PLAIN SIGHT

PLAIN SIGHT

“ I have a name , but I can’t tell you”. 

The man was at the next table , chair at forty five degrees to his latte.

His red jacket draped possessively around the next chair.

The girl did not look up. She was writing in a small notebook . 

“ Not allowed , you see” . No response. “ It breaks the rules.”

“ The rules ?” the girl said without looking up.

“ I’ve already said too much.” he continued. The smile she gave was sarcastic.

“ More than your life’s worth , I suppose? ”

 He chuckled.“ Not quite… it wouldn’t matter anyway”

“What wouldn’t ?”

“ Giving you my name...you’d never find me...couldn’t google me.” he said , now staring out of the window.

“ I wouldn’t anyway. Couldn’t ,anyway…” she went on. “ I don’t have a phone.”

“ I’m not there , see” he continued as if he hadn’t heard “ I’ve been removed.”

“ I’m not into all that digital stuff” she said “ I keep myself to myself. 

The only place I share my thoughts is right here” . She tapped the notebook emphatically with her cheap pen.

“ You’re in there,alright  ” he said. “ Every appointment you ever made , every holiday you’ve been on...there’s a record”.

“ Well yes , but …”. He stopped her. “ I’m not there” he reminded her. “ I’ve been removed. 

 I can go anywhere , be anybody”.

“ Be... nobody ? ”

“ If I like” he went on.

 There was a short pause, then she asked him outright “ Is this some kind of a wind up?”. 

She  peered into the dark depths of the cafe, looking for cameras,but all she could see were tables full of ordinary people engrossed, as ever, in their mobile devices.

“You really don’t know who I am, do you?” he asked.

With an ironic flutter of eyelashes,which he totally ignored, she told him she led a very sheltered life”.

“ All these people do” he said, nodding towards the rest of the cafe “ they’re busy claiming their points for spotting Red Jacket ”.

“ Some sort of a game,then ” she deduced “ You travel about and people get prizes for spotting you”

“Points...” he said “ There’s only one prize”

“...and your reward is to become the invisible man” she laughed.

“ That’s the gist .” he said “ It wouldn’t suit everyone,of course. Mostly people want to be someone. A digital profile can be some sort of comfort… a testament,maybe…”

“ Not for me ” she said “ I’d be happy on a desert island”

He chuckled and rose from his seat to leave.

“ Don’t forget your jacket .” she said.

“It belongs to you” he said. As he made for the door he told her “ You won it ”.

Tony Noon

Highly Commended in Writers Forum Magazine's February 2020 Flash Fiction Competition