I open the door to the flat and Alex walks in ahead of me.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ I hear Max say from inside.

‘Shit,’ I mutter, following Alex through the door. ‘Boyfriend. Ex.’

Alex nods and then says, ‘Hey, mate. I’m Alex.’

He puts the box of files down on the kitchen table, crosses the room, and holds his hand out towards Max.

As I walk around the table, I see what Max had been doing – disconnecting his Xbox from the TV. I packed up all the games, but I forgot about the actual console. There’s a cardboard box on the coffee table and I follow Alex across the room to see what else Max is planning to take.

‘I’m not your mate,’ Max says, ignoring Alex’s hand. ‘Who are you?’

Alex glances over towards the door where he obviously thinks I’m still standing. ‘I’m a friend of Izzy’s.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Max says. ‘I’ve never met you. What’s your name?’

‘Alex. I work with her. And we have met, actually. Briefly.’

At first I can’t think when Alex means, but then I remember a leaving do in a pub; Max rude and bored, spending the hour or so we were there playing a game on his phone. God.

Max rolls his eyes. ‘She never mentioned you.’

‘Maybe you just weren’t listening,’ Alex says.

I look from Alex to Max and back again as they square up to each other. I doubt they’re going to actually fight, they’re just both doing that thing men do. Puffing out their chests like chickens. Or cockerels, I suppose.

It’s funny – they’re so completely different in every way. Max is definitely more what I would think of as my type – darker, broader, short hair. I used to love the back of his neck after he’d had his hair cut. If I could think of any example of being overcome with lust, like Tash had asked me, that would’ve been it – when he came back from the barber’s and I wanted to bite the back of his neck.

‘How do I even know you know Izzy?’ Max says. ‘How do I know you weren’t breaking in?’

I walk around the coffee table, careful not to bump into anything, and stand next to Alex. I slip my keys into his hand.

‘With a key?’ Alex says, holding up my Mickey Mouse keyring.

‘Why have you got her keys?’ Max says. He rolls his shoulders back and pushes his chest out. I know he’s sucking his stomach in too – it’s hard to maintain a six-pack when you spend every evening on the sofa eating takeaways.

‘She gave them to me,’ Alex says.

‘Why?’

‘What’s it to you?’ Alex says.

‘Why should I believe you?’ Max says. ‘How do I know you haven’t mugged her, taken her keys and come here to rob the flat?’

‘I’ve got ID,’ Alex says, dropping my keys on the coffee table and taking his wallet out of his pocket. ‘Alex Wynne. You can phone the office to check, if you like.’

Max glances at Alex’s wallet, but not long enough to properly read or register anything.

‘Yeah, okay,’ he says. ‘I’m just going to get my stuff and go, yeah?’

‘Fine by me,’ Alex says.

I lean over to look in the box and, as Max finishes winding wires around his Xbox, I reach in and lift my digital radio out. Cheeky bastard. I see Alex’s eyebrows shoot up, but I’ve put it on the sofa and covered it with a cushion by the time Max has stood back up.

‘Okay then,’ Max says.

He looks around and for a second I think he’s getting nostalgic, that he’s sorry for how things turned out, but then he says, ‘Good luck with Izzy, mate,’ and I have an urge to kick him in the crotch. Alex and I follow him to the door and as he steps out, Alex says, ‘Got your keys?’

‘Oh yeah, right,’ Max says. He puts the box down, takes his keys out of his pocket and hands them to Alex.

‘Cheers,’ Alex says and shuts the door in his face.

‘You could literally have been anyone,’ I say, once Max has gone.

‘Yeah,’ Alex says. ‘Nice guy.’

I’ve said this already, but I still can’t get my head around it. ‘Seriously,’ I say again. ‘For all he knows, you could have been planning to wait here and kill me.’

‘I know.’

‘I mean, seriously!’

‘I know!’ Alex smiles at me from the other end of the sofa. I’m impressed with how often he does seem to be actually looking at me. He’s really good at identifying exactly where my voice is coming from.

‘Look on the bright side,’ he says.

‘I got my radio?’ I say. ‘The Xbox has gone? I don’t need to change the locks?’

‘All of those. But I was thinking, you know, you’re well rid of him. No regrets over the end of that relationship.’

I laugh hollowly. ‘I didn’t have any before. But, no, you’re right there. I’m counting my blessings, that’s for sure.’

‘When did you split?’ Alex asks.

‘I mean… a couple of days ago.’

‘So he doesn’t know about…’ He gestures at me.

I smile. ‘No. Well. Sort of. I kind of pretended to be a ghost and he freaked out and legged it. And then I told him not to come back.’

Alex blinks at me and then laughs. ‘You pretended—’

‘I mean, not literally. I didn’t go “woo” or anything. I just moved some stuff around. More like a poltergeist.’

Alex shakes his head. ‘Wow. And he didn’t notice?’

‘What? The stuff moving? Yeah, that’s why he—’

‘No, I mean, he didn’t notice you were invisible?’

‘Oh,’ I say. ‘No.’

‘How is that possible?’ There’s a little line between his eyebrows and I want to stroke it.

I shrug. ‘He stopped looking at me a long time ago.’

Alex stares at me for long enough that I start to blush. Even though I know he can’t see me. I grab a cushion and pull it against my stomach, watching Alex’s eyebrows raise very slightly.

We sit in silence for a minute or so and I picture Max and Alex squaring up to each other again. While Max looked full of bluster, Alex was completely calm. He looked like he had the whole thing under control. And I guess he did. It was impressive.

‘So…’ I say, breaking the silence. ‘Can I make you a cup of tea or something? Or do you have to get back?’

‘A tea would be good,’ he says. ‘Thanks. I mean, if that’s okay. I can go if you—’

‘No,’ I say. ‘It’s good. I mean, it’s fine. For you to stay. A bit.’

‘Actually, I’m just going to go out for a cig, if that’s okay?’

‘You don’t have to go out,’ I say. ‘If you just go over by the window.’ I glance over to make sure it’s open. It is.

He runs one hand back through his shoulder-length hair. I’ve never really been into long hair on men before, but it suits him. I like it.

‘You sure?’

‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘No problem.’

‘So how long have you been over here?’ I ask as I fill the kettle. ‘I know you mentioned it in your interview…’

‘Coming up to a year now,’ he says from the other end of the living room.

‘And you came over on your own?’ I ask, glancing over as I take two mugs out of the cupboard.

‘No,’ he says. ‘Well, yeah. I came to Europe with friends, but to London on my own.’ He pauses and adds, ‘I was with my girlfriend and my best friend. But then they hooked up, so…’

‘Oh god,’ I say, closing the kitchen cupboard and staring at him. ‘That sucks. How long were you together?’

‘Five years.’

‘Wow. You must’ve been young?’

‘Yeah. High school sweethearts.’ He smiles. He’s holding the cigarette right out of the window between drags.

‘Did she break your heart?’

He dips his head, hair falling down over his face, and then he looks back up, almost directly at me. It makes my belly flutter.

‘She kinda did, yeah. But she was right. I mean, it wasn’t right that she hooked up with my best mate. But if she’d tried to break up with me, I probably wouldn’t have accepted it. I thought it was really romantic, you know? High school sweethearts, travelling together… I had all these dreams about the two of us living in London. But she knew it wasn’t right. She saw it before I did.’

‘What wasn’t right?’

‘We were too young. We hadn’t lived.’

‘I haven’t lived,’ I say. ‘And I’m older than you. Horrible to lose a friend too, though.’

‘Yeah. They’re getting married now, though, so, you know, it worked out okay.’

‘For them,’ I say, dropping the teabags into the mugs.

‘And for me,’ Alex says, smiling. ‘I love it here. Love my job. Love London. Just have a few things to sort and then it’ll be perfect.’

‘You’re not planning to go back?’

He shakes his head. ‘No. Not for a while, I hope.’

I pour the hot water into the mugs and reach up into the cupboard for sugar.

‘It is really weird watching the tea making itself,’ Alex says.

‘Oh god!’ I say. ‘I didn’t even think of that. Is it freaking you out? You can totally do your own.’

‘No, it’s sort of fascinating. I would’ve loved this when I was a teenager.’

I get the milk out of the fridge.

‘Wait,’ Alex says. ‘That came out wrong. What I mean is I was obsessed with unexplained phenomena when I was a teenager. The Bermuda Triangle, spontaneous human combustion, astral projection, that kind of thing.’ He grins. ‘Too much X-Files.’

He’s finished his cigarette and he comes back over to the kitchen.

‘Can I just…’ He gestures at the tap and then runs his cigarette end under it before throwing it in the bin.

I smile back at him. ‘I’ve always been creeped out by anything like that. I had a friend years ago – sort of an acquaintance, really. You know, one of those people that you think might become a friend? Anyway, a group of us went out one night and on the way back she started telling me about the angels in her bedroom. I thought she was joking at first, but no. She seriously thought she had all these angels lined up in her bedroom, watching over her. She’d given them all names.’

‘Maybe she really did.’

‘She didn’t, though, did she.’

Alex laughs. ‘How do you know?’

‘Because how could she?’

‘You don’t believe angels exist?’

‘No. Do you?’

He shakes his head. ‘No. But only because I’ve never seen one.’

‘You’ve never seen one because they don’t exist.’

‘But how do you know for sure?’

‘Because it’s stupid.’

‘Can people suddenly become invisible?’

I actually start to say ‘no’. I really do. Instead I say, ‘Yeah, okay. But that’s different.’

‘Because it’s happened to you. So you know it can happen. But if you phoned your angel friend and told her you were invisible, would she believe you?’

‘I don’t know. Probably not.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Exactly what? You have to experience something to believe it?’

‘No. I think you have to keep an open mind. You know the first trains were only allowed to travel at twenty-five miles an hour because people thought heads would explode if they went faster. Genuinely.’

‘Hmm,’ I say. I squeeze the teabags against the sides of the mugs and then drop them in the sink.

‘I’m not saying you have to believe in angels…’ Alex says.

I laugh as I add the milk. ‘Thanks.’

‘But, you know, you wouldn’t have believed this either.’

‘No. I wouldn’t,’ I say. ‘Sugar?’ He shakes his head. ‘I still sort of don’t,’ I say as I carry the teas over to the sofa. ‘Maybe none of it’s real. Maybe I had an embolism or something and I’m in a coma and this is all a fantasy.’

‘Interesting that you think I’d be in your fantasy…’ He grins. And then his cheeks go pink.

I try to think of something to say, but I’ve got nothing. ‘Tea,’ I say instead, putting the mugs down on the coffee table.

‘So you’re still planning to do the Fancy Bantams pitch?’ Alex says as I sit down.

‘Yeah. I don’t know why. I mean, if I’m still like this I won’t be able to actually do it.’

‘Right. Yeah. That could be a problem.’ He grins at me. Or towards me.

I don’t know what Tash was talking about – he hasn’t got big teeth at all. He’s got a big smile, yes, but his teeth look perfectly proportioned to me.

‘I’m happy to help in any way I can,’ he says.

‘That’s great,’ I say. ‘I have no idea what I’m doing right now, but if I work it out, I’ll let you know. Thank you.’

Even if I’m not invisible any more I’m still not sure I’ll be able to do it, but I don’t tell him that.

Alex picks up his tea and blows it. I watch the steam ripple over the surface and realise that he’ll be able to see me, briefly, when I drink mine. It makes me feel oddly nervous. And also excited. My stomach flutters distractingly.

‘I’d love to go to Australia,’ I say to take my mind off it. ‘Actually, I’d love to go anywhere. I’ve never really travelled at all.’

‘Why not?’

‘I’ve never had enough money since moving to London. I did have an “Adventure Fund” – I was going to get to a certain amount and just take off, but…’ I don’t want to tell him about Max stealing it. I don’t even want to think about Max stealing it. ‘I bet you’ve travelled all over, haven’t you?’ I say instead.

He has the decency to look a bit embarrassed before he starts listing all the places he’s been, some of which I’ve never heard of.

‘Yeah,’ I say, smiling. ‘You’ve got that backpacker vibe about you. That’s why I wasn’t sure when you came in for interview.’

‘You weren’t?’ he says.

I laugh. ‘Nope. Sorry. I thought you were a bit of a chancer at first. You know, just looking for something to pass the time before you went off on your next adventure…’

He grins. ‘I get that. I even thought that at first – when I started looking for a job, I mean. I thought I’d just do it for a few months and then I’d be off again. But I really love London. I’d still like to travel more, though. One day. You haven’t appreciated a coffee in the morning until you’ve bought it from a stall and drunk it sitting on the beach, watching the sunrise.’

I laugh. ‘Oh god. You’re one of those.’

‘One of what?’

‘One of those “You haven’t lived until you’ve been off your face on mushrooms in Thailand… You just don’t know joy until you’ve swum through coral…’’’

He laughs. ‘Oh god. A wanker, that’s what you’re saying. I sound like a wanker.’

‘Only a bit,’ I say and pick up my tea. I feel the steam rise up in front of my face and I stare straight ahead, at the spot next to the TV where Max’s Xbox was and where now there’s just an empty square outlined with dust.

‘Hi,’ Alex says and I drag my eyes away to look back at him. He’s looking at me with the softest expression and it makes me want to run out of the room and hold a pillow over my own face. Either that or push him back on the sofa and straddle him.

‘You can see me,’ I say.

‘A bit, yeah.’

He’s still staring.

‘I’ve noticed, though – you’re really good at knowing where I am anyway. I think you’ve got powers.’

He smiles. ‘You believe in powers now?’ He drinks a bit more tea, then says, ‘I can sort of feel you. It’s not hard. Close your eyes.’

‘Why?’

‘Just close them. I’m not going to do anything. I just want to show you something.’

‘I’ve fallen for that one before,’ I say. And I hear rather than see him laugh, because my eyes are already closed.

‘Closed,’ I say.

‘Now touch me,’ he says.

My breath catches in my throat and heat pools in the base of my stomach. I reach out my hand and immediately know just what he means. Even before I touch him, I can tell where he is. It’s sort of like when you put your hand out towards a TV screen and you can feel the fizz of energy in the air.

With my eyes still closed, I slide my hand along his arm and then onto his hip. I drag my knuckles across his stomach and up his chest, hearing his intake of breath. I move closer and trace my fingers up his throat and along his jawline, feeling the scruff of stubble under my fingertips.

‘See what I mean?’ he says, his voice low.

‘I do,’ I say, dropping my hand back to my lap.

We’re silent for a few moments and I wonder if he’s thinking about kissing me. I’m thinking about kissing him.

‘I should probably be getting back to work,’ he says.

‘Oh, right,’ I say, blinking. ‘Yeah, of course.’

We each walk around opposite ends of the sofa and I stop him by the kitchen table with my hand on his arm.

‘Thank you,’ I tell him. ‘For coming back with me. And everything.’

‘No problem,’ he says. ‘I’ll see you in the office?’

‘Hope so,’ I say.

He smiles. ‘Call me if you need anything, okay?’

‘I will.’

As we both walk to the door, Alex almost bumps into me and I hold out my hand to steady him. I’m aiming for his elbow, but he moves his arm and I end up touching the back of his wrist. My fingers on his skin sends a shiver right through me and I feel my breath catch in my chest.

‘Bye,’ he says at the door.

I close it behind him. Wait until I hear his footsteps on the stairs and then hit my head repeatedly against the wood.