Cathy McKenna placed the kettle on the burner and turned the flame up high. She glanced up at the clock. Almost five, she thought. He should be here any minute; I don’t have much time.

She took a spoon from a drawer and took down a large metal can from a high cabinet shelf. Removing the lid, she scooped up a small helping of dried, gray-green herbs. She deposited the herbs into an empty coffee mug and waited for the water to boil.

Just as the kettle came to a boil, the doorbell rang.

"Is that you Greg?" she called.

"Yeah, it’s me." a voice answered from the other side of the door.

"The door’s open, come on in." she said. She glanced up at the clock. Five O’clock, bang on the dot. She smiled. That was Greg, all right; Mr. Punctuality. She hurriedly replaced the can to the top shelf of the cabinet, pushing it all the way to the back. She then picked up the kettle and poured its boiling contents into the mug containing the herbs. She gently blew on the surface of the brewing liquid, looking thoughtfully into its contents. Well, she thought, this is it. The moment of truth. She took a tiny sip from the brew (which was still hot) and turned and walked out into the living room.

"Have a seat," she said to her boyfriend, motioning toward the couch, which had clearly seen better days.

"Ahh, thanks." he said, settling down, as Cathy sat opposite him in a soft easy chair that, like the couch, was somewhat worse for wear. Greg sniffed at the air, and his nose wrinkled slightly at the aroma.

"What’s that funny smell?" he asked.

Cathy smiled, and indicated the mug she held in her hand. "Oh, it’s just this," she said. "A special blend of herb tea. I developed the mixture myself, from some herbs & spices my grandmother left me. It’s supposed to be good for clearing both mind and body."

Greg smiled back at her. Of course, he thought. Herbs. Her hobby, her passion. Herbs, roots, spices, incense, astrology, numerology, all that freaky stuff Cat was just crazy about. She was really something, his girlfriend was. A bit wild & crazy, even flaky perhaps, but Greg didn’t care; her passion and sensitivity were unequaled by any of the other women Greg had known. She really was unique, Cathy was; one in a million. Greg considered himself very fortunate to have such an interesting, unusual girlfriend.

The couple exchanged pleasantries for a while, then finally Greg said, "Soooo… What’s on your mind, ‘Cat?’"

Cathy smiled at the ‘pet name’ with which Greg addressed her. She liked it. Even though it originated as Greg’s diminutive for the name ‘Cathy,’ it also fit her somewhat feline personality (and her bright green eyes.)

She paused a moment, taking a drink from her herb tea and silently regarded Greg before answering. "Tell me," she said soberly. "Do you love me, Greg? I mean really love me? Tell me honestly: what do you really think of me?"

Greg cocked his head to one side. Oh, boy… he thought. She must be in one of her insecure moods again. For all her fiery, red-headed personality, Cat was actually rather insecure, and often got into these weird, funky moods, when she doubted herself and her own worth, and needed a lot of reassurance. Greg was usually more than happy to give her the reassurance she needed. This was evidently one of those occasions, and Greg quick rose to the occasion.

"Of course I love you, baby; you know that." he said, leaning forward, as if for emphasis.

Cat leaned back in her chair and again regarded Greg in silence. She took a couple more swallows of her tea before answering him.

"I’ve always wondered about that," she said. "I mean, I’ve always wondered if you’re really, really sincere when you say that, or if you’re just speaking words, with no real meaning behind them."

"Of course I mean it, sweetie. You should know that by now. You’re much too sensitive not to know how I feel about you."

Again a long look in silence. "Hmmm. Well, I could never be quite so sure," she said. "I’ve always wondered whether you only like me for my looks or do you really care about me as a person. You know, for what’s inside."

Greg looked at his girlfriend. "Well, of course I care about you, Cat; as I said, you should know that by now."

He really did mean it, too. Oh, it was true that, at least in the beginning anyway, Greg had been attracted to Cat because of her looks. Hell, who could blame him? A tall, fiery redhead, dressed in tight, flashy clothes was bound to attract attention. And it was also true that, in the beginning, Greg’s only interest in Cat was just for an occasional good time, with no thought to anything more long-term than an occasional weekend together. But that was no longer the case; over the months, Greg had become very close to Cat. He felt a very strong emotional attachment to her, and had come to feel very protective towards her. In fact, in time, he might even ask her to—

"I’ve also wondered," Cat said, interrupting Greg’s thoughts. "about what kind of man you are, whether you’re the kind of guy who would cheat on me & fool around behind my back. Or whether you’re the kind of man I can really trust."

Greg looked Cat squarely in the eyes. "Cat, I would never cheat on you," he said soberly. "I would never do anything to hurt you. Ever."

Cat smiled a curious little smile. She took another couple of swallows from her mug, finishing the last of her herb tea. "I know that. That is, I know that now. You see Greg," her smile broadening, "I’ve always wanted to find out if I could trust you, to put you to the test, somehow. And now," she said, pausing as if for effect, "I’ve found a way to do that." She set down the empty mug on the battered coffee table and settled back into her chair. "Just watch." she said.

Greg frowned, puzzled. What the heck was she talking about? he wondered. He didn’t know what she was up to, but she sure as hell was up to something. Whenever she got into one of these moods, Greg never knew quite what to expect from her. Her whole manner made him very uneasy. He hastened to reassure her.

"Look, Cat, I don’t know what this is all about, but I’m telling you, I really do love you, and I care about you and I’ve always been faithful to you. I’ve always—I—I—" Greg’s speech began to falter and his mouth dropped open. His eyes opened wider and wider, in disbelief of what he saw before him.

Cathy was disappearing, right before his eyes! She was gradually getting more and more transparent. That is, her head, hands and the part of her legs that could be seen above her high-top boots, were all rapidly fading away. As incredible as it was, Cat was becoming invisible! Yet whatever reason behind her incredible disappearance, it didn't seem to bother her; she continued to sit and smile at Greg, though the other side of the room could be seen through her smiling face. Greg glanced down at Cat’s rapidly-vanishing legs and he could see through them to the couch cushions upon which she sat. He then looked up again to catch one final glimpse of her smiling face before it faded away to oblivion.

Yet her clothes remained visible. Cat herself was nowhere to be seen, yet her miniskirt, her tight turtleneck sweater and her boots all remained visible, all ‘filled-out’ somehow, as though she were still there.

The empty clothes then rose up out of the chair and ‘walked’ over to Greg and bent over close to him. Greg stared in wide-eyed amazement at the empty collar of the sweater now before him. He could see right down it to the inside of Cat’s sweater.

"BOO!" Cathy’s voice shouted suddenly from the vicinity of the empty collar, causing Greg to jump back.

"Oh my God!!!" he said, the blood draining from his face. "Oh my God!!! Cat!!! What the hell happened to you?!?" He heard a sound like Cathy’s voice giggling, then from the empty collar her voice spoke again:

"Oh…I’ve just been going through some changes, that’s all!" she chuckled softly.

The empty sweater reached out an empty sleeve to Greg’s face; he shrank away from it. Suddenly, when the end of the empty sleeve was mere inches from his face, Greg felt a sensation like soft fingers caressing his cheek. He flinched at the touch.

"Ha ha!" Cat laughed. "Such a big baby! Oh, but that’s nothing! Wait’ll you see this!" The clothes floated away from Greg as Cat took a few steps back. The empty sweater then reached its sleeves down, and one of the boots raised themselves off the floor. The zipper of the boot unzipped itself, and the boot pulled itself away from an unseen foot. The other boot followed immediately after. The sleeves of the sweater then reached around behind to unzip the miniskirt, which then tugged itself down, almost to the floor, then floated up and deposited itself, folded neatly, across the back of the beat-up chair in which Cat had been seated moments earlier.

From Greg’s point of view, it was a truly spooky sight that stood before him. A seemingly empty (though well-endowed) turtleneck sweater floating in mid-air over an equally-empty pair of nylon pantyhose. The sleeves of the sweater reached around, as though hugging itself, then proceeded to pull itself away from the unseen body beneath it. Like the miniskirt, the now-limp sweater floated and tumbled about in mid-air before folding itself gently across the back of the chair.

By this time, Greg was in absolute stunned shock as he watched the empty pantyhose curl away and crumple to the floor and a pair of panties and a brassiere hovered in space immediately above. However, the reality of the situation finally began to penetrate his brain, and with a Herculean effort, Greg finally managed to find his voice.

"Cat?" he said weakly, his voice cracking. "Cat? I---I don’t know where you are or how you’re doing this, but—but—" His eyes opened even wider as he watched the floating brassier suddenly tighten, as its hooks were undone, then loosen and flutter away to join the skirt and sweater on the chair.

"OH my God!!" Greg cried. "Cat…! Don’t—don’t take anything else off, please! I—I can’t see you, I won’t be able to tell where you are at all!"

"Why what’s the matter?" Cat’s voice said from somewhere above the floating pair of panties. "Are you afraid of me?" Her voice now contained the same ‘taunting’ tone that it always had whenever she was in one of her playful, ‘teasing’ moods. Normally it was appealing; now however, under the circumstances, it scared Greg to death.

"You ARE afraid of me, aren’t you?" The empty pair of panties floated back close to Greg. "Well, you needn’t be." Cat’s disembodied voice said. "Not if you’re a good boy. Have you been a good boy?" The panties then curled themselves down and away from Cat’s unseen bottom, then floated up into the air, playfully draping themselves over the top of Greg’s head. Cat’s voice giggled as Greg pulled them away.

Greg looked all around the empty room. Where the hell is she? he wondered. How the hell did she do that? How could she just disappear? It was as if—as if—she had become invisible... But no, that’s impossible, physically impossible! It must be some kind of trick; he couldn’t understand how such a trick could be done; he just knew that it must be a trick! It had to be!

Slowly, on quivering legs, Greg gradually rose up from the couch, continuing to scan the room for visible signs of Cat’s whereabouts. "Cat…? Cat…" he said, weakly. "Come on now, stop with the kidding around… Where—where are you?"

Suddenly, the front of Greg’s shirt was grabbed by what felt like a pair of hands, pulling him forward, off-balance, and he received a big, wet, sloppy kiss by a pair of unseen lips.

"Surprise!" Cat’s voice said from immediately in front of him. "I’m right here!"

Reflexively, Greg reached his hands out, toward his now-unseen girlfriend, but just as he did so, the unseen hands released his shirt and Cat slipped away from him, out of his reach.

"Oh my God, oh my God!!" Greg whispered. "How—how did you do that? How did you—" his voice faltered, then dropped almost to a whisper. "How did you become—invisible?"

"Oh that!" Cat said, laughing. "That little thing. Oh, well, it was just a little by product of my herb tea. Remember I said it clears both mind & body? Well it does! It clears the body real good!" she giggled.

Greg’s mouth dropped open.

"To tell you the truth," she went on, ignoring the look his face. "The first time I tried this blend and disappeared, I got really scared. I was afraid I would be invisible forever. But then I discovered that the effects weren’t permanent; they wear off in a few hours. Once I discovered that, I realized how much fun I could have with this! I began to use these herbs more and before long, I got to really enjoy being invisible!"

Cat’s disembodied voice now seemed to move closer to Greg. "And I’ll tell you something else too," she said. "Once I became invisible, I started to follow you. And watch you. Everywhere. And you didn’t know a thing about it! It was thrilling! Even when you thought you thought you were all alone, in complete privacy--" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I was still there, keeping an eye on you!" she giggled. "What do you think of that? Hmm?" She giggled again.

"I—I—I don’t think I like it!" Greg said, the initial shock of the situation beginning to wear off. "I mean, you—you invaded my privacy? Oohhh, I don’t think I like that! I don’t think I like it at all!"

Cat’s voice laughed again. "Ah well," she said. "There’s not much you can do about it now, is there? After all, you’re really in no position to object to anything right now. Are you? Hmm?" Cat’s voice grew lower and breathier as it now moved very close to him.

"But it’s okay," she went on, nibbling at his ear. "Now that I’ve had a chance to watch you—"

"Spy on me, you mean." Greg corrected her.

"—and I’ve seen what a good boy you are when you think I’m not around to watch you, now I know I can trust you. You’ve passed the test." She gave him another quick peck on the cheek, softly stroking the kissed spot with unseen fingers. "There now, isn’t that nice? That’s for being such a good little boy."

"My God, my God…" Greg repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. "I just don’t believe this, I don’t believe this…this isn’t happening… This just isn’t happening…!"

"Now, now," Cat’s soft voice whispered in his ear. "Don’t be like that. It’s not so bad. Things are just a little bit different now, that’s all. But it won’t be so bad. It’ll even be fun!" Another quick kiss followed. "Think of the possibilities!" she whispered, then giggled.

Suddenly an unseen hand gripped Greg’s shirt again.

"But remember," Cat said, in an abrupt change of tone that sent a chill down Greg’s spine. "You’d better continue to be a good boy. Because I may be watching you at any time. Not all the time of course, but you’ll never know when or where. And if you’re not a good boy, I might have to…punish you."

At that, Greg felt a crisp little slap across his left cheek from an unseen hand. Not enough to cause pain, but it was more than sufficient to get his attention. He had no idea that it was even coming, and the surprise of it shocked him even further. "Hey!" he cried, to which Cat merely chuckled.

"See how easy it is?" she said.

"I—I really don’t think I like this!" Greg said.

"Of course you do," Cat said in a soothing tone. "If you didn’t you’d have run screaming out that door by now." She kissed him on the cheek again. "You see, I KNOW you. You like me because I’m special. And now I’m even more special than you ever imagined. Isn’t that true?"

She took Greg’s silence as agreement. "I thought so," she said. "You’ll put up with anything for me, anything at all, because you love me!" Another kiss, then softly whispered, "Besides…you like it ‘rough’…don’t you?"

"No…no, not really…" Greg answered weakly.

"Well," the whispered voice continued. "You will."

A pair of unseen arms reached around Greg, squeezing him tight, and he flinched, and the unseen lips returned to make contact with his.

A sudden thought occurred to Greg, stirring him from his stunned state of mind. "Um—" he began, pulling his mouth away from the unseen lips. "Um, Cat—that—that tea or brew or whatever it is that made you this way—could I—could you let me have some of it?"

Cat’s voice chuckled softly. "No…no, I don’t think so… It’s just for girls only."

"But—but—"

"I said no!" Cat was adamant. "It’s just for me, only for me. You don’t get any. Besides, I don’t think I can trust you with such a power."

Greg was aghast, which stirred him further from his state of shock. "Well that sucks!" he said.

"Too bad."

"But that’s not fair!" Greg continued, plaintively. "You can see me, but I can’t see you!"

"Well, nobody ever said life was fair, Greg." Cat said soberly, the playful, seductive tone immediately gone from her voice. "After all, in most cases, men still get all the advantages in life. It wouldn’t do any good for me to whine about how unfair that is. So now that a woman has a little bit of an advantage, I don’t see where it’s so unfair. Rather it just—evens the playing field a little bit, that’s all."

Greg simply stood in stunned silence for several minutes, as his unseen girlfriend resumed her invisible kisses and caresses, and he contemplated the bizarre situation in which he now found himself. Invisible. God, it was incredible. He still couldn’t believe it. But it was true: His girlfriend was invisible. And what was more, she wouldn’t let him be invisible. A gnawing fear began to grow in the back of Greg’s mind. Of what he couldn’t be quite…but the fear was there, nonetheless. He shook his head, trying to dispel the fear.

He took a deep breath and slowly released it in a prolonged sigh, as he finally accepted the reality of the situation. "Well." he said at last. "Where do we go from here, Cat?"

"I have an idea," she said, the ‘taunting’ tone returning to her voice. "How about a little game of ‘Cat and mouse?’"

"Cute." Greg said. "Very cute. Ouch!! Hey, stop that!"