The weather was warm and sunny. Judging from the clear skies and fluttering leaves, it was a pleasant day to be out. Aside from going to the shops or the bank for errands, Riki would sometimes go up on the roof deck of her apartment building to get some sun. Because of the lockdown, things were relatively quiet all around making it an ideal spot to think. Besides, Riki had a presentation that at their weekly webchat meeting the next day so she wanted time to relax and recharge first before the long hours sitting in front of her computer for the meeting the next day.
As Riki was just about ready to step out of her apartment that morning, she found her inbox filled with notes for revisions which were sent late by Ton and the rest of her team.
"Argh!" Riki screamed and got herself a drink from her kitchen before settling down in front of her laptop to work. She was so busy that she didn't even notice the time until she needed to take a bathroom break.
It was already past noon. "...no wonder I thought I was seeing double..." Riki said when she saw the time on the wall clock. She went straight to the kitchen to make herself lunch. After lunch, Riki finished working on the remaining drafts and sent these to Ton and Mr. Rodriguez for checking. Mr. Rodriguez said it was good to go; Ton, as usual, took forever to reply. "...may lahing pagong talaga tong isang to e..."
When Ton's reply arrived, it was already sunset. Riki huffed in exasperation as she leaned back on her chair. At least there were no more major revisions to the final paper she had completed after Mr. Rodriguez approved it earlier. Riki glanced at the window and saw the silhouette of the guy in the apartment across walk past to a fish tank by the wall.
"Since when was there a fishtank there?" Riki said as she continued to observe. She remembered seeing a plant by the wall and not a fish tank. She watched the guy for a few moments until he 'disappeared' from her view. From her view, the guy's unit seemed to be parallel to hers except that he had a small balcony on the side which were now filled with more plants. "...baka nilipat nya yung mga halaman" Riki thought. The lights were from above and behind him so Riki could not see his face.
---
Niko decided to redecorate his apartment (again). He moved the plants to his balcony since they needed to be aired anyway. He moved the aquarium to the wall where his plant used to be. The mirrored wall already gave the illusion of the space being a lot bigger and the light from the aquarium will bounce off the mirror and warmly illuminate the room, saving Niko from having to turn on additional lights in the living room.
Today was one of the rare days where he didn't have work in the morning nor did he need to do any major errand so he began rearranging stuff in his apartment as soon as he confirmed his day's schedule.
Niko glanced over at the window across every so often and would see a part of the girl's silhouette if she passed by her window. However, today, he thought that she was on her errand day because he didn't see her at all. He was hoping he'd catch her moving shadow in the evening when she did her dance/exercise.
"Sabayan ko kaya?" Niko thought as he stared at the space. The window across had lace curtains which were usually drawn when the occupant wasn't home. But since the lock down, Niko could not remember if it was drawn closed again even in the evenings when the lights would be switched off for the night.
At the thought that maybe the girl went down for an errand, Niko spent a few minutes standing by his window looking at the building steps and sidewalk below. When there seemed to be no action for many minutes, except for an occasional car that would pass by, Niko stepped away and continued with his chores.
Riki had a fascination for animals even as a small girl. However, since she moved to this apartment building, she had not been able to get a pet to take care of because of work. She was always out and would only come home at the end of the day to rest and recharge for the next day. Weekends were usually spent at her parents' home where she usually just holed herself up in her bedroom and slept most of the weekend away. Now, she could only connect with her friends and family via calls. She could not go home to her parents' house either, because they lived in another city and strict guidelines were in place for inter-city travel.
---
"Ano kayang klaseng isda meron sya?" Riki wondered as she observed the lit aquarium. She disguised her 'spying' by setting up her music device on the floor near the window. She surmised that she could not really be seen if she squatted near the wall because her neighbor had a balcony and there were some plants that would probably hide her from sight. Besides, her window had a low, concrete 'base' while his had a balcony.
"Alexa, play some hiphop music" Riki commanded the device and in a few seconds, her apartment was filled with the upbeat tune. She stepped away from the speaker and began her dance routine.
Hidden from her view and unknown to Riki, Niko could actually see most of her silhouette moving. As soon as he saw her get up and move away from the window, he pushed the coffee table that was in the middle of his living room and tried to imitate her movements. Being a dance enthusiast, he quickly picked up her movements and danced along even if he had no music playing in his apartment. With what he observed, Niko was able to make his own routine in no time.
"Okay to ah..." Niko thought to himself as he felt his sweat trickling down the sides of his head. He made a mental note of trying to do more dancing also. "...maaayos ko naman ata yung peak hour work load ko para maka-singit ng exercise routine sa mga oras na to kesa sa umaga..." he thought. He found jogging around the roof deck of his apartment becoming a little boring anyway.
