I couldn’t get people to see me, then I would force them to see me now. I had to do it, I had to reassure myself I was really here, that I was in this world. There was a haze over my vision, a fog over my thoughts. I couldn’t stop myself, couldn’t take my hand off the horn.

  “Abby? Abby, what are you doing?”

  Lane was in the driver’s seat, prying my hands from the wheel, letting the horn finally fall silent.

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t think I could say anything. All I could do was stare at the steering wheel, breathing hard.

  Lane lifted my face gently with his hand, bringing it up to meet his gaze. His brow was furrowed with concern. “What happened, Abby?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered, my thoughts still felt muddled. “I wanted the other people to see me. I needed to make sure I was real.”

  Lane’s thumb grazed over my cheek, back and forth. “Okay. Let’s get you home, okay?”

  I nodded numbly. I could feel myself falling apart, but I couldn’t figure out how to stop it. I looked down at my hands. They wouldn’t stop shaking.

  Lane moved the food he had set down on his seat to the back and climbed in, starting the car. He glanced at me and took my hand in his, rubbing it gently. “We’ll be home soon.”

  I nodded and looked out the window, not paying attention to our surroundings. No time at all had passed before Lane stopped the car. We were back at the apartment.

  Lane grabbed the food and we made our way upstairs. I unlocked the door and saw Whitney waiting for us in the kitchen. She looked up as we approached, a smile on her face to greet us. It quickly fell into a look of confusion as she looked back and forth between the two of us.

  I could only imagine what she was seeing. Lane, hovering protectively over me, guiding me into the room. I hadn’t quite come out of my funk yet. I felt slightly robotic, letting Lane put me where I needed to be. My face felt stiff, like I couldn’t use my muscles anymore. I was going off the deep end, unable to care anymore. So what if I wasn’t real? Why should I care? I shouldn’t. I was just a figment of someone’s imagination, a person in someone’s dream. It was the only explanation. Right?

  Whitney rushed over, hands clasping my shoulders, looking me over. “What happened? Is she okay?”

  Lane nodded. “I think she’ll be okay in a few. She kind of had a breakdown at the Chinese place. She said nobody could see her; she wanted to make sure she was real.”

  Whitney inhaled sharply, hand covering her mouth. “Abigail, can you hear me? Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “I’m fine. It’s all fine. Perfectly fine.”

  Whitney just stared at me. Then she drew herself up, an angry look on her face. “Abigail, you listen to me! You will snap out of this, now!” She grabbed me by the arms and shook me. “You are not allowed to lose yourself, not now! Get it together!” She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

  I looked at her, finally focusing my gaze. I saw the panic on her face and felt a twinge deep in my belly. I had caused this. I glanced at Lane, noticing a similar expression on his face.

  I drew in a shaky breath, trying to keep my face from crumpling under the tears trying to drown me. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t believe I did that.” I looked back and forth between the two of them. “I’m sorry.”

  Lane closed the distance between us, wrapping me into him, holding me close. “It’s okay, you’re okay.” He drew back, looking at me. “You scared me though, Abby.”

  “Me too,” Whitney chimed in. She hugged me close. “Please stay with us. You’re too important to us.”

  Hot tears pricked at my eyes, threatening to fall. I could feel my face wanting to scrunch up, but I pulled myself together. Now was not the time. “I’m okay now. Thank you, guys.” I shook my head, wiping my face off and taking a deep breath. “Now, who’s eating?”

  “I’ll get the plates,” Whitney said, moving the food boxes to the kitchen table, leaving me and Lane alone.

  I turned to him, feeling more than a little embarrassed. I couldn’t even meet his eyes.

  He solved that problem, tilting my face up to meet his. He didn’t seem completely satisfied. “You scared me,” he said softly.

  I hugged him to me, burying my head into his chest. “I’m so sorry. I’m scaring myself. I let everything overwhelm me and I…I don’t know.” I leaned back to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

  Lane smiled. “It’s okay. Just stay with me, okay?”

  I nodded. “I will.”

  “Dinner’s ready!” Whitney yelled from the dining room.

  I grabbed Lane’s hand, lacing our fingers together. We headed to the table, and my mouth started watering at the smells. Sweet, spicy, sour, garlic. I couldn’t wait to eat.

  We all sat down at our plates that Whitney had already made. I took a deep breath, sniffing the chicken and rice on my plate. It was helping to bring me back to reality.

  After filling up on everything, I leaned back, contemplating unbuttoning my pants. Yeah, like that would be attractive, I snorted to myself.

  “Okay, I think we need to focus again,” Lane stated, pushing his plate away from him. He motioned to Whitney. “You know what I’m talking about?”

  Whitney nodded at that.

  “Okay,” Lane continued, “Well when we went to the park today, Abby filled me in on the note. Nobody else can see it.”

  “Right,” Whitney agreed.

  “Well, Abby showed it to me. I can see it.”

  There was dead silence as Whitney processed this information.

  Then, “What!”

  “He can see it, Whitney,” I reassured her. “We have no idea what it means.”

  Whitney just sat there, gaping at us. “Are you serious? What does this even mean? I mean…what?”

  I shook my head. “I showed it to him, he pointed out exactly where it was and read it back to me.”

  Whitney sat back. “My mind is blown right now. Let me see it again. Ma
ybe I’ll be able to see it now, too.”

  I got up from the table and walked to my purse, grabbing the page from inside. I nervously unfolded it, trying to flatten out the creases in it. I sat back down and handed it to Whitney.

  She leaned over the page, eyes roaming back and forth as she read it over again. I glanced at Lane, and he reached over to grab my hand.

  “Damn it!” Whitney said, frustrated. “It’s still not there! Why can he see it then?”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” I repeated. I looked over at Lane for help.

  “I’m still not a delusion, if that’s what you’re implying,” he said.

  “But, why? Why, why, why?” I said, starting to get angry at all of this.

  “Okay, how about we put that on the back burner for now?” Whitney suggested. “What’s the plan now?”

  “Maybe we really digest the note. We can maybe make sense of it,” Lane replied.

  I nodded. “Let me write out some copies, so you each have one.”

  A few minutes later, we each had a copy of the note in front of us. Whitney paled a little as she read it fully for the first time.

  “Okay,” she started, “so for the sake of argument, maybe we make a list of why this note could be true.”

  Lane and I both looked at her, incredulous. “Really?” I asked. “How will that help?”

  Whitney shrugged. “I’m not sure. But what have we got to lose?”

  I just stared at her. “Okay, fine. So, let’s see. Five years ago. I told you that’s when my migraines started.”

  Whitney jumped up. “Hold that thought. Let me grab something to write this all down.”

  I looked over at Lane. “This is insane. I can’t possibly be in a coma, dreaming all of this up!”

  Lane nodded. “I agree. But let’s take it one step at a time.”

  Whitney returned and sat down. “Okay. One: migraines started.” She looked at me. “You’re sure you don’t remember how they started?”

  I shook my head. “No. But it’s always in the same spot.” I touched the left side of my head.