Up in the Clouds

4. Nostalgia

Asher.

Standing on his balcony, Asher, looked at the opposite building. He looked at the houses, at shadows through the windows, the families, the couples, at everyone and everything.
He was homesick today.
Or maybe he was just tired living alone. 

He had a terrific day until now, until he was drawn in the memories of childhood.
Today he had finally achieved his dream. He finally got his dream job. He was hired as the photographer for the same magzine he had been wishing for since he had taken up the profession.

This meant he would have a proper studio. He doesn't have to shoot in his apartment. His finances will be more stable. He won't have to worry about his student loans and his rent anymore.
But more than the financial stability, the fact that he had finally achieved exactly what he wanted, gave him a sense satisfaction and feeling of happiness which was different from the other times he had been happy.

This time he was happy and confident of the coming challenges. He had never felt that before.

Everytime he achieved something, there was always a doubt, an uncertainty about future, about his dreams. But this time all those doubts were gone, instead, he felt more confident with where his life was headed. He felt steadier and more in control than he did before.

When he broke the news to his friends, they dragged him to a bar to get him drunk. But he really just wanted to see his parents and his family.
He missed the celebration they would have at his home if he were there. The dinning table would have been set with all his favorite food. The whole family would have been there and would have been such a huge affair.
His little sister would have been teasing him for being a snob, his mother shouting at them for troubling her so much and his father just laughing at general chaos. If his cousins were present, they would spend all his salary and he would have gladly let them.

Instead, he was here, with his drunk friends, dancing like freaks in crowd. The music booming in his ears, he could not hear anything nor others could hear him. But then, nobody wanted to talk to him. His friends only pushed him to drink more and dance more. They didn't ask him how he was nor did they listen to him when he tried to talk them. He looked around and realised he has never felt more alone than he did in this crowd.

When a girl came up to him, he  wished she hadn't, he wished it had been someone else, someone who wasn't looking for a one night stand or a fling but for a stable relationship. He didn't want to have sex tonight, he wanted a comforting cuddle. Or a hug. Anything other than this.

He remembered Isabel. How she would talk endlessly or how she was always ready to listen to all his problems. He would solve her problems, and she his. He remembered their their plans after school, after college, their plans for old age.
She was with him on the dinner table, seated right next to him when they celebrated their college admissions. Even their parents approved of their relationship. They were called the 'forever' couple in school but who knew that forever would only last till his graduation. She left him, and even today he missed her presence among all these girls. Or maybe he missed the idea of her, or having someone with him? He hadn't quite figured that part out yet.

He pulled out his phone and looked for her number, maybe she would talk to him again, maybe she would meet up with him. His fingers hovered over her name in his contact list and he decided he was better than this.

When he had called his parents in the afternoon, they congratulated him but said were busy so couldn't speak much. In evening, when he tried again, they were in some party of a family friend. He tried again, but the call didn't connect and his longing for some company only grew more.

It wasn't long before he headed out of the bar and found himself staring at the houses in front of his.

The night had already grown darker. The horizon glowed with the city lights and stars shined above. The full moon shined bright and world was still. There was no breeze tonight. He wondered if the temperature will rise by the next morning when his eye caught her again. The light from the moon fell graceful in and around her curls, lighting up the entire length of her hair. She stood in her night robe and to his drunk eyes, she almost looked like an angel.

Red. Even in this melancholic mood, it was her face that camled him down. Maybe she really was an angel.

He looked at her, he knew she had noticed him, just like she had in the morning and morning before that.
But something had changed.

Nowdays, every time when she saw him, especially in the mornings, she would run back inside her house.
She looked even more tired. Her shoulders drooped a little more than usual and her stature stooped unlike before.

Asher kept looking at her, like she was the only one who could understand what he felt.
He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do or not or what came over him to do this, but he waved at her.

He wasn't sure if she would respond or if she even saw him wave but he gave it a try for her face was the only thing that brought him out of his nostalgia.

He waved again. This time she saw him wave. She looked around, behind her, below, on the road, at her neighbors houses, like she was scared someone might see her and then very slowly, she waved back.

Amused, Asher smiled. He gestured if everything was alright. The response was a nod which was very hard to make out through the distance they were at.

He gestured with his thumb and pinky out for phone number. She waved her hand saying no.
Strange, he wondered how come someone in this age did not own a mobile phone. Or maybe it was too forward of him to ask for her number.

He gestured again, with his hands moving in front of his mouth, asking her how would he talk to her. He was hoping she understood his gesture because he himself was getting confused now.

She looked at him, and he thought he saw a smile with a shrug.

Guess this is how they were to interact. Amused, he tried to start a new conversation.

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And I am back everyone, from that long hiatus. Term end had come up and with every term, the university is troubling us even more.

Anyhow, what do you all think of the chapter, put your views down in the comments. If you guys find any typos, please be kind to let me know so I can fix them (though I have tried to fix all of them). Vote for my story and share it with your friends.
Thank you so much again, for your support.

Until next time,

Cheerio,
Alice.

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