The Balcony

Chapter 28 (NEW)

Early mornings continued to be her favourite. The air was still crisp from the night. The sun had just begun to rise so it was a combination of dark and light. Best of all, it was quiet. Without the noisy traffic and the throngs of people crowding the streets, it was blissfully peaceful.

She smiled as she hugged herself tight and stepped out of her building lobby. A quarter of an hour later, with the same set pace, she jogged as the waves crashed lightly on the same famous rocks of the city. Her long ponytail swayed from side to side as she enjoyed the side view of the sea. She saw the odd jogger like herself but their ears plugged with blasting music and she smiled to herself. She had an odd relationship with music now. It had grown on her unbeknownst to others.

An hour later, she jogged back to her apartment building and slowed as she neared the elevator. She checked her emails and walked in as the door opened. She heard a voice call out right as the door was about to shut. Instinctively, she held a hand out to hold the doors open and managed to drop her phone in the process. As she bent down to pick up the phone, she saw a pair of shoes appear in her line of sight. Before she could raise herself, a hand stretched out and picked up her phone. She looked up and found herself looking at Vikramaditya, grinning at her.

They had decided to spend the day together when he had asked her out at work the previous day. She had asked him what he wanted to do. He had chosen to watch a movie. She wanted to relax and just be with him so she had invited him home to watch the movie on her new, fancy, large screen TV. It was all planned. Yet, seeing him here again...

She didn't feel bad anymore about feeling this way about him. She didn't need to hold back anymore. The wall had finally disappeared. It was like her whole being was happy and it shone on her face. She, however, cheekily asked him, "What are you doing here, Pluto boy? I thought Elvis had left the building."

He laughed at that and replied instantaneously, "I had but then I had to win a girl over with some music."

Before she could say anything, she spotted a paper bag lying next to him on the floor. She peered inside the bag and saw a big packet of her favourite brand of cookies staring back at her. It had a sticky note. She reached out and pulled out the cookie packet. He took her hand in his and said, "It looks like you're more interested in the food than you are in me."

She laughed, raised herself to her feet and tugged him inside the elevator. He walked in with a hint of a smile.

She replied, raising the cookie packet to say, "It's a difficult contest, my man. You're running against chocolate. The odds are a little hazy." She then looked down at the note to read, "For you when you get cranky. We all know that happens when you listen to music. :)"

She smiled widely and looked up at him while he quietly studied her expressions. He was at a distance but he was still holding her hand firmly in his.

She pointed at the bag and asked, "What else have you written?"

His eyebrow shot up as he said, "Do you really think I'd waste all my time writing notes for you?"

She shook her head in mock disappointment as she said, "Tsk tsk. I expected more from you, Thapar."

He closed the distance between them and suddenly, her ability to form coherent sentences began to slip away. He looked into her eyes, smirking as though he knew the effect he had on her and said, "I'm done letting post-it notes do my job."

She frowned and asked, "What do you mean? I..."

But he didn't let her complete her sentence. He let go of her hand, slid his arm around her, pulling her in closer and kissed her deeply. She raised herself on her feet and stood on tiptoe, taking him by surprise. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him right back.

After a while, he pulled back, looking a little dazed and smiled broadly at her. She said, "So you know..."

He said, "I know a lot of things...you have to be a little more specific."

She shook her head and grinned, reaching up and pulling his hair playfully to say, "I have this amazing balcony. It is rather lovely. Would you like to take a look?"

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Interesting proposition. I did know that, for your information. There is only a slight problem."

"What's that?"

He pointed behind him and said, "The elevator hasn't moved since I stepped in."

She threw her head back and laughed loudly. She shook her head laughingly and pulled herself out of his embrace momentarily. With that, she pressed the tenth floor button and stood back.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for walking with me all the way to the end. I can't believe we are here already. I don't want the story to end but I know it must. I hope with all my heart that you enjoyed reading it as much as I had writing it. I will miss these two so much and it's because of all my readers that I came to like these two this much. I hope to see you all soon with another story and a fresh bunch of characters. Until then, happy reading! - S