Colors

 - You do realize you disappeared again, right?

 I had met her in the summer, when, on a visit to my cousin, he introduced me to his girlfriend. She was... special. I don't know how else to describe it. Beautiful, of medium height, slender and graceful, but without that spoiled attitude that I knew so well from my female history. As we walked in, she greeted me casually, looking straight into my eyes, then sat back and continued painting.

 I remember thinking at the time "maybe she can calm him down". I knew him well, I knew he wasn't necessarily sane in the head, and I knew the concept of a long-term relationship was completely foreign to him. I was right, they had only been together for about three weeks when he finally broke up with her, as he always did. But I kept in touch with her. I spoke with her sporadically for about two months, then we agreed to meet for a coffee. One coffee turned into two, then a movie, two dinners and a hand held.

 What I’m about to tell you now will probably seem hard to believe, but I have no reason to lie. She was indeed special, but not only in a figurative, stomach butterflies kind of way. No, she was special because every now and then, when you least expected it, she would… disappear. No, again, I'm not using figures of speech, she LITERALLY disappeared. She sometimes became invisible. She didn't go anywhere, she didn't even move sometimes, she just became completely invisible.

 Sometimes when she was alone, sometimes in public, many times when it was just us. She couldn't control the phenomenon, most of the time she didn't even realize it was happening again. She would always become visible again after a few minutes, sometimes half an hour. At first, I thought it was uber cool, I had a girlfriend with supernatural powers, but over time I understood that it wasn't so much a superpower as a natural phenomenon, part of her.

 With time I got used to it. In public, we would make up excuses like "she's in the bathroom" or "she went out to make a phone call". At home there was no need for apologies. I could feel her location, even if I couldn't see her. I knew she was there, still drawing, reading, or I could feel her gently caressing my face. We both laughed at the fact that if anyone would see me in such moments, they would surely say I was crazy and talking to myself. I nicknamed her "my (sometimes) imaginary friend".

 Here I was, looking at the wall in my kitchen, knowing she was there.

- You do realize you disappeared again, right?

 I was staring into her eyes. I knew they were there, even though I couldn't see them. She had been in the kitchen for two minutes watching me cook, when POOF, she had vanished it again.

- Oh, this happens more and more often, she answers me in a concerned voice.

She pauses slightly, then continues.

- I wanted to tell you something important.

I stop fidgeting and turn to her and say, with a grin on my face:

- You'll be gone for a few minutes, I know!

We both laugh.

- In the winter I am going back to Greece. And I don't know when I'll be back.

I knew she was only here for a scholarship, so I wasn't surprised by the first part. But the second one, yes.

- I'd normally ask why you don't know when you're coming back, but I know you better than that. Are you sure?

- Yes, I'm leaving in November.

I felt her hug me, I hugged her too, we stayed like that for a few minutes.

- What a pity, you are so beautiful… when you’re visible.

She chuckles, buried in my shoulder blade.

- I will take your book with me, Tudor. And know that I'm leaving with one more color on my palette.

- I have never been associated with a color. If you decide to show up again, you know where to find me, right?

- Yes...

 I feel the pepper from my cooking crawling up my nose, so I sneeze loudly. I open my eyes and see her in front of me, as beautiful and serene as ever.

 - You will love what I’m cooking, I guarantee you, I tell her, turning to the stove. I was hoping she hadn't noticed my shaky voice.

She caresses my back and then says to me, before leaving the room:

- I'm at the desk, drawing. And I can't wait to taste the food.

 As I continued cooking, I thought about her words. "Know that I'm leaving with one more color on my palette." Hmm. I hope it's a shade of green.