The Window

15 Days Before...

I walked into the 69th street apartment block right opposite mine with a smile on my face. For the first time in ages, I felt completely satisfied and relieved of any sort of stress. The meetings with the clients this week had gone smoothly, so I was taking a much needed break from office work since the weekend had just rolled around.

When I woke up this morning, I realised that I hadn't returned Fran's container...the one she had so sweetly sent over a few weeks ago with an assortment of her homemade cannolis once she'd learnt that I'd gotten a raise at work.

Fran was probably the only one I considered my friend in the entire neighbourhood! In fact, she was almost like the grandmother I'd never had...

My grandmother had passed away before I was born and I never got a chance to meet her. However, when I moved into my tiny studio, Fran was the only one who welcomed me with open arms...

The rest of the residents were a little too stuck up to acknowledge that a millennial girl of Indian origin could earn enough to rent a residence in this posh neighbourhood.

Francesca Ricci was a delightfully cheerful woman, whose Italian descent served to enhance her charm. Her family had immigrated to America years ago and they had made a name for themselves in the fashion business. Her husband died about ten years ago, just after they moved into this apartment. Her children came to visit very rarely because they were always busy managing the fashion house.

She was always looking to forge new friendships and when I moved into the neighbourhood, she befriended me in no time...

I felt like a complete idiot for forgetting her warm gesture to congratulate me on my raise! I hadn't even thanked her in person for those sumptuous cannolis!

Since I had the entire morning free, I decided to indulge in some baking. Baking was the only form of cooking I actually enjoyed, and I made fairly tasty red velvet cupcakes. Once I finished baking a batch, I carefully placed them into Fran's lovely porcelain container, and quickly got dressed so that I could meet her and hand it over to her in person.

I hadn't met her in many days, and today seemed like the right time to visit her.

I got into the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor. Her apartment was on the sixth floor and was just three floors below my own, and thus, also three floors below...Manik's.

Manik...I hadn't tried to dig up more information on him since that night...

It was extremely embarrassing that he'd caught me spying on him...and the scar on his back scared the living daylights out of me!

I decided that it was best for me to let go of my preoccupation with him. In fact, in the past five days, I hadn't even opened my window to try and see what he was up to...

Once the elevator reached the sixth floor, there was a ringing sound and I stepped out only to find Fran right outside her door.

"Nandini? What a surprise! You didn't tell me you were going to drop by!" Fran said excitedly as I walked towards her.

"I wanted to surprise you, obviously!" I said, as I wrapped my arms around her and engulfed her in a hug.

She hugged me back and said. "So, finally, a day off from work, huh?"

I withdrew and said, grinning. "Yup! This is my first Saturday off in weeks!"

"That's good! So, any special plans with friends?" Fran asked, eagerly.

"You're my best friend, Fran! And besides, I can do so much to blow off steam when I'm alone...like bake these cupcakes for you!" I said brightly, as I handed her the box of cupcakes in my hand.