The Little Man Who Wasn't There Novels & Stories

It was dark in the room, and a man's low, siren voice drifted out from inside. "Belinda, be good…" He wore a neatly pressed suit that made him look debonair. However, his zipper was pulled down to reveal an imposing, impatient beast. A bracelet that Belinda Stone had recently discarded dangled from it. Ivory Stone silently clenched her fists. He'd yet to finish, but she pushed the door open with malice, wanting to see him panic.

But I was already moving. Slow. Controlled. Because something about him. It pulled. Like the signal before. Like the connection. And I needed to know. I stopped a few steps away. Close enough to see clearly. His lips moved. But no sound came out. The laughter. It didn’t exist. My chest tightened. “He’s not real,” I whispered. “Or not fully,” she replied. The man’s head tilted slightly. Not toward me. Not exactly. But enough. Like he noticed something shift.

"Huh?" I was still riding the high of getting twenty million dollars and didn't process the question right away. Felix let out a short laugh. "Because I cared way too much about appearances—and because Sienna hated strong smells—I told everyone I couldn't stand blue cheese. But during those six months, I couldn't speak. "So how did you know? "Tell me the truth, Ruth. When my mind was separated from my body... could you see my spirit?" Oh, crap.

“You are not she.” I had chosen the orchard for its openness, for the space it allowed me to step away if I wished. And yet even beneath open sky, even with room enough to retreat, I did not. It was not the closeness of the alcove that undid me. It was him. His knuckles brushed my cheek, then lingered there, as though reacquainting themselves with something cherished. “Do not speak of relinquishing me,” he murmured. “I will not yield you to another.”

His mind went blank. Still holding the phone, he collapsed onto the floor. Meanwhile, his phone buzzed with a new notification. 'You have been dismissed by Lane Co.'